86, mentions a speech of Pier Filippo Pandolfini, the arguments of which, he says, were drawn from Aristotle and illustrated by Florentine history.

The Italian doctrinaires seem to have imagined that, by clever manipulation of existing institutions, they could construct a state similar to that called [Greek: _politeia_] by Aristotle, in which all sections of the community should be fairly represented.

Venice, meanwhile, was a practical instance of the possible prosperity of such a constitution with a strong oligarchical complexion.
[5] These numbers, 100,000 for the population, and 5,000 for the burghers, are stated roundly.

In Florence, when the Consiglio Maggiore was opened in 1495, it was found that the Florentines altogether numbered about 90,000, while the qualified burghers were not more than 3,200.

In 1581 the population of Venice numbered 134,890, whereof 1,843 were adult patricians [see below, p.