Petrarch, in a letter written shortly after his death, says of him: "He was a virtuous man, upright, full of love and zeal for his republic; learned, eloquent, wise, and affable.

He had only one fault, to wit, that he loved war too much.

From this error he judged of a cause by its event.

The luckiest cause always appeared to him the most just, which made him often repeat what Scipio Africanus said, and what Lucan makes Caesar repeat: 'Haec acies victum factura nocentem.'" If Dandolo had lived a little longer, and continued his ethical theory of judging a cause by its success, he would have had a hint, from the disasters of Venice, that his own cause was not the most righteous.

The Genoese, having surprised the Venetians off the island of Sapienza, obtained one of the completest victories on record.