Captain of the Gulf a cook ("cuoco"), a wine steward ("canever"), and two orderlies ("fanti di pizzuol"). In addition he had at his disposal a boat ("felucca") with twelve boatsmen ("caiccheri") and a rowed frigate with a captain ("padrone"), two steersmen ("timonieri"), two artillerymen ("bombardieri") and 18 rowers ("galeotti"). Captain of the Gulf The Captain of the Gulf (; ) was a senior naval command of the Republic of Venice. The post was established around 1330, when a squadron of ships was set up to patrol the "Gulf of Venice" (the Adriatic Sea) and provide protection for commerce there. Neither the squadron nor the
History of the Republic of Venice captured and sacked in 1204. Venetians saved from the sack several artistic works, such as the famous four bronze horses, bringing them to Venice. As a result of the partition of the Byzantine Empire that followed, Venice gained some strategic territories in the Aegean Sea (three-eighths of the Byzantine Empire), including the islands of Crete and Euboea. Moreover, some present day cities, such as Chania on Crete, have core architecture that is substantially Venetian in origin. The Aegean islands formed the Venetian Duchy of the Archipelago. The Republic of Venice signed a trade treaty with the Mongol Empire in 1221.