Part 1: Expansion. 'Il milione' ; Survivors and losers ; The saviours of Venice

Part 2: The Imperial Age. Innocents and empire-builders ; 'We are Venetians, then Christians' ; Father and son ; Colleoni ; The Venetian queen of Cyprus ; The end of the queen ; 'Lost in a day what had taken eight hundred years to gain' ; Discoveries of the mind ; The loss of Cyprus

Part 3: The long decline. The Battle of Lepanto ; Women of Venice ; The Jews of Venice ; Deepening decline ; An intellectual revolution ; 'The seat of music'

Part 4: Dissolution and fall. The last days ; The very end