[quote=Kangaroo]
None of them were particular based and Italy didn't exist till the late 19th century or so - hence the Venice. Actually the United provinces (Netherlands) would suit me best for the given time period.
[/quote]

You could take on some of their traits and some of their historical achievements, like the time the Spanish empire got so much silver from it's south American colonies that it's economy went under....
Yeah, you should totally do that...