[luciusdomitius]

"organized intelligence is not – as commonly thought – an invention of the modern industrial state"

Venice was a prototype of the modern state - another example is the Arsenale where ships were built in insane numbers using conveyor-like process and standardised part numbers.

"At the peak of its efficiency in the early 16th century, the Arsenal employed some 16,000 people who apparently were able to produce nearly one ship each day, and could fit out, arm, and provision a newly built galley with standardized parts on a production-line basis not seen again until the Industrial Revolution."