The
Doge of Venice (;
Venetian:
Doxe de Venexia ; ; all derived from Latin
dux, "military leader"), sometimes translated as
Duke (cf. Italian
Duca), was the
chief magistrate and leader of the
Most Serene Republic of Venice for over a thousand years. Doges of Venice were elected for life by the city-state's aristocracy. Commonly the man selected as Doge was the shrewdest elder in the city. The
doge was not a
duke in the modern sense, nor was a
doge the equivalent of a
hereditary duke. The title "doge" was the title of the senior-most elected official of
Venice and
Genoa; both cities were republics and elected doges. A doge was referred to variously by the titles "My Lord the Doge" (
Monsignor el Doxe), "Most Serene Prince" (
Serenissimo Principe), and "
His Serenity" (
Sua Serenità).