wrote relazione on Persia read in Senate in 1574, destined to great & notable circulation. Negative judgement on Persian Empire: sovereign & ministers are described 'in preda' to fabulous & primitive barbarity; but if t documentary val of t relazione, as that of t dispacci sent from Persia, is limited, these tests constitute a notable testimony of that mythical portrayal of oriental lands which developed much in t 17th c. [verify source of above]