Mletačka vlast je organizirala plaćeničku vojsku po načelu dobrovoljnog pristupa od vojno sposobnih mladića, u skladu s tadašnjim plaćeničkim vojskama kakve su tada postojale u Europi. Teritorijalne snage (forza territoriale) su imale vojnu, obrambenu i redarstvenu ulogu, a u slučaju ratne opasnosti su bile mobilizirane. Muškarci sposobni za oružje su prolazili razne vojne vježbe, između ostalog vježbe postrojavanja na za to određenim mjestima.
Mletačka vlast je uspostavila teritorijalne snage na svom teritoriju po uzoru na ranije ustrojstvo preko liga i posoba, kasnije sudaca i sučija. Domaći ljudi su se najbolje organizirali za obranu svojih sela. Da bi se održao red u teritorijalnim snagama, vršilo se s vremena na vrijeme postrojavanje četa po selima na pojedinim otocima te održavale vojne vježbe.
Međutim, prilikom postrojavanja dolazilo je do nereda. Glavni problem je bilo očuvanje reda među pojedincima i pojedinim selima radi privatnih sukoba. Radi ovih problema su često kapitani i niži časnici bili smjenjivani. Zato mletački sindici pišu mandat iz 4. svibnja 1750. godine u kojem određuju redoslijed postrojavanja sela čega su se morali svi pripadnici snaga držati. U fondu Obitelji Lantana se nalazi mandat o ponašanju na tim vježbama, u kojem se pokušava spriječiti taj nered i međusobne sukobe. U dokumentu su navedena mjesta gdje se vrši prestrojavanje za pojedine otoke. Mandat je značajan iz razloga što pokazuje da su mletačke vlasti osim talijanskog u službene svrhe upotrebljavale hrvatski jezik i glagoljsko pismo, što uostalom pokazuju i brojni drugi dokumenti u mnogim fondovima Državnog arhiva u Zadru i drugim arhivima.
U radu je prikazan svakodnevni život i mentalitet zadarskih otočana tog razdoblja.The Venetian army consisted of two parts: a professional army whose soldiers were enlisted on a voluntary principle, similarly to other professional armies in Europe during the early modern period, and territorial forces (forza territoriale). The latter had a role in military defence and keeping order, and were mobilised in cases of danger of war. Men capable of bearing arms had to complete different military exercises, among which were line-ups for various designated places.
The Venetian government established territorial forces in their territory on the example of the system existing previously (the so-called lige and posobe, later sučije, system). It was easiest to organise the natives for the defence of their villages. In order to keep discipline in territorial forces, from time to time line-ups of military units were organised in villages on particular isles, and military exercises were held.
However, the line-ups also provided opportunities for disorder. The main problem was keeping order among individuals and villages involved in private feuds. Captains and lower officers were often dismissed because of their inability to deal with such problems. Because of that, on 4 May 1750 the Venetian sindici issued a mandate determining the order of line-ups of villages obligatory for all members of territorial forces. It also regulated rules of conduct during the exercises, in order to prevent disorder and conflict. An exemplar of this mandate is kept in the Državni arhiv u Zadru (the State Archive of Zadar) in the archival series of the Lantana family. The document lists places of line-ups for particular isles. Besides its content, the mandate is also important because it shows that the Venetian authorities used Croatian vernacular and Glagolitic script, besides Italian, for official purposes, something that may be demonstrated also by many other documents of the period kept in different archival series of the State Archive of Zadar and other archives.
The article also provides details of the everyday life and mentality of the denizens of the Zadar isles in the period under research
