In 1709, he went to Padua, where he briefly collaborated with Apostolo Zeno and Antonio Valisnieri in editing the ambitious literary periodical the Giornale de' Letterati d'Italia, which had but a short career.

[1] In 1710, he spent some time studying the manuscripts in the Royal Library at Turin; while there he arranged the collection of objects of art which the late Carlo Emanuele, Duke of Savoy had brought from Rome.

In 1732 he went to the south of France for purposes of archaeological research and from there he went to Paris, where he remained four years and was received as member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres.

On a visit to London in 1736, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society[4] and received at Oxford University, where he was honoured with a doctoral degree; he returned through Holland and Germany to Verona.

In the treatise, Maffei questioned the structure of Venice's aristocratic government, and suggested the opening of public offices to the elites of the Venetian mainland domains.

Ultimately, the Consiglio politico advocated introducing into the government of the Republic of Venice elements of political representation, which Maffei had identified in his antiquarian studies of the Roman constitution, and later observed in foreign lands during his European travels.

[6] He also published a letter and a book arguing against the existence of supernatural magic and witches, that mixes both enlightenment thinking and theologic arguments based on scripture.