History: 1000BC to AD 568

Long before anyone ever dreamed of gondolas or plates of liver and onions, an Indo-European people called the Venetii (or Henetii, or Enetii) occupied most of northeast Italy.

They probably came from Illyria or Asia Minor about 1000 BC, a trading nation, who also produced very good wine. Rome gradually developed colonies in their territory, and the Venetii settled in comfortably as Roman provincials in the 2nd century BC.

Roman Venetia, with its wealthy cities – Aquileia, Padua, Verona and Altinum – was one of the favoured corners of Italy. Many of the islands of the Lagoon were already inhabited; besides fishing, salt-pans furnished the most important element of the coastal economy.

Several busy Roman roads passed through Venetia on their way across the mountains to Illyria or Pannonia, convenient for trade – and also, as Rome decayed, for invaders.

Attila the Hun