L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2021 www.italoamericano.org 12 L'Italo-Americano T h i s y e a r , L a S e r e n i s s i m a t u r n e d 1 6 0 0 , and she carries h e r a g e w e l l . According to tradition and historical sources, Venice was founded in 421 AD: it's the Chronicon Altinate, a chronicle dating from the 11th century, that tells us. Of course, as it is easy to imagine, it didn't all happen i n a d a y . J u s t l i k e R o m e w a s n ' t b u i l t i n 2 4 h o u r s , n e i t h e r w a s V e n i c e , a n d plenty of light still needs to be shed on the vicissitudes and events that brought to the birth of the city. Howev- er, historians agree that the urban nucleus we can con- s i d e r V e n i c e ' s f o r e f a t h e r still exists, and it's called Altino. Altino, or Altinum to say it with the Romans, was an ancient city roughly corre- sponding to modern Quarto d ' A l t i n o , i n t h e V e n e z i a province of Veneto. Altino was favored by its position, s t r a i g h t o n t h e V e n e t i a n lagoon and the sea, which made it important for com- merce and military maneu- vers. Archeological discov- eries tell us that the first human settlements there date back to the Paleolithic, that is, the Stone Age, and t h e P a l e o v e n e t i - t h e Indoeuropean people who occupied this area before the Romans - had already made Altino their main port in the 7th century BC. With the construction of the Via Annia (131 BC), the road connecting Atria (today's Adria) to Aquileia, Altino b e c a m e R o m a n , e v e n t h o u g h i t s p e o p l e h a d t o wait another century before being granted citizenship, a goal achieved between 49 and 42 BC. At its largest, A l t i n o h a d a p o p u l a t i o n b e t w e e n 2 0 , 0 0 0 a n d 3 0 , 0 0 0 , t h e s a m e a s Pompeii. U n d e r t h e R o m a n Empire, Altino flourished, developing an economy cen- tered on farming, fishing, and sea trade. It was, by all means, a very wealthy town, a n d b e a u t i f u l , t o o , i f w e trust the aesthetic taste of coeval historians: it isn't really difficult to believe it, a s t h e y t e l l u s o f e l e g a n t gardens, bridges and porti- cos, and of a breathtaking view on the lagoon. Just like Venice today. I n a p a r t o f t h e r e g i o n characterized by marshland, t h e R o m a n s m a n a g e d t o r e c l a i m v a s t p o r t i o n s o f land to develop Altino, often linking one part of town to the other via bridges, just like it was to happen, some c e n t u r y l a t e r , i n V e n i c e . With its bridges and boats, Altino must have resembled La Serenissima quite a lot, if not for its architecture, at least for the surreal atmos- phere created by the feeling of, quite literally, walking o n w a t e r . A c c o r d i n g t o Roman historiographers, Altino had a breathtaking town center, and its sur- roundings were dotted with imposing villas, which had nothing to envy to those of Baiae and Pompeii, sung by Martial and destroyed by Mount Vesuvius. Altino was, by all means, a rich, well-established city, t h a t b a s e d i t s w e a l t h o n a c t i v i t i e s l i k e t r a d e a n d f a r m i n g , b o t h r e l i a b l e sources of income back in those days. So why did it disappear from history, and w h y i s i t c o n s i d e r e d t h e "mother" of Venice? A first theory associated the end of Altino to that of t h e R o m a n E m p i r e a n d , m o r e p r e c i s e l y , t o t h e Barbaric Invasions that had plagued the North-East of Italy since the 2nd century AD. Tired of fending off the e n e m y - A t t i l a ' s H u n s i n particular - and seeing their city ransacked, the people of Altino decided to abandon their homes and settle in an a r e a t h a t o f f e r e d n a t u r a l protection from invasions, the island of Torcello, in the Venetian lagoon. That Torcello was one of the first Altinian settlements outside their town is demonstrated by a wealth of archaeologi- c a l f i n d i n g s . H o w e v e r , r e c e n t d i s c o v e r i e s h a v e changed slightly the incep- tion of this narrative, as it seems the people of Altino weren't forced to leave their town but decided to move willingly, in an organized, s t r u c t u r e d , a n d g r a d u a l manner. The town wasn't abandoned in a rush, but throughout the years, per- haps because of increasing sea levels which made living i n A l t i n o m o r e a n d m o r e difficult. W h a t e v e r i s t h e t r u t h behind the end of Altino, its role in the birth of Venice r e m a i n s c l e a r , b e c a u s e i t was its people who created w h a t i s , t o d a y , t h e m o s t famous city in Italy, second only in popularity - one may guess - to our capital, Rome. And today, what remains of old Altino? Well, archaeologists have uncovered streets and some b u i l d i n g s b e l o n g i n g t o ancient Altino in the coun- tryside between the north- ern part of the lagoon and t h e P a r c o R e g i o n a l e d e l Fiume Sile. While very little is visible to the eye, the use o f m o d e r n t e c h n o l o g i e s h e l p e d i n v e s t i g a t e t h e underground and create a map of the old city: Altino, we learn, had a port, defen- sive walls, and a water sys- tem; a forum, a theatre, and an amphitheater as large as the Arena di Verona, as well as a basilica and thermal baths. A true Roman city, w e a l t h y a n d b e a u t i f u l , w h o s e v e s t i g e s w e c a n observe today at the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Altino (MANA). Altino was abandoned by t h e L a t e A n t i q u e p e r i o d , most of its buildings used as a source of stone and mar- bles to build its younger sis- t e r , V e n i c e . I f v e r y l i t t l e physically remains of this t o w n , i t s a u r a a n d i t s a n c i e n t s o u l l i v e i n t h e canals, palaces, and history of La Serenissima. CHIARA D'ALESSIO Altino, the first Venice The Ponte del Diavolo (the Devil's Bridge) in Torcello, was one of the ancient access gates to Altino (Photo: 18042011e/Dreamstime) LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE

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