Altinum
For the Italian commune in the province of Chieti, see Altino (commune).Altinum (modern
Altino) is the name of an ancient coastal town of the
Veneti [Ptolemy, Geography 3.1.30] in
Venetia, 15 km SE of Tarvisium (now
Treviso), in Italy, on the edge of the lagoons. It was reportedly very wealthy. Located on the eastern coast of that nation, at the mouth of the river
Silis, it was destroyed by
Attila in 452 and eventually abandoned by its inhabitants, who sought refuge in the islands of the lagoon, such as
Torcello, where later
Venice was to be built
Altino was both strategic and beautiful. Finds and
Venetic funeral inscriptions show that it was a center as early as the 5th century BCE. It increased in imprtance with the Romanization of the region and specifically with the construction of the
Via Annia (131 BCE), which passed through, linking
Atria with
Aquileia. At the end of the Republic, Altinium was a
municipium.
Augustus and his successors brought it into further importance with the construction of the
Via Claudia Augusta which began at Altino and reached the "
limes" of the northeast at the
Danube, a distance of 350 m., apparently by way of the
Lake of Constance. The place thus became of considerable strategic and commercial importance, and the comparatively mild climate (considering its northerly situation) led to the erection of villas which
Martial (
Epigr. iv. 25) compares with those of
Baiae.
Lucius Verus died here in
169.
Around
452,
Attila the Hun captured this city and burned it to the ground, along with several other nearby cities. Refugees settled on the islands of the lagoons, forming settlements which eventually became known as Venice.
*
Richard Stillwell, ed. Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, 1976: "Altinum (Altino), Veneto, Italy"
* http://www.classicaldictionary.bravepages.com/28.htm
