VIA CLAUDIA AUGUSTA SALESGUIDE

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Riguardo al tanto dibattuto tracciato della Via Claudia Augusta
nel Veneto, l’importante convegno tenutosi a Feltre nel 1999
porta a ritenere che quello più probabile, partendo da Altino,
giungesse a Feltre passando per Treviso e attraversando la
Valle del Piave (Ponte della Priula: “Via dei Mercatelli”). Tra le
aree archeologiche, oltre alla Feltria romana, emergono quindi
innanzitutto i municipii di Altinum e Tarvisium. Il primo, sorto
all’incrocio tra la Via Claudia Augusta con la Via Annia nei pressi
del Sile, offre una ricca documentazione sull’abitato romano (I
sec. a.C. – I sec. d.C.) disponibile nel locale museo archeologico.
Il secondo, protetto dalle mura del castrum, aveva la porta urbica
Altinia che apriva proprio verso Altino. Per quanto attiene al ramo
della Via Claudia Augusta Padana, oltre a Nogara e Ostiglia, che
hanno restituito numerosi reperti oggi esposti nei rispettivi musei
archeologici, una posizione di rilievo spetta a Verona, rifondata
verso la metà del I secolo a.C. in seguito alla sua crescente
rilevanza nel quadro espansionistico romano. Alla fine del III
secolo d.C. le incursioni dei Marcomanni e di altre popolazioni
germaniche intaccarono la tranquillità della regione. Con i
Longobardi (VI-VII sec.) la situazione peggiorò ulteriormente
in quanto, smembrata la Decima Regio, le città di terraferma
vennero frazionate in tanti ducati, le aree coltivate abbandonate
e il loro posto fu occupato da boschi e paludi.
Il territorio marittimo della laguna (la fondazione leggendaria
di Venezia porta la data 421) e l’Istria rimasero sotto il
dominio bizantino, dal quale si liberarono sotto Carlo Magno
che riordinò il Veneto in contee e marche (VIII sec.). Venezia
divenne il principale attore degli scambi tra il mondo orientale
e l’Europa continentale, mantenendo questa posizione fino
a quando le grandi scoperte geografiche del XVI secolo non
ridisegnarono le tappe dei traffici commerciali.
The Via Claudia Augusta in Veneto
Initially, in the 6th century BC, the Veneti, possibly a tribe from
Anatolia, which had replaced the Euganeans, gave the region
its structure. But then the Roman influence become much stronger,
firstly through the construction of the major communication
routes, some of which are still identifiable (the Via Annia from
Padua to Altino, the Via Postumia from Genoa to Aquileia,
the Via Popilia from Rimini to Aquileia, the Via Emilia from
Bologna to Aquileia, the Via Claudia Augusta Altinate and the
Via Claudia Augusta Padana), and later by the Lex Pompeia,
which elevated the Veneto towns to a colonia to comply with
Roman law. Under Augustus in 49BC Veneto became part of
the Decima Regio. The region enjoyed commercial prosperity.
Padua, a trading centre and the heart of fabric production, was
after Rome the Empire‘s second-richest town.
The tight network of municipia exercised relatively far-reaching
control over the Veneto region. The task was made easier
because of the well-maintained road and canal network and the
orderly partition into „centuries“, the basis for later administrative
structures, such as in the agro, or countryside, surrounding
Padua and Treviso. Towns such as Oderzo and Aquileia became
bases for Roman army operations in the northern Adriatic, while
Verona set about adorning itself with the arena and theatre.
As to the much-discussed course of the Via Claudia Augusta in
Veneto, a meeting of archaeologists in Feltre in 1999 came to
the conclusion that in all probability the Via went from Altino
via Treviso to Feltre through the Valle del Piave (near Ponte
Priula on the Piave is the Via dei Mercatelli, another Roman
road). As for the archaeological sites, as well as Roman Feltria,
the main municipii were Altinum and Tarvisium (now Treviso).
Altinum lay at the junction of the Via Claudia Augusta and the
Via Annia near the River Sile. In Altino there is considerable documentation
about the Roman settlement (1st century BC – 1st
century AD), including in the local archaeological museum.
Tarvisium was protected by the walls of the castrum. The road to
Altinum passed through the Altinia gate.
Of the settlements beside the Via Claudia Augusta Padana,
apart from Nogara and Ostiglia, artefacts from which are now
displayed in their respective archaeological museums, Verona
is of great significance. Verona was re-established around the
middle of the 1st century BC, because of its growing strategic
importance for the Roman Empire‘s policy of expansion.
However, at the end of the 3rd century AD, attacks by the
Marcomanni and other Germanic tribes disturbed the region‘s
peace. The arrival on the scene of the Lombards (6th and 7th
century) led to a further deterioration. The Decima Regio lost its
coherence, the mainland towns were split up into many duchies,
the fields were no longer cultivated and large areas of woodland
and marshland took over.
The Veneto lagoon area (Venice was founded in 421) and Istria
remained under Byzantine rule, from which it was liberated by
Charlemagne, who then divided Veneto into various smaller
territories (8th century). Venice became the main port for trade
between the Orient and continental Europe and it retained this
status until the great Voyages of Discovery of the 16th century,
when new trade routes were opened up.
Veneto
Altino, die Via Claudia Augusta