The Veneto region was named after the Veneti, a tribe that occupied this area in the 6th Century BC. The Romans conquered the region in the 3rd Century BC. The local populace was granted full Roman citizenship in 89 BC. There are no written records of the origins of Venice, but legend has it that Romans, fleeing from the Goths, founded it in AD 422. Several decades later, the Huns, led by Attila, overthrew the Roman defenses. In AD 568 the Lombards’ arrival and settlement in the area was the most enduring, as the new ports of Torcello and Malamocco were created and developed in the Venetian lagoon.

During this time, central and northern Italy was dominated by the Byzantine Empire. Imperial power was concentrated in the Exarchate of Ravenna, which the Lombards conquered in AD 75, executing the last exarch, the spiritual and ceremonial head. The seat of the Byzantine governor (duke, later doge) was then located in Malamocco. The settlement in the archipelago grew as a result of the Lombard conquest.

Between AD 775 and 776, the Olivolo was created as a seat of bishops. In the 9th Century, under Duke Agnello Patriciaco, the ducal seat moved to Rialto island (‘hight shore’), the present-day location of Venice where the monastery of St Zachary, St Mark’s basilica and the first palace of the duke were built. The relics of St Mark the Evangelist were moved into the new basilica in AD 828. Eventually, Byzantium's influence waned and the community attained a distinctive anti-Eastern character, which led to the growth of autonomy and the quest for independence.