The city of Vicenza boasts a history spanning over 2,000 years.
Documentation and historiography Written documentation concerning the city of Vicenza from ancient times and the first millennium is virtually nonexistent. The ecclesiastical and civic archives of the city contain only a copy of a clearly forged document from the Nonantola Abbey and another recording a privilege granted by Bishop Rodolfo to the Benedictine monastery of Saints Felix and Fortunatus.. Additional sparse information can be gleaned from the account of Paul the Deacon and occasional references to the Vicentine territory found in Paduan or Veronese documents.. Archaeological finds are also limited—except for those related to the city during the Roman Empire—though sufficient to confirm, even in the Early Middle Ages, the presence and continuity of a medium-sized city in the Venetian Plain.
In contrast, the second millennium provides an abundance of documents and monumental structures, revealing the life of a city that, except for brief periods, was always subject to external powers but rich in history, art, culture, and illustrious figures.
From the 12th century onward, valuable documents have been found in the Diocesan Capitular Archive and at the Benedictine monasteries of Saints Felix and Fortunatus and Saint Peter, mostly concerning privileges,Between 1000 and 1220, eight privileges from German emperors in favor of the Vicentine Church are recorded. See . rights and exemptions, disputes over property or income, and deeds of transfer. These have enabled the reconstruction of many aspects of political, social, and religious life, as well as territorial maps.
During the Late Middle Ages, chronicles began to emerge, the first being that of Gerardo Maurisio, who described in detail the events in Vicenza between 1183 and 1237. It was followed by the chronicle of Nicolò Smereglo, covering events from 1200 to 1312, that of Ferreto dei Ferreti, detailing occurrences in Vicenza and Padua between 1250 and 1318, and those of Antonio Godi and Conforto da Costozza, the latter providing a chronicle spanning 17 years. The first to compile a comprehensive chronicle of the city of Vicenza was Giambattista Pagliarino, who lived in the second half of the 15th century and drew on many earlier documents..
Efforts to write the history of Vicenza began in the 16th century. The first—albeit modest—historian was Giacomo Marzari, who published a small compendium of Vicentine civil and ecclesiastical history. He was followed by Silvestro Castellini, who compiled a more thorough and comprehensive work, and Francesco Barbarano, who lived in the 17th century. Writing in an era before historical criticism had matured, their works are often imprecise, making it difficult to distinguish between history and legend..
With the great revival of historical studies in the 18th century, Vicenza saw the remarkable 13-volume work of Fortunato Vigna, who drew on thousands of documents from civil and ecclesiastical archives. Other collectors of documents and writers included Paolo Calvi, Giambattista Verci, Tomaso Faccioli,Marina Boscaino, Dizionario Biografico degli italiani, vol. 44, 1994 and Gaetano Maccà, who wrote the Storia del territorio vicentino..
Ancient era
The pre-Roman settlement
It seems likely that the first settlement on the small group of hills—formed by alluvial debris and sediments emerging from the marshy plain at the confluence of the Astico and Retrone rivers—originated as early as the 6th century BC..
StraboStrabo uses an indirect source for his Geography, part V, namely the Commentaries of Julius Caesar. suggests that the inhabitants of the site belonged to the Euganei population,Giovanni da Schio in his Zodiaco etrusco, Pietra euganea, Ustrino romano - Tre notizie archeologiche, Padova, 1856, hypothesizes that the Medoaci, an Euganean people named after the area they inhabited between the rivers Medoacus Major (Brenta) and Medoacus Minor (Bacchiglione), were present in the Vicentine area. but modern scholars largely agree that they were Veneti, as evidenced by the discovery of over 200 votive tablets dedicated to the Venetic goddess Reitia and an inscription in the Venetic language, found in 1959 during the construction of a building opposite the Palazzo Trissino municipal headquarters. The possibility that they belonged to Gallic or Celtic tribes is ruled out. Pliny the Elder in the 1st century AD also mentions Vicenza in his Naturalis Historia as a center of Venetic foundation, a non-native Indo-European population.Pliny, N.H. 3, 126–130; 6, 218
Little is known about the events or political developments that affected the city in pre-Roman or even Roman times, except that the settlement existed and developed, leaving a clear urban layout. Few artifacts remain: for twenty centuries, the city has grown upon itself without interruption, and each era has destroyed what was built before, often reusing spaces and materials. Additionally, the fact that the city is currently inhabited prevents extensive excavations and research.
From the history of Rome, it can be inferred that, like other Veneti, the inhabitants of what would later be called Vicetia (likely from vicus) were initially influenced culturally by surrounding peoples: primarily the Etruscans, from whom the Veneti inherited fashion, art and writing, followed by the Cenomani and the Cimbri, but without being subjugated by them.
When the Romans appeared in the Po and Venetian plains—which they called Cisalpine Gaul—the Veneti became their loyal allies, fighting alongside them against the Gauls,L. Braccesi e A. Coppola, Alle origini del Veneto romano in Storia del Veneto, editore, anno, pp. 32-40. whom they defeated in 222 BC at the Battle of Clastidium.Among the artifacts found at the battle site are sling bullets with Venetic inscriptions. They remained faithful allies during the Social Wars, and as a reward, they first received Latin rights under the Lex Pompeia de Transpadanis in 89 BC, then full Roman citizenship.
Roman influence and authority were felt in the Venetian plain at least from the mid-2nd century BC. In 148 BC, the Via Postumia was constructed, stretching from Genua to Aquileia, facilitating trade and the rapid movement of legions. Regarding Vicenza, a milestone preserved in Verona testifies that a Roman magistrate was called to settle a boundary dispute between Vicenza and Este.SEX ATILIUS MF SCARANUS - EX SENATI CONSULTO - INTER ATESTINOS ET VEICENTINOS - FINIS TERMINOSQUE STATUI IUSIT. CIL, I, 636
Roman Vicetia
Like other Venetic cities, during Caesar's civil war, Vicenza likely sided with Caesar and, as a reward, between 49 and 42 BC, became a Roman municipium optimo iure, with full civil and political rights: as an unconquered city, it retained its own magistrates. During this period, the settlement was restructured according to a relatively orthogonal urban layout, wooden dwellings were replaced with stone or brick constructions, and the first walls were built.Confirmed by findings from repeated excavations since the 1950s in the districts of Mure Porta Castello, Mure Pallamaio, and Canove Vecchie. .
These walls, as in other similar cities, were erected to delineate urban from rural space and to confer prestige to the new status of a Roman city,. at a time when the entire region was pacified and defenses seemed unnecessary: from the victory over the Cimbri in the 2nd century BC until the 2nd century AD, Veneto saw no further barbarian incursions. In the absence of significant remains, it is presumed that the walls were only partially constructed, particularly on the western side, while the city was naturally defended by rivers on the other sides.Two fragments are located in Motton San Lorenzo and Contrà Canove Vecchie.
Like other Venetic cities, Vicenza was incorporated by Augustus into the Regio X (Venetia et Histria, as designated by Diocletian).
Compared to the current city’s extent, the Roman settlement was modest, roughly corresponding to the historic center in the strict sense: to the west, it began at the current Porta Castello; to the north, at the intersection of Contrà Porti-Apolloni-Pedemuro San Biagio; to the east, at the start of Corso Palladio from Piazza Matteotti; and to the south, where Contrà della Pescheria and Contrà di San Paolo meet. It was bordered on three sides by rivers, the Astico (now Bacchiglione) and the Retrone, crossed by two stone-arched bridges—described and drawn by Palladio—corresponding to the current Ponte degli Angeli and Ponte San Paolo, replaced by modern structures in the second half of the 19th century.
The urban layout of Roman cities was based on a grid of parallel east-west streets, the decumani, intersecting orthogonally with north-south streets, the cardines. The urban restructuring of Vicenza in the mid-1st century BC had to account for the pre-existing layout, leading to adaptations: the intersections between decumani and cardines were not strictly orthogonal but oblique.
At the center of the main streets, the decumanus maximus—roughly corresponding to the current Corso Palladio—formed the urban segment of the Via Postumia, which, to the east, crossed the Astico via a bridgeThe Roman bridge, corresponding to the current Ponte degli Angeli, like the Roman bridge over the Retrone corresponding to the current Ponte San Paolo, was demolished in the late 19th century. and continued toward Aquileia, while to the west, it passed through the gate later called Porta Feliciana and then Porta Castello, continuing toward Verona. It was wide enough to allow two-way cart traffic.
The identification of the cardo maximus is more debated, generally thought to be the road that, crossing the current Ponte San Paolo, passed under the Basilica Palladiana, continued through Contrà del Monte and Contrà Porti to the Ponte Pusterla, which did not exist at the time, as beyond the Astico lay a vast lake. For this reason, some believe the cardo maximus was instead the road that, ascending from the current Contrà Cordenons and Contrà Cesare Battisti, ran along Corso Fogazzaro and continued outside the city toward the mountains, skirting the western edge of the lacus Postierlae.
Near the intersection of the two main streets—under Palazzo Trissino Baston and the western part of Piazza dei Signori—a section of the Forum’s pavement was uncovered, the multifunctional center of civic life, which, following the Roman model, featured monumental structures. It had a north-south orientation: a raised sacred area with temples north of the decumanus and a lower, paved area with large rectangular stones, still visible under the palace, dedicated to politics and commerce south of the road; the Forum was completed by a civil basilica on the site where the Palatium vetus and later the Basilica were built—hence named by Palladio.A description of the Roman Forum of Brescia may be useful for analogy, as the Romans built according to repetitive models.
Beneath the Cathedral of Santa Maria Annunciata, remains of decorated domus and Roman roads are preserved and visible, along with the well-preserved cryptoporticus under Piazza del Duomo, part of a patrician domus. It is believed that other cryptoportici existed in the citySuch as one in Contrà Porti, destroyed during renovation work.—built to level the naturally uneven terrain and support garden terraces—and baths, of which fragments remain in Contrà Pescherie Vecchie.
From the locality of Villaraspa (Motta di Costabissara), an aqueduct began, passing through the locality of Lobia, 3 km north of the historic center, where remains of supporting arches still stand, and running through the current Viale Ferrarin, Via Brotton, and Corso Fogazzaro, bringing spring water to the city,The route and recent findings are described in: ending in the castellum aquae, the reservoir at Mure San Lorenzo.For a description of the findings and photo galleries: