Maritime Venice

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Maritime Venice (Italian: Venezia marittima, Latin: Venetia Maritima, Greek: Bενετικὰ, romanized: Venetikà) or Byzantine Venice refers to a territory of the Byzantine Empire framed in the Exarchate of Italy and corresponding to the coastal belt of ancient Venetia, on the coast of present-day Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia.^[1] This is distinct from the hinterland of the Euganean Venice which passed from the end of the sixth century under the control of the Lombards.

The territory was a vast peripheral area of the Byzantine domains in Italy, characterized by scattered settlements without major urban centers. The precarious geographical conditions favored new social and economic models, stemming from the traditional Roman lagoon activities such as fishing, glass processing, and salt extraction. Having escaped the Barbarian Invasions, the local population also developed commerce considerably. This occurred thanks to the protection guaranteed by the complex system of canals and islands, as well as the tax privileges enjoyed by the Byzantine provinces in Italy. The distance from Byzantium and political controversies due to the Tricapitolino schism initially caused the emergence of two competing factions, broadly aligned to the Lombards and the Byzantines, until the autonomy granted by Byzantine emperors was consolidated. The Ducatus Venetiae was formed between the end of the seventh century and the beginnings of the eighth.