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Taverner, a beer please! But right now, I'm not gonna wait till tomorrow morning.
Dino, why don't you start learning italian? Instead of dialect?
Dialect? Is someone here talking in dialect?
You, Dino.
My talk is just a variance of a language which has a linguistic history of centuries!
The variance of Sandrà, my birthplace, of course
Of course...you are right... we are descendants of Dolomitic Highlanders
and to defeat us, they have to behead us with a billhook!
So listen... Do you want to hear when Veneti history once began?
Do you really know about Veneti history?!
I'm not a donkey as you are! Veneti civilization roots back to a really really past time
Even before the rise of the Most Serene Republic of Venice, even before ancient Romans. Even before your gramda!
Actually, the first Veneti settled in the north-eastern region of the italic peninsula
during the ninth century before Christ.
But, on which bases can you dare to say so, Dino?
It's hard to talk with a Veneto of that period... But always less difficult than having a beer served from this taverner
Waiter do you think I can get a beer before I become grandpa?
There are plenty of archeological findings dating back to those times
Between them, the most beautiful and interesting were "situlae", wonderful bronze cemetrial vases
Other archeological findings were discovered in Austria, in Carinthia even in Adria.
Every-day objects, of common use, like some potholders belonging to the ancient
grand-grand-father of our friend Maria from Rovigo!
But tell me: where were these VENETI coming from?
They came from the Baltic Sea, or from Central Europe! There they bought amber and made a business of commerce in Veneto
They spoke their own language, Veneto, which was already developed when, in Italy, Latin language was still forming!
Something different from a dialect!
The very first settlement was Este. Another big one was Padua, which was founded in 1183 BC
That is much more before Rome. Romans hadn't finished to suckle their mythic she-wolf yet, when Veneti had already completed their own houses, with its kitchen sink, a pretty toilet, and a practical henhouse just outside the main door, at hand.
But all this came to an end when Romans conquered Veneti.
I'll tell you something:Veneti were NEVER conquered by the Romans.
They became allied, and melted in their culture on the long run.
Well, where's the difference, Dino?
Is the same difference between you inviting me at your dinner and me deliberately coming to your house with a pitchfork and destroying your kitchen, your stable, and your barn.
Certainly the “ubi maior minor cessat” motto is valid: Romans had such a greed to conquer the world at that time...
But the difference between being conquered and signing an alliance was that they keep alive their traditions
And this is not just an irrelevant detail.
Then, during the second-third centuries unfortunately the ancient Veneti language got lost.
Can you imagine how beautiful it would be for us to hear it now in this Veneto pub?
In reality, Veneti used to speak a Venetized Latin, with some local peculiarities: it wasn't an integral Latin
And in fact Titus Livius, an historian who wrote a gigantic work, the “History of Rome” came from Padua and always preserved his "patavinitas" a Veneto style in writing Latin.
You know: Paduans already were great scholars, even before Padua's University foundation
as the seventh oldest of the whole Europe.
Even during Emperor Augustus reign Veneti were recognized an identity strong enough to deserve a special legislative and administrative treatment: not just a region as every other else in an enormous empire.
We should remind this to those who do not want to let us be a partly-autonomous region nowadays!
And then, just a few centuries later, as everybody knows, the Roman Empire collapsed. Craaash. There came barbarians...
Even in Venice?
No, definitely no! In Veneto there were no barbarians. Just after the imperial collapse,
the Republic of Venice came to early life
Venice kept a continuance to Veneto culture, creating a Veneto legal culture, very different from the romanistic legal system, and refreshing Veneti traditions
building up the amazing, magic and respected city that Venice was during its splendour
which was well known all over the world
Actually, in Antarctica or in South America nobody knew about Veneti, but I tell you, my little friend: who cares?
And how was the on-the-Lagoon city born?
at those times everybody wanted to conquer Veneto: French, Byzantines and Langobards.
Veneto has always been a shiny pearl, attractive for the whole world. Even better than a beautiful woman.
So Veneti moved towards the coasts, till they reached the Lagoon, where they said: “Well, we are gonna settele here".
And so they founded Venice! Right on the Lagoon
Try to move war against Veneti in Venice, try to send them away if you can! You can't even land there with a bycicle, try to figure out what you can do with a tank!
Think about this: our Venet Republic had been the longest Republic ever. More than 1100 years!
It kept being a republic since 697AD, and at those times there weren't so much republics.
The Doge (the Head of the State) was directly elected by the people of Venice. And this didn't mean that Venice had to “export democracy” all over the world, my little shy friend: these are modern inventions.
We Veneti do have democracy, probably the Doge said. The others can do whatever they find proper to themselves.
And in facts many peoples spontaneously asked Venice for their annexation to the Republic, due to economic convenience and for the sake of freedom and peace.
How do times change, my dear friend!
Every annexed city was called a nation. There was a nation of Verona, a nation for Bergamo...
How did venice become so powerful?
Venice immediately made out of commerce its economical flag; it was called “the door to East”, and soon developed a big and strong fleet, which could dominate the Mediterranean in just a few decades.
Venice subdued also other peoples, like Slavons, Greeks, Albanians etc... and each of them was normally allowed to speak and teach its own language, follow its own laws, remaining a people while joining a net of common interests.
Obviously just a couple of years weren't enough for a watery city to become the Capital of Mediterranean. It took me years to become the coolest of Sandrà, my birthplace: what of a city, with thousands of citizens?
Early in the Firteenth Century, Venice had its State, with a large part on the mainland of Veneto, and a coastal part, which prolonged on Dalmatia, and also some Greek islands.
For a four-century period Venice was the stronghold against Turkish expansion to gain control of the Mediterranean.
You do certainly have heard about the Battle of Lepanto of 1571, don't you, my friend?
Eeehmm oohmmm...
It was the great naval battle where the Holy League strongly defeated the Ottoman Fleet
You should have lived those times, my little friend, to see how wealth accumulated in Venice and in the whole Republic!
Venice was a necessary step for all goods you can imagine, from East and from West
towards cities where every kind of stuff was produced.
Well, actually limited to what could be imagined at that time, being iPod, iPhone and wireless telephones unavailable
Can you imagine how the world was?
Actually, also nowadays in Venice someone could make money: with tourists, with Murano glass, Burano laces, with high prices in Tronchetto, but it isn't the same as it once was!
In those days Venice was a lighthouse for the whole humanity. And local chronicles tell us that people were well-living.
Veneti had a strong national feeling, which was represented by the symbol of the winged lion of Venice. The Markesque Lion.
Markesque??
It means “of Saint Mark”! Donkey!
A Donkey? I thought it was a Lion.
Explaining something to you is like going fishing with a toothbrusher!
I'm sorry, Dino. I cannot be educated about everything!
Neither you can about nothing! But don't worry: I'm here to explain you.
As I was saying, our Veneto was really under many expansionistic appetites. I mean: wherever else can you find a region of the world with such natural
wonders, between Dolomites, lakes and sea? Not even mentioning the wealth possessed by Veneti.