As it’s known, the Most Serene Republic of Venice, that mighty maritime state born in the 8th century (independent since the 9th) and lasting until the late 18th century, was governed by a series of institutions (Great Council, Senate, and Council of Ten) under the supreme command of the Doge. Although the Doge was elected by suffrage, in its early days, he had almost absolute powers, supporting those who considered Venice a “crowned republic”. The first to hold the office, back in 727 AD, was named Orso Ipato, who propelled the powerful Venetian fleet and laid the groundwork for future naval expansion.

Venice was founded in the 5th century AD by people living in that region who sought refuge in the marshes at the mouth of the Po River from the barbarian invasions of the Lombards and Huns. A hundred years later, General Belisarius conquered Italy for the Eastern Roman Empire, and the Venetians fell under Byzantine influence, ruled by a magister militum aided by several tribunes. The continuous conflicts among them led the people to replace them with a doge in 697. As we see, the date doesn’t match what was said at the beginning, and there’s a reason for that.

Tradition holds that the first leader was Paolo Lucio Anafesto, a noble born in Eraclea, then the region’s main city. Not much is known about him, but it’s barely known that he coordinated defense against the Lombards and Slavs, besides repelling the incursions of the Umayyads. His existence is doubtful, as it’s not supported by any source prior to the 11th century, so, while not ruling it out entirely, the traditional view of him as the first doge is in doubt. In fact, some think he might be identified with Paulus, the exarch of Ravenna (the exarch was a provincial governor).

Venice around 720 A.D., shortly before the rise to power of Orso Ipato
Venice around 720 A.D., shortly before the rise to power of Orso Ipato. Credit: Jack Keilo / Wikimedia Commons

Paolo Lucio Anafesto would have led Venice until 717, when he was succeeded by Marcello Tegalliano. Supposedly, because the lack of documentary support repeats itself with him, and also because the magister militum of the aforementioned exarch Paulus was named Marcello. The only true historical mention of him is much later, from the 14th century (by chroniclers Nicolò Trevisan and Enrico Dandolo, referring to the Pactum Lotharii signed between the Carolingian Emperor Lothair I and Doge Pietro Tradonico). He would have ruled for nine years until 726, during which he had to repel a new Umayyad attack and mediate the dispute between the patriarchs of Grado and Equilium (modern Jesolo).

In any case, it was Giovanni Diacono (John the Deacon), secretary and chaplain of Doge Pietro II Orseolo, as well as a chronicler of Venice, who in his Chronicon Venetum et Gradense (formerly known as Chronicon Sagornini), the oldest surviving work on the history of the Most Serene Republic, identified Paolo Lucio Anafesto and Marcello Tegalliano as the first and second Venetian doges. This work was compiled in the 10th century, so, with no earlier references, the shadow of doubt we referred to is dispelled.

So the first historically confirmed doge would be the third, the aforementioned Orso Ipato. We also don’t know much about his life, as he enters history precisely with his appointment. This happened in a turbulent context, a series of disturbances spread across Italy in reaction to the attempt by Byzantine Emperor Leo III to export the iconoclastic reform he had instituted in his empire to the west, ordering the destruction of all religious images depicting Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and the saints.

Orso Ipato in a nineteenth-century engraving
Orso Ipato in a nineteenth-century engraving. Credit: National Library of Poland / Public domain / Wikimedia Commons

The emperor’s intention, driven by a messianic interpretation of the violent volcanic eruption on the island of Thera in 726, was to improve public morale and strengthen a faith closer to the Bible, finding support among the aristocracy, part of the clergy, and the peoples of the eastern empire, where there was a significant percentage of Muslim subjects. But he encountered radical opposition from the monks and the western peoples, led by Pope Gregory II. Italy rose in arms, and with it, the exarchate of Ravenna, which broke with Constantinople.

Amidst the prevailing chaos, in 727 the Venetian people and clergy elected Orso Ipato as their new leader, ignoring Byzantine authority. He was a warrior, a combative and visionary man, capable of understanding that the real danger lay not in the empire but in the Lombards and other potentially hostile peoples, hence he did not want to openly confront Leo III. The emperor persisted in his religious reform, but this remained the only significant point of friction after Venice embarked on a military campaign to reclaim Ravenna.

Taking advantage of the circumstances, Lombard King Liutprand had defeated the Byzantine army and conquered the exarchate of Ravenna, then marched on Rome. Liutprand professed the Catholic faith and made a pact with the Pope, granting him several territories in Lazio and thus facilitating the first papal expansion beyond the Roman duchy. However, there was no agreement with Orso Ipato, who immediately began a shipbuilding program and thoroughly trained young people in the use of the bow and crossbow, thus answering the call for help from the exarch Eutychius.

The Byzantine Empire around 717 AD
The Byzantine Empire around 717 AD. Credit: Renato de carvalho ferreira / Rowanwindwhistler / Wikimedia Commons

Eutychius was a eunuch sent by Leo III to occupy the position since his predecessor, the aforementioned Paulus, had died trying to suppress the rebellion against iconoclasm. He had also incited Liutprand against Gregory II, unaware that both would reach an agreement. Finally, while the Muslims unsuccessfully besieged Constantinople, the exarchate fell into Lombard hands, and he sought refuge in Venice, warning of the danger looming over the city as well.

Indeed, the Lombards continued their advance and seized the Duchy of the Pentapolis, as the Byzantine administrative entity formed by the Adriatic cities of Ancona, Senigallia, Fano, Pesaro, and Rimini was called. Venice was also threatened, so Orso Ipato sent a fleet of over eighty ships, which, in collaboration with the Byzantine fleet, managed to liberate Ravenna.

The victory resonated throughout Italy and helped to ease relations with the emperor, ushering in a peaceful coexistence in which the empire tolerated the autonomy of the Most Serene Republic without formally legitimizing the authority of the doge. In return, it granted him the title of hypathos, equivalent to consul and given to the rulers of Byzantine protectorates in Italy; it is the origin of the Italian surname Ipato, which Orso assumed for himself and his descendants.

Theodatus, son of Orso, was first magister millitum and then doge
Theodatus, son of Orso, was first magister millitum and then doge. Credit: National Library of Poland / Public domain / Wikimedia Commons

This mutual rapprochement was also reflected in Venice’s resumption of a ceremonial protocol based on the proverbial pomp of the court of Constantinople. However, the Lombards had not had their last word, and a few years later, in 750 under the reign of Astolphus, they would take advantage of the rekindling of anger in Italy over Leo III’s insistence on imposing iconoclasm to seize Ravenna and end the exarchate; the Byzantines would not recover it. However, this loss did not include Venice, which was beginning to thrive thanks to the efforts of Orso Ipato.

He did not live to see it. A conflict between the nobles of Eraclea and those of Equilium, which reached almost the seriousness of a civil war, marked the end of his mandate and his life when, instead of trying to mediate between the parties, he sided with the Eracleans, supporters of the Byzantine emperor against the others, pro-Lombards. The circumstances of everything are not clear, but he was assassinated in 738 in that context (possibly driven by Lombard agents). For the next five years, Venice had no doge, but was governed by magistri militum sent from Ravenna, starting with Domenico Leoni.

Next on the list was Felice Cornicola, who left such a good impression that he could afford to revoke the sentence passed against Theodatus Ipato, Orso’s son, who had to go into exile and who now even took over from Cornicola as magister militum; perhaps the exarch of Ravenna granted it to him to attract the Venetian aristocracy. Since the term of office for that position was only one year, he was succeeded by Jovianus Ipato and Giovanni Fabriciacus.

But the latter was eventually overthrown (and, according to Byzantine custom, blinded to prevent him from retaking the post) by Theodatus, who restored the figure of the doge. He lasted thirteen years as such and ended in the same brutal way as his predecessor, but the institution would endure until 1797, when Napoleon abolished it.

This article was first published on our Spanish Edition on April 17, 2024. Puedes leer la versión en español en Así nació la República de Venecia dentro del Imperio Bizantino como defensa contra los ‘bárbaros’

Sources

Georgio Ravegnani, Bizancio y Venecia. Historia de un imperio | John Julius Norwich, A history of Venice | Dennis Romano, Venice. The remarkable history of the lagoon city | Donald M. Nicol, Byzantium and Venice. A study in diplomatic and cultural relations | Órso (en Treccani, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani ) | Wikipedia

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