A historical region of northeast Italy between the Po River and the Alps. Named after the Veneti, a people who settled the area c. 1000 BC, it was joined with Istria by Augustus to form a separate province. The area was devastated by the Huns in the 5th century, but its towns later became powerful city-states, with Venice becoming dominant by the 15th century. It passed to Austria in 1797 and to Italy in 1866.