ALTINO. — It is a municipality of the Scaptia tribe on the Venetian coast, on the Via Annia at its intersection with the Claudia Augusta. Its first bishop appears in 381 with Heliodorus, the great friend of St Jerome. Around 442 there appears that Septimus, who was praised by St Leo the Great; in 501 Peter, who played a significant part in the events concerning Pope Symmachus. The Lombard invasions of the 7th century brought complete ruin to the city, from which it never recovered. Venetian traditions report that the episcopal see was then transferred to Torcello in the lagoon; the bishops, however, continued to bear the title of A. until the end of that century.
BIBL.: Lanzoni, p. 909 seq.; for Venetian traditions cf. V. PAVIA, *Il patriarcato di Venezia e le sue origini*, Venezia 1938, p. 185 seq.