Paolo Lucio Anafesto or Anafestus Paulucius was the first doge of Venice. A noble of Heraclea, then the primary city of the region, he was elected in 697 as an official over the entire lagoon that surrounded Venice, both to put an end to the conflicts between the various tribunes who until then had governed the various parts, and to coordinate the defence against the Lombards and the Slavs who were encroaching on the settlements. For some thousand years, the chief magistrate and leader of the Republic of Venice was the Doge (Duke). ... Heraclea was the name of a large number of ancient cities founded by the Greeks. ... Events End of the reign of Empress Jito of Japan Emperor Mommu ascends to the throne of Japan Approximate date of the Council of Birr, when the northern part of Ireland accepted the Roman calculations for celebrating Easter. ... This mid bay barrier in Narrabeen, a suburb of Sydney (Australia), has blocked what used to be a bay to form a lagoon. ... Tribune (from the Latin: tribunus; Greek form tribounos) was a title shared by several elected magistracies and other governmental and/or (para)military offices of the Roman Republic and Empire. ... The Lombards (Latin Langobardi, from which the alternative name Longobards found in older English texts), were a Germanic people originally from Scandinavia that entered the late Roman Empire. ... The Slavic peoples are the most numerous ethnic and linguistic body of peoples in Europe. ...