An inhabited area since the Bronze age (stations along the Sile, south of the city), the roman Tarvisium, part of the Claudia tribe, became a "municipium" some time between 49 B.C., the date when citizenship was conceded, and the 1st Century A.D.

The dominion of Treviso occupied the plain north of the city, between the Montello hill and the river Piave.

Unscathed by the passage of Attila, the city began to florish under the Goths and the Longobards, who turned it into a duchy. During the Carolingian domain it became the capital of a Mark and possessed a blooming mint during the 9th Century.

The City, devastated by the Huns towards 911, was by then drafting its communal orders, which were recognised in 1164 by Barbarossa. It was under the Empire's favour but at the same time adhered to the Veronese League, then to the Lombard League, fought at Legnano and partecipated in the Constance peace treaty.

It was then that the City's most glorious period commenced. Its domain was extended, the city was enriched, became more prosperous, was visited by poets and storytellers, held knightly feasts (the most famous of which was the feast of the Castle of Love) that gave it the name of "Marca gioiosa et amorosa" (Joyful and loving Mark).

In 1237 the city fell under the tyranny of Ezzelino and Alberico da Romano. Upon their death it was freed once again, but soon after came the disputes between Ghibellines and Guelphs. The captain of the Guelphs, Gherardo da Camino, became lord of the city in 1283 and governed it in such a manner that his valour and courtesy earned him fame (Dante mentions him in the Purgatory, chant XVI, 124 and fol.).

Treviso was afterwards dominated by the counts of Gorizia and other imperial vicars; in 1328 it was ruled by the Scaliger family until 1339, when it was acquired by Venice. In 1381 it passed under the rule of Leopold of Austria who sold it to the Carraresi of Padua in 1384. The Visconti then conquered the city and held it until 1389, when the trevigiani joined spontaneously the Republic of Venice, who offered a lengthy and prosperous peace in exchange for faithfulness from Treviso.

The city followed the destiny of the Serenissima Repubblica until 1797 when it fell under the power of Napoleon's armed forces. The city then passed under the rule of Austria and then of the Italic Kingdom (1805) and then back under Austria (1813).

In 1848 it followed Venice in the revolution against the Austrians, but on the 14th of June it had to surrender.

Finally on the 15th of July, 1866 the Italian Bersaglieri (light infantry) entered the city.

It suffered air bombings during the First World War, and more during the Second World War when American heavy bombing caused thousands of victims, destroying many public buildings and monuments of great historical and artistic interest.