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The
Romans
The history of the Romans in the Marches
started in 295 BC when, near Sassoferrato, the proud Piceni, made alliance
with them and with the Lucani in attempt to resist the attack of the
troops of the Umbri, the Gauls, the Etruscans and the Sanniti. The victory
in the Battle of Sentinum (which
left numerous traces of the urban reality) started the long dominion of
the Romans on this territory and helped the unification of Central Italy.
The unification successively went into effect in the Battle
of the Metauro. On its banks, in 207 BC, the Romans defeated Hasdrubal
and his Carthaginians. The romanisation of the people in the Marches was
thus initiated. Numerous towns were transformed in important colonies (such
as Pisaurum – Pesaro, Potentia
– near Porto Recanati, Auxium
– Osimo and Firmum Picenum -
Fermo). A series of roads connected them to Rome. (The road paved with
cobblestones in Forum Sempronii
- Fossombrone is very suggestive.) The most distinguished are Via
Flaminia (with the Galleria del
Furlo, requested in 76 AC by the Emperor Vespasiano, interesting opera
of heavy engineering) and Via
Salaria.
The Augustus epoch left numerous ruins in the Marches. Bridges, arches,
temples, theatres and amphitheatres emerge in various zones of the region.
The Arch of Augustus in ancient Fanum
Fortunae (Fano) distinguishes among the ruins of the town walls, and
the local Civic Museum
preserves rich collection of furnishings and everyday life objects.
In Fermo, guided visits take to
purifying pools (with thirty
subterranean rooms), still partly used as tanks of potable water. The
ancient Roman magazines house a rich Antiquarium.
Military and commercial importance of Ancona (but also its prime rule in the Illyrian wars and in traffic
with the Eastern ports) is best discovered in a visit to the large Amphitheatre
(built in the 1st century), the Arch
of Traiano (probably deed of Apollodoro di Damasco from 115) and the
inestimable, enlarged Greek port
facing the richest markets. Numerous finds and famous bronzes
from Cartoceto are exposed in the National
Museum of Archaeology.
The Roman dominion in Ascoli
Piceno (that boldly defended its Piceni origin) is symbolised with Porta
Gemina, Ponte Solestà, the
rests of Theatre and other
interesting constructions.
Ancient Helvia Recina (the
inhabitants of which successively founded Recanati and Macerata) is still
situated in the countryside of Villa
Potenza, among evident traces of a Theatre
and of a paved street leading towards Septempeda
(San Severino Marche), Prolaqueum
(Pioraco) and Nuceria (Nocera
Umbra). Falerio Picenus, on
Piane di Falerone, exposes stones of another ancient Theatre
and of a significant spa known as Bagno
della Regina (Queen's Bath).
The ruins of the Roman town Urbs
Salvia (built in the 1st century BC near Urbisaglia)
display Amphitheatre, Theatre, frescoes found in the excavations of a Temple
and the ancient walls that, in 410, did not succeed in protecting
triumphal landmarks of this great centre from Barbarian hordes of Alaric.
The mighty Roman Empire could not survive under the devastating plunders
and terrifying incursions of the Ostrogoths and the Lombards (around 490);
but, the ruins of numerous towns still today narrate their history and
centuries of their splendours so dramatically crushed.
© 2001
Liberation Ventures Ltd.
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