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105-473: The Addizione Erculea or Erculean Addition is the area of urban expansion created in 1492 by the enlargement of the walled city limits of Ferrara , Italy. It is celebrated as an example of Renaissance urban planning . The walled medieval city of Ferrara was geographically limited from southward expansion by a branch of the delta of the Po river . In 1450, the prior Duke, Borso d'Este (1450) had enlarged slightly

210-723: A Cardo Maximus ) represented by the now Corso Ercole I d'Este parting from the Castello. The Addizione more than doubled the size of the walled town and included areas for cultivation and private parks (now encompassed by the Cemetery of the Certosa and the Jewish cemetery). Among the buildings erected over the next decades and centuries in this sector were the Palazzina di Marfisa d'Este , the church of Santa Chiara, Palazzo Roverella ;

315-525: A classical ethnographic tradition which includes authors such as Herodotus and Julius Caesar . The book begins (chapters 1–27) with a description of the lands, laws, and customs of the various tribes. Later chapters focus on descriptions of particular tribes, beginning with those who lived closest to the Roman empire, and ending with a description of those who lived on the shores of the Baltic Sea , such as

420-512: A collection of coins and Renaissance medals. The Renaissance Palazzo Paradiso , part of the Ferrara University library system, displays part of the manuscript of Orlando furioso and letters by Tasso as well as Ludovico Ariosto 's grave. Its famous alumni include Nicolaus Copernicus and Paracelsus . The northern quarter, which was added by Ercole I in 1492–1505 thanks to the master plan of Biagio Rossetti , and hence called

525-636: A dark chocolate and butter cake, and zuppa inglese , a chocolate and custard pudding on a bed of sponge cake soaked in Alchermes . The clay terroir of the area, an alluvial plain created by the river Po, is not ideal for wine; a notable exception is Bosco Eliceo ( DOC ) wine, made from grapes cultivated on the sandy coast line. Ferrara is twinned with: Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus , known simply as Tacitus ( / ˈ t æ s ɪ t ə s / TAS -it-əs , Latin: [ˈtakɪtʊs] ; c.  AD 56 – c.  120 ),

630-513: A few days later that Tacitus had spoken "with all the majesty which characterizes his usual style of oratory". A lengthy absence from politics and law followed while he wrote the Histories and the Annals . In 112 to 113, he held the highest civilian governorship, that of the Roman province of Asia in western Anatolia , recorded in the inscription found at Mylasa mentioned above. A passage in

735-542: A few years under Napoleon and during the 1848 revolution, the ghetto lasted until Italian unification in 1859. In 1799, the Jewish community saved the city from sacking by troops of the Holy Roman Empire . During the spring of 1799, the city had fallen into the hands of the Republic of France , which established a small garrison there. On 15 April, Lieutenant Field Marshal Johann von Klenau approached

840-543: A general trend in Italy and Europe, Ferrara has come to rely more on tertiary and tourism, while the heavy industry, still present in the town, has been largely phased out. After almost 450 years, another earthquake struck Ferrara in May 2012 causing only limited damage to the historic buildings of the town and no victims. The town of Ferrara lies on the southern shores of the Po river , about 44 km (27 mi) north-east of

945-539: A large urban park around the town and are a popular destination for joggers and cyclists. In 2007, there were 135,369 people residing in Ferrara, of whom 46.8% were male and 53.2% were female. Minors (children ages 18 and younger) totalled 12.28% of the population compared to pensioners who number 26.41%. This compares with the Italian average of 18.06% (minors) and 19.94% (pensioners). The average age of Ferrara residents

1050-413: A lawyer and as an orator ; his skill in public speaking ironically counterpoints his cognomen , Tacitus ("silent"). He served in the provinces from c.  89 to c.  93 , either in command of a legion or in a civilian post. He and his property survived Domitian 's reign of terror (81–96), but the experience left him jaded and perhaps ashamed at his own complicity, instilling in him

1155-812: A project—known as MEIS, after its initials in Italian—to be completed in 2021, with additional buildings that will create a major Jewish cultural hub and add exhibits focusing on the Jews in the Italian Renaissance and the Shoah. During the Renaissance the Este family, well known for its patronage of the arts, welcomed a great number of artists, especially painters, that formed the so-called School of Ferrara . The astounding list of painters and artists includes

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1260-517: A rich Jewish family during the dictatorship of Benito Mussolini and World War II . Furthermore, Wim Wenders and Michelangelo Antonioni 's Beyond the Clouds in (1995) and Ermanno Olmi 's The Profession of Arms in (2001), a film about the last days of Giovanni dalle Bande Nere , were also shot in Ferrara. In the third season of Medici (TV Series) , Girolamo Riario 's men seize Ferrara, 100 miles from Florence and takes their salt. Based on

1365-681: Is Alan Fabbri of the Lega Nord . The urban organisation is governed by the Italian Constitution (art. 114), the Municipal Statute and several laws, notably the Legislative Decree 267/2000 or Unified Text on Local Administration ( Testo Unico degli Enti Locali ). The current division of the seats in the city council, after the 2019 local election, is the following: The imposing Este Castle , sited in

1470-460: Is pasticcio di maccheroni , a domed macaroni pie, consisting of a crust of sweet dough enclosing macaroni in a Béchamel sauce , studded with porcini mushrooms and ragù alla bolognese . The traditional Christmas first course is cappelletti , large meat filled ravioli served in chicken broth. It is often followed by salama da sugo , a very big, cured sausage made from a selection of pork meats and spices kneaded with red wine. Seafood

1575-427: Is 49, compared to the Italian average of 42. In the five years between 2002 and 2007, the population of Ferrara grew by 2.28%, while Italy as a whole grew by 3.85%. The current birth rate of Ferrara is 7.02 births per 1,000 inhabitants compared to the Italian average of 9.45 births. Ferrara is known as the oldest Italian city with a population over 100,000, as well the city with lowest birth rate. As of 2006 , 95.59% of

1680-652: Is a city and comune (municipality) in Emilia-Romagna , Northern Italy , capital of the province of Ferrara . As of 2016, it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated 44 kilometres (27 miles) northeast of Bologna , on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River , located 5 km (3 miles) north. The town has broad streets and numerous palaces dating from the Renaissance , when it hosted

1785-564: Is also an important part of the local tradition, that boast rich fisheries in the Po delta lagoons and Adriatic sea. Pasta with clams and grilled or stewed eel dishes are especially well-known. Popular food items include also zia garlic salami and the traditional coppia bread, protected by the IGP ( protected geographical status ) label. Not unusual is the typical kosher salami made of goose meat stuffed in goose neck skin. Local patisserie include spicy pampepato chocolate pie, tenerina ,

1890-441: Is dedicated to Fabius Iustus, a consul in 102 AD. Tacitus's writings are known for their dense prose that seldom glosses the facts, in contrast to the style of some of his contemporaries, such as Plutarch . When he writes about a near defeat of the Roman army in Annals I,63, he does so with brevity of description rather than embellishment. In most of his writings, he keeps to a chronological narrative order, only seldom outlining

1995-501: Is displayed in the National Gallery of Palazzo dei Diamanti . The Renaissance literary men and poets Torquato Tasso (author of Jerusalem Delivered ), Ludovico Ariosto (author of the romantic epic poem Orlando Furioso ) and Matteo Maria Boiardo (author of the grandiose poem of chivalry and romance Orlando Innamorato ) lived and worked at the court of Ferrara during the 15th and 16th century. The Ferrara Bible

2100-522: Is one of the finest examples of Romanesque architecture . The duomo has been renovated many times through the centuries, thus its resulting eclectic style is a harmonious combination of the Romanesque central structure and portal, the Gothic upper part of the façade and the Renaissance campanile . The sculptures of the main portal are attributed to Nicholaus  [ it ] . The upper part of

2205-548: Is possible that this refers to a brother—if Cornelius was indeed his father. The friendship between the younger Pliny and Tacitus leads some scholars to conclude that they were both the offspring of wealthy provincial families. The province of his birth remains unknown, though various conjectures suggest Gallia Belgica , Gallia Narbonensis , or Northern Italy . His marriage to the daughter of Narbonensian senator Gnaeus Julius Agricola implies that he came from Gallia Narbonensis. Tacitus's dedication to Lucius Fabius Justus in

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2310-587: Is the later historian whose work most closely approaches him in style. Tacitus makes use of the official sources of the Roman state: the Acta Senatus (the minutes of the sessions of the Senate) and the Acta Diurna (a collection of the acts of the government and news of the court and capital). He also read collections of emperors' speeches, such as those of Tiberius and Claudius. He is generally seen as

2415-546: Is the town's oldest, crossed by a myriad of narrow alleys that date back to the Early Middle Ages . Casa Romei  [ it ] is perhaps the best preserved Medieval building in Ferrara. It was the private residence of merchant Giovanni Romei, related by marriage to the Este family, and likely the work of the court architect Pietrobono Brasavola. Thanks to the nuns of the Corpus Domini order, much of

2520-450: Is uncertainty about when Tacitus wrote Dialogus de oratoribus . Many characteristics set it apart from the other works of Tacitus, so that its authenticity has at various times been questioned. It is likely to be early work, indebted to the author's rhetorical training, since its style imitates that of the foremost Roman orator Cicero . It lacks (for example) the incongruities that are typical of his mature historical works. The Dialogus

2625-467: Is well known: inde consilium mihi ... tradere ... sine ira et studio, quorum causas procul habeo. my purpose is ... to relate ... without either anger or zeal, motives from which I am far removed. There has been much scholarly discussion about Tacitus's "neutrality". Throughout his writing, he is preoccupied with the balance of power between the Senate and the emperors , and the increasing corruption of

2730-452: The Dialogus may indicate a connection with Spain, and his friendship with Pliny suggests origins in northern Italy. No evidence exists, however, that Pliny's friends from northern Italy knew Tacitus, nor do Pliny's letters hint that the two men had a common background. Pliny Book 9, Letter 23, reports that when asked whether he was Italian or provincial, he gave an unclear answer and so

2835-610: The Addizione Erculea , features a number of Renaissance palazzi . Among the finest is Palazzo dei Diamanti ("Diamond Palace"), named after the diamond points into which the façade's stone blocks are cut. The palazzo houses the National Picture Gallery, with a large collection of the school of Ferrara, which first rose to prominence in the latter half of the 15th century, with Cosimo Tura , Francesco Cossa and Ercole dei Roberti . Noted masters of

2940-636: The Agricola , Tacitus asserts that he wishes to speak about the years of Domitian, Nerva and Trajan. In the Histories the scope has changed; Tacitus says that he will deal with the age of Nerva and Trajan at a later time. Instead, he will cover the period from the civil wars of the Year of the Four Emperors and end with the despotism of the Flavians . Only the first four books and twenty-six chapters of

3045-464: The Annals fixes 116 as the terminus post quem of his death, which may have been as late as 125 or even 130. It seems that he survived both Pliny (died c.  113 ) and Trajan (died 117). It remains unknown whether Tacitus had any children. The Augustan History reports that Emperor Marcus Claudius Tacitus (r. 275–276) claimed him for an ancestor and provided for the preservation of his works, but this story may be fraudulent, like much of

3150-540: The Augustan History . Five works ascribed to Tacitus have survived (albeit with gaps), the most substantial of which are the Annals and the Histories . This canon (with approximate dates) consists of: The Annals and the Histories , published separately, were meant to form a single edition of thirty books. Although Tacitus wrote the Histories before the Annals , the events in the Annals precede

3255-465: The Ciceronian period , where sentences were usually the length of a paragraph and artfully constructed with nested pairs of carefully matched sonorous phrases, this is short and to the point. But it is also very individual. Note the three different ways of saying and in the first line ( -que , et , ac ), and especially the matched second and third lines. They are parallel in sense but not in sound;

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3360-520: The Fenni . Tacitus had written a similar, albeit shorter, piece in his Agricola (chapters 10–13). The Agricola (written c.  98 ) recounts the life of Gnaeus Julius Agricola, an eminent Roman general and Tacitus's father-in-law; it also covers, briefly, the geography and ethnography of ancient Britain . As in the Germania , Tacitus favorably contrasts the liberty of the native Britons with

3465-569: The Histories . The second half of book 16 is missing, ending with the events of 66. It is not known whether Tacitus completed the work; he died before he could complete his planned histories of Nerva and Trajan, and no record survives of the work on Augustus and the beginnings of the Roman Empire , with which he had planned to finish his work. The Annals is one of the earliest secular historical records to mention Jesus of Nazareth , which Tacitus does in connection with Nero's persecution of

3570-494: The Histories ; together they form a continuous narrative from the death of Augustus (14) to the death of Domitian (96). Though most has been lost, what remains is an invaluable record of the era. The first half of the Annals survived in a single manuscript from Corvey Abbey in Germany, and the second half in a single manuscript from Monte Cassino in Italy; it is remarkable that they survived at all. In an early chapter of

3675-615: The Italian communes is the City Council ( Consiglio Comunale ), which, in towns having between 100,000 and 250,000 population, is composed by 32 councillors elected every five years with a proportional system, contextually to the mayoral elections. The executive body is the City Committee ( Giunta Comunale ), composed by 12 assessors , that is nominated and presided over by a directly elected mayor. The current mayor of Ferrara

3780-781: The Lombard king Desiderius of 753 AD, when he captured the town from the Exarchate of Ravenna . Later the Franks , after routing the Lombards, presented Ferrara to the Papacy in 754 or 756. In 988 Ferrara was ceded by the Church to the House of Canossa , but at the death of Matilda of Tuscany in 1115 it became a free commune . During the 12th century the history of the town was marked by

3885-464: The Middle Ages , and that sometimes reveals the influence of its important Jewish community. The signature dish is cappellacci di zucca , special ravioli with a filling of butternut squash , Parmesan and flavored with nutmeg . It is served with a sauce of butter and sage or bolognese sauce . Another peculiar dish, that was allegedly cooked by Renaissance chef Cristoforo di Messisbugo ,

3990-528: The Mirandola fortress. The besieged garrison made several sorties from the Saint Paul's Gate, which were repulsed by the insurgent peasants. The French attempted two rescues of the beleaguered fortress: the first, on 24 April, when a force of 400 Modenese was repulsed at Mirandola and the second, General Montrichard tried to raise the city-blockade by advancing with a force of 4,000. Finally, at

4095-627: The Palazzo Prosperi-Sacrati ; the church of Teatini ; the church of San Carlo , and the 17th century Teatro Comunale . The walls of Ferrara once spanned 13 kilometers, some 9 kilometers still stand, mainly to the north and east of the city. The Porta degli Angeli was an original Northern entrance to the Addizione Erculea. Ferrara Ferrara ( / f ə ˈ r ɑːr ə / ; Italian: [ferˈraːra] ; Emilian : Fràra [ˈfraːra] )

4200-598: The Papal States . Ferrara, a university city second only to Bologna, remained a part of the Papal States for almost 300 years, an era marked by a steady decline; in 1792 the population of the town was only 27,000, less than in the 17th century. In 1805–1814 it was briefly part of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy , a client-state of the French Empire . After the 1815 Congress of Vienna , Ferrara

4305-432: The Renaissance . He vehemently preached against the moral corruption of much of the clergy at the time, and his main opponent was Pope Alexander VI (Rodrigo Borgia). During the time that Renée of France was Duchess of Ferrara, her court attracted Protestant thinkers such as John Calvin and Olympia Fulvia Morata . The court became hostile to Protestant sympathizers after the marriage of Renée's daughter Anna d'Este to

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4410-598: The Roman conquest of Britain ), mainly focusing on his campaign in Britannia ( De vita et moribus Iulii Agricolae ). Tacitus's Histories offers insights into Roman attitudes towards Jews , descriptions of Jewish customs, and context for the First Jewish–Roman War . His Annals are of interest for providing an early account of the persecution of Christians and one of the earliest extra-Biblical references to

4515-539: The Valli di Comacchio marshes in 1922 first officially revealed a necropolis with over 4,000 tombs, evidence of a population centre that in Antiquity must have played a major role. There is uncertainty among scholars about the proposed Roman origin of the settlement in its current location ( Tacitus and Boccaccio refer to a "Forum Alieni" ), for little is known of this period, but some archeologic evidence points to

4620-518: The crucifixion of Jesus . Details about the personal life of Tacitus are scarce. What little is known comes from scattered hints throughout his work, the letters of his friend and admirer Pliny the Younger , and an inscription found at Mylasa in Caria . Tacitus was born in 56 or 57 to an equestrian family. The place and date of his birth, as well as his praenomen (first name) are not known. In

4725-464: The 16th century best known for madrigals is thought to have been born in Ferrara. Ferrara is the birthplace of Italian film directors Michelangelo Antonioni and Florestano Vancini . The latter shot in Ferrara his 1960 film Long Night in 1943 . The town was also the setting of the famous 1970 movie The Garden of the Finzi-Continis by Vittorio De Sica , that tells the vicissitudes of

4830-419: The 16th-century School of Ferrara include Lorenzo Costa and Dosso Dossi , the most eminent of all, Girolamo da Carpi and Benvenuto Tisi (il Garofalo) . The district is also home to University of Ferrara Botanic Garden . The town is still almost totally encircled by 9 kilometres (6 miles) of ancient brick walls , mostly built between 1492 and 1520. Today the walls, after a careful restoration, make up

4935-617: The Christians . Tacitus wrote three works with a more limited scope: Agricola , a biography of his father-in-law, Gnaeus Julius Agricola; the Germania , a monograph on the lands and tribes of barbarian Germania; and the Dialogus , a dialogue on the art of rhetoric. The Germania ( Latin title: De Origine et situ Germanorum ) is an ethnographic work on the Germanic tribes outside the Roman Empire. The Germania fits within

5040-641: The Este Castle, adjacent to the Corso Roma, now known as the Corso Martiri della Libertà, was the site of an infamous massacre in 1943. On December 13, 2017, the first day of Hanukkah , Italy's Museum of Italian Judaism and the Shoah opened on the site of a restored two-story brick prison built in 1912 that counted Jews among its detainees during the Fascist period. This is the initial phase of

5145-410: The Finzi-Continis , Long Night in 1943 ). In historical fiction, British author Sarah Dunant set her 2009 novel Sacred Hearts in a convent in Ferrara. Ferrara gave birth to Girolamo Savonarola , the famous medieval Dominican priest and leader of Florence from 1494 until his execution in 1498. He was known for his book burning , destruction of what he considered immoral art, and hostility to

5250-479: The Middle Ages to the present day. It played an important role when Ferrara enjoyed its greatest splendor in the 15th and 16th century, with the duke Ercole I d'Este . The situation of the Jews deteriorated in 1598, when the Este dynasty moved to Modena and the city came under papal control. The Jewish settlement, located in three streets forming a triangle near the cathedral, became a ghetto in 1627. Apart from

5355-502: The Roman invasion were famous for their skill in oratory and had been subjugated by Rome. As a young man, Tacitus studied rhetoric in Rome to prepare for a career in law and politics; like Pliny, he may have studied under Quintilian ( c.  35 AD – c.  100 ). In 77 or 78, he married Julia Agricola, daughter of the famous general Agricola . Little is known of their domestic life, save that Tacitus loved hunting and

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5460-527: The actions by Riario, Pope Sixtus IV condemns Riario and accepts Lorenzo's invitation to a peace conference in Bagnolo. The attack by Riario’s men on Ferrara was filmed at Castle of Oliveto in Castelfiorentino , once the residence of the noble Pucci family of Florence. The Palio of St. George is a medieval-themed horse race held every last Sunday of May. Established in 1279, it is probably

5565-508: The atrocities which he ordered; with Domitian it was the chief part of our miseries to see and to be seen, to know that our sighs were being recorded... From his seat in the Senate , he became suffect consul in 97 during the reign of Nerva , being the first of his family to do so. During his tenure, he reached the height of his fame as an orator when he delivered the funeral oration for the famous veteran soldier Lucius Verginius Rufus . In

5670-604: The bigger picture, leaving the readers to construct that picture for themselves. Nonetheless, where he does use broad strokes, for example, in the opening paragraphs of the Annals , he uses a few condensed phrases which take the reader to the heart of the story. Tacitus's historical style owes some debt to Sallust . His historiography offers penetrating—often pessimistic—insights into the psychology of power politics, blending straightforward descriptions of events, moral lessons, and tightly focused dramatic accounts. Tacitus's own declaration regarding his approach to history ( Annals I,1)

5775-505: The city southward with reclaimed land from the river banks. However, Ercole d'Este had suffered from attacks and sieges from Venice to the north and the Papal states to the South. In 1492, in order to accommodate the burgeoning city and create a more daunting city-fortress to withstand sieges, Ercole d'Este commissioned plans from the architect Biagio Rossetti for an urban expansion north of

5880-535: The city. The walls at this border coincided with the north flank of the Castello Estense . These walls were razed and the moat, present Corso Giovecca, was filled in. Unlike the dense haphazard tracks of the medieval center, the Addizione created a main east-west road (analogous to a Decumanus Maximus ) represented now by Corso Porta Po, Biagio Rosetti, and Porta Mare; and north-south street (analogous to

5985-477: The court of the House of Este . For its beauty and cultural importance, it has been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site . The first documented settlements in the area of the present-day Province of Ferrara date from the 6th century BC. The ruins of the Etruscan town of Spina , established along the lagoons at the ancient mouth of Po river , were lost until modern times, when drainage schemes in

6090-399: The empire. Nonetheless, the image he builds of Tiberius throughout the first six books of the Annals is neither exclusively bleak nor approving: most scholars view the image of Tiberius as predominantly positive in the first books, and predominantly negative after the intrigues of Sejanus . The entrance of Tiberius in the first chapters of the first book is dominated by the hypocrisy of

6195-558: The end of the 1930s with the set-up of a chemical plant by the Fascist regime that should have supplied the regime with synthetic rubber . During the Second World War Ferrara was repeatedly bombed by Allied warplanes that targeted and destroyed railway links and industrial facilities. After the war, the industrial area in Pontelagoscuro was expanded to become a giant petrochemical compound operated by Montecatini and other companies, that at its peak employed 7,000 workers and produced 20% of plastics in Italy. In recent decades, as part of

6300-445: The end of the German occupation. During the Second World War, 96 of Ferrara's 300 Jews were deported to German concentration and death camps; five survived. The Italian Jewish writer, Giorgio Bassani , was from Ferrara. His celebrated book, The Garden of the Finzi-Continis , was published in Italian as Giardino dei Finzi-Contini, 1962, by Giulio Einaudi editore s.p.a. It was made into a film by Vittorio de Sica in 1970. During WWII,

6405-570: The end of the communal period in Ferrara and the beginning of the Este rule, which lasted until 1598. In 1452 Borso d'Este was created duke of Modena and Reggio by Emperor Frederick III and in 1471 duke of Ferrara by Pope Paul II . Lionello and, especially, Ercole I were among the most important patrons of the arts in late 15th- and early 16th-century Italy. During this time, Ferrara grew into an international cultural centre, renowned for its architecture, music, literature and visual arts. The architecture of Ferrara greatly benefited from

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6510-416: The end of the month, a column led by Pierre-Augustin Hulin reached and relieved the fortress. Klenau took possession of the town on 21 May, and garrisoned it with a light battalion. The Jewish residents of Ferrara paid 30,000  ducats to prevent the pillage of the city by Klenau's forces; this was used to pay the wages of Gardani's troops. Although Klenau held the town, the French still possessed

6615-526: The fervently Catholic Duke of Guise. The Ferrarese musician Girolamo Frescobaldi was one of the most important composers of keyboard music in the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. His masterpiece Fiori musicali ( Musical Flowers ) is a collection of liturgical organ music first published in 1635. It became the most famous of Frescobaldi's works and was studied centuries after his death by numerous composers, including Johann Sebastian Bach . Maurizio Moro (15??–16??) an Italian poet of

6720-427: The fifth book survive, covering the year 69 and the first part of 70. The work is believed to have continued up to the death of Domitian on September 18, 96. The fifth book contains—as a prelude to the account of Titus's suppression of the First Jewish–Roman War —a short ethnographic survey of the ancient Jews , and it is an invaluable record of Roman attitudes towards them. The Annals , Tacitus's final work, covers

6825-440: The following year, he wrote and published the Agricola and Germania , foreshadowing the literary endeavors that would occupy him until his death. Afterward, he absented himself from public life, but returned during Trajan 's reign (98–117). In 100, he and his friend Pliny the Younger prosecuted Marius Priscus  [ la ] ( proconsul of Africa) for corruption. Priscus was found guilty and sent into exile; Pliny wrote

6930-443: The fortress with a modest mixed force of Austrian cavalry, artillery and infantry augmented by Italian peasant rebels, commanded by Count Antonio Bardaniand and demanded its capitulation. The commander refused. Klenau blockaded the city, leaving a small group of artillery and troops to continue the siege. For the next three days, Klenau patrolled the countryside, capturing the surrounding strategic points of Lagoscuro , Borgoforte and

7035-432: The frivolous prosecutions which resulted ( Annals , 1.72). Elsewhere ( Annals 4.64–66) he compares Tiberius's public distribution of fire relief to his failure to stop the perversions and abuses of justice which he had begun. Although this kind of insight has earned him praise, he has also been criticized for ignoring the larger context. Tacitus owes most, both in language and in method, to Sallust, and Ammianus Marcellinus

7140-470: The genius of Biagio Rossetti , who was requested in 1484 by Ercole I to draft a masterplan for the expansion of the town. The resulting " Erculean Addition " is considered one of the most important examples of Renaissance urban planning and contributed to the selection of Ferrara as a UNESCO World Heritage Site . In spite of having entered its golden age, Ferrara was severely hit by a war against Venice fought and lost in 1482–84. Alfonso I succeeded to

7245-480: The governing classes of Rome as they adjusted to the ever-growing wealth and power of the empire. In Tacitus's view, senators squandered their cultural inheritance—that of free speech —to placate their (rarely benign) emperor. Tacitus noted the increasing dependence of the emperor on the goodwill of his armies. The Julio-Claudians eventually gave way to generals, who followed Julius Caesar (and Sulla and Pompey ) in recognizing that military might could secure them

7350-538: The hatred of tyranny evident in his works. The Agricola , chs. 44 – 45 , is illustrative: Agricola was spared those later years during which Domitian, leaving now no interval or breathing space of time, but, as it were, with one continuous blow, drained the life-blood of the Commonwealth... It was not long before our hands dragged Helvidius to prison, before we gazed on the dying looks of Mauricus and Rusticus , before we were steeped in Senecio 's innocent blood. Even Nero turned his eyes away, and did not gaze upon

7455-415: The historian's mother was a daughter of Aulus Caecina Paetus , suffect consul of 37, and sister of Arria, wife of Thrasea. His father may have been the Cornelius Tacitus who served as procurator of Belgica and Germania ; Pliny the Elder mentions that Cornelius had a son who aged rapidly ( NH 7.76 ), which implies an early death. There is no mention of Tacitus's suffering such a condition, but it

7560-465: The history of the Roman Empire from the death of Augustus (14 AD) to the death of Domitian (96 AD), although there are substantial lacunae in the surviving texts. Tacitus's other writings discuss oratory (in dialogue format, see Dialogus de oratoribus ), Germania (in De origine et situ Germanorum ), and the life of his father-in-law, Agricola (the general responsible for much of

7665-457: The hypothesis that Ferrara could have been originated from two small Byzantine settlements: a cluster of facilities around the Cathedral of St. George, on the right bank of the main branch of the Po, which then ran much closer to the city than today, and a castrum , a fortified complex built on the left bank of the river to defend against the Lombards. Ferrara appears first in a document of

7770-506: The imperial system (see Tacitean studies , Black vs. Red Tacitists). His Latin style is highly praised. His style, although it has a grandeur and eloquence (thanks to Tacitus's education in rhetoric), is extremely concise, even epigrammatic —the sentences are rarely flowing or beautiful, but their point is always clear. The style has been both derided as "harsh, unpleasant, and thorny" and praised as "grave, concise, and pithily eloquent". A passage of Annals 1.1 , where Tacitus laments

7875-508: The letters of Sidonius Apollinaris his name is Gaius , but in the major surviving manuscript of his work his name is given as Publius . One scholar's suggestion of the name Sextus has been largely rejected. Most of the older aristocratic families failed to survive the proscriptions which took place at the end of the Republic , and Tacitus makes it clear that he owed his rank to the Flavian emperors ( Hist. 1.1 ). The claim that he

7980-472: The main façade, with arcades of pointed arches, dates from the 13th century. The recumbent marble lions guarding the portals are copies of the originals, now in the cathedral's museum. An elaborated 13th-century relief depicting the Last Judgement is found in the second storey of the porch. The interior was restored in baroque style in 1712. The marble campanile attributed to Leon Battista Alberti

8085-434: The motives of the characters, often with penetrating insight—though it is questionable how much of his insight is correct, and how much is convincing only because of his rhetorical skill. He is at his best when exposing hypocrisy and dissimulation; for example, he follows a narrative recounting Tiberius's refusal of the title pater patriae by recalling the institution of a law forbidding any "treasonous" speech or writings—and

8190-449: The names of Andrea Mantegna , Vicino da Ferrara , Giovanni Bellini , Leon Battista Alberti , Pisanello , Piero della Francesca , Battista Dossi , Dosso Dossi , Cosmé Tura , Francesco del Cossa and Titian . In the 19th and 20th centuries, Ferrara again hosted and inspired numerous painters who grew fond of its eerie atmosphere. Among them Giovanni Boldini , Filippo de Pisis and Giorgio de Chirico . A large collection of paintings

8295-493: The new emperor and his courtiers. In the later books, some respect is evident for the cleverness of the old emperor in securing his position. In general, Tacitus does not fear to praise and to criticize the same person, often noting what he takes to be their more admirable and less admirable properties. One of Tacitus's hallmarks is refraining from conclusively taking sides for or against persons he describes, which has led some to interpret his works as both supporting and rejecting

8400-463: The oldest such competition in the world. The Ferrara Buskers Festival is a non-competitive parade of street musicians from all over the world. At the 2017 edition, more than 1,000 artists from 35 different nations took part in the festival, including dancers, clowns, equilibrists, jugglers and other original performers. Additionally, the town hosts the yearly Ferrara Balloons Festival , a large hot-air balloon show. The town's football team, SPAL ,

8505-467: The original decorations in the inner rooms have been saved. The house features fresco cycles in the "Sala delle Sibille" ("room of sibyls"), an original terracotta fireplace bearing the coat of arms of Giovanni Romei in the adjoining Saletta dei Profeti ("room of the prophets"), depicting allegories from the Bible, and in other rooms, some of which were commissioned by cardinal Ippolito d'Este , paintings by

8610-536: The outdoors. He started his career (probably the latus clavus , mark of the senator) under Vespasian (r. 69–79), but entered political life as a quaestor in 81 or 82 under Titus . He advanced steadily through the cursus honorum , becoming praetor in 88 and a quindecimvir , a member of the priestly college in charge of the Sibylline Books and the Secular Games . He gained acclaim as

8715-517: The pairs of words ending " -entibus … -is " are crossed over in a way that deliberately breaks the Ciceronian conventions—which one would, however, need to be acquainted with to see the novelty of Tacitus's style. Some readers, then and now, find this teasing of their expectations merely irritating. Others find the deliberate discord, playing against the evident parallelism of the two lines, stimulating and intriguing. His historical works focus on

8820-515: The period from the death of Augustus in AD ;14. He wrote at least sixteen books, but books 7–10 and parts of books 5, 6, 11, and 16 are missing. Book 6 ends with the death of Tiberius , and books 7–12 presumably covered the reigns of Caligula and Claudius . The remaining books cover the reign of Nero, perhaps until his death in June 68 or until the end of that year to connect with

8925-473: The political power in Rome. ( Hist. 1.4 ) Welcome as the death of Nero had been in the first burst of joy, yet it had not only roused various emotions in Rome, among the Senators, the people, or the soldiery of the capital, it had also excited all the legions and their generals; for now had been divulged that secret of the empire, that emperors could be made elsewhere than at Rome. Tacitus's political career

9030-482: The population was Italian . The largest immigrant group was other European nations with Ukraine and Albania : 2.59% followed by North Africa: 0.51%, and East Asia : 0.39%. The city is predominantly Roman Catholic , with small Orthodox Christian adherents. The historical Jewish community is still surviving. The Jewish community of Ferrara is the only one in Emilia Romagna with a continuous presence from

9135-517: The regional capital, Bologna , and 87 km (54 mi) south of Venice . The territory of the municipality, entirely part of the Padan plain , is overwhelmingly flat, situated on average just 9 metres (30 ft) above sea-level. The proximity to the largest Italian river has been a constant concern in the history of Ferrara, that has been affected by recurrent, disastrous floods, the latest occurring as recently as 1951. The Idrovia Ferrarese links

9240-530: The river Po from Ferrara to the Adriatic at Porto Garibaldi. The climate of the Po valley is classified as humid subtropical (Cfa) under the Köppen climate classification , a type of climate commonly referred to as "warm temperate" that features mild winters and hot summers, heavy rains in spring and autumn but there is also a lot of rain even in the driest month of January for Ferrara. The legislative body of

9345-435: The school of Camillo and Cesare Filippi (16th century). Palazzo Schifanoia was built in 1385 for Alberto V d'Este . The palazzo includes frescoes depicting the life of Borso d'Este , the signs of the zodiac and allegorical representations of the months. The vestibule was decorated with stucco mouldings by Domenico di Paris  [ it ] . The building also contains fine choir-books with miniatures and

9450-747: The state of the historiography regarding the last four emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty , illustrates his style: "The histories of Tiberius, Gaius, Claudius and Nero, while they were in power, were falsified through terror and after their death were written under the irritation of a recent hatred", or in a word-for-word translation: Tiberiī Gāīque et Claudiī ac Nerōnis rēs flōrentibus ipsīs—ob metum—falsae, postquam occiderant—recentibus ōdiīs—compositae sunt. Tiberius's, Gaius's and Claudius's as well as Nero's acts while flourishing themselves—out of fear—counterfeited, after they came to fall—resulting from new-found hate—related are. Compared to

9555-603: The throne in 1505 and married the notorious Lucrezia Borgia . He again fought Venice in the Italian Wars after joining the League of Cambrai . In 1509 he was excommunicated by Pope Julius II , but was able to overcome the Papal and Spanish armies in 1512 at the Battle of Ravenna . These successes were based on Ferrara's artillery, produced in his own foundry which was the best of its time. Upon his death in 1534, Alfonso I

9660-610: The town's fortress. After making the standard request for surrender at 08:00, which was refused, Klenau ordered a barrage from his mortars and howitzers. After two magazines caught fire, the commandant was summoned again to surrender; there was some delay, but a flag of truce was sent at 21:00, and the capitulation was concluded at 01:00 the next day. Upon taking possession of the fortress, Klenau found 75 new artillery pieces, plus ammunition and six months worth of provisions. In 1938, Mussolini's fascist government instituted racial laws reintroducing segregation of Jews which lasted until

9765-437: The town. During the last decades of the 1800s and the early 1900s, Ferrara remained a modest trade centre for its large rural hinterland that relied on commercial crops such as sugar beet and industrial hemp . Large land reclamation works were carried out for decades with the aim to expand the available arable land and eradicate malaria from the wetlands along the Po delta. Mass industrialisation came to Ferrara only at

9870-511: The tyranny and corruption of the Empire; the book also contains eloquent polemics against the greed of Rome, one of which, that Tacitus claims is from a speech by Calgacus , ends by asserting, Auferre trucidare rapere falsis nominibus imperium, atque ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant. ("To ravage, to slaughter, to usurp under false titles, they call empire; and where they make a desert, they call it peace."—Oxford Revised Translation). There

9975-446: The very centre of the town, is iconic of Ferrara. A very large manor house featuring four massive bastions and a moat, it was erected in 1385 by architect Bartolino da Novara with the function to protect the town from external threats and to serve as a fortified residence for the Este family. It was extensively renovated in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Cathedral of Saint George , designed by Wiligelmus and consecrated in 1135,

10080-635: The wrestling for power between two preeminent families, the Guelph Adelardi and the Ghibelline Salinguerra. The powerful Imperial House of Este threw their decisive weight behind the Salinguerra and eventually reaped the benefits of victory for themselves. Thus, in 1264 Obizzo II d'Este was proclaimed lifelong ruler of Ferrara, taking the additional titles of Lord of Modena in 1288 and of Reggio in 1289. His rule marked

10185-757: Was a 1553 publication of the Ladino version of the Tanakh used by Sephardi Jews . It was paid for and made by Yom-Tob ben Levi Athias (the Spanish Marrano Jerónimo de Vargas , as typographer) and Abraham ben Salomon Usque (the Portuguese Jew Duarte Pinhel , as translator), and was dedicated to Ercole II d'Este . In the 20th century, Ferrara was the home and workplace of writer Giorgio Bassani , well known for his novels that were often adapted for cinema ( The Garden of

10290-472: Was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals (Latin: Annales ) and the Histories (Latin: Historiae )—examine the reigns of the emperors Tiberius , Claudius , Nero , and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors (69 AD). These two works span

10395-452: Was asked whether he was Tacitus or Pliny. Since Pliny was from Italy, some infer that Tacitus was from the provinces, probably Gallia Narbonensis. His ancestry, his skill in oratory, and his sympathetic depiction of barbarians who resisted Roman rule (e.g., Ann. 2.9 ) have led some to suggest that he was a Celt . This belief stems from the fact that the Celts who had occupied Gaul prior to

10500-589: Was descended from a freedman is derived from a speech in his writings which asserts that many senators and knights were descended from freedmen ( Ann. 13.27 ), but this is generally disputed. In his article on Tacitus in Pauly-Wissowa , I. Borzsak had conjectured that the historian was related to Thrasea Paetus and Etruscan family of Caecinii , about whom he spoke very highly. Furthermore, some later Caecinii bore cognomen Tacitus, which also could indicate some sort of relationship. It had been suggested that

10605-553: Was established in 1907. In 2017 it was promoted to Serie A , Italy's top-level football league, after a 49-year absence. Its home ground is Paolo Mazza Memorial Stadium , with a capacity of 16,134. Ferrara's basketball team Kleb Basket Ferrara competes in the Serie A2 Basket and plays its home games at the Palasport di Ferrara . The culinary tradition of Ferrara features many typical dishes that can be traced back to

10710-644: Was given back to the Pope, now guaranteed by the Empire of Austria . A bastion fort was erected in the 1600s by Pope Paul V on the site the Castel Tedaldo , an old castle at the south-west angle of the town, this was occupied by an Austrian garrison from 1832 until 1859. The fortress was completely dismantled following the birth of the Kingdom of Italy and the bricks were used for new constructions throughout

10815-501: Was initiated in 1412 but is still incomplete, missing one projected additional storey and a dome, as it can be observed from numerous historical prints and paintings on the subject. Near the cathedral and the castle also lies the 15th-century city hall, that served as an earlier residence of the Este family, featuring a grandiose marble flight of stairs and two ancient bronze statues of Niccolò III and Borso of Este. The southern district

10920-412: Was largely lived out under the emperor Domitian. His experience of the tyranny, corruption, and decadence of that era (81–96) may explain the bitterness and irony of his political analysis. He draws our attention to the dangers of power without accountability, love of power untempered by principle, and the apathy and corruption engendered by the concentration of wealth generated through trade and conquest by

11025-536: Was succeeded by his son Ercole II , whose marriage in 1528 to the second daughter of Louis XII , Renée of France , brought great prestige to the court of Ferrara. Under his reign, the Duchy remained an affluent country and a cultural powerhouse. However, an earthquake struck the town in 1570, causing the economy to collapse, and when Ercole II's son Alfonso II died without heirs in 1597, the House of Este lost Ferrara to

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