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54-665: The Insubres are mentioned by Caecilius Statius , Cicero , Polybius , Livy , Pliny the Elder , and Strabo . Polybius called the Insubres the most important Celtic tribe of the Italian peninsula , while according to Livy they were the first to inhabit Cisalpine Gaul , from the 7th century BC. The Insubres were part of the Golasecca culture, which takes its name from a town near Varese , where Abbot Giovanni Battista Giani made

108-562: A Roman comic poet, was born in Insubria, possibly in Mediolanum. He was originally a slave and was probably a war captive who was taken to Rome. Caecilius was the name of his patron, probably a member of the powerful Metelli clan. His work was greatly acclaimed. Caecilius Statius Statius Caecilius , also known as Caecilius Statius ( / s ɪ ˈ s iː l i ə s ˈ s t eɪ ʃ i ə s / ; c. 220 BC – c. 166 BC),

162-655: A Roman force that came to the aid of the city. The Romans sent envoys to negotiate the release of Roman prisoners, but the envoys were killed. A Roman army was sent to the ager Gallicus , the name the Romans gave to an area on the Adriatic coast that had been conquered by the Senone Gauls. This army routed a Senone force, occupied their territory, killed most of the Senones and drove the rest out of their land. Afraid that

216-677: A band tradition linked to the Guardia nazionale founded under Napoleonic influence. In 1864, native son Amilcare Ponchielli became its leader and created what might be considered one of the greatest bands of all time. In his role as capobanda , Ponchielli founded a band school and a tradition that waned only at the onset of World War I . Cremona railway station , opened in 1863, is a terminus of six railway lines, all of which are regional (semi-fast) or local services. Main destinations are Pavia , Mantua , Milan , Treviglio , Parma , Brescia , Piacenza and Fidenza . Cremona's favourite sport

270-426: A dead end. After several other clashes, the Insubres made an alliance with Rome in 194 BC, maintaining some autonomy. In 89 BC, they obtained Latin citizenship and, in 49 BC, Roman citizenship. The Romanisation of the Insubres was probably quick owing to the presence of Roman colonies and to Julius Caesar using Mediolanum as a staging post for his conquest of Gaul (58–50 BC). Caecilius Statius (c. 220 BC – c. 166 BC),

324-461: Is football . The U.S. Cremonese played for several years in Serie A , its most renowned players being Aristide Guarneri , Emiliano Mondonico , Antonio Cabrini and Gianluca Vialli — all born in or near Cremona. The brightest page in the more than one-century-old history of Cremonese was written in the early 1990s, when the president of the team was Domenico Luzzara and the coach was Gigi Simoni ;

378-556: Is a base for the barges transporting goods along the Po river. Cremona has a distinguished musical history. The 12th-century cathedral was a focus of organized musical activity in the region in the late Middle Ages . By the 16th century the town had become a famous musical centre. Nowadays there are important ensembles for Renaissance and Baroque music, i.e. Choir & Consort Costanzo Porta , and festivals which maintain Cremona as one of

432-484: Is as yet unedited, but is estimated to contain fragments of 400-500 lines. Some preliminary information was published by the researcher, Knut Kleve , in 1996. Cremona Cremona ( / k r ɪ ˈ m oʊ n ə / , also UK : / k r ɛ ˈ -/ ; Italian: [kreˈmoːna] ; Cremunés : Cremùna ; Emilian : Carmona ) is a city and comune in northern Italy , situated in Lombardy , on

486-617: The Amati family. Cremona is first mentioned in history as a settlement of the Cenomani , a Gallic ( Celtic ) tribe that arrived in the Po valley around 400 BC. However, the name Cremona most likely dates back to earlier settlers and puzzled the ancients, who gave many fanciful interpretations. In 218 BC the Romans established on that spot their first military outpost (a colonia ) north of

540-744: The Battle of Trasimene (217 BC). We next hear of the Gauls during the Second Punic War in relation to the Battle of the Metaurus (207 BC). Hannibal's brother, Hasdrubal Barca , was bringing reinforcements from Spain for his brother who was in southern Italy. He passed through northern Italy and recruited Gallic soldiers. Hasdrubal's forces, including his Gauls were routed at this battle in central Italy. At this point, Hannibal's campaign in Italy came to

594-477: The troubadour Luchetto Gattilusio was podestà of Cremona. During this period Cremona flourished and reached a population of up to 80,000, larger than the 69,000 of 2001. In 1266, Pallavicino was expelled from Cremona, and the Ghibelline rule ended after his successor Buoso da Dovara relinquished control to a consortium of citizens. In 1271 the position of Capitano del Popolo ("People's Chieftain")

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648-513: The 10th and 11th centuries. Bishop Liutprand of Cremona was a member of the Imperial court under the Saxony dynasty and Olderic gained strong privileges for his city from emperor Otto III . Its economy was boosted by the creation of a river port out of the former Byzantine fortress. However, the two bishops Lambert and Ubaldo created discord with the city's people. Emperor Conrad II settled

702-641: The 6th century, it resurfaced as a military outpost of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire during the Gothic War . When the Lombards invaded much of Italy in the second half of the 6th century AD, Cremona remained a Byzantine stronghold as part of the Exarchate of Ravenna . The city expanded towards the north-west, with the creation of a great trenched camp outside the walls. In 603 AD, Cremona

756-673: The Cavalcabò lasted until 29 November 1322, when a more powerful family, the Visconti of Galeazzo I , came to prominence that in Cremona was to last for a century and a half. The Visconti's signoria (lordship) was interrupted in 1327 by Ludwig the Bavarian , in 1331 by John of Bohemia , and in 1403 by a short-lived return of the Cavalcabò. On 25 July 1406, captain Cabrino Fondulo killed his employer Ubaldo Cavalcabò along with all

810-506: The Insubres made some advances and created a distinct society of their own. In the light of archaeological findings it can be also assumed that it was an oligarchic society , where power was in the hands of a few Lords . The History of the Insubres, like that of other Gauls and of Italic peoples, was written by ancient Roman and Greek writers. Apart from Livy's section on the Gallic Invasion of northern Italy, their writings came in

864-661: The Lombard League did not survive this victory for long. In 1213, at Castelleone , the Cremonese defeated the League of Milan , Lodi , Crema , Novara , Como and Brescia . In 1232, Cremona allied itself with Emperor Frederick II , who was again trying to reassert the Empire's authority over Northern Italy. In the Battle of Cortenuova , the Cremonese were on the winning side. Thereafter Frederick often held his court in

918-567: The Marici, a Ligurian people who were Roman allies, hoping that this would force the Romans to lift their siege. Instead, the Romans split their forces. The consul Marcus Claudius Marcellus headed for Clastidium and his colleague Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus continued the siege of Acerrae. At the Battle of Clastidium , Marcus Claudius defeated the Gallic forces and killed Viridomarus in single combat. Meanwhile, Gnaeus Cornelius took Acerrae. With

972-602: The Po river, and kept the old name. Cremona and nearby Placentia (modern Piacenza , on the south bank of the Po), were founded in the same year, as bases for penetration into what became the Roman Province of Gallia Cisalpina ( Cisalpine Gaul ). Due to the trade importance of the town, from it started the Via Brixiana a Roman road which connected Brixia ( Brescia ) to Cremona. Cremona quickly grew into one of

1026-625: The Roman name for the area where the Gallic tribes of northern Italy lived. In 222 BC, the Romans besieged Acerrae , an Insubre fortification on the right bank of the River Adda between Cremona and Laus Pompeia ( Lodi Vecchio ). The Insubres could not relieve Acerrae because the Romans controlled all the strategic points around it. Therefore, they hired 30,000 Gaesatae mercenaries and, led by Viridomarus (or Britomartus), they besieged Clastidium , an important and strategically well placed town of

1080-485: The Roman stage from the New Comedy writers, especially Menander , a genre called Comoedia Palliata . If the statement in the life of Terence by Suetonius is correct and the reading sound, Caecilius's judgment was so esteemed that he was ordered to hear Terence's Andria (exhibited 166 BC) read and to pronounce an opinion upon it. After several failures, Caecilius gained a high reputation. Volcatius Sedigitus ,

1134-619: The Romans at the Battle of Faesulae (225 BC) . They were routed by the combined forces of the two Roman consuls, Lucius Aemilius Papus and Gaius Atilius Regulus , at the Battle of Telamon . After the Battle of Telamon, the Romans attacked and defeated the Boii and forced them to submit to Rome. In 224 BC, the Romans attacked Insubre territory. In 223 BC, the Insubres sued for peace, but the Romans turned this down and attacked them. The Romans were now determined to be in control of Gallia Cisalpina ,

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1188-513: The Romans were now fighting wars to exterminate and expel the enemy and annex their territory. In 225 BC, the Boii and Insubres paid large sums of money to Gaesatae mercenaries led by Aneroëstes and Concolitanus . The Gaesatae were Gauls from Gallia Transalpina , the Roman name for what is now southern France. A force of up to 70,000 men ravaged Etruria. The Gauls encountered Roman forces near Clusium ( Chiusi ); instead of engaging, they withdrew to Feasulae ( Fiesole ) at night. They then defeated

1242-502: The annexed Baptistery constitutes one of the most notable sites for Romanesque-Gothic art in northern Italy. Other churches include: The economy of Cremona is deeply linked to the agricultural production of the countryside. Food industries include salted meat, sweets ( torrone ), vegetable oils, grana padano , provolone and " mostarda " (candied fruit in spicy mustard-flavored syrup, served with meats and cheese). Heavy industries include steel, oil and one electric plant. The river-port

1296-528: The cathedral's Porch by Lorenzo Trotti (1550) and the new church of San Siro and Sepolcro by Antonio Gialdini (1614). During Spanish rule, Cremona saw the famine of 1628 and the plague of 1630 . The duchy, after a short-lived French conquest in 1701 during the War of the Spanish Succession , passed to Austria on 10 April 1707. For later history, see Lombardy The Cathedral of Cremona with

1350-581: The church of St. Agatha and the Communal Palace. In 1446, Cremona was encircled by the condottieri troops of Francesco Piccinino and Luigi dal Verme . The siege was raised after the arrival of Scaramuccia da Forlì from Venice . From 1499 to 1509 Cremona was under Venetian control. The victory of the Italian League at Agnadello gave it back to the Duchy of Milan. However, Cremona

1404-543: The city. In the Battle of Parma , however, the Ghibellines suffered a heavy defeat and up to two thousand Cremonese were made prisoners. Some years later, Cremona took its vengeance by defeating Parma's army. Its army, under the command of Umberto Pallavicino , captured Parma's carroccio and for centuries kept the enemy's trousers hanging from the Cathedral's ceiling as a sign of the rival's humiliation. In 1301

1458-512: The context of their covering Roman history and concentrated on battles between the Romans and the Insubres and other Gallic tribes in northern Italy. In 225 BC, the Insubres and the Boii, their Gallic neighbours to the south of the River Po, rebelled against Rome. This was prompted by developments that started in 283 BC, when unspecified Celts besieged Arretium ( Arezzo in Tuscany) and defeated

1512-414: The corresponding relationships, and the impact of one’s personal affairs on one’s position in society." Forty-two titles are known, about half based on Menander, and half on other Greek authors. Approximately 280 fragmentary verses survive. Plocium is the best preserved (45 verses). In addition to that, a large fragment of Obolostates was discovered not long ago among the papyri of Herculaneum ; it

1566-525: The dramatic critic, places him first amongst the comic poets; Varro credits him with pathos and skill in the construction of his plots; Horace ( Epistles , ii. I. 59) contrasts his dignity with the art of Terence. Quintilian ( Inst. Orat. , x. I. 99) speaks somewhat disparagingly of him, and Cicero , although he admits with some hesitation that Caecilius may have been the chief of the comic poets ( De Optimo Genere Oratorum , I), considers him inferior to Terence in style and Latinity ( Ad Atticum vii. 3), as

1620-615: The first findings of about fifty Celtic graves with pottery and metal objects. It is a culture that developed at the end of the Late Bronze Age, between the rivers Po , Serio and Sesia , and which has its counterpart in the Central European Hallstatt culture . The Insubres culture followed then what was a slow end of its own evolution. Thanks to the cultural and commercial exchanges with neighboring areas, such as Etruria , Venetia and Transalpine Gaul ,

1674-486: The fortress taken and the Insubre king dead, the Romans then easily took the capital of the Insubres, which they named Mediolanum (Milan). The Insubres surrendered and were forced to become Roman allies. The Romans founded garrisoned colonies at Cremona and Placentia ( Piacenza ). The former was on the north bank of the River Po and the latter was close to its south bank (in Insubre and Boii territory respectively). This

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1728-467: The help of Milan . The subsequent victory and its loyal imperial stance earned Cremona the right to create a mint for its own coinage in 1154. In 1162, Imperial and Cremonese forces assaulted Milan and destroyed it. However, in 1167 the city changed sides and joined the Lombard League . Its troops were part of the army that, on 29 May 1176, defeated Barbarossa in the Battle of Legnano . However,

1782-693: The largest towns in northern Italy, as it was on the main road connecting Genoa to Aquileia , the Via Postumia . It supplied troops to Julius Caesar and benefited from his rule, but later supported Marcus Iunius Brutus and the Senate in their conflict with Augustus , who, having won, in 40 BC confiscated Cremona's land and redistributed it to his men. The famous poet Virgil , who went to school in Cremona, had to forfeit his ancestral farm ("too close to wretched Cremona"), but later regained it. The city's prosperity continued to increase until 69 AD, when it

1836-505: The left bank of the Po river in the middle of the Pianura Padana ( Po Valley ). It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local city and province governments. The city of Cremona is especially noted for its musical history and traditions, including some of the earliest and most renowned luthiers , such as Giuseppe Guarneri , Antonio Stradivari , Francesco Rugeri , Vincenzo Rugeri , and several members of

1890-640: The male members of his family, and assumed control over Cremona. However, he was unable to face the task, and ceded the city back to the Visconti for a payment of 40,000 golden florins. Thus Filippo Maria Visconti made his signoria hereditary. Cremona became part of the Duchy of Milan , following its fate until the unification of Italy . Under the Visconti and later the Sforza , Cremona underwent high cultural and religious development. In 1411 Palazzo Cittanova become

1944-510: The most important towns in Italy for music. Composer Marc'Antonio Ingegneri taught there; Claudio Monteverdi was his most famous student, before leaving for Mantua in 1591. Cremona was the birthplace of Pierre-Francisque Caroubel , a collaborator with noted German composer Michael Praetorius . The bishop of Cremona , Nicolò Sfondrati, a fervent supporter of the Counter-Reformation , became Pope Gregory XIV in 1590. Since he

1998-413: The original Greek of Menander, affording the only opportunity, apart from Plautus' Bacchides , to make a substantial comparison between a Roman comedy and its Greek model. Caecilius' version, diffuse and by no means close as a translation, does not reproduce the spirit of the original. His comedies "apparently included serious thoughts on moral and social issues, mostly related to the immediate family,

2052-450: The quarrel by entering Cremona in 1037 together with the young Pope Benedict IX . Under Henry IV , Cremona refused to pay the oppressive taxes requested by the Empire and the bishop. According to a legend, the great gonfaloniere (mayor) Giovanni Baldesio of Cremona faced the emperor himself in a duel. As Henry was knocked from his horse, the city was saved the annual payment of the 3 kg (7 lb) golden ball, which, for that year,

2106-514: The same fate might occur to them, the neighbouring Boii joined the Etruscans in a rebellion. Their combined force was defeated at the Battle of Lake Vadimo in the same year. What prompted the Insubres to join the Boii in another rebellion was a law passed in Rome that provided for the subdivision of the ager gallicus into Roman administrative units. This created fears among the Boii and Insubres that

2160-470: The seat of the university of fustian merchants. In 1441 the city hosted the marriage of Francesco I Sforza and Bianca Maria Visconti in the temple built by the Benedictines , which today is the church of Saint Sigismund. For that occasion a new sweet was devised, which evolved into the famous torrone . Ludovico il Moro assisted in the financing of several building projects for the cathedral,

2214-537: The summit of achievement in string instrument making. Cremona is still renowned for producing high-quality instruments, rare examples of which can be seen when visiting the local Museo del Violino . In 2012 the " Traditional violin craftsmanship in Cremona " was declared an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO . Internationally, the city's craftsmen are renowned for the unique process used in crafting bowed stringed instruments which are assembled and moulded by hand without using any industrial materials. Cremona had

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2268-642: The team managed to stay in Serie A for three consecutive years, ending one championship at tenth place. By defeating English team Derby County in the Final to win the Anglo-Italian Cup (27 March 1993), Cremonese became the second Italian team in football history to win at Wembley . Cremona, by the 1980s, had built a strong basketball tradition, now brought on by Vanoli Basket , a team from Soresina which however usually plays in Cremona. Cremona has also

2322-671: Was a Celtic Roman comic poet. A contemporary and intimate friend of Ennius , according to tradition he was born in the territory of the Celtic Insubrian Gauls , probably in Mediolanum , and was probably taken as a prisoner to Rome (c. 200), during the Roman-Gallic wars . Originally a slave, he assumed the name of Caecilius from his patron, probably one of the Metelli . However, according to one source he

2376-611: Was ambushed twice on the way. He relieved the siege of Mutina, but was in turn besieged nearby. The consul Publius Cornelius Scipio was sent to support him with fresh troops. Meanwhile, Hannibal reached Italy. He defeated Publius Scipio at the Battle of Ticinus , in Insubre territory and the other consul, Tiberius Sempronius Longus , at the Battle of the Trebia , near Placentia. Hannibal wintered near Placentia and then moved on to central and southern Italy. Some Insubres joined him, among them Ducarius who killed Consul Gaius Flaminius at

2430-456: Was an equally fervent patron of music, the renown of the town as a musical destination grew accordingly. Beginning in the 16th century, Cremona became renowned as a centre of musical instrument manufacture, with the violins of the Amati and Rugeri families, and later the products of the Guarneri and Stradivari workshops. To the present day, their handmade work is widely considered to be

2484-563: Was assigned to Spain under the Treaty of Noyon (1513). Cremona fell to the new rulers only in 1524 when the Castle of Santa Croce surrendered. The French were finally expelled from the duchy two years later, with the Treaty of Madrid , and subsequently Cremona remained a Spanish dominion for many years. During that time several building improvements or additions were made, including the Loggia of

2538-624: Was conquered by the Lombard King Agilulf and again destroyed. Its territory was divided between the two duchies of Brescia and Bergamo . However, in 615 AD, Queen Theodelinda , a devout Roman Catholic intent on converting her people, had Cremona rebuilt and re-installed a bishop there. Control of the city fell increasingly to its bishop, who became a Holy Roman Empire vassal after Charlemagne 's conquest of Italy. In this way, Cremona increased its power and its prosperity steadily and some of its bishops had important roles between

2592-663: Was created. In 1276 the Signoria passed to marquis Cavalcabò Cavalcabò ; in 1305 he was succeeded by his son Guglielmo Cavalcabò, who held power until 1310. During this period many edifices were created or restored including the belfry of the Torrazzo , the Romanesque church of San Francis, the cathedral's transepts and the Loggia dei Militi. Moreover, agriculture was boosted with a new network of canals. After some foreign invasions (notably that of Emperor Henry VII in 1311),

2646-599: Was defeated near Bressanoro . As in many northern Italian cities, the people were divided into two opposing parties, the Guelphs , who were stronger in the new city , and the Ghibellines , who had their base in the old city . The parties were so irreconcilable that the former built a second Communal Palace, the still existing Palazzo Cittanova ("new city's palace"). When Frederick Barbarossa descended into Italy to assert his authority, Cremona sided with him in order to gain his support against Crema, which had rebelled with

2700-496: Was done to secure the crossing of the river and the gateway to Liguria. They also established a garrison at Mutina ( Modena ), which was to become a colony in 182 BC. In 218 BC, the Insubres and the Boii rebelled in anticipation of Hannibal's invasion of Italy in the Second Punic War (218-201 BC). They attacked Cremona and Placentia, forcing the settlers to flee to Mutina, which was besieged. The praetor Lucius Manlius Vulso set off from Ariminum with 20,000 infantry and 1,600 cavalry. He

2754-643: Was free-born of Samnite stock whose family had settled in Cisalpine Gaul following the Second Punic War . In this case he would have been a native speaker of a language close to Latin, rather than Gaulish Insubrian. There he came to the attention of Marcus Caecilius Denter, the Legatus Legionibus Praepositus in Cisalpine Gaul in 200 BC who introduced him in Rome. He supported himself by adapting Greek plays for

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2808-595: Was instead given to Berta, Giovanni's girlfriend, as her dowry. The first historical news about a free Cremona is from 1093, as it entered into an anti-Empire alliance led by Mathilde of Canossa , together with Lodi , Milan and Piacenza . The conflict ended with Cremona gaining the Insula Fulcheria , the area around the nearby city of Crema , as its territory. After that time, the new commune warred against nearby cities to enlarge its territory. In 1107 Cremona conquered Tortona , but four years later its army

2862-716: Was only natural, considering his foreign extraction. The fact that his plays could be referred to by name alone without any indication of the author (Cicero, De Finibus , ii. 7) is sufficient proof of their widespread popularity. Caecilius holds a place between Plautus and Terence in his treatment of the Greek originals; he did not, like Plautus, confound things Greek and Roman, nor, like Terence, eliminate everything that could not be romanized. The fragments of his plays are chiefly preserved in Aulus Gellius , who cites several passages from Plocium ( The Necklace ) together with

2916-535: Was sacked and destroyed in the Second Battle of Bedriacum by the troops of Vespasian under command of Marcus Antonius Primus , fighting to install him as Emperor against his rival Vitellius . The sacking was described by Tacitus in Histories. Cremona was rebuilt with the help of the new emperor Vespasian, but it seems to have failed to regain its former prosperity as it disappeared from history. In

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