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Via Aemilia

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The Via Aemilia ( Italian : Via Emilia , English : Aemilian Way ) was a trunk Roman road in the north Italian plain, running from Ariminum ( Rimini ), on the Adriatic coast, to Placentia ( Piacenza ) on the River Padus ( Po ). It was completed in 187 BC. The Via Aemilia connected at Rimini with the Via Flaminia , which had been completed 33 years earlier, to Rome.

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39-448: The land today known as northern Italy ( Italia settentrionale ) was known to the ancient Romans during the republican period (to 44 BC) as Gallia Cisalpina (literally: Gaul on the near – i.e. southern – side of the Alps) because it was then inhabited by Celtic tribes from Gaul, who had colonised the area in the 4th and 5th centuries BC. Italia meant the area inhabited by Italic tribes:

78-637: A limited period, approximately a century, after which it blended with the Ligurian aboriginal populations to create the new Golasecca culture . The Culture of Golasecca (9th to 4th centuries BC) spread between the end of the Bronze Age and the beginning of the Iron Age in the areas of northwestern Lombardy and Piedmont , and the Canton Ticino . At the end of the prehistoric period , this

117-583: A new phase called the Golasecca culture , which is nowadays identified with the Celtic Lepontii. According to Livy (v. 34), the Bituriges , Arverni , Senones , Aedui , Ambarri , Carnutes , and Aulerci led by Bellovesus , arrived in northern Italy during the reign of Tarquinius Priscus (7th–6th century BC) and occupied the area between Milan and Cremona . Milan ( Mediolanum ) itself

156-660: A possible relationship between them and the Ambrones of northern Europe. Little is known of the Ligurian language. Only place names and personal names remain. It appears to be an Indo-European language with both Italic and particularly strong Celtic affinities. Because of the strong Celtic influences on their language and culture, they were known in antiquity as Celto-Ligurians (in Greek Κελτολίγυες , Keltolígues). Modern linguists, like Xavier Delamarre , argue that Ligurian

195-607: Is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Forlì-Cesena in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna , located about 90 kilometres (56 mi) southeast of Bologna and about 30 kilometres (19 mi) southeast of Forlì . The comune takes its name from the Rubicon , famous for Julius Caesar 's historic crossing. A combination of natural and man-made changes caused the original Rubicon to change course repeatedly. For centuries

234-649: Is still known as Emilia today. The boundaries of the Roman VIII regio roughly corresponded to those of the modern Italian administrative region of Emilia-Romagna . Its inhabitants are today known as Emiliani . The modern Italian State Road 9 is still officially called Via Emilia and follows the Roman route over much of its length. Indeed, the modern road in many parts lies directly above the Roman road. Gallia Cisalpina Cisalpine Gaul ( Latin : Gallia Cisalpina , also called Gallia Citerior or Gallia Togata )

273-519: The Aemilia bridge over the Reno were found in the 1890s, consisting of parts of the parapets from each side. These were originally 38.75 feet apart, of Veronese red marble. The bed of the river was found to have risen at least 20 feet since this bridge collapsed in the 9th century. Ruins of some of the other ancient Roman bridges still exist. At Savignano sul Rubicone a Roman bridge survived until it

312-678: The Battle of the Ticinus , leading all the Gauls except for the Cenomani to join the insurgency. Rome then sent the army of Tiberius Sempronius Longus who engaged Hannibal in the Battle of the Trebia , also resulting in a Roman defeat, forcing Rome to temporarily abandon Gallia Cisalpina altogether, returning only after the defeat of Carthage in 202 BC. Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica completed

351-564: The Po River ) and the Alps, while Gallia Cispadana was the part to the south of the river. Probably officially established around 81 BC, the province was governed from Mutina (modern-day Modena ), where, in 73 BC, forces under Spartacus defeated the legion of Gaius Cassius Longinus , the provincial governor. In 49 BC, with the Lex Roscia , Julius Caesar granted to the populations of

390-640: The Second Punic War , the Boii and Insubres allied themselves with the Carthaginians, laying siege to Mutina ( Modena ). In response, Rome sent an expedition led by L. Manlius Vulso . Vulso's army was ambushed twice, and the Senate sent Scipio with an additional force to provide support. These were the Roman forces encountered by Hannibal after he crossed the Alps. The Romans were defeated in

429-679: The Veneti had been so Celticized that Polybius wrote that the Veneti of the 2nd century BC were identical to the Gauls except for their language. The Greek historian Strabo (64 BC–AD 24), on the other hand, conjectured that the Adriatic Veneti were descended from Celts, who in turn were related to a later Celtic tribe of the same name whose members lived on the Armorican coast and fought against Julius Caesar . He further suggested that

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468-668: The 1st century BC was bounded on the north and west by the Alps, in the south as far as Placentia by the river Po , and then by the Apennines and the river Rubicon , and in the east by the Adriatic Sea . In 49 BC, all inhabitants of Cisalpine Gaul received Roman citizenship , and eventually the province was divided among four of the eleven regions of Italy : Regio VIII Gallia Cispadana , Regio IX Liguria , Regio X Venetia et Histria , and Regio XI Gallia Transpadana . The Canegrate culture (13th century BC) may represent

507-787: The 9th century BC. There is some debate whether the Lepontic language should be considered as a Gaulish dialect or an independent branch within Continental Celtic . Apart from Lepontic, the "Cisalpine Gaulish language" proper would be the Gaulish language as spoken by the Gauls invading northern Italy in the 4th century BC. This is a dialect of the larger Gaulish language, with some known phonetic features distinguishing it from Transalpine dialects, such as -nn- replacing -nd- and s(s) replacing -χs- . Savignano sul Rubicone Savignano sul Rubicone ( Romagnol : Savgnèn )

546-644: The Gauls of the Pianura Padana in a series of hard-fought campaigns in the late 3rd century BC. By 220 BC, the Via Flaminia was completed, providing the Romans with ready access to the region. However, Roman expansion was delayed for some twenty years by the Second Punic War . During the Carthaginian general Hannibal 's invasion of Italy (218 BC–203 BC), Roman military control of the Pianura Padana

585-500: The arrival of Urnfield migratory wave of populations from the northwest part of the Alps that, crossing the alpine passes, had infiltrated and settled in the western Po area between Lake Maggiore and the Lake of Como (see Scamozzina culture ). They were bearers of a new funerary practice, which supplanted the old culture of inhumation and instead introduced cremation . The population of Canegrate maintained its own homogeneity for

624-640: The beginning of the Middle Bronze Age (16th–15th century BC), when, regarding the production of bronze artefacts, including ornaments, North Western Italy appears to have been closely linked to the western groups of the Tumulus culture ( Central Europe , 1600 BC – 1200 BC). The bearers of the Canegrate culture maintained its homogeneity for only a century, after which it melded with the Ligurian aboriginal populations and with this union gave rise to

663-508: The border between Italia and Gallia Cisalpina was roughly a line between Pisae (Pisa) and Ariminum . Gallia Cisalpina contained the Pianura padana (Po river plain). This vast country, by far the largest fertile plain in the mountainous peninsula, contained potentially its best agricultural land, and offered the Romans the opportunity to expand enormously their population and economic resources by mass colonisation. The Romans subjugated

702-468: The city of Bologna) and Senones . It was already commonly referred to as Aemilia by the time the Emperor Augustus assumed sole power. In around 7 BC, when Augustus divided the provincia of Italia into 11 regiones (administrative districts), the area became the eighth regio . This initially had the official name of Padus , but was later changed to Aemilia . The western part of this area

741-622: The conquest of the Boii in 191 BC, although the Ligurians were only finally subdued when the Apuani were defeated by Marcus Claudius Marcellus in 155 BC. Sometimes referred to as Gallia Citerior ("Hither Gaul"), Provincia Ariminum , or Gallia Togata ("Toga-wearing Gaul", indicating the region's early Romanization). Gallia Transpadana denoted that part of Cisalpine Gaul between the Padus (now

780-512: The exact location of the original river was unknown. In 1991, the Fiumicino, a river which crosses Savignano sul Rubicone, was identified as the most likely location for the original Rubicon. Prior to that the region was called Savignano di Romagna. [REDACTED] Media related to Savignano sul Rubicone at Wikimedia Commons This article on a location in Emilia–Romagna is

819-465: The first migratory wave of the proto-Celtic population from the northwest part of the Alps that, through the Alpine passes , penetrated and settled in the western Po valley between Lake Maggiore and Lake Como ( Scamozzina culture ). They brought a new funerary practice— cremation —which supplanted inhumation . It has also been proposed that a more ancient proto-Celtic presence can be traced back to

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858-556: The identification of the Adriatic Veneti with the Paphlagonian Enetoi led by Antenor — which he attributes to Sophocles (496–406 BC) — had been a mistake caused by the similarity of the names. In 391 BC, Celts "who had their homes beyond the Alps, streamed through the passes in great strength and seized the territory that lay between the Apennine mountains and the Alps" according to Diodorus Siculus . The Roman army

897-563: The law appoints two viri and four viri juri dicundo and also mentions a Prefect of Mutina. Virgil , Catullus and Livy , three famous sons of the province , were born in Gallia Cisalpina . The Canegrate culture reflects a late Bronze Age to early Iron Age culture in the Pianura Padana . These areas are now known as western Lombardy , eastern Piedmont and Canton Ticino . The Canegrate culture testifies to

936-592: The newly conquered territory, and then establish a string of colonies, either of civilian settlers or of military veterans along its route. The settlers would be allocated fertile plots from lands confiscated from the defeated native peoples. This was the precise function of the Via Aemilia: its period of construction also saw the foundation of Roman colonies along its whole length at Bononia ( Bologna ) (founded 189 BC), Mutina ( Modena ), Regium ( Reggio Emilia ), and Parma (all founded in 183 BC). The Via Aemilia

975-586: The north Adriatic coast. In 109 BC, the consul Marcus Aemilius Scaurus completed the Via Aemilia Scaura to Genua (Genoa) and Pisae (Pisa). There are the remains of several Roman bridges along the road, including the Ponte d'Augusto , Ponte di Sant'Arcangelo di Romagna, Ponte San Vito, Ponte sul Reno, Ponte sul Rubicone, and Ponte sul Taro . At Rimini, the starting point of the Via Aemilia,

1014-475: The point of no return". The province was merged into Italia about 42 BC, as part of Octavian's "Italicization" program during the Second Triumvirate . The dissolution of the provincia required a new governing law or lex , although its contemporary title is unknown. The parts of it inscribed on a bronze tablet preserved in the museum at Parma are entirely concerned with arranging the judiciary:

1053-599: The province full Roman citizenship. The Rubicon River marked its southern boundary with Italia proper. By crossing this river in 49 BC with his loyal XIII Legion , returning from the conquest of Gaul , Julius Caesar precipitated the civil war within the Roman Republic which led, eventually, to the establishment of the Roman Empire . To this day the term "crossing the Rubicon" means, figuratively, "reaching

1092-588: The road's Ponte di Tiberio still exists, a massive structure spanning the River Marecchia , started by the Emperor Augustus and completed by his successor Tiberius. It still bears its twin dedicatory inscriptions. At Bologna, milestone 78 was found in the bed of the River Reno . It records Augustus' reconstruction of the Aemilia , in 2 BC, from Rimini as far as the River Trebbia. Remains of

1131-593: The southern edge of the flat Pianura Padana within sight of the northern foothills of Italy's Apennine Mountains , crossing numerous tributary rivers of the Po, notably the Rubicon near Rimini and the River Trebbia near Piacenza. In the century following the construction of the Via Aemilia, Piacenza became the key Roman road hub in the pianura padana. In 148 BC, the Via Postumia linked Piacenza to Aquileia on

1170-552: The time of the Second Triumvirate (44 BC – 30 BC), Romanisation of this formerly Celtic country was so complete that the province of Gallia Cisalpina was abolished and its territory incorporated into the heartland province of Italia . The road gave its name to that part of Gallia Cisalpina through which it ran. This area was, before the Roman conquest, the territory of the Gallic tribes Boii (who gave their name to

1209-520: Was de jure merged into Roman Italy as already planned by Julius Caesar . Cisalpine means "on this side of the Alps " (from the perspective of the Romans), as opposed to Transalpine Gaul ("on the far side of the Alps"). Gallia Cisalpina was further subdivided into Gallia Cispadana and Gallia Transpadana , i.e., its portions south and north of the Po River , respectively. The Roman province of

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1248-456: Was a Celtic language with some similarity to Gaulish. The Ligurian-Celtic question is also discussed by Barruol (1999). Ancient Ligurian is listed either as Celtic (epigraphic) or Para-Celtic (onomastic). The Veneti were Indo-European people who inhabited north-eastern Italy , in an area corresponding to the modern-day region of the Veneto , Friuli , and Trentino . By the 4th century BC

1287-609: Was an area where travellers frequently stopped and had contact with the Hallstatt culture to the west, the Urnfield culture to the north and with the Villanova culture to the south. The Golasecca culture was initially concentrated in the foothills area south of the Alps. It later spread throughout the lakes area, and established many settlements representing this original culture. The oldest remains found thus far can be dated from

1326-552: Was completed by, and named after, the Roman consul Marcus Aemilius Lepidus in 187 BC. It was built, on elevated embankments, in part, on top of an older road system that linked the Adriatic to the Tyrrhenian Sea. The consular road ran, largely in a straight line, 176 Roman miles (260 km) NW from Rimini to its termination at Piacenza, connected pre-existing towns, such as Piacenza, Bologna and Rimini. The road ran along

1365-474: Was demolished as recently as World War II. The current bridge is a reconstruction. The construction of the Via Aemilia launched the intensive Roman colonisation of the Pianura Padana. The vast agricultural potential of this region soon rendered it the most populous and economically important part of Italy, overshadowing Central Italy, Rome and the South. The area remains economically preeminent in modern Italy. By

1404-919: Was presumably founded by Gauls in the early 6th century BC; its name has a Celtic etymology: "[city] in the middle of the [Padanic] plain". Polybius , in the 2nd century BC, wrote that the Celts in northern Italy co-existed with Etruscan nations during a period before the Sack of Rome in 390 BC. Ligures lived on the Northern Mediterranean Coast straddling southeast French and North-west Italian coasts, including parts of Tuscany , Elba island and Corsica . Ligurian tribes were also present in Latium (see Rutuli ) and in Samnium. According to Plutarch they called themselves Ambrones , which suggests

1443-578: Was routed in the battle of Allia , and Rome was sacked in 390 BC by the Senones . The defeat of the combined Samnite , Celtic and Etruscan alliance by the Romans in the Third Samnite War ending in 290 BC sounded the beginning of the end of the Celtic domination in mainland Europe. At the Battle of Telamon in 225 BC, a large Celtic army was trapped between two Roman forces and crushed. In

1482-459: Was temporarily overthrown. Many of the recently defeated tribes (such as the Insubres and the Boii ) rebelled and joined forces with Hannibal in the hope of regaining their independence. It was not until 189 BC that the rebel tribes had been pacified sufficiently to allow work on the Via Aemilia to begin. The time-tested Roman method of expansion was to build a brand new road straight through

1521-466: Was the name given, especially during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC, to a region of land inhabited by Celts ( Gauls ), corresponding to what is now most of northern Italy. After its conquest by the Roman Republic in the 200s BC, it was considered geographically part of Roman Italy but remained administratively separated until 42 BC. It was a Roman province from c. 81 BC until 42 BC, when it

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