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{{Short description|Historical region of Italy; territory of the Roman Republic/Empire}}{{About|the ancient region of Italy|the modern province of Italy|Piceno (disambiguation){{!}}Piceno}} .Picenum was a region of ancient Italy. The name was assigned by the Romans, who conquered and incorporated it into the Roman Republic. Picenum became Regio V in the Augustan territorial organisation of Roman Italy. It is now in Marche and the northern part of Abruzzo.The Piceni or Picentes were the native population of Picenum, but they were not of uniform ethnicity. They maintained a sanctuary to the Sabine goddess Cupra in Cupra Marittima.Picenum was also the birthplace of such Roman notables as Pompey the Great and his father, Pompeius Strabo.

Historical geography

Picenum and the Picentes were described in some detail by the Roman geographers:{{who?|date=June 2023}}

Strabo

Strabo places Picenum between the Apennines and the Adriatic Sea from the mouth of the Aesis River southward to Castrum at the mouth of the Truentinus River, some 800 stadia, which is {{convert|148|km|mi|abbr=on}} using 185 m/stadion. For coastal cities he includes from north to south Ancona, Auxumum, Septempeda (San Severino Marche), Pneuentia, Potentia, Firmum Picenum with port at Castellum (Porto di Fermo), Cupra Maritima (Cupra Marittima and Grottammare), Truentum on the Truentinus (Tronto) and finally Castrum Novum and Matrinum on the Matrinus (Piomba), south of Silvi in Abruzzo. Strabo also mentions Adria (Atri, Italy) and Asculum Picenum (Ascoli Piceno) in the interior. The width of Picenum inland varies irregularly, he says.{{harvnb|Strabo|loc=Book 5, Chapter 4, Sections 1–2}}.

History

Picenum was first settled at the beginning of the Iron Age (1200{{nbsp}}BC).Vermeulen, F.: "The contribution of aerial photography and field survey to the study of urbanization in the Potenza valley.", pp. 57–82. L'Annee Philologique records. The Liburnians had colonies on the western Adriatic coast in Picenum from the beginning of the Iron Age and until the 6th century BC Liburninan naval supremacy meant both political and economical authority in the Adriatic.{{cn|date=July 2023}}In 390 BC the Senoni Gauls invaded Italy from the north and occupied Picenum north of the Esino river. The archaeological evidence shows groups of Senones settled much further south of this river, in the Macerata area and even in the Ascoli area, in sites such as Filottrano, San Genesio, Matelica, Offida. In 283 BC the Romans expelled the Senones and annexed Picenum down to Ancona when it became the Ager Gallicus, part of the Ager publicus (Roman state land).In 268 BC the Romans defeated the Picentes after they had rebelled.Florus, Epitome of Roman History, I.19 Part of the population was deported and others were given Roman citizenship without the right to vote. Thus, Picenum was annexed, except for the city of Asculum, which was considered an allied city. To keep it under control, the colony of Firmum was established nearby in 264 BC.According to Polybius,Histories 2:21 during the consulship of Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (232{{nbsp}}BC), "the Romans divided among their citizens the territory in Gaul known as Picenum, from which they had ejected the Senones when they conquered them".Picenum sided with Rome against Hannibal during the Punic Wars. It also became a Roman base during the Social War. Some Picentes remained loyal to Rome in the war, while others fought against them for the right of Roman citizenship.{{citation | first = HH | last = Scullard | title = From the Gracchi to Nero | year = 1970 | location = London | publisher = Methuen & Co. Ltd}}{{page?|date=May 2023}} All Picentes were granted full Roman citizenship after the war.In the Edict of Diocletian, it was mentioned that the wine from Picenum was considered the most expensive wine, together with Falerno.WEB,weblink The Common People of Ancient Rome, Abbott, Frank Frost, www.gutenberg.org, 2020-03-18, Vinum Hadrianum was produced in Picenum,BOOK, Dalby, Andrew,weblink Food in the Ancient World from A to Z, 2013, Routledge, 978-1-135-95422-2, 171, en, in the city of Hatria or Hadria, the old name of Atri. This is also the same wine that Pliny considered one of the highly-rated wines, along with a few others.BOOK, Sandler, Merton,weblink Wine: A Scientific Exploration, Pinder, Roger, 2002, CRC Press, 978-0-203-36138-2, 66, en,

Culture

Excavations in Picenum have given much insight into the region during the Iron Age. Excavated tombs in Novilara of the Molaroni and Servici cemeteries show that the Piceni laid bodies in the ground wrapped in garments they had worn in life.{{harvnb|Randall-MacIver|1927|p=105}}.Warriors were buried with a helmet, weapons and vessels for food and drinks. Buried beads, bone, fibulae and amber seem to demonstrate that there was an active trade in the ninth and perhaps tenth centuries on the Adriatic coast, especially in the fields of amber and beads of glass paste. In women’s graves there is a large abundance of ornaments made of bronze and iron.{{harvnb|Randall-MacIver|1927|p=130}}.Origins of these items may also show that the Piceni may have looked to the south and east for development.{{harvnb|Randall-MacIver|1927|p=120}}.The warrior tombs seem to show that the Piceni were a war-like people. Every man’s grave contained more or less a complete outfit of a warrior, with the most frequent weapon being a spear. Piceni swords appear to be imported from the Balkans.{{harvnb|Randall-MacIver|1927|p=122}}.

Languages

South Picene, written in an unusual version of the Italic alphabet, has been identified as a Sabellic language that is neither Oscan nor Umbrian.The undeciphered North Picene, also written in a form of the Old Italic alphabet, is probably not closely unrelated to South Picene. At present, it is generally assumed not to be an Italic language (although it may have belonged to another branch of the Indo-European languages).

Cities of the Regio V

As reported by Pliny the Elder in his Naturalis Historia, 24 cities were placed in Regio V:Archeologia nelle Marche, Mario Luni, 2003, p. 136, {{ISBN|88-392-0744-9}}.{| class="wikitable sortable"|+ Cities of Regio V! Latin Name !! Modern Name !! Modern Region !! Tribù

Ancona >	Ancona >	| Lemonia

Asculum >	Ascoli Piceno >	| Fabia

Auximum >	Osimo >	| Velina

Beregra >	Civitella del Tronto or Montorio al Vomano >	|

Castrum Novum >	Giulianova >	| Papiria

Castrum Truentinum >	Martinsicuro >	|

Cingulum >	Cingoli >	| Velina

Cluana >	Civitanova Marche >	|

Cupra Maritima >	Cupra Marittima (Grottammare) >	| Velina

Cupramontana>Cupra Montana	near Sant'Eleuterio of Cupramontana	Marche	Velina

Falerio >	Falerone >	| Velina

Firmum Picenum Φίρμον Πικενόν, in STRABONE, Chr. estomathiae, 241 (citato in ROCCI, Vocabolario Greco-Italiano, Città di Castello, 1974, pag. 1969)>	Fermo >	| Velina

Hadria >	Atri, Abruzzo>Atri	Abruzzo	Maecia

Interamnia >	Teramo >	| Velina

Novana >	Aso (river)>Aso valley	Marche

Numana >	Numana >	|

Pausulae >	Corridonia >	| Velina

Planina, Italy>Planina	near San Vittore di Cingoli	Marche	Velina

Potentia (ancient city)>Potentia	near Santa Maria a Potenza, Porto Recanati	Marche	Velina

Helvia Recina>Ricina	Villa Potenza, Macerata	Marche	Velina

Septempeda >	San Severino Marche >	| Velina

Tolentinum >	Tolentino >	| Velina

Trea (municipium)>Trea	near Treia	Marche	Velina

Archaeological Park of Urbs Salvia>Urbs Salvia	near Urbisaglia	Marche	Velina

See also

• Ancient peoples of Italy

References

{{Reflist}}

Bibliography

• Federica Boschi, Enrico Giorgi, Frank Vermeulen, Picenum and the Ager Gallicus at the Dawn of the Roman Conquest, Landscape Archaeology and Material Culture, Archaeopress 2020 ISBN 978-1-78969-699-8
• BOOK, Strabo, Strabo, Geographica,
• BOOK, David, Randall-MacIver, David Randall-MacIver, The Iron Age in Italy. A Study of Those Aspects of the Early Civilizations Which Are Neither Villanovan or Etruscan, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1927,

External links

• WEB, Paolo, Pastore, Piceni, Inwind,weblink it, 28 August 2010,

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