Apuani
Encyclopedia
Ligures
The Ligures were an ancient people who gave their name to Liguria, a region of north-western Italy.-Classical sources:...
tribes who lived in ancient north-western Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, mentioned repeatedly by Livy
Livy
Titus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...
. From the circumstances related by him, it appears that they were the most easterly of the Ligurian tribes, who inhabited the lofty group of mountains bordering on Etruria
Etruria
Etruria—usually referred to in Greek and Latin source texts as Tyrrhenia—was a region of Central Italy, an area that covered part of what now are Tuscany, Latium, Emilia-Romagna, and Umbria. A particularly noteworthy work dealing with Etruscan locations is D. H...
, and appear to have occupied the valleys of the Macra (modern Magra
Magra
The Magra is a 62 km river of Northern Italy, which runs through Pontremoli, Villafranca in Lunigiana and Aulla in the province of Massa-Carrara ; Santo Stefano di Magra, Vezzano Ligure, Arcola, Sarzana and Ameglia in the province of La Spezia .In Roman times it was known as the Macra and marked...
) and Ausar (modern Serchio
Serchio
At 126 kilometres the Serchio is the third longest river in the Italian region of Tuscany, coming after the Arno and the Ombrone...
). Although they extended eastwards along the chain of the Apennines to the frontiers of the Arretines and the territory of Mutina (modern Modena
Modena
Modena is a city and comune on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy....
) and Bononia (modern Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
), the upper valley of the Macra about Pontremoli
Pontremoli
Pontremoli is a small city, comune and bishop's see in the province of Massa-Carrara, Tuscany, Italy. Literally translated, "Pontremoli" derives from "Trembling Bridge" , with the commune having been named after a prominent bridge across the Magra.Pontremoli is situated in the upper...
, an area later known as Lunigiana
Lunigiana
The Lunigiana is an historical territory of Italy, which today falls within the provinces of La Spezia and Massa Carrara. Its borders derive from the ancient Roman settlement, later the medieval diocese of Luni, which no longer exists....
, and the adjoining Upper Garfagnana
Garfagnana
Garfagnana is an historical region of Italy, today part of the province of Lucca in the Apennines, in northwest Tuscany, but before the unification of Italy it belonged to the Duchy of Modena and Reggio, ruled by the Este family. For a short time, in the 16th century, it was governed by the poet...
were their center.
To oppose their inroads, the Romans
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
generally made Pisae (modern Pisa
Pisa
Pisa is a city in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the River Arno on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa...
) the headquarters of one of their armies, and from thence carried their arms into the heart of the mountains: but their successes seldom effected more than to compel the enemy to disperse and take refuge in their villages and castles, of which the latter were mountain fastnesses in which they were generally able to defy the Roman arms.
They are first mentioned in 187 BCE, when we are told that they were defeated and reduced to submission by the consul C. Flaminius
Gaius Flaminius (consul 187 BC)
Gaius Flaminius was Roman consul for 187 BC, together with Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. Flaminius was the son of Gaius Flaminius who was killed in the battle of Lake Trasimene....
; but the next year they appear again in arms, and defeated the consul Q. Marcius
Quintus Marcius Philippus
Quintus Marcius Philippus was a Roman consul in 186 BC and 169 BC.He held praetura in Sicily in 189 BC. In 164 BC he was elected censor with Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus....
, with the loss of 4,000 men and three standards (plus others standards of the roman ally). The place of the battle was located by historian Lorenzo Marcuccetti, using references left by Titus Livius, in the territory of Seravezza. In fact, according to Titus Livius the places was named, after the battle, Saltus Marcius (saltus meaning a drop or a height difference and Marcius from the name of the consul) and today the hill above the supposed place of the battle, placed in a narrow gorge, still bear the name "Colle Marcio" (Marcio Hill). Others historic and logical evidences led to believe that this was the place of the battle (see Lorenzo Marcuccetti, Saltus Marcius. La sconfitta di Roma contro la Nazione Ligure-Apuana, Petrartedizioni, Lucca 2002). This disaster was avenged the next year, but after several successive campaigns the consuls for the year 181-180 BCE, P. Cornelius
Publius Cornelius Cethegus (consul 181 BC)
Publius Cornelius Cethegus, Roman statesman, was a member of the gens Cornelia of the branch with the cognomen Cethegus.Cethegus was elected curule aedile in 187 BC, praetor in 185 BC and consul in 181 BC. During his consulship, the grave of the legendary Roman king Numa Pompilius was discovered...
and M. Baebius
Marcus Baebius Tamphilus
Marcus Baebius Tamphilus was a consul of the Roman Republic in 181 BC along with P. Cornelius Cethegus. Baebius is credited with reform legislation pertaining to campaigns for political offices and electoral bribery...
, had recourse to the expedient of removing the whole nation from their abodes, and transporting them, to the number of 40,000, including women and children, into the heart of Samnium
Samnium
Samnium is a Latin exonym for a region of south or south and central Italy in Roman times. The name survives in Italian today, but today's territory comprising it is only a small portion of what it once was. The populations of Samnium were called Samnites by the Romans...
. Here they were settled in the vacant plains, which had formerly belonged to Taurasi
Taurasi
Taurasi is a town and comune in the province of Avellino, Campania, Italy. Taurasi is a historic town which is located in the region of Sannio. The town's name probably derives from the Latin Taurus. With in time it changed to Taurasos and then to Taurasia before changing to the format we see...
a (hence called Campi Taurasini), and appear to have become a flourishing community. The next year 7,000 more, who had been in the first instance suffered to remain, were removed by the consul Fulvius
Quintus Fulvius Flaccus
Quintus Fulvius Flaccus, son of Marcus Fulvius Flaccus , Quintus was consul in 237 BC, fighting the Gauls in northern Italy. He was censor in 231 BC, again consul in 224 BC, when he subdued the Boii...
to join their countrymen. We meet with them long afterwards among the populi of Samnium, subsisting as a separate community, under the name of Ligures Baebiani et Corneliani
Ligures Baebiani
In ancient geography, the Ligures Baebiani were a settlement of Ligurians in Samnium, Italy.The towns of Taurasia and Cisauna in Samnium had been captured in 298 BC by the consul L. Cornelius Scipio Barbatus, and the territory of the former remained Roman state domain...
, as late as the reign of Trajan
Trajan
Trajan , was Roman Emperor from 98 to 117 AD. Born into a non-patrician family in the province of Hispania Baetica, in Spain Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian. Serving as a legatus legionis in Hispania Tarraconensis, in Spain, in 89 Trajan supported the emperor against...
The establishment of Roman colonies at Pisae and Luca (modern Lucca
Lucca
Lucca is a city and comune in Tuscany, central Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plainnear the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Lucca...
) a few years afterwards tended to consolidate the conquest thus obtained, and established the Roman dominion permanently as far as the Macra and the port of Luna (modern Luni
Luni, Italy
Luni is a frazione of the comune of Ortonovo, province of La Spezia, in the easternmost end of the Liguria region of northern Italy...
)
There is no authority for the existence of a city of the name of "Apua", as assumed by some writers.