Romagna
Encyclopedia
Romagna is an Italian
historical region that approximately corresponds to the south-eastern portion of present-day Emilia-Romagna
. Traditionally, it is limited by the Apennines
to the south-west, the Adriatic to the east, and the rivers Reno and Sillaro
to the north and west. The region's major cities include Ravenna
, Cesena
, Faenza
, Forlì
, Imola
, Rimini
and City of San Marino (San Marino
is a landlocked state inside the Romagna historical region). The region has been recently formally expanded with the transfer of seven comuni (Casteldelci
, Maiolo
, Novafeltria
, Pennabilli
, San Leo
, Sant'Agata Feltria
, Talamello
) from the Marche
region, all of which are comuni where Romagnolo dialect
is spoken.
It later took on the more detailed meaning of "territory subjected to Eastern Roman rule", whose citizens called themselves Romans (Romàioi in Greek) and considered themselves the heirs of Imperial Rome.
Thus the term Romània came to be used to refer to the territory administered by the Exarchate of Ravenna
in contrast to other parts of Northern Italy
under Lombard
rule, named Langobardia or Lombardy
.
Romània later became Romandìola in Vulgar Latin
, meaning "little Romània", which became Romagna in modern times.
s in the region, such as Monte Poggiolo
, show that Romagna has been inhabited since the Paleolithic
age.
, speaking an extinct
Italic language called Umbrian, are the first traceable inhabitants of the region. The Etruscan
s also dwelt in some portions of Romagna.
In the 5th Century BC, various Gaul
ish tribes, most notably the Lingones
, Senoni and Boii
, moved south into Italy
, and sacked Rome
in 390 BC. The Senoni utterly subjugated the Umbri and settled in Romagna. The Senoni extended further south to Ancona
, with their capital Sena Gallica (Senigallia
). The lands formerly inhabited by the Senoni were known as ager Gallicus (Gallic plain) to the Romans.
According to the Italian linguist
Giacomo Devoto, there are still a number of Celtic
substrata
in the Romagnolo dialect
.
, the Romans defeated the joint forces of the Celtic tribes, thus achieving a hegemony
over the new Roman Province
of Cisalpine Gaul
centred at Mutina (Modena
).
After the Second Punic War
, the pro-Carthaginian
Lingones
and Senoni were expelled. To consolidate the Roman rule in the region, the Via Aemilia
was built from Ariminium (Rimini) to Piacentia (Piacenza
), and a series of Roman colonies
were founded. The most significant ones are Forum Livii (Forlì), Forum Cornelii (Imola) and Forum Popili (Forlimpopoli
). After the Social War, the Lex Julia
was introduced in 90 BC, and Roman citizenship
was granted to all municipia south of the River Po.
In the first Roman civil war
, between Gaius Marius
and Lucius Cornelius Sulla
, most cities in the regions supported Marius
. As a result, Forum Livii and Caesena
were razed to ground, and the region was looted by Sulla's army.
During the first triumvirate
, the Roman Republic
was divided along the infamous Rubicon
. Most of modern Romagna was ruled by Julius Caesar
, the notable exception of Ariminium
, which is south of the river. In 49 BC, Caesar, who was residing in Ravenna then, led the Legio XIII across the Rubicon and ignited Caesar's civil war
.
, Augustus
started a century-long era of Pax Romana
. All of Cisalpine Gaul
had been incorporated into the Roman province of Italia
. Around 7 BC, Augustus divided all of Italy
into eleven regiones, and most of Romagna (except Rimini
) was in the eighth, Aemilia.
By the beginning of the 3rd Century, Diocletian
re-divided the Empire into four prefecture
s, each divided into diocese
s, and into provinces. Under the new system, Italy was demoted to a mere Imperial province. Modern Romagna was organized into the Roman province
of Flaminia et Picenum in the diocese of Italia Annonaria.
Steadily Ravenna, which was surrounded by swamps and marshes, prospered and rose in importance, and a Roman fleet
was based at the city. It had developed into a major port on the Adriatic. However, in 330, the capital of the Empire was transferred to Constantinople
, so with the fleet that stationed at Ravenna, thus weakened the coastal defence in the Adriatic.
even moved the Western Roman Empire
's capital from Mediolanum
to Ravenna, mainly because of the region's defensive terrain. 8 years later, Alaric I
of the Visigoths looted Rome. In 476, Odoacer
deposed Romulus Augustus
in Ravenna, thus marked an end to the Western Empire
.
Encouraged by Emperor Zeno
, Theodoric the Great
led the Ostrogoths into Italy. He entered Ravenna and murdered Odoacer
in 493, establishing a twofold kingdom
of the Romans and Goths. Under the Ostrogoths Italy was partly restored to its former prosperity.
In 535 Justinian I
initiated the Gothic War. It was fought for 20 years, and bitterly the Ostrogoths were finally subjugated. The peninsula, depopulated and devastated, was ruled by an exarch
from Ravenna. However, Imperial authority was maintained for barely more than a decade. In 568 new Germanic tribes, namely the Lombards, entered Italy and established their capital at Pavia
. The Empire could barely defend the region around Ravenna and Rome, connected by a narrow strip of land passing through Perugia
, as well as a series of coastal cities. The Imperial frontier retreated to Bologna
.
In 727 the Lombard King Liutprand
renewed the war against the Byzantines, taking most of Romagna and besieged Ravenna itself. They were returned to the Byzantines in 730. In 737 the king entered Romagna once more and took Ravenna. The exarch, Eutychius
, retook the region in 740, with Venetian
assistance. Eventually another Lombard king, Aistulf
, conquered Romagna and marked an end to the exarchate in 751.
The Romagna was officially ceded to the Papal States by Rudolf I of Germany in 1278. However, the Papal control over it remained scanty and often nominal for much of the following centuries. The area was divided among a series of regional lords, like the Ordelaffi of Forlì and the Malatesta
of Rimini, many of them naturally adhering to the Ghibelline party in natural opposition to the pro-papal Guelphs. This situation started to change in the late 15th century, when after their return to Rome stronger popes progressively reasserted their authority in the fragemented region. Other powers also seized various part of Romagna, including Venice and most notably the Republic of Florence
which expanded up to Forlì and Cervia, building the famous city-fortress of Terra del Sole
. The Florentine Romagna remained part of Tuscany
until 1920s.
In 1500 Cesare Borgia
, illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI, carved for himself an ephemeral Duchy of Romagna, but his lands were reabsorbed into the Papal States after his fall. The Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis divided Romagna between the Farnese family, the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza, the House of Este of Ferrara
, the Duchy of Modena and Reggio
, and the Papal States.
This situation lasted until the French invasion
of 1796, which brought tragic feats (massacre of Lugo, looting, heavy taxation, abolition of Cesena University) but also innovative ideas in social and political fields. During the Napoleonic rule Romagna received for the first time recognition, with the creation of the provinces of the Pino (Ravenna) and Rubicone (Forlì). When in 1815 the Congress of Vienna
re-established the pre-war situation, secret anti-Papal societies were formed, and riots broke out in 1820, 1830–31 and 1848.
This opposition was fuelled by the Mazzini
an propaganda and the direct action of Giuseppe Garibaldi
. Men like Felice Orsini
, Piero Maroncelli and Aurelio Saffi
were among the protagonists of the Italian Risorgimento.
In the early 20th century the autonomy of Romagna was advocated by Aldo Spallicci, Giuseppe Fuschini, Emilio Lussu
and others. A movement proposing separation from Emilia-Romagna
was created in the 1990s.
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...
historical region that approximately corresponds to the south-eastern portion of present-day Emilia-Romagna
Emilia-Romagna
Emilia–Romagna is an administrative region of Northern Italy comprising the two historic regions of Emilia and Romagna. The capital is Bologna; it has an area of and about 4.4 million inhabitants....
. Traditionally, it is limited by the Apennines
Apennine mountains
The Apennines or Apennine Mountains or Greek oros but just as often used alone as a noun. The ancient Greeks and Romans typically but not always used "mountain" in the singular to mean one or a range; thus, "the Apennine mountain" refers to the entire chain and is translated "the Apennine...
to the south-west, the Adriatic to the east, and the rivers Reno and Sillaro
Sillaro
The Sillaro river is a 66 km-long Italian stream, whose headwaters are by the village of Piancaldoli , in Tuscany. It runs northeast through the city of Castel San Pietro Terme, Province of Bologna in Emilia Romagna and ends as a tributary of the Reno River by the village of San Biagio di Argenta,...
to the north and west. The region's major cities include Ravenna
Ravenna
Ravenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and the second largest comune in Italy by land area, although, at , it is little more than half the size of the largest comune, Rome...
, Cesena
Cesena
Cesena is a city and comune in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, south of Ravenna and west of Rimini, on the Savio River, co-chief of the Province of Forlì-Cesena. It is at the foot of the Apennines, and about 15 km from the Adriatic Sea.-History:Cesena was originally an Umbrian...
, Faenza
Faenza
Faenza is an Italian city and comune, in the province of Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna, situated 50 km southeast of Bologna.Faenza is noted for its manufacture of majolica ware glazed earthenware pottery, known from the name of the town as "faience"....
, Forlì
Forlì
Forlì is a comune and city in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, and is the capital of the province of Forlì-Cesena. The city is situated along the Via Emilia, to the right of the Montone river, and is an important agricultural centre...
, Imola
Imola
thumb|250px|The Cathedral of Imola.Imola is a town and comune in the province of Bologna, located on the Santerno river, in the Emilia-Romagna region of north-central Italy...
, Rimini
Rimini
Rimini is a medium-sized city of 142,579 inhabitants in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It is located on the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia and Ausa...
and City of San Marino (San Marino
San Marino
San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino , is a state situated on the Italian Peninsula on the eastern side of the Apennine Mountains. It is an enclave surrounded by Italy. Its size is just over with an estimated population of over 30,000. Its capital is the City of San Marino...
is a landlocked state inside the Romagna historical region). The region has been recently formally expanded with the transfer of seven comuni (Casteldelci
Casteldelci
Casteldelci is a comune in the Province of Rimini in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about 140 km southeast of Bologna and about 55 km south of Rimini.- History :...
, Maiolo
Maiolo
Maiolo is a comune in the Province of Rimini in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about 135 km southeast of Bologna and about 35 km south of Rimini...
, Novafeltria
Novafeltria
Novafeltria is a comune in the Province of Rimini in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna.-Geography:The town is located about 130 km southeast of Bologna and about 30 km south of Rimini. It is the main center of the Montefeltro traditional region. It is located on the Marecchia...
, Pennabilli
Pennabilli
Pennabilli is a comune in the Province of Rimini in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about 140 km southeast of Bologna and about 45 km south of Rimini.-History:...
, San Leo
San Leo
San Leo is a comune in the Province of Rimini in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about 135 km southeast of Bologna and about 35 km southwest of Rimini.-Geography:...
, Sant'Agata Feltria
Sant'Agata Feltria
Sant'Agata Feltria is a comune in the Province of Rimini in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about 125 km southeast of Bologna and about 45 km south of Rimini.-Overview:...
, Talamello
Talamello
Talamello is a comune in the Province of Rimini in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about 130 km southeast of Bologna and about 30 km south of Rimini...
) from the Marche
Marche
The population density in the region is below the national average. In 2008, it was 161.5 inhabitants per km2, compared to the national figure of 198.8. It is highest in the province of Ancona , and lowest in the province of Macerata...
region, all of which are comuni where Romagnolo dialect
Emiliano-Romagnolo
Emiliano-Romagnolo is a Romance language mostly spoken in Emilia-Romagna, Italy and San Marino. It belongs to the Northern Italian group within Romance languages , which is included in the wider group of western Romance languages...
is spoken.
Etymology
The name Romagna comes from the Latin name Romània, which originally was the generic name for "land inhabited by Romans", and first appeared on Latin documents in the 5th century.It later took on the more detailed meaning of "territory subjected to Eastern Roman rule", whose citizens called themselves Romans (Romàioi in Greek) and considered themselves the heirs of Imperial Rome.
Thus the term Romània came to be used to refer to the territory administered by the Exarchate of Ravenna
Exarchate of Ravenna
The Exarchate of Ravenna or of Italy was a centre of Byzantine power in Italy, from the end of the 6th century to 751, when the last exarch was put to death by the Lombards.-Introduction:...
in contrast to other parts of Northern Italy
Northern Italy
Northern Italy is a wide cultural, historical and geographical definition, without any administrative usage, used to indicate the northern part of the Italian state, also referred as Settentrione or Alta Italia...
under Lombard
Lombards
The Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...
rule, named Langobardia or Lombardy
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
.
Romània later became Romandìola in Vulgar Latin
Vulgar Latin
Vulgar Latin is any of the nonstandard forms of Latin from which the Romance languages developed. Because of its nonstandard nature, it had no official orthography. All written works used Classical Latin, with very few exceptions...
, meaning "little Romània", which became Romagna in modern times.
Prehistory
A number of archaeological siteArchaeological site
An archaeological site is a place in which evidence of past activity is preserved , and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and represents a part of the archaeological record.Beyond this, the definition and geographical extent of a 'site' can vary widely,...
s in the region, such as Monte Poggiolo
Monte Poggiolo
Monte Poggiolo is a hill near Forlì, Italy in the Emilia-Romagna area. At Monte Poggiolo is an ancient castle named Ca’ Belvedere ....
, show that Romagna has been inhabited since the Paleolithic
Paleolithic
The Paleolithic Age, Era or Period, is a prehistoric period of human history distinguished by the development of the most primitive stone tools discovered , and covers roughly 99% of human technological prehistory...
age.
Umbri and Gauls
The UmbriUmbri
The Umbri were an Italic people of ancient Italy. A region called Umbria still exists and is currently occupied by Italian speakers. It is somewhat smaller than the ancient Umbria....
, speaking an extinct
Extinct language
An extinct language is a language that no longer has any speakers., or that is no longer in current use. Extinct languages are sometimes contrasted with dead languages, which are still known and used in special contexts in written form, but not as ordinary spoken languages for everyday communication...
Italic language called Umbrian, are the first traceable inhabitants of the region. The Etruscan
Etruscan civilization
Etruscan civilization is the modern English name given to a civilization of ancient Italy in the area corresponding roughly to Tuscany. The ancient Romans called its creators the Tusci or Etrusci...
s also dwelt in some portions of Romagna.
In the 5th Century BC, various Gaul
Gaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
ish tribes, most notably the Lingones
Lingones
Lingones were a Celtic tribe that originally lived in Gaul in the area of the headwaters of the Seine and Marne rivers. Some of the Lingones migrated across the Alps and settled near the mouth of the Po River in Cisalpine Gaul of northern Italy around 400 BCE. These Lingones were part of a wave of...
, Senoni and Boii
Boii
The Boii were one of the most prominent ancient Celtic tribes of the later Iron Age, attested at various times in Cisalpine Gaul , Pannonia , in and around Bohemia, and Transalpine Gaul...
, moved south into 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...
, and sacked Rome
Battle of the Allia
The Battle of the Allia was a battle of the first Gallic invasion of Rome. The battle was fought near the Allia river: the defeat of the Roman army opened the route for the Gauls to sack Rome. It was fought in 390/387 BC.-Background:...
in 390 BC. The Senoni utterly subjugated the Umbri and settled in Romagna. The Senoni extended further south to Ancona
Ancona
Ancona is a city and a seaport in the Marche region, in central Italy, with a population of 101,909 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region....
, with their capital Sena Gallica (Senigallia
Senigallia
Senigallia is a comune and port town on Italy's Adriatic coast, 25 km by rail north of Ancona, in the Marche region, province of Ancona....
). The lands formerly inhabited by the Senoni were known as ager Gallicus (Gallic plain) to the Romans.
According to the Italian linguist
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
Giacomo Devoto, there are still a number of Celtic
Celtic languages
The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic"; a branch of the greater Indo-European language family...
substrata
Substratum
In linguistics, a stratum or strate is a language that influences, or is influenced by another through contact. A substratum is a language which has lower power or prestige than another, while a superstratum is the language that has higher power or prestige. Both substratum and superstratum...
in the Romagnolo dialect
Emiliano-Romagnolo
Emiliano-Romagnolo is a Romance language mostly spoken in Emilia-Romagna, Italy and San Marino. It belongs to the Northern Italian group within Romance languages , which is included in the wider group of western Romance languages...
.
Roman Republic
The Gaul predominance in the region was consistently challenged by the Romans. In the battle of TelamonBattle of Telamon
The Battle of Telamon was fought between the Roman Republic and an alliance of Gauls in 225 BC. The Romans, led by the consuls Gaius Atilius Regulus and Lucius Aemilius Papus, defeated the Gauls, thus extending their influence over northern Italy....
, the Romans defeated the joint forces of the Celtic tribes, thus achieving a hegemony
Hegemony
Hegemony is an indirect form of imperial dominance in which the hegemon rules sub-ordinate states by the implied means of power rather than direct military force. In Ancient Greece , hegemony denoted the politico–military dominance of a city-state over other city-states...
over the new Roman Province
Roman province
In Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and, until the Tetrarchy , largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of Italy...
of Cisalpine Gaul
Cisalpine Gaul
Cisalpine Gaul, in Latin: Gallia Cisalpina or Citerior, also called Gallia Togata, was a Roman province until 41 BC when it was merged into Roman Italy.It bore the name Gallia, because the great body of its inhabitants, after the expulsion of the Etruscans, consisted of Gauls or Celts...
centred at Mutina (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....
).
After the Second Punic War
Second Punic War
The Second Punic War, also referred to as The Hannibalic War and The War Against Hannibal, lasted from 218 to 201 BC and involved combatants in the western and eastern Mediterranean. This was the second major war between Carthage and the Roman Republic, with the participation of the Berbers on...
, the pro-Carthaginian
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
Lingones
Lingones
Lingones were a Celtic tribe that originally lived in Gaul in the area of the headwaters of the Seine and Marne rivers. Some of the Lingones migrated across the Alps and settled near the mouth of the Po River in Cisalpine Gaul of northern Italy around 400 BCE. These Lingones were part of a wave of...
and Senoni were expelled. To consolidate the Roman rule in the region, the Via Aemilia
Via Aemilia
The Via Aemilia was a trunk Roman road in the north Italian plain, running from Ariminum , on the Adriatic coast, to Placentia on the river Padus . It was completed in 187 BC...
was built from Ariminium (Rimini) to Piacentia (Piacenza
Piacenza
Piacenza is a city and comune in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Piacenza...
), and a series of Roman colonies
Colonia (Roman)
A Roman colonia was originally a Roman outpost established in conquered territory to secure it. Eventually, however, the term came to denote the highest status of Roman city.-History:...
were founded. The most significant ones are Forum Livii (Forlì), Forum Cornelii (Imola) and Forum Popili (Forlimpopoli
Forlimpopoli
Forlimpopoli is a town and comune in the Province of Forlì-Cesena, northern Italy. It is located on the Via Emilia between Cesena and Forlì.-History:...
). After the Social War, the Lex Julia
Lex Julia
Lex Julia are ancient Roman laws, introduced by any member of the Julian family....
was introduced in 90 BC, and Roman citizenship
Roman citizenship
Citizenship in ancient Rome was a privileged political and legal status afforded to certain free-born individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance....
was granted to all municipia south of the River Po.
In the first Roman civil war
Roman civil wars
There were several Roman civil wars, especially during the late Republic. The most famous of these are the war in the 40s BC between Julius Caesar and the optimate faction of the senatorial elite initially led by Pompey and the subsequent war between Caesar's successors, Octavian and Mark Antony in...
, between Gaius Marius
Gaius Marius
Gaius Marius was a Roman general and statesman. He was elected consul an unprecedented seven times during his career. He was also noted for his dramatic reforms of Roman armies, authorizing recruitment of landless citizens, eliminating the manipular military formations, and reorganizing the...
and Lucius Cornelius Sulla
Lucius Cornelius Sulla
Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix , known commonly as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He had the rare distinction of holding the office of consul twice, as well as that of dictator...
, most cities in the regions supported Marius
Gaius Marius
Gaius Marius was a Roman general and statesman. He was elected consul an unprecedented seven times during his career. He was also noted for his dramatic reforms of Roman armies, authorizing recruitment of landless citizens, eliminating the manipular military formations, and reorganizing the...
. As a result, Forum Livii and Caesena
Cesena
Cesena is a city and comune in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, south of Ravenna and west of Rimini, on the Savio River, co-chief of the Province of Forlì-Cesena. It is at the foot of the Apennines, and about 15 km from the Adriatic Sea.-History:Cesena was originally an Umbrian...
were razed to ground, and the region was looted by Sulla's army.
During the first triumvirate
First Triumvirate
The First Triumvirate was the political alliance of Gaius Julius Caesar, Marcus Licinius Crassus, and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus. Unlike the Second Triumvirate, the First Triumvirate had no official status whatsoever; its overwhelming power in the Roman Republic was strictly unofficial influence, and...
, the Roman Republic
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
was divided along the infamous Rubicon
Rubicon
The Rubicon is a shallow river in northeastern Italy, about 80 kilometres long, running from the Apennine Mountains to the Adriatic Sea through the southern Emilia-Romagna region, between the towns of Rimini and Cesena. The Latin word rubico comes from the adjective "rubeus", meaning "red"...
. Most of modern Romagna was ruled by Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
, the notable exception of Ariminium
Rimini
Rimini is a medium-sized city of 142,579 inhabitants in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It is located on the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia and Ausa...
, which is south of the river. In 49 BC, Caesar, who was residing in Ravenna then, led the Legio XIII across the Rubicon and ignited Caesar's civil war
Caesar's civil war
The Great Roman Civil War , also known as Caesar's Civil War, was one of the last politico-military conflicts in the Roman Republic before the establishment of the Roman Empire...
.
Roman Empire
After the decisive battle of ActiumBattle of Actium
The Battle of Actium was the decisive confrontation of the Final War of the Roman Republic. It was fought between the forces of Octavian and the combined forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII. The battle took place on 2 September 31 BC, on the Ionian Sea near the city of Actium, at the Roman...
, Augustus
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
started a century-long era of Pax Romana
Pax Romana
Pax Romana was the long period of relative peace and minimal expansion by military force experienced by the Roman Empire in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. Since it was established by Caesar Augustus it is sometimes called Pax Augusta...
. All of Cisalpine Gaul
Cisalpine Gaul
Cisalpine Gaul, in Latin: Gallia Cisalpina or Citerior, also called Gallia Togata, was a Roman province until 41 BC when it was merged into Roman Italy.It bore the name Gallia, because the great body of its inhabitants, after the expulsion of the Etruscans, consisted of Gauls or Celts...
had been incorporated into the Roman province of Italia
Italia (Roman province)
Italia was the name of the Italian peninsula of the Roman Empire.-Under the Republic and Augustan organization:During the Republic and the first centuries of the empire, Italia was not a province, but rather the territory of the city of Rome, thus having a special status: for example, military...
. Around 7 BC, Augustus divided all of Italy
Italia (Roman province)
Italia was the name of the Italian peninsula of the Roman Empire.-Under the Republic and Augustan organization:During the Republic and the first centuries of the empire, Italia was not a province, but rather the territory of the city of Rome, thus having a special status: for example, military...
into eleven regiones, and most of Romagna (except Rimini
Rimini
Rimini is a medium-sized city of 142,579 inhabitants in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It is located on the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia and Ausa...
) was in the eighth, Aemilia.
By the beginning of the 3rd Century, Diocletian
Diocletian
Diocletian |latinized]] upon his accession to Diocletian . c. 22 December 244 – 3 December 311), was a Roman Emperor from 284 to 305....
re-divided the Empire into four prefecture
Prefecture
A prefecture is an administrative jurisdiction or subdivision in any of various countries and within some international church structures, and in antiquity a Roman district governed by an appointed prefect.-Antiquity:...
s, each divided into diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
s, and into provinces. Under the new system, Italy was demoted to a mere Imperial province. Modern Romagna was organized into the Roman province
Roman province
In Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and, until the Tetrarchy , largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of Italy...
of Flaminia et Picenum in the diocese of Italia Annonaria.
Steadily Ravenna, which was surrounded by swamps and marshes, prospered and rose in importance, and a Roman fleet
Roman Navy
The Roman Navy comprised the naval forces of the Ancient Roman state. Although the navy was instrumental in the Roman conquest of the Mediterranean basin, it never enjoyed the prestige of the Roman legions...
was based at the city. It had developed into a major port on the Adriatic. However, in 330, the capital of the Empire was transferred to Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
, so with the fleet that stationed at Ravenna, thus weakened the coastal defence in the Adriatic.
Germanic migrations and Exarchate of Ravenna
Stepping into the 5th Century, the incursions of the Germans into the Empire further intesified. In 402, Emperor HonoriusHonorius (emperor)
Honorius , was Western Roman Emperor from 395 to 423. He was the younger son of emperor Theodosius I and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla, and brother of the eastern emperor Arcadius....
even moved the Western Roman Empire
Western Roman Empire
The Western Roman Empire was the western half of the Roman Empire after its division by Diocletian in 285; the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire, commonly referred to today as the Byzantine Empire....
's capital from Mediolanum
Mediolanum
Mediolanum, the ancient Milan, was an important Celtic and then Roman centre of northern Italy. This article charts the history of the city from its settlement by the Insubres around 600 BC, through its conquest by the Romans and its development into a key centre of Western Christianity and capital...
to Ravenna, mainly because of the region's defensive terrain. 8 years later, Alaric I
Alaric I
Alaric I was the King of the Visigoths from 395–410. Alaric is most famous for his sack of Rome in 410, which marked a decisive event in the decline of the Roman Empire....
of the Visigoths looted Rome. In 476, Odoacer
Odoacer
Flavius Odoacer , also known as Flavius Odovacer, was the first King of Italy. His reign is commonly seen as marking the end of the Western Roman Empire. Though the real power in Italy was in his hands, he represented himself as the client of Julius Nepos and, after Nepos' death in 480, of the...
deposed Romulus Augustus
Romulus Augustus
Romulus Augustus , was the last Western Roman Emperor, reigning from 31 October 475 until 4 September 476...
in Ravenna, thus marked an end to the Western Empire
Western Roman Empire
The Western Roman Empire was the western half of the Roman Empire after its division by Diocletian in 285; the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire, commonly referred to today as the Byzantine Empire....
.
Encouraged by Emperor Zeno
Zeno (emperor)
Zeno , originally named Tarasis, was Byzantine Emperor from 474 to 475 and again from 476 to 491. Domestic revolts and religious dissension plagued his reign, which nevertheless succeeded to some extent in foreign issues...
, Theodoric the Great
Theodoric the Great
Theodoric the Great was king of the Ostrogoths , ruler of Italy , regent of the Visigoths , and a viceroy of the Eastern Roman Empire...
led the Ostrogoths into Italy. He entered Ravenna and murdered Odoacer
Odoacer
Flavius Odoacer , also known as Flavius Odovacer, was the first King of Italy. His reign is commonly seen as marking the end of the Western Roman Empire. Though the real power in Italy was in his hands, he represented himself as the client of Julius Nepos and, after Nepos' death in 480, of the...
in 493, establishing a twofold kingdom
Ostrogothic Kingdom
The Kingdom established by the Ostrogoths in Italy and neighbouring areas lasted from 493 to 553. In Italy the Ostrogoths replaced Odoacer, the de facto ruler of Italy who had deposed the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire in 476. The Gothic kingdom reached its zenith under the rule of its...
of the Romans and Goths. Under the Ostrogoths Italy was partly restored to its former prosperity.
In 535 Justinian I
Justinian I
Justinian I ; , ; 483– 13 or 14 November 565), commonly known as Justinian the Great, was Byzantine Emperor from 527 to 565. During his reign, Justinian sought to revive the Empire's greatness and reconquer the lost western half of the classical Roman Empire.One of the most important figures of...
initiated the Gothic War. It was fought for 20 years, and bitterly the Ostrogoths were finally subjugated. The peninsula, depopulated and devastated, was ruled by an exarch
Exarchate of Ravenna
The Exarchate of Ravenna or of Italy was a centre of Byzantine power in Italy, from the end of the 6th century to 751, when the last exarch was put to death by the Lombards.-Introduction:...
from Ravenna. However, Imperial authority was maintained for barely more than a decade. In 568 new Germanic tribes, namely the Lombards, entered Italy and established their capital at Pavia
Pavia
Pavia , the ancient Ticinum, is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, northern Italy, 35 km south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It is the capital of the province of Pavia. It has a population of c. 71,000...
. The Empire could barely defend the region around Ravenna and Rome, connected by a narrow strip of land passing through Perugia
Perugia
Perugia is the capital city of the region of Umbria in central Italy, near the River Tiber, and the capital of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area....
, as well as a series of coastal cities. The Imperial frontier retreated to 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,...
.
In 727 the Lombard King Liutprand
Liutprand, King of the Lombards
Liutprand was the King of the Lombards from 712 to 744 and is chiefly remembered for his Donation of Sutri, in 728, and his long reign, which brought him into a series of conflicts, mostly successful, with most of Italy. He profited by Byzantine weakness to enlarge his domains in Emilia and the...
renewed the war against the Byzantines, taking most of Romagna and besieged Ravenna itself. They were returned to the Byzantines in 730. In 737 the king entered Romagna once more and took Ravenna. The exarch, Eutychius
Eutychius
Eutychius was the last Exarch of Ravenna .The exarchate had risen in revolt in 727 at the imposition of iconoclasm; the Exarch Paul lost his life attempting to quash the revolt. In response, Emperor Leo III sent the patrician Eutychius to take control of the situation. Eutychius landed in Naples,...
, retook the region in 740, with Venetian
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
assistance. Eventually another Lombard king, Aistulf
Aistulf
Aistulf was the Duke of Friuli from 744, King of Lombards from 749, and Duke of Spoleto from 751. His father was the Duke Pemmo.After his brother Ratchis became king, Aistulf succeeded him in Friuli. He succeeded him later as king when Ratchis abdicated to a monastery...
, conquered Romagna and marked an end to the exarchate in 751.
Papal rule
Malatesta
Malatesta may refer to:*The House of Malatesta, an Italian family which ruled over Rimini from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century*Errico Malatesta , an Italian anarchist*Malatesta , a 1970 German film...
of Rimini, many of them naturally adhering to the Ghibelline party in natural opposition to the pro-papal Guelphs. This situation started to change in the late 15th century, when after their return to Rome stronger popes progressively reasserted their authority in the fragemented region. Other powers also seized various part of Romagna, including Venice and most notably the Republic of Florence
Republic of Florence
The Republic of Florence , or the Florentine Republic, was a city-state that was centered on the city of Florence, located in modern Tuscany, Italy. The republic was founded in 1115, when the Florentine people rebelled against the Margraviate of Tuscany upon Margravine Matilda's death. The...
which expanded up to Forlì and Cervia, building the famous city-fortress of Terra del Sole
Terra del Sole
Terra del Sole was a town constructed in 1564 for Cosimo I de’ Medici by Baldassarre Lanci of Urbino, in what is now the Province of Forlì-Cesena, northern Italy. It was one of the first fortified cities to be constructed entirely from new on a planned grid system...
. The Florentine Romagna remained part of Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
until 1920s.
In 1500 Cesare Borgia
Cesare Borgia
Cesare Borgia , Duke of Valentinois, was an Italian condottiero, nobleman, politician, and cardinal. He was the son of Pope Alexander VI and his long-term mistress Vannozza dei Cattanei. He was the brother of Lucrezia Borgia; Giovanni Borgia , Duke of Gandia; and Gioffre Borgia , Prince of Squillace...
, illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI, carved for himself an ephemeral Duchy of Romagna, but his lands were reabsorbed into the Papal States after his fall. The Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis divided Romagna between the Farnese family, the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza, the House of Este of Ferrara
Duchy of Ferrara
The Duchy of Ferrara is a former sovereign state of northern Italy.Obizzo II d'Este was proclaimed lifelong ruler of Ferrara in 1264. He also became seignior of nearby Modena in 1288 and of Reggio in 1289...
, the Duchy of Modena and Reggio
Duchy of Modena and Reggio
The Duchy of Modena and Reggio |Italian]] state that existed from 1452 to 1859, with a break between 1796 and 1814. It was ruled by the noble House of Este, from 1814 Austria-Este.-House of Este:...
, and the Papal States.
This situation lasted until the French invasion
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
of 1796, which brought tragic feats (massacre of Lugo, looting, heavy taxation, abolition of Cesena University) but also innovative ideas in social and political fields. During the Napoleonic rule Romagna received for the first time recognition, with the creation of the provinces of the Pino (Ravenna) and Rubicone (Forlì). When in 1815 the Congress of Vienna
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...
re-established the pre-war situation, secret anti-Papal societies were formed, and riots broke out in 1820, 1830–31 and 1848.
This opposition was fuelled by the Mazzini
Giuseppe Mazzini
Giuseppe Mazzini , nicknamed Soul of Italy, was an Italian politician, journalist and activist for the unification of Italy. His efforts helped bring about the independent and unified Italy in place of the several separate states, many dominated by foreign powers, that existed until the 19th century...
an propaganda and the direct action of Giuseppe Garibaldi
Giuseppe Garibaldi
Giuseppe Garibaldi was an Italian military and political figure. In his twenties, he joined the Carbonari Italian patriot revolutionaries, and fled Italy after a failed insurrection. Garibaldi took part in the War of the Farrapos and the Uruguayan Civil War leading the Italian Legion, and...
. Men like Felice Orsini
Felice Orsini
Felice Orsini was an Italian revolutionary and leader of the Carbonari who tried to assassinate Napoleon III, Emperor of the French.-Early:Felice Orsini was born at Meldola in Romagna, then part of the Papal States....
, Piero Maroncelli and Aurelio Saffi
Aurelio Saffi
Aurelio Saffi was an Italian politician, active during the period of Italian unification...
were among the protagonists of the Italian Risorgimento.
In a re-united Italy
However, after joining the reunification of Italy in 1860, Romagna did not receive a separate status by the Savoy monarchs, who were afraid of dangerous destabilizing tendencies in the wake of the popular figures cited above.In the early 20th century the autonomy of Romagna was advocated by Aldo Spallicci, Giuseppe Fuschini, Emilio Lussu
Emilio Lussu
Emilio Lussu was an Italian soldier, politician and a writer.-The soldier:Lussu was born in Armungia, province of Cagliari and graduated with a degree in law in 1914...
and others. A movement proposing separation from Emilia-Romagna
Emilia-Romagna
Emilia–Romagna is an administrative region of Northern Italy comprising the two historic regions of Emilia and Romagna. The capital is Bologna; it has an area of and about 4.4 million inhabitants....
was created in the 1990s.
External links
- "Other Romagna", a local institution
- La Romagna (in ItalianItalian languageItalian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
) - RomagnaOggi.it, a newspaper serving the region online (in ItalianItalian languageItalian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
) - Romagna2020.it, official website of a local committee promoting a 2020 Olympics bid (in ItalianItalian languageItalian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
)