Ticinum (the modern
PaviaPavia , 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 has a population of c. 71,000...
) was an ancient city of Gallia Transpadana, founded on the banks of the river of the same name (now the
Ticino riverThe river Ticino is a left-bank tributary of the Po River. It rises in the Val Bedretto in Switzerland and flows through Lake Maggiore, entering Italy. The Ticino joins the Po a few kilometres downstream from Pavia. It is about long. The highest point of the drainage basin is the summit of...
) a little way above its confluence with the Padus (
PoThe Po is a river that flows either or – considering the length of the Maira, a right bank tributary – eastward across northern Italy, from a spring seeping from a stony hillside at Pian del Re, a flat place at the head of the Val Po under the northwest...
).
It is said by
PlinyGaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was an author, naturalist, and natural philosopher as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
to have been founded by the
LaeviThe Laevi, or Levi were a Ligurian people in Gallia Transpadana, on the river Ticinus, who, in conjunction with the Marici, built the town of Ticinum .-References:...
and
MariciThe Marici were a Ligurian people. In the Third Book of his Natural History Pliny the Elder identifies them as the co-founders, along with the Laevi, of Ticinum, the modern Pavia....
, two
LiguriaLiguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. Its capital is Genoa. It is a popular region with tourists for its beautiful beaches, picturesque little towns, and food.- Geography :...
n tribes, while
PtolemyClaudius Ptolemaeus , known in English as Ptolemy , was a Roman citizen of Greek ancestry. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer and a poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under the Roman Empire, and is believed to have been born in the town of...
attributes it to the
InsubresThe Insubres were a Gaulish population settled in Insubria, in what is now Lombardy. They were the founders of Milan . Though ethnically Celtic at the time of Roman conquest, they were most likely the result of the fusion of pre-existing Ligurian, Celtic and Italic population strata with Gaulish...
.
Its importance in
Roman timesAncient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea, it became one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
was due to the extension of the
Via AemiliaThe 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...
from Ariminum (Rimini) to the
PadusThe Po is a river that flows either or – considering the length of the Maira, a right bank tributary – eastward across northern Italy, from a spring seeping from a stony hillside at Pian del Re, a flat place at the head of the Val Po under the northwest...
(or Po) (187 BC), which it crossed at Placentia (
PiacenzaPiacenza is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Piacenza...
) and there forked, one branch going to
MediolanumMediolanum, 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...
(
MilanMilan in Italy, is the capital of the region of Lombardia and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while the urban area is the fifth largest in the E.U. with an estimated population of 4.3 million...
) and the other to Ticinum, and thence to Laumellum where it divided once more, one branch going to Vercellae - and thence to Eporedia and Augusta Praetoria - and the other to
ValentiaValentia may refer to:*Valentia Island, off the coast of Ireland*Valentia , a province of Roman Britain*Valentia III, a fictional planet in the Lensmen books.*Valence, Drôme, France, known in Roman times as Valentia...
- and thence to Augusta Taurinorum (
TurinTurin is a major city as well as a business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River surrounded by the Alpine arch...
) or to
PollentiaThe ancient town of Pollentia on the left bank of the Tanaro is known today as Pollenzo, a frazione of Bra in the Province of Cuneo, Piedmont....
.
The branch to Eporedia must have been constructed before 100 BC.
Ticinum (the modern
PaviaPavia , 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 has a population of c. 71,000...
) was an ancient city of Gallia Transpadana, founded on the banks of the river of the same name (now the
Ticino riverThe river Ticino is a left-bank tributary of the Po River. It rises in the Val Bedretto in Switzerland and flows through Lake Maggiore, entering Italy. The Ticino joins the Po a few kilometres downstream from Pavia. It is about long. The highest point of the drainage basin is the summit of...
) a little way above its confluence with the Padus (
PoThe Po is a river that flows either or – considering the length of the Maira, a right bank tributary – eastward across northern Italy, from a spring seeping from a stony hillside at Pian del Re, a flat place at the head of the Val Po under the northwest...
).
It is said by
PlinyGaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was an author, naturalist, and natural philosopher as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
to have been founded by the
LaeviThe Laevi, or Levi were a Ligurian people in Gallia Transpadana, on the river Ticinus, who, in conjunction with the Marici, built the town of Ticinum .-References:...
and
MariciThe Marici were a Ligurian people. In the Third Book of his Natural History Pliny the Elder identifies them as the co-founders, along with the Laevi, of Ticinum, the modern Pavia....
, two
LiguriaLiguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. Its capital is Genoa. It is a popular region with tourists for its beautiful beaches, picturesque little towns, and food.- Geography :...
n tribes, while
PtolemyClaudius Ptolemaeus , known in English as Ptolemy , was a Roman citizen of Greek ancestry. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer and a poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under the Roman Empire, and is believed to have been born in the town of...
attributes it to the
InsubresThe Insubres were a Gaulish population settled in Insubria, in what is now Lombardy. They were the founders of Milan . Though ethnically Celtic at the time of Roman conquest, they were most likely the result of the fusion of pre-existing Ligurian, Celtic and Italic population strata with Gaulish...
.
Its importance in
Roman timesAncient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea, it became one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
was due to the extension of the
Via AemiliaThe 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...
from Ariminum (Rimini) to the
PadusThe Po is a river that flows either or – considering the length of the Maira, a right bank tributary – eastward across northern Italy, from a spring seeping from a stony hillside at Pian del Re, a flat place at the head of the Val Po under the northwest...
(or Po) (187 BC), which it crossed at Placentia (
PiacenzaPiacenza is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Piacenza...
) and there forked, one branch going to
MediolanumMediolanum, 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...
(
MilanMilan in Italy, is the capital of the region of Lombardia and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while the urban area is the fifth largest in the E.U. with an estimated population of 4.3 million...
) and the other to Ticinum, and thence to Laumellum where it divided once more, one branch going to Vercellae - and thence to Eporedia and Augusta Praetoria - and the other to
ValentiaValentia may refer to:*Valentia Island, off the coast of Ireland*Valentia , a province of Roman Britain*Valentia III, a fictional planet in the Lensmen books.*Valence, Drôme, France, known in Roman times as Valentia...
- and thence to Augusta Taurinorum (
TurinTurin is a major city as well as a business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River surrounded by the Alpine arch...
) or to
PollentiaThe ancient town of Pollentia on the left bank of the Tanaro is known today as Pollenzo, a frazione of Bra in the Province of Cuneo, Piedmont....
.
The branch to Eporedia must have been constructed before 100 BC. Ticinum is not infrequently mentioned by classical writers. It was a
municipiumA municipium belonged to the second-highest class of Roman cities, being inferior in status to the colonia. The first municipium was Tusculum...
, but we learn little of it except that in the 4th century AD there was a manufacture of bows and a mint there. The first Christian bishops of the city are identified as
JuventiusSaint Juventius was a bishop of Pavia during the 1st century. Together with Syrus of Pavia he was sent there by Saint Hermagoras. Both Juventius and Syrus are reported to have been the first bishop of Pavia....
and
SyrusSaint Syrus of Pavia is traditionally said to have been the first bishop of Pavia during the 1st century.His legend, according to the 14th century source known as the De laudibus Papiæ , states that Syrus was the boy with the five loaves who appears in the Gospels...
.
It was pillaged by Attila in
AD 452-Western Roman Empire:* Attila, king of the Huns, invades Italy.* The city of Venice is founded by fugitives from Attila's army.* The city of Emona is destroyed by the Huns, led by Attila, and deserted by most of its inhabitants....
and by
OdoacerOdoacer , also known as Odovacer, was a Germanic foederati general and the first non-Roman ruler of Italy after AD 476. He deposed the last Western Roman Emperor, Romulus Augustus on 4 September of that year, but continued to rule first as a nominal client of Julius Nepos and, after Nepos' death in...
in 476, but rose to importance as a military centre in the Gothic period. At Dertona and here the grain stores of Liguria were placed, and
Theodoric the GreatTheodoric the Great , was king of the Ostrogoths , ruler of Italy , regent of the Visigoths , and a viceroy of the Roman Empire...
constructed a palace,
bathsThe terms balnea or thermae were the words the ancient Romans used for the buildings housing their public baths.Most Roman cities had at least one, if not many, such buildings, which were centers of public bathing and socialization. Baths were extremely important for Romans. They stayed there for...
and
amphitheatreAn amphitheatre is an open-air venue for spectator sports, concerts, rallies, or theatrical performances. There are two similar, but distinct, types of structure for which the word 'amphitheatre' is used: Ancient amphitheatres, built by the ancient Romans, were large central performance spaces...
and new town walls; while an inscription of
AthalaricAthalaric was the King of the Ostrogoths in Italy. The grandson of Theodoric the Great, he became king upon his grandfather's death in 526.As Athalaric was only ten years old, the regency was assumed by his mother, Amalasuntha...
relating to repairs of seats in the amphitheatre is preserved (AD 528‑529). From this point, too, navigation on the Padus seems to have begun.
NarsesNarses was, with Belisarius, one of the great generals in the service of the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I during the so-called "Reconquest" that took place during Justinian's reign....
recovered it for the Eastern Empire, but after a long siege, the garrison had to surrender to the
LombardsThe Lombards were a Germanic people originally from Northern Europe who settled in the valley of the Danube and from there invaded Byzantine Italy in 568 under the leadership of Alboin. They established a Kingdom of Italy which lasted until 774, when it was conquered by the Franks...
in 572.
The name
Papia, from which the modern name
Pavia comes, does not appear until Lombard times, when it became the seat of the Lombard kingdom, and as such one of the leading cities of Italy.
Cornelius NeposCornelius Nepos was a Roman biographer. Supposedly he was born at Hostilia, a village in Cisalpine Gaul not far from Verona. His Gallic origin is attested by Ausonius, and Pliny the Elder calls him Padi accola...
, the biographer, appears to have been a native of Ticinum. Of Roman remains little is preserved; there is, for example, no sufficient proof that the cathedral rests upon an ancient temple of
CybeleCybele , was the Phrygian deification of the Earth Mother...
though the regular ground plan of the central portion, a square of some 1150 yards, betrays its Roman origin, and it may have sprung from a military camp. This is not unnatural, for Pavia was never totally destroyed; even the fire of 1004 can only have damaged parts of the city, and the plan of Pavia remained as it was. Its gates were possibly preserved until early in the 8th century. The picturesque covered bridge (bombed down in the Second World War and subsequently rebuilt in a similar shape and position), which joins Pavia to the suburb on the right bank of the river, was preceded by a Roman bridge, of which only one pillar, in blocks of granite from the
BavenoBaveno is a town in the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, part of Piedmont, northern Italy. It is located on the west shore of Lago Maggiore, 13 miles North West of Arona by rail....
quarries, exists under the remains of the central arch of the medieval bridge, the rest having no doubt served as material for the latter. The medieval bridge dated from 1351‑1354.