Picenum
Encyclopedia
Region
Region is most commonly found as a term used in terrestrial and astrophysics sciences also an area, notably among the different sub-disciplines of geography, studied by regional geographers. Regions consist of subregions that contain clusters of like areas that are distinctive by their uniformity...
of ancient 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...
. The name is an exonym assigned by the Romans, who conquered and incorporated it into 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...
. Picenum was the birthplace of such notables as Pompey the Great and his father Pompeius Strabo
Pompeius Strabo
Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo , whose cognomen means "cross eyed", is often referred to in English as Pompey Strabo to distinguish him from Strabo, the geographer. Strabo lived in the Roman Republic. Strabo was born and raised into a noble family in Picenum a rural district in Northern Italy, off the...
. It was situated in what is now 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...
. The Piceni or Picentes
Picentes
The Picentes or Picentini are Latin exonyms for the people who lived in Picenum in the northern Adriatic coastal plain of ancient Italy. The endonym, if any, and its language are not known for certain....
were the native population of Picenum, but they were not of uniform ethnicity. They maintained a religious centre in Cupra Marittima
Cupra Marittima
Cupra Marittima is a comune in the Province of Ascoli Piceno in the Italian region Marche, located about 70 km southeast of Ancona and about 30 km northeast of Ascoli Piceno...
, in honor of the goddess Cupra
Cupra
Cupra was a chthonic fertility goddess of the ancient pre-Roman population of the Piceni and the Umbri, and may have been associated with Etruscan Uni....
.
Historical geography
Picenum and the Picentes are described in some detail by the Roman geographers.Strabo
Strabo places Picenum between the Appennines and the Adriatic SeaAdriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...
from the mouth of the Aesis River
Esino
The Esino is a river of c. 85 km in the Marche, central Italy. Its name could derive from the Latina Aesis, the ancient city of Iesi .-Path:...
southward to Castrum at the mouth of the Truentinus River
Tronto
The Tronto is a 115 km-long Italian river that arises at Monte della Laghetta and ends in the Adriatic Sea at Porto d'Ascoli, San Benedetto del Tronto. Anciently the Truentus, it traverses the Lazio, Marche, and Abruzzo regions....
, some 800 stadia
Stadion (unit of length)
The stadion, Latinized as stadium and anglicized as stade, is an ancient Greek unit of length. According to Herodotus, one stade is equal to 600 feet. However, there were several different lengths of “feet”, depending on the country of origin....
, which is 148 km (92 mi) using 185 m/stadion. For cities he includes from north to south 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....
, Auxumum, Septempeda
Septempeda
Septempeda was one of the first colonies of the Roman empire, in Picenum, now in the Italian region Marche. It became the today's San Severino Marche, after the fall of Roman Empire.-History:...
(San Severino Marche
San Severino Marche
San Severino Marche is a comune in the Province of Macerata in the Italian region Marche, located about 50 km southwest of Ancona and about 25 km southwest of Macerata.-From prehistory to Roman age:...
), Pneuentia, Potentia
Potenza Picena
Potenza Picena is a comune in the Province of Macerata in the Italian region of Marche, located about 30 km southeast of Ancona and about 15 km northeast of Macerata.-External links:*...
, Firmum Picenum with port at Castellum (Porto di Fermo
Fermo
Fermo is a town and comune of the Marche, Italy, in the Province of Fermo.Fermo is located on a hill, the Sabulo with a fine view, on a branch from Porto San Giorgio on the Adriatic coast railway....
), Cupra
Cupra
Cupra was a chthonic fertility goddess of the ancient pre-Roman population of the Piceni and the Umbri, and may have been associated with Etruscan Uni....
Maritima, Truentum on the Truentinus (Tronto
Tronto
The Tronto is a 115 km-long Italian river that arises at Monte della Laghetta and ends in the Adriatic Sea at Porto d'Ascoli, San Benedetto del Tronto. Anciently the Truentus, it traverses the Lazio, Marche, and Abruzzo regions....
) and finally Castrum Novum and Matrinum on the Matrinus (Piomba
Piomba
The Piomba is an Italian river in Abruzzo. The source of the river is near Cermignano in the province of Teramo. The river flows southeast past Cellino Attanasio before entering the province of Pescara. The river flows close to the border with Teramo before it enters the Adriatic Sea north of the...
), south of Silvi in Abruzzo
Abruzzo
Abruzzo is a region in Italy, its western border lying less than due east of Rome. Abruzzo borders the region of Marche to the north, Lazio to the west and south-west, Molise to the south-east, and the Adriatic Sea to the east...
. This is a list of coastal communities. Strabo also mentions Adria (Atri, Italy
Atri, Italy
Atri is a comune in the Province of Teramo in the Abruzzo region of Italy. It has a population of over 11,500...
) and Asculum Picenum (Ascoli Piceno
Ascoli Piceno
Ascoli Piceno is a town and comune in the Marche region of Italy, capital of the province of the same name. Its population is c. 51,400.-Geography:...
) in the interior. The width of Picenum inland varies irregularly, he says.
History
It was first settled in during the beginnings of the Iron Age, which lasted from the 9th century BC to the early 3rd century BCPicenum later became one of the eleven districts of Italy. The three interior towns of Picenum showed a system of urban layout and appeared to be economically successful, so it is unknown as to what caused this city to decline in later years.
The course of Picenum’s history was changed dramatically in 286 BC, when it was conquered by the Romans and became a colony of Rome.
This capture had major consequences for coastline settlements selected as colonies by the Romans.
Picenum is most known for siding with Rome in the war against Hannibal, during the Punic Wars. It was also used as a Roman base during the Social Wars, showing Picenum’s Roman allegiance during the war for Italian citizenship.
Culture
Excavations performed in the late 19th century in Picenum give some 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.
Warriors would be buried in the ground 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.
Origins of these items may also show that the Piceni may have looked to the south and east for development.
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.
Languages
South Picene, written in an unusual version of the Italic alphabet, has been identified as a Sabellic language that is neither OscanOscan language
Oscan is a term used to describe both an extinct language of southern Italy and the language group to which it belonged.The Oscan language was spoken by a number of tribes, including the Samnites, the Aurunci, the Sidicini, and the Ausones. The latter three tribes were often grouped under the name...
nor Umbrian
Umbrian language
Umbrian is an extinct Italic language formerly spoken by the Umbri in the ancient Italian region of Umbria. Within the Italic languages it is closely related to the Oscan group and is therefore associated with it in the group of Osco-Umbrian languages...
.
The undeciphered North Picene, also written in a form of the Old Italic alphabet
Old Italic alphabet
Old Italic refers to several now extinct alphabet systems used on the Italian Peninsula in ancient times for various Indo-European languages and non-Indo-European languages...
, is probably unrelated and, at present, it is generally assumed not to be an Indo-European language.