Prehistory A number of
archaeological sites in the region, such as
Monte Poggiolo, show that Romagna has been inhabited since the
Paleolithic age.
Umbri and Gauls The
Umbri, speaking an
extinct Italic language called
Umbrian, are the first traceable inhabitants of the region. The
Etruscans also dwelt in some portions of Romagna. In the 5th century BC, various
Gaulish tribes, most notably the
Lingones,
Senones and
Boii, moved south into Ithe Italian peninsula, and
sacked Rome in 390 BC. The Senones subjugated the Umbri and settled in Romagna, extending south to
Ancona, with their capital at '
(Senigallia). The lands formerly inhabited by the Senones were known as ' (Gallic plain) to the Romans.
Roman Republic In 295 BC, the
Roman Republic won a decisive victory at the
Battle of Sentinum against a coalition of Umbris, Senones,
Samnites, and
Etruscans. To consolidate their victory, the
colonia of (
Rimini) was founded in southern Romagna in 268 BC, alongside the construction of the
Via Flaminia, running from Rome to . Rome was further strengthened by their victory over Celtic tribes at the
Battle of Telamon in 225 BC, leading to the Roman
hegemony over the new
Roman province of
Cisalpine Gaul centred at (modern
Modena). After the
Second Punic War, the pro-
Carthaginian Lingones and
Senoni were expelled. To consolidate the Roman rule in the region, in 187 BC, the
Via Aemilia was completed from to (
Piacenza). A series of colonies were founded along the route; in Romagna, these included (
Forlì), (
Imola), and (
Forlimpopoli). The Lex Julia of 90 BC, following the
Social War, granted
Roman citizenship to all
municipia south of the
River Po. During
Sulla's civil war in 83 to 82 BC, most of the colonies supported
Gaius Marius. and (
Cesena) were razed to ground, and the region was looted by
Lucius Cornelius Sulla's victorious army. The
First Triumvirate divided the Roman Republic along the infamous
Rubicon. Most of the colonies in present-day Romagna were ruled by
Julius Caesar, with the notable exception of , south of the river. In 49 BC, Caesar, who had been residing in Ravenna, led the
Legio XIII across the Rubicon, igniting
Caesar's civil war.
Roman Empire After the decisive
Battle of Actium, the reign of
Augustus started a centuries-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, ''''. Towards the end of the 3rd century,
Diocletian reordered the Empire into four
prefectures, each divided into
dioceses, which in turn were divided 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. Ravenna, which was surrounded by swamps and marshes, prospered and steadily 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.
Germanic migrations and Exarchate of Ravenna Stepping into the 5th century, the
Germanic migrations into the Empire further intensified. In 402,
Emperor Honorius 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 in Ravenna, thus marking 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 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, 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 war against the Byzantines, taking most of Romagna and besieging Ravenna itself. These territories 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 once more, and brought an end to the exarchate in 751. ,
Forlì, built in 1180
Papal rule King
Rudolf I of Germany officially ceded Romagna to the
Papal States in 1278. However, papal control over the area long remained only nominal. The region was divided among a series of regional lords, such as the
Ordelaffi of Forlì or the
Malatesta of Rimini, many of them adhering to the
Ghibelline party in opposition to the pro-papal
Guelphs. This situation started to change in the late-15th century, when after their return to Rome from Avignon in 1378, stronger popes progressively reasserted their authority in the fragmented region. Parts of Romagna were also seized by other powers, including Venice, and most notably the
Republic of Florence, which took land up to Forlì and Cervia, building the famous city-fortress of
Terra del Sole. The Florentine Romagna remained part of
Tuscany until the 1920s. and
Francesca da Rimini surprised by
Gianciotto Malatesta'' (1805), depicting a historical event from around 1280 In 1500
Cesare Borgia, illegitimate son of Pope
Alexander VI, carved out for himself an ephemeral Duchy of Romagna, but his lands were reabsorbed into the Papal States after his fall. In 1559 the
Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis divided Romagna between the
Farnese family of the
Duchy of Parma and Piacenza, the
House of Este of the
Ferrara, and the
Duchy of Modena and Reggio, and the Papal States. The Duchy of Ferrara was later annexed by the Papal States on the extinction of the main d'Este line in 1597, with the cadet branch retaining the Imperial fiefs of Modena and Reggio. This situation lasted until the
French invasion of 1796, which brought bloodshed (the massacre of
Lugo, looting, heavy taxation, the destruction of Cesena University) but also innovative ideas in social and political fields. Under Napoleonic rule Romagna received recognition as an entity for the first time, with the creation of the provinces of the Pino (Ravenna) and Rubicone (Forlì). When in 1815 the
Congress of Vienna restored 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
Mazzinian 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
Cesena Post-unification However, after joining the
unification of Italy in 1860, Romagna was not awarded 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, and others. A movement proposing separation from
Emilia-Romagna was created in the 1990s. ==See also==