(postcard from c. 1890) Known in ancient times as
Dertona, the city was probably the oldest colony under Roman rule in the westernmost section of the Valley of the
Po, on the road leading from
Genua (Genoa) to
Placentia (Piacenza). The city was founded c. 123–118 BC at the junction of the great roads; the
Via Postumia and the
Via Aemilia Scauri which merged to become the
Via Julia Augusta. The site made Dertona an important military station under the Romans.
Strabo speaks of it as one of the most considerable towns in this part of Italy, and from
Pliny wrote that it was a Roman colony.
Velleius mentions it among those founded under the Republic, it appears to have been recolonised under
Augustus; some inscriptions therefore give it the title of
Julia Dertona. The assassin of Caesar,
Brutus, encamped at Dertona on his march in pursuit of
Mark Antony, after the
Battle of Mutina, and it was one of the places where a body of troops was usually stationed during the later ages of the empire. A bishopric was founded at Tortona early, but its first bishops are purely legendary, like
Saint Marcianus of Tortona, called the first bishop of Piedmont and a disciple of
Barnabas, the companion of Paul. Until the 9th century, the city was under the rule of its bishop; in 1090 it became a
free commune with the name of
Terdona. In 1133 the diocese was separated from the archbishopric of Milan to the new archdiocese of Genoa (
CE "Lombardy"). During the
Middle Ages, Tortona was a faithful ally of the
Guelphs and was destroyed several times, notably by
Frederick Barbarossa, who captured it after a
siege in 1155 and razed all its buildings to the ground. From 1260 to 1347 the city was dominated by a series of different Italian noble families and adventurers. In 1347, Tortona was decisively incorporated into the territories of the
Duchy of Milan, under which remained until 1735. One of the rulers in this period was
Facino Cane, who in the unsettled affairs of Lombardy had assembled a string of lordships and great wealth which he bequeathed to his wife, Beatrice, and arranged with his friends that a marriage should be effected between her and
Filippo Maria Visconti. According to
Machiavelli "By this union Filippo became powerful, and reacquired Milan and the whole of Lombardy. By way of being grateful for these numerous favors, as princes commonly are, he accused Beatrice of adultery and caused her to be put to death". Then following the vicissitudes of the
War of the Polish Succession, the city was occupied by the
King of Sardinia, and "count of Tortona" was added to the titles of the
House of Savoy. == Colli Tortonesi ==