Product Code Database
Picenum was a region of ancient Roman Italy. The name was assigned by the Romans, who conquered and incorporated it into the Roman Republic. Picenum became Regio V in the Augustus territorial organisation of Roman Italy. It is now in Marche and the northern part of Abruzzo.
The Piceni or Picentes were the native population of Picenum, but they were not of uniform ethnicity. They maintained a sanctuary to the Sabine goddess Cupra in Cupra Marittima.
Picenum was also the birthplace of such Roman notables as Pompey the Great and his father, Pompeius Strabo.
The Liburnians had colonies on the western Adriatic coast in Picenum from the beginning of the Iron Age and until the 6th century BC Liburninan naval supremacy meant both political and economical authority in the Adriatic.
In 390 BC the Senones invaded Italy from the north and occupied Picenum north of the Esino river. The archaeological evidence shows groups of Senones settled much further south of this river, in the Macerata area and even in the Ascoli area, in sites such as Filottrano, San Genesio, Matelica, Offida. In 283 BC the Romans expelled the Senones and annexed Picenum down to Ancona when it became the Ager Gallicus, part of the Ager publicus (Roman state land).
In 268 BC the Romans defeated the Picentes after they had rebelled.Florus, Epitome of Roman History, I.19 Part of the population was deported and others were given Roman citizenship without the right to vote. Thus, Picenum was annexed, except for the city of Ascoli Piceno, which was considered an allied city. To keep it under control, the colony of Firmum was established nearby in 264 BC.
According to Polybius, Histories 2:21 during the consulship of Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (232BC), "the Romans divided among their citizens the territory in Gaul known as Picenum, from which they had ejected the Senones when they conquered them".
Picenum sided with Rome against Hannibal during the Punic Wars. It also became a Roman base during the Social War. Some Picentes remained loyal to Rome in the war, while others fought against them for the right of Roman citizenship. All Picentes were granted full Roman citizenship after the war.
In the Edict of Diocletian, it was mentioned that the wine from Picenum was considered the most expensive wine, together with Falerno. Vinum Hadrianum was produced in Picenum, in the city of Hatria Picena or Hadria, the old name of Atri. This is also the same wine that Pliny considered one of the highly-rated wines, along with a few others.
Warriors were buried 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..
The undeciphered North Picene, also written in a form of the Old Italic alphabet, is probably not closely unrelated to South Picene. At present, it is generally assumed not to be an Italic language (although it may have belonged to another branch of the Indo-European languages).
| + Cities of Regio V |
| Lemonia |
| Fabia |
| Velina |
| Papiria |
| Velina |
| Velina |
| Velina |
| Velina |
| Velina |
| Maecia |
| Velina |
| Velina |
| Velina |
| Velina |
| Velina |
| Velina |
| Velina |
| Velina |
| Velina |
|
|
