Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/643

 PICENTJr. the terntnry occupied by the Galh Senones, which was afterwards incorporated into the province of Umbria. The latter district seems to liave been at one time regarded as rather belonging to Picenum. Thus Polybius includes the " Gallicus Ager" in Picenum; and Livy even describes the colony of Ariminum as founded " in Piceno." (Pol. ii. 21; Liv. Epit. XV.) But the boundaries of Picenum were definitely established, as above stated, in the time of Augustus, according to whose division it constituted the Fifth Region of Italy. (Plin. iii. 13. s. 18; Strab. v. p. 240.) The district thus bounded forms a tract of about 80 geographical miles (800 stadia, Strab. v. p. 241) in length, with an average breadth of from 30 to 40 miles. The southern part of the territory thus limited was inhabited by a tribe called the Praetutii, who appear to have been to some extent a different people from the Pi- centes: hence Pliny gives to this district the name of Regio Praetutiana; and Livy more than once notices the Praetutianus Ager, as if it were distinct from the Picenus Ager. (Plin. I. c; Liv. xxii. 9, xxvii. 43.) The narrow strip between the rivers Vomanus and Matrinus, called the Ager Hadrianus, seems to have also been regarded as in some degree a separate district (Plin. I.e.; Liv. xxii. 9); but both these tracts were generally comprised by geo- graphers as mere subdivisions of Picenum iu the more extensive sense. Very little is known of the history of the Picentes ; but ancient writers seem to have generally agreed in assigning tliem a Sabine origin; tradition reported that they were a colony sent out from the parent country in consequence of a vow, or what was called a sacred spring ; and that their name was derived from a Woodpecker (picus), the bird sacred to Mars, which was said to have guided the emigrants on their march. (Strab. v. p. 240; Plin. iii. 13. s. 18; Fest. v. Picena, p. 212.) Silius Italicus, on the other hand, derives it from the name of Picus, the Italian divinity, whom he represents as the founder of Asculum (Sil. Ital. viii. 439 — 445); but this is in substance only another form of the same legend. That writer represents the region as pre- viously possessed by the Peiasgians; no mention of these is found in any other author, but Pliny speaks of Siculians and Liburnians as having had set- tlements on this coast, especially in the Praetutian district, where Truentum was said still to preserve traces of a Liburnian colony (Plin. I.e.); while the foundation of Numana and Ancona, further to the N., was ascribed to the SicuH. (/6.) We have no means of estimating the value of these statements; but it seems not improbable that in the last instance there was a confusion with the colony of Sicilian Greeks which was established at a much later pe- riod at Ancona [Ancona.] This settlement, which was founded about 380 b. c, by a body of Syracusan exiles who had fled from the tyranny of Dionysius (Strab. v. p. 241), was the only Greek colony in this part of Italy; and its foundation is the only fact transmitted to us concerning the his- tory of Picenum previous to the time when it was brought into contact with the power of Rome. The Picentes appear to have stood aloof from the long pro- tracted contests of the Romans with their Samnite neighbours ; but their proximity to the Gauls caused the Romans to court their alliance; and a treaty concluded between the two nations in b. c. 299 seems to have been faithfully observed until after the Se- nones had ceased to be formidable. (Liv. x. 10.) PICENUM. 627 The Picentes reaped tlie advantages of this lon^ peace in the prosperity of their country, which be- came one of the most populous districts in Italy, so that according to Pliny it contained a population of 360,000 citizens at the time of the Roman conquest. (Plin. I. c.) Nevertheless they seem to have offered but little resistance to the Roman arms, and were reduced by the consuls Sempronius Sophus and Ap- pius Claudius in a single campaign, n. c. 268. (Flor. i. 19; Liv. Ejnt xv; Oros. iv. 4; Eutrop. ii. 16.) The causes which led to the war are unknown; but the fact that the Picentes and Salleiitines were at this time the only two nations of Italy that re- mained unsubdued is quite sufficient to explain it. From this time the Picentes lapsed into the or- dinary condition uf the subject allies of Rome ; and though their territory is repeatedly mentioned as suffering from the ravages of the Second Punic War (Pol. iii. 86; Liv. xxii. 9, xxvii. 43), the name of the people does not again occur in history till the great outbreak of the nations of Italy in the Social War, B.C. 90. In that memorable contest the Picentes bore a prominent part. It was at Asculum, which seems to have been always regarded as their capital, that open hostilities first broke out; the massacre of the proconsul Q. ServiHus and his legate Fonteius in that city having, as it were, given the signal of the general insurrection. ( Appian, B. C. i. 38 ; Liv. Epit. Ixxii; Veil. Pat. ii. 15 ; Diod. xxxvii. 2.) The first attempt of Cn. Pompeius Strabo to reduce Asculum was repulsed with loss; and it was with difficulty that that general could maintain his footing in Picenum while the other Roman armies were oc- cupied in hostilities with the Marsi, Peligni, and other nations nearer Rome. It was not till the second year of the war that, having obtained a de- cisive victory over the allies, he was enabled to re- sume the offensive. Even then the Picentine general Judacilius maintained a long struggle against Pom- peius, which was at length terminated by the sur- render of Asculum, and this seems to have been fol- lowed by the submission of the rest of the Picentes, B. c. 89. (Appian, B. C. i. 47, 48 ; Liv. Ejnt. Ixxiv., Ixxvi; Oros. v. 18; Flor. iii. 18.) There can be no doubt that they were at this time admitted, like the rest of the Italian allies, to the Roman fran- chise. Picenum was occupied almost without opposition by Caesar at the commencement of the Civil War, B.C. 49 (Caes. B. C. i. 11 — 15), the inhabitants having universally declared in his favour, and thus compelled the officers of Pompey to withdraw from Auximum and Asculum, which they had occupied with strong garrisons. In the civil war between Vitellius and Vespasian A. d. 69, it was occupied in like manner without resistance by the forces of the latter. (Tac. Hist. iii. 42.) Picenum appears to have continued to be a flourishing province of Italy throughout the period of the Roman Empire; and though Pliny speaks of it as having much fallen off in population compared to earlier times ('' quondam uberrimae multitudinis," Plin. iii. 13. s. 18), it still contained a large number of towns, and many of these preserved thi-ir consideration down to a late period. It is probable that its proximity to Ilavenna contri- buted to its prosperity during the latter ages of the Empire, after that city had become the habitual residence of the emperors of the West. Under Au- gustus, Picenum became the Fifth Region of Italy (Plin. I. c), but at a later period we find it com- bined for administrative purposes with the district s s 2