Roman Age
Piacenza and Cremona were founded as a Roman military colonies in May 218 BC. The Romans had planned to construct them after the successful conclusion of the latest war with the Gauls ending in 219 BC. In the spring of 218 BC after declaring war on Carthage the Senate decided to accelerate the foundation and gave the colonists 30 days to appear on the sites to receive their lands. They were each to be settled by 6000 Roman citizens but the cities were to receive Latin Rights; that is, they were to have the same legal status as the many colonies that had been co-founded by Rome and towns of Latium.
The reaction of the Gauls in the region was swift; they drove the colonists off the lands. Taking refuge in Mutina the latter sent for military assistance. A small force under Lucius Manlius was prevented from reaching the area. The Senate now sent two legions under Gaius Atelius. Collecting Manlius and the colonists they descended on Piacenza and Cremona and successfully placed castra there of 480 m2 (0.12 acre) to support the building of the city. Piacenza must have been walled immediately as the walls were in place when the Battle of the Trebbia was fought around the city in December. There is no evidence either textual or archaeological of a prior settlement on that exact location; however, the site would have been obliterated by construction. Piacenza was the 53rd colony to be placed by Rome since its foundation. It was the first among the Gauls of the Po valley.
It had to be supplied by boat after the Battle of Trebbia, when Hannibal controlled the countryside, for which purpose a port (Emporium) was constructed. In 209 BC Hasdrubal crossed the Alps and laid siege to the city, but he was unable to take it and withdrew. In 200 BC the Gauls sacked and burned it, selling the population into slavery. Subsequently the victorious Romans restored the city and managed to recover 2000 citizens. In 198 BC a combined force of Gauls and Ligurians plundered the whole region. As the people had never recovered from being sold into slavery, they complained to Senate in 190 BC of underpopulation, at which the Senate sent 3000 new settlers. The construction of the Via Aemilia in the 180's made the city easily accessible from the Adriatic ports, which improved trade and the prospects for timely defense. Although sacked and devastated several times, the city always recovered and by the 6th century Procopius was calling it "the principal city in the country of Aemilia".
The era of Late Antiquity in Piacenza (4th/9th centuries AD) was marked by the expansion of Christianity, with the presence of several martyrs. Before the year 286 AD Piacenza was not overtly Christian. In that year the co-emperors of the late Roman Empire resolved once again on an attempt to eradicate Christianity, the senior emperor, Diocletian, relying this time on the services of a subordinate emperor, Maximian. The latter intended to suppress the Christians of Gaul with fire and sword. He ordered the garrison of Thebes, Egypt, to join him in Gaul for that purpose. It is not clear whether he knew that the entire legion, having been recruited in a then intensely Christian region, was Christian.
Judging from the trail of saints, the legion must have landed at Rimini and have traversed the Via Aemilia to Piacenza. From there they entered the Alps north of Milan. In the vicinity of St. Moritz they discovered the hitherto secret orders and ceased to cooperate. The emperor forced a confrontation by ordering them to conduct national sacrifices and then decimated them when they refused. The legion drew up a manifesto stating that they would obey any other command of his but the authority of God took precedence and they would not sacrifice or kill Christians. As much of the legion as was present: 6666 men (perhaps a mystical number) were massacred, becoming the legendary Theban legion, which was declared to be saints in toto, St. Moritz, the site of the massacre, being named after the commander.
Not all individuals and units of the legion were present. Maximian ordered that all other members of the legion were to be tracked down and offered the same choice: sacrifice or die. A company that had reached southern Germany perished in this way. The legends of Saint Antoninus and others across northern Italy can only be explained as being of individuals left behind for various reasons in the passage of the legion. As Diocletian had a long reign and remained anti-Christian the government caught Antoninus in 303 AD and he was beheaded (as had been St. Moritz) at Travo in Val Trebbia, but not before he had had a chance to establish Christianity in Piacenza.
The first Bishop of Piacenza (322-357), San Vittorio, declared Antoninus the patron saint of Piacenza and had the first Basilica di S. Antonio constructed in his honor in 324 in downtown Piacenza. It was restored in 903, rebuilt in 1101, again in 1562, and is still a church today. The remains of the bishop and the soldier are in urns under the altar. The theme of the soldier-saint, protector of Piacenza, is well known in art.
Read more about this topic: Piacenza, History, Ancient History
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