HISTORY OF THE ROMAN CITY OF RIMINI

The first human occupation of the area dates back to prehistory but Rimini becomes a town thanks to the Romans. In the year 268 B.C. the colony of Rimini is founded between the mouths of the Marecchia and Ausa rivers. For more than one century it represents an important barrier against the Gauls settled in the region. Rimini demonstrates great loyalty to Rome, especially in the most delicate occasions such as in the period when Hannibal in Italy.

Between the III and the II century B.C. Rimini represents one of the key-sites of the Roman commercial expansion, sealed by the construction of the consular via Flaminia (220 B.C.) and via Emilia (187 B.C.).

Faithful to its popular origins, in the I century B.C., during the Civil Wars, Rimini takes sides with Mario and, later, with Caesar. Therefore, after the Civil Wars, Rimini can take advantage of the benefits offered by the Giulio – Claudia family, as testified by the construction of important public works and monuments, some of which still exist today such as Augustus’s Arch and Tiberius’ Bridge.

During the Early Empire the town enjoys a long period of prosperity, interrupted in the III century by barbarian incursions.

Rimini will enjoy another period of prosperity in the Late Empire, at first from a mere commercial viewpoint (as testified by the fact that the town was chosen as the seat of a Council in 359 A.D.), later also politically, in the period when Ravenna becomes an Imperial seat in 402 A.D. 

Though invested of an important role during the Exarchate (it became the leader-town of the Byzantine dukedom of the Pentapolis), Rimini suffers from the decadence which characterises all the rest of Italy in this period.

The Roman town devolops following the scheme of the colonies as a settlement characterised  by an orthogonal mesh of streets with a forum situated at the centre. The forum coincides with today’s Piazza dei Tre Martiri. It connects the main cardo and decumano corresponding respectively to today’s Via Garibaldi and Via IV Novembre. The streets that formed the insulae - the blocks of houses not completely regularly organised in Rimini also because of the natural limits formed by the rivers Ariminus (Marecchia) and Apusa (Ausa) - developed from these two main streets.

The rivers were also used as natural barriers in connection with a ring of walls, the ruins of which can still be observed today next to Augustus’s Arch. Outside the town another natural limit was represented by the Adriatic sea, along which the harbour situated on the Marecchia river was located.

Between the III and the II century B.C. Rimini represented the base-point of the Roman  expansion in the Po Plain, as demonstrated by the construction of the three consular streets that connected it, on one side, to Rome and on the other to Piacenza  (through the via Emilia, 187 B.C.) and Altino , passing by Adria and Ravenna (through the via Popilia, 132 B.C.).

During the I century B.C. several monuments were built such as Porta Montanara and the imposing building of S. Lorenzo in Monte. In this area a religious building was located, attributed to the Republican period, but the traditional Rimini “sacred” site was the hill of Covignano, intensively occupied since the pre-roman period.  At present it is the object of investigations and according to some scholars it could date back to the pre-Roman/Greek period. A source of mineral water known as Galvanina, already exploited by the Romans, spouts at the top of S. Lorenzo in Monte (“Paradiso” peak).

The process of construction reaches its top under the Augustan Age. In the year 42 B.C Rimini gives hospitality to a colony of veterans and several important works are realised within a wider program that leads to the construction of monuments all over the country.  Augustus’ Arch, the paving of streets, the construction of the theatre, the starting of works for the building of a bridge on the Marecchia river are strictly connected to the works of the via Flaminia and via Emilia. These are the reflection of an intense and continuous period of activity covering almost an half century and the result of which can still be admired, in nowadays’ urban organisation.

Even the works that followed during the Imperial age have left important signs, such as the aqueduct realised under Domitian and the amphitheatre, built in the II century, the importance of which can still be perceived today.  

During this period the domus becomes one of the typical features of Rimini, from which the most important evidence of the Rimini people of the Imperial age come. The domus of Palazzo Massani, dated to the late Republican period is characterised by an essential plan with service-rooms and shops located outside while those situated close to Augustus’ Arch feature public or private representation places. The three domus situated one next to the other in the ex-Vescovado, the domus of the former friary of San Francesco and of Palazzo Gioia, dated to the II century A.D., show a more complex organisation with a few openings outside. The surgeon’s domus, located in piazza Ferrari, and the domus of Palazzo Diotallevi are even more explicit. Here the residential part of the domus is located side by side to the public one, which is either dedicated to working activity or invested with a representative function.

In the III century and during the invasions Rimini will undergo important changes. These events are testified by the dramatic fire which destroyed the Surgeon’s domus and surgery.  During the fires that took place in the mid -III century, following the Germans’ and other incursions also the  domus of Palazzo Diotallevi encounters destruction. Rimini starts to be characterised by several empty spaces within the new ring of walls built under Gallienus and Aurelian.

The whole Italian peninsula undergoes a period of deep crisis. Nevertheless Rimini continues to be considered a reference point as demonstrated by the fact that the town was elected as the seat for the Council that took place in 359 A.D. When the Imperial Court was transferred to Ravenna in 402 A.D., Rimini took advantage of the presence of this centre of power, as evidenced by the last occupation phase of Palazzo Palloni domus, with its floors used uninterruptedly from the Republican age onwards, testifying the lasting vitality of Rimini through the whole Roman period.

a cura dell' IBC Emilia Romgna