Le Marche History

Le Marche has a very ancient history and has been occupied since Paleolithic times. The Piceni tribes ruled Le Marche until Greeks from Sicily and Celtic tribes moved in starting in the 4th century BC.

Marche was known in ancient times as the Picenum territory. It was conquered by the Romans in the Battle of Sentinum in 295 BC. Sentinum is also an archaeological site, with classical Roman paintings which in general scarcely survive, among other artifacts.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, the region was invaded by the Goths and in the Middle Ages, the towns of Ancona, Fano, Pesaro, Rimini, and Senigallia formed part of the Byzantine Empire in the Italian peninsula. This territory was called the Pentapolis.

During the Renaissance the region was ruled by the rival aristocratic families, the houses of Malatesta and Montefeltro. From 1532 to 1860 the Marche became part of the Papal States. Le Marche was the boundary between Papal and Imperial lands and the name Le Marche is derived from the Frankish word for "frontier".

Napoleon interrupted Papal rule of Le Marche but it would otherwise continue until the battle of Castelfiardo in 1860, when the Piedmonte army of the House of Savoy defeated the Papal army. Le Marche was absorbed into the new nation of Italy shortly thereafter in November of 1861.

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