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Mediolanum, the ancient city whereMilan now stands, was originally anInsubrian city, but afterwards became an importantRoman city inNorthern Italy.
The city was settled by aCeltic tribe belonging to theInsubres group and belonging to theGolasecca culture under the name Medhelanon[1] around 590 BC,[2] conquered by theRomans in 222 BC, whoLatinized the name of the city into Mediolanum, and developed into a key centre of Western Christianity and informal capital of theWestern Roman Empire. It declined under the ravages of theGothic War, its capture by theLombards in 569, and their decision to makeTicinum the capital of theirKingdom of Italy.
During thePrincipate the population was 40,000 in AD 200; when the city became capital of theWestern Roman Empire under emperorMaximian (r. 286–305), the population rose to 100,000 people and thus Milan became one of the largest cities inRoman Italy.[3][4][5]
The city was settled by aCeltic tribe belonging to theInsubres group and belonging to theGolasecca culture around 590 BC under the name Medhelanon[1][2] According to the legend reported byLivy, theGaulish kingAmbicatus sent his nephewBellovesus into northern Italy at the head of a party drawn from various Gaulish tribes; this Bellovesus was said to have founded Mediolanum (in the time ofTarquinius Priscus, according to this legend).[6]The Romans, led by consulGnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus, fought the Insubres and captured the city in 222 BC; the chief of the Insubres submitted to Rome, giving the Romans control of the city.[7] They eventually conquered the entirety of the region, calling the new provinceCisalpine Gaul – "Gaul this side of the Alps" – and may have given the site itsLatinized Celtic name: inGaulish*medio – meant "middle, center" and the name element-lanon is the Celtic equivalent of Latin-planum "plain", thus*Mediolanon (Latinized asMediolānum) meant "(settlement) in the midst of the plain."[8][9]
Mediolanum was important for its location as a hub in the road network of northern Italy.Polybius describes the country as abounding in wine, and every kind of grain, and in fine wool. Herds of swine, both for public and private supply, were bred in its forests, and the people were well known for their generosity.[10]
During the Augustan age Mediolanum was famous for its schools; it possessed atheater and anamphitheatre (129.5 X 109.3 m[11]). A large stone wall encircled the city in Caesar's time, and later was expanded in the late third century AD, byMaximian. Mediolanum was made the seat of the prefect of Liguria (Praefectus Liguriae) by Hadrian, and Constantine made it the seat of the vicar of Italy (Vicarius Italiae). In the third century Mediolanum possessed amint,[12] ahorreum and imperial mausoleum. In 259, Roman legions under the command of Emperor Gallienus soundly defeated theAlemanni in theBattle of Mediolanum.
In 286,Diocletian moved the capital of theWestern Roman Empire from Rome to Mediolanum. He chose to reside atNicomedia in the Eastern Empire, leaving his colleague Maximian at Mediolanum. Maximian built several gigantic monuments, the largecircus (470 x 85 metres), thethermae orBaths of Hercules, a large complex of imperial palaces and other services and buildings of which fewer visible traces remain. Maximian increased the city area surrounded by a new, larger stone wall (about 4.5 km long) encompassing an area of 375 acres with many 24-sided towers. The monumental area had twin towers; one that was included in the convent of San Maurizio Maggiore remains 16,60 m high.
It was from Mediolanum that theEmperor Constantine issued what is now known as theEdict of Milan in AD 313, granting tolerance to all religions within the Empire, thus paving the way for Christianity to become the dominant religion of the Empire. Constantine was in Mediolanum to celebrate the wedding of his sister to the Eastern Emperor,Licinius. There were Christian communities in Mediolanum, which contributed its share of martyrs during the persecutions,[13] but the first bishop of Milan who has a firm historical presence is Merocles, who was at theCouncil of Rome of 313. In the mid-fourth century, theArian controversy divided the Christians of Mediolanum;Constantius supported Arian bishops and at times there were rival bishops.Auxentius of Milan (died 374) was a respected Arian theologian. During the reign ofValentinian II, bishopAmbrose of Milan prevented the dedication of a basilica to Arian worship.[14]
The city also possessed a number of basilicas, added in the late fourth century AD. These areSan Simpliciano,San Nazaro,San Lorenzo and the chapel ofSan Vittore, located in the basilica ofSant'Ambrogio. In general, the Late Empire encouraged the development of the applied arts in Mediolanum, with ivory and silver work being common in public building projects. In the crypt of the Duomo survive ruins of theancient church of Saint Tecla and the baptistry where St.Augustine of Hippo was baptized.
In 402, the city was besieged by theGoths led by kingAlaric I and the imperial residence was moved toRavenna.[citation needed] In 452, it was besieged again byAttila, but the real break with its imperial past came in 538, during theGothic War, when Mediolanum was laid to waste by Uraia, a nephew ofVitiges, King of the Goths, with great loss of life.[15] TheLombards tookTicinum as their capital (renaming it 'Papia', hence the modernPavia), and Early Medieval Milan was left to be governed by its archbishops.
Some of the monuments of the Roman Mediolanum still to be seen in Milan:
The ancient city name is commemorated in the Mediolanum Forum atAssago and the Mediolanum Corporate University, Milan.
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