Romagna (Romagnol:Rumâgna) is an Italianhistorical region that approximately corresponds to the south-eastern portion of present-dayEmilia-Romagna, in northern Italy.
Romagna Rumâgna | |
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 Map of the communes of Romagna as of 2021 (RA =province of Ravenna, FC =province of Forlì-Cesena, RN =province of Rimini, RSM =Republic of San Marino) | |
| Country | Italy,San Marino |
| Area | |
• Total | 6,380.6 km2 (2,463.6 sq mi) |
| Population (2014) | |
• Total | 1 281 243 |
| • Density | 0.00016/km2 (0.00041/sq mi) |
| Demonym(s) | Italian:Romagnolo (man) Italian:Romagnola (woman) English:Romagnol |
| ISO 3166 code | IT-45 |
The nameRomagna originates from theLatin nameRomania, which originally was the generic name for "land inhabited by Romans", and first appeared on Latin documents in the 5th century AD. It later took on the more specific meaning of "territory subjected toEastern Roman rule", whose citizens called themselves Romans (Romani in Latin;Ῥωμαῖοι,Rhomaîoi in Greek). Thus the termRomania came to be used to refer to the territory administered by theExarchate of Ravenna in contrast to other parts ofnorthern Italy underLombard rule, namedLangobardia orLombardy.
Romagna is traditionally limited by theApennines to the south-west, theAdriatic to the east, and the riversReno andSillaro to the north and west. To the southeast, the valley formed by theRiver Conca has historically formed a buffer region between the regions of Romagna and theMarche.[1]
The region's major cities includeCesena,Faenza,Forlì,Imola,Ravenna, andRimini. The independentRepublic of San Marino is considered by some to be part of the region.
Romagnol culture exerts a considerable influence over theMontefeltro historical region, on the borders between Emilia-Romagna,Tuscany, and theMarche. On 15 August 2009, seven municipalities were transferred from theprovince of Pesaro and Urbino to theprovince of Rimini:Casteldelci,Maiolo,Novafeltria,Pennabilli,San Leo,Sant'Agata Feltria, andTalamello.[2] On 17 June 2021, the municipalities ofMontecopiolo andSassofeltrio followed.[3]
A number ofarchaeological sites in the region, such asMonte Poggiolo, show that Romagna has been inhabited since thePaleolithic age.
TheUmbri, speaking anextinctItalic language calledUmbrian, are the first traceable inhabitants of the region. TheEtruscans also dwelt in some portions of Romagna.
In the 5th century BC, variousGaulish tribes, most notably theLingones,Senones andBoii, moved south into Ithe Italian peninsula, andsacked Rome in 390 BC. The Senones subjugated the Umbri and settled in Romagna, extending south toAncona, with their capital atSena Gallica (Senigallia). The lands formerly inhabited by the Senones were known asager Gallicus (Gallic plain) to the Romans.
In 295 BC, theRoman Republic won a decisive victory at theBattle of Sentinum against a coalition of Umbris, Senones,Samnites, andEtruscans. To consolidate their victory, thecolonia ofAriminum (Rimini) was founded in southern Romagna in 268 BC, alongside the construction of theVia Flaminia, running from Rome toAriminum.[4][5] Rome was further strengthened by their victory over Celtic tribes at theBattle of Telamon in 225 BC, leading to the Romanhegemony over the newRoman province ofCisalpine Gaul centred atMutina (modernModena).
After theSecond Punic War, the pro-CarthaginianLingones andSenoni were expelled. To consolidate the Roman rule in the region, in 187 BC, theVia Aemilia was completed fromAriminum toPiacentia (Piacenza). A series of colonies were founded along the route; in Romagna, these includedForum Livii (Forlì),Forum Cornellii (Imola), andForum Popilii (Forlimpopoli). The Lex Julia of 90 BC, following theSocial War, grantedRoman citizenship to allmunicipia south of theRiver Po.
DuringSulla's civil war in 82 to 82 BC, most of the colonies supportedGaius Marius.Forum Livii andCaesena (Cesena) were razed to ground, and the region was looted byLucius Cornelius Sulla's victorious army.
TheFirst Triumvirate divided the Roman Republic along the infamousRubicon. Most of the colonies in present-day Romagna were ruled byJulius Caesar, with the notable exception ofAriminum, south of the river. In 49 BC, Caesar, who had been residing in Ravenna, led theLegio XIII across the Rubicon, ignitingCaesar's civil war.
After the decisiveBattle of Actium, the reign ofAugustus started a centuries-long era ofPax Romana. All ofCisalpine Gaul had been incorporated into theRoman province of Italia. Around 7 BC, Augustus divided all of Italy into elevenregiones, and most of Romagna (exceptRimini) was in the eighth,Aemilia.
Towards the end of the 3rd century,Diocletian reordered the Empire into fourprefectures, each divided intodioceses, which in turn were divided intoprovinces. Under the new system, Italy was demoted to a mere Imperial province. Modern Romagna was organized into theRoman province ofFlaminia et Picenum in thediocese of Italia Annonaria.
Ravenna, which was surrounded by swamps and marshes, prospered and steadily rose in importance, and aRoman fleet was based at the city. It had developed into a major port on theAdriatic. However, in 330, the capital of the Empire was transferred toConstantinople, so with the fleet that stationed at Ravenna, thus weakened the coastal defence in theAdriatic.
Stepping into the 5th century, theGermanic migrations into the Empire further intensified. In 402,Emperor Honorius even moved theWestern Roman Empire's capital fromMediolanum to Ravenna, mainly because of the region's defensive terrain. 8 years later,Alaric I of theVisigoths looted Rome. In 476,Odoacer deposedRomulus in Ravenna, thus marking an end to theWestern Empire.
Encouraged byEmperor Zeno,Theodoric the Great led theOstrogoths into Italy. He entered Ravenna and murderedOdoacer in 493, establishing atwofold kingdom of the Romans and Goths. Under the Ostrogoths Italy was partly restored to its former prosperity.
In 535Justinian I initiated theGothic War. It was fought for 20 years, and the Ostrogoths were finally subjugated. The peninsula, depopulated and devastated, was ruled by anexarch from Ravenna. However, Imperial authority was maintained for barely more than a decade. In 568 newGermanic tribes, the Lombards, entered Italy, and established their capital atPavia. The Empire could barely defend the region around Ravenna and Rome, connected by a narrow strip of land passing throughPerugia, as well as a series of coastal cities. The Imperial frontier retreated toBologna.
In 727 the Lombard KingLiutprand renewed war against the Byzantines, taking most of Romagna and besieging Ravenna itself. These territories were returned to the Byzantines in 730. In 737 the king entered Romagna once more and took Ravenna. The exarch,Eutychius, retook the region in 740, withVenetian assistance. Eventually another Lombard king,Aistulf, conquered Romagna once more, and brought an end to the exarchate in 751.
KingRudolf I of Germany officially ceded Romagna to thePapal States in 1278. However, papal control over the area long remained only nominal. The region was divided among a series of regional lords, such as theOrdelaffi of Forlì or theMalatesta of Rimini, many of them adhering to theGhibelline party in opposition to the pro-papalGuelphs. This situation started to change in the late-15th century, when after their return to Rome from Avignon in 1378, stronger popes progressively reasserted their authority in the fragmented region. Parts of Romagna were also seized by other powers, including Venice, and most notably theRepublic of Florence, which took land up to Forlì and Cervia, building the famous city-fortress ofTerra del Sole. The Florentine Romagna remained part ofTuscany until the 1920s.
In 1500Cesare Borgia, illegitimate son of PopeAlexander VI, carved out for himself an ephemeral Duchy of Romagna, but his lands were reabsorbed into the Papal States after his fall. In 1559 thePeace of Cateau-Cambrésis divided Romagna between theFarnese family of theDuchy of Parma and Piacenza, theHouse of Este of theFerrara, and theDuchy of Modena and Reggio, and the Papal States. The Duchy of Ferrara was later annexed by the Papal States on the extinction of the main d'Este line in 1597, with the cadet branch retaining the Imperial fiefs of Modena and Reggio.
This situation lasted until theFrench invasion of 1796, which brought bloodshed (the massacre ofLugo, looting, heavy taxation, the destruction of Cesena University) but also innovative ideas in social and political fields. Under Napoleonic rule Romagna received recognition as an entity for the first time, with the creation of the provinces of the Pino (Ravenna) and Rubicone (Forlì). When in 1815 theCongress of Vienna restored the pre-war situation, secret anti-papal societies were formed, and riots broke out in 1820, 1830–31 and 1848.
This opposition was fuelled by theMazzinian propaganda and the direct action ofGiuseppe Garibaldi. Men likeFelice Orsini,Piero Maroncelli, andAurelio Saffi were among the protagonists of the ItalianRisorgimento.
However, after joining theunification of Italy in 1860, Romagna was not awarded separate status by the Savoy monarchs, who were afraid of dangerous destabilizing tendencies in the wake of the popular figures cited above.
In the early 20th century the autonomy of Romagna was advocated byAldo Spallicci,Giuseppe Fuschini,Emilio Lussu, and others. A movement proposing separation fromEmilia-Romagna was created in the 1990s.
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