HISTORY OF PO VALLEY PRE-HISTORY TO 600

Cities were settled more recent in the Po valley than in Southern Italy or Greece. The first known inhabitants of the thick forests and swamps in ancient times were the Ligurians, a race of pre-Indo-European stock. After the progressive immigration of Indo-European peoples of Celtic stock, known as the Insubres (hence the name of Insubria sometimes given to northwestern Lombardy), in the 7th century BC the southern and central regions were conquered and colonized here and there by another non-Indoeuropean people, the Etruscans, who left some city names such as Parma, Ravenna or Felsina, the ancient name of Bologna, as part of their cultural heritage. The Etruscan domination left significant marks and introduced urban civilization, but was short-lived. As the 5th century BC dawned, a Celtic horde swarmed through the easy passes of the Western Alps and conquered most of the Po Valley, apart Veneto which had its inhabitants, the Venetics, likely of a distinct stock and in time already influenced by both Etruscans and Greeks for culture (they were skillful merchants).

The Gaulish conquerors, divided in major tribes as the Boii (from whom Bologna, Bononia, is name), the Taurini (whence the name of Turin), the Cenomani and the previous Insubres dwelled mostly into the plains, in time absorbing the Alpine populations. A warlike people, they even raided and burnt Rome itself in 390 BC under a leader named Brennus. Roman revenge took time, but was total and definitive: Celticity was cancelled from northern Italy and replaced by Latin language and culture. This happened after the Romans defeated the Gauls at the Battle of Clastidium and later subdued them for good after Hannibal's final defeat at Zama. By 196 BC Rome was master of the woody plains and soon took over the role of the Etruscans, dotting the region with bustling colonies, clearing the land, fighting the last rebel tribes and gradually imposing its civilization. The centuries of Roman domination decided forever the main aspect of the Po Valley. Cities dotted the areas at the foothills of the Alps and Apennines in two stretches; in the south along the via Aemilia, in the north along a Milan- Aquileia route. Julius Caesar granted Roman citizenship to these lands, whence he recruited many of his bravest troops. The Po Valley for a time hosted the capital of the Western Roman Empire, in Mediolanum from 286 to 403, and then in Ravenna till the end. It was attacked in the 3rd century by Germanic tribes bursting out from the Alps and sacked two centuries later by Attila the Hun, till its final conquest first by Odoacer, then at the hands of the Ostrogoths of king Theoderic the Great in the final years of the 5th century.