Mediolanum

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Mediolanum

A section of Roman wall (11 m high) with a 24-sided tower.

This article is about Roman Milan, for Roman Whitchurch, England, see Mediolanum (Whitchurch); see also Mediolanum Santonum (modern Saintes) in Gaul.

Mediolanum, the ancient Milan, was an important Celtic and then Roman centre of northern Italy. This article charts the history of the city from its settlement by the Insubres around 600 BC, through its conquest by the Romans and its development into a key centre of Western Christianity and capital of the Western Roman Empire, until its decline under the ravages of the Gothic War, its capture by the Lombards in 569, and their decision to make Pavia the capital of their Kingdom of Italy

Mediolanum appears to have been founded around 600 BC by the Celtic Insubres, for whom this region of northern Italy was called Insubria. The Romans, led by consul Gnaeus 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^[1]. They eventually conquered the entirety of the region, calling the new province Cisalpine Gaul? "Gaul this side of the Alps"? and may have given the site its Latin-Celtic name: the name element -lanum is the Celtic equivalent of -planum "plain'", thus Mediolanum: "in the midst of the plain".

Ruins of the Emperor's palace in Milan. Here Costantinus and Licinius issued the Edict of Milan

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^[2].

During the Augustan age Mediolanum was famous for its schools; it possessed a theater and an amphitheater (129.5 X 109.3 m^[3] A large stone wall encircled the city in Caesar's time, and later was expanded in the late third century AD, by Maximian. 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 a mint,^[4] a horreum and imperial mausoleum.

Arcadius solidus, from the Mediolanum mint, c 395-408

In 286 Diocletian moved the capital of the Western Roman Empire from Rome to Mediolanum. He chose to reside at Nicomedia in the Eastern Empire, leaving his colleague Maximian at Milan. Maximian built several gigantic monuments, the large circus (470 x 85 meters), the thermae or "Baths 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) with many 24-sided towers. The monumental area had two Gemini towers, one was included on the coventry of San Maurizio Maggiore (the tower now is 16,60m high)

Arena games: ivory cup depicting staged hunts and chariot races, found in Milan, 4th-5th century

Thus it was from Milan that in 313 AD, the Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan, granting tolerance to all religions within the Empire, paving the way for Christianity to become the dominant religion of the Empire. Constantine was in Milan 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^[5], but the first bishop of Milan who has a firm historical presence is Merocles, who was at the Council of Rome of 313. In the mid-fourth century the Arian 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.

At the time of the bishop St. Ambrose (bishop 374-397), who quelled the Arians, and emperor Theodosius I, Mediolanum reached the height of its ancient power.^[6].

Roman columns in front of basilica di San Lorenzo.

The city also possessed a number of basilicas, added in the late fourth century AD. These are San Simpliciano, San Nazaro, San Lorenzo and the chapel of San Vittore, located in the basilica of Sant'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 fourth century AD. In the crypt of the Duomo survive ruins of the ancient church of Saint Tecla and the baptisty where was baptized St. Augustine of Hippo.

In 402 the city was besieged by the Goths, and the imperial residence removed to Ravenna. In 452 it was besieged again, by Attila, but the real break with its Imperial past came in 538, during the Gothic War, when Mediolanum was laid waste by Uraia, a nephew of Witiges, King of the Goths, with great loss of life.^[7] The Lombards took Pavia for their capital, and Early Medieval Milan was left to be governed by its archbishops.

For the medieval and modern history of Milan, see Milan.

Extant structures

Some of the monuments of the Roman Mediolanum still to be seen in Milan:

in the basilica of S. Ambrogio:
- the Chapel of S. Vittore, with Late Antique mosaics
- the so?called "Tomb of Stilicho", assembled from a Roman sarcophagus and other material.
- a large collection of inscriptions.
the Colonne di San Lorenzo, a colonnade in front of the church of S. Lorenzo.
Roman lapidary material in the Archi di Porta Nuova.
the scant remains of a large amphitheatre, now in an archaeological park dedicated to their preservation.
a tower (16.6 m high) of the circus, now inside the Convento di San Maurizio Maggiore.
a bit of moenia (walls) and a tower with 24 sides (Maximian, 3rd century)
the church of Lorenzo (IV-V sec.) and the San Aquilino chapel.
ruins of the imperial palace.
some ruins from the Baths of Hercules; further remains of ceilings and floors are in the archaeological museum.
the body of St. Ambrose (d. 397) and those possibly of SS. Gervasius and Protasius — or at any rate, of earlier men, found in St. Ambrose's time, are still seen in the crypt of the church of S. Ambrogio.
crypt of San Giovanni in Conca.

Notes

References

Traversi, Archittura paleocristiana milanese

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