HISTORICAL OUTLINES

An alluvial area of high ground in the middle of the plain crossed by the river Chienti: from remote prehistoric times this hillock, which would later come to be known as Tolentino, was the site chosen by various peoples who succeeded one another as the location for their settlements. The oldest evidences of these settlements date back to the Upper Palaeolithic period, but it was during the Bronze Age that the first, concrete traces of the civilisation of the Piceni were left, proving Tolentino was one of the most important centres where this people lived.

Bronze sconce (6^th century B.C.)

Ancient authors explain the origin of this Piceni civilisation mentioning the legend of the “sacred spring”, according to which, each spring, a group of young people migrated from the region of Sabina beyond the Apennines in search of new land where they could settle. Later theories attribute these settlements to peoples from across the Adriatic who penetrated far inland. As far as the name Tolentino is concerned, the humanist Francesco Filelfo (15^th century) maintained that it derived from the Greek thòlos, meaning “round”. More recently it has been said to come from the root tul, meaning “limit”, or rather “definitive boundary”, probably referring to the river Chienti. This last interpretation strengthens the hypothesis of a transmigration of peoples and their subsequent establishment in an area, it seams, limited by the river flow.

The humanist Francesco Filelfo

The Roman period has not left specific references to Tolentino, even though from stone inscriptions we know that Tolentino became municipium and was included within the Picenum Suburbicarium. What is left of the Tolentino of that period is a building, probably a bathhouse, which lies under the Palazzo Comunale. Unquestionable evidences can be found towards the end of the 4^th century, when Flavius Julius Catervius, the prefect of the Praetorium, established his residence in Tolentino. It is to Flavius Julius Catervius that we owe, according to tradition, the conversion to Christianity of the people of Tolentino, who proclaimed him their protector with the name of San Catervo. Later on, around his sepulchral monument a small Benedictine monastery was built, depending from the monastery of San Salvatore of Rieti. With the passing of the years the Marches became a prey to the barbarians; the region was subject to raids and sackings and people were forced to abandon their towns and seek refuge in the hills. The population of Tolentino, once the immediate danger was over, gathered again round the abbot of the Monastery of San Catervo and, in about the year one thousand, established the free Comune.