History of Cingoli

Cingoli is a small and pleasant town in the Marches, but over the centuries, it has given notice to scholars of exceptional problems about both its antiquities and  etymology. With regard to antiquity, the problem arose from a dubious interpretation of certain assertions in Caesar's (100-44 BC) "Bellum Civile" (I, 15), who wrote: "[...] Auximo Caesar omnem progressus agrum Picenum percurrit. Cunctae earum regionum praefecturae libentissimis animis recipiunt exercitumque eum eius omnibus rebus iuvant. Etiam ‘Cingulo’, quod oppidum Labienus constituerat suaque pecunia exaedificaverat, eum legati veniunt quaeque imperaverit se cupidissime facturos pollicentur [...]"; i.e.: "Starting from Osimo, Caesar walked the whole territory of Piceno; all Prefectures of the Region received him with a great enthusiasm and they helped in every way his army. From ‘Cingoli’ too,  a fortified town which was established by Labienus (100 ca.-45 BC), who had finished the building of it at his own expense, came some ambassadors, who promised they would do everything that He (Caesar) had commanded; he then asked  soldiers, and they sent them. "

Some historians, taking a bit too literally the words of Caesar, deduced that “Cingulum” was "founded" (costituted ") by Labienus, who even had built it with his money (“sua pecunia”). Already some historians in the nineteenth century had found that interpretation was wrong, because the epigraphic documents had shown that "Cingulum" was much older than the period in which Labienus had lived, the alleged founder of the city, who, at most, was restricted to strengthening the walls, and to build some important building "at his own expense." Giuseppe Cappelletti, after producing some old documents about Cingoli, also writing around Labienus, said: "[...] So the colony relied on to Cingoli must have been a more ancient date, nor, therefore, may have been founded by Labienus [...] (See G. Cappelletti, “Le Chiese d'Italia dalla loro origine fino ai nostri giorni” [“The Churches of Italy from their origin to the present day”], 1848, p. 440). The intuition of G. Cappelletti is amply confirmed by contemporary studies; in reality, Labienus had performed only a "re-establishment" of the city and its region in transition of it from "Praefectura" to “Municipium”.

As L. Quilici writes, the re-establishment was "driven by patrons of local origin. Well known is the passage of Caesar, who recalls the work of Labienus in the 'oppidum' Piceno of 'Cingulum' "(see L. Quilici, “Urbanizzazione delle campagne nell'Italia Antica” [" The Urbanisation of countryside in ancient Italy], 2001, p. 200, note 79). In fact, we have epigraphic evidences, recorded by CIL IX, 5679 (Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum), attesting the presence at Cingoli of two "Magistri" (“Magister Terebius and Vibolenus”) in the third century BC. Much discussion arose also about of etymology of "Cingulum"; for many years it was accepted without question that the Latin word ("Cingulum" - "Belt") was referring to something "circular", "round"; some critics thought that perhaps "Cingulum" meant “a city surrounded by round walls”. As noted by P. Appignanesi, instead, who proposes a different and very interesting etymology, "A [...] Pennacchioni, placing the 'oppidum' on top of the Cingoli mountain, which 'with its natural form is not allowed to erect a camp fence with square', believes that the name may indicate a 'city or fortress with circular walls or oval like a belt. '"(See A. Pennacchioni, “Testimonianze dell'epoca romana in Cingoli” [“Some evidences of the Roman era in Cingoli”, Cingoli, 1972, p. 21 [quoted by P. Appignanesi]).

In more recent years, therefore, the traditional etymology has been questioned, suggesting, even on linguistic data, the idea of a “rocky protrusion". In fact, P. Appignanesi writes: "[...] I believe that the meaning of the name is that of ' a shelf hanging on the side of a mountain' or, with results almost similar,  a ' rocky protrusion surrounding all or part of a hill' [.. .] "(See P. Appignanesi - D. Bacelli, “La liberazione di Cingoli e altre pagine di storia di Cingoli” ["The liberation of Cingoli and other pages of Cingoli history], Cingoli, 1986, pp. 383-388). P. Appignanesi also points out how the ancient Latin term "Cingulum" had "the ancient meaning of 'shelf sticking out from the side of a mountain,'" meaning that the Romance languages preserved and handed down yet. " In this sense, the critic also recalls  the linguistic studies of G. Battista Pellegrini, who noted that many Romance languages preserve the ancient Latin word meaning "protrusion", as the Dolomites "cengia" ("protrusion of a rock").

Historically, we know that, from the ninth century BC, the territory OF Cingoli was inhabited by tribes of  Piceno. From the third century BC Roman expansion began, with the consequent deduction of veterans’ colonies, to whom must also be the foundation of “Cingulum”, which was home to the noble family of “Labieni”, to whom belonged the known Titus Labienus, Caesar’s General, who fought with him in Gaul (52 BC), who amassed huge wealth, so that he can afford, “sua pecunia”, of his own pocket, an increase and a restructuring of the housing hometown. After the fall of Roman Empire, Cingoli suffered serious barbarian invasions, especially the Goths and Lombards; in fact, in the sixth century, it was involved in the Gothic-Byzantine war, and then, under the Lombards, it was seen in the Duchy of Spoleto. With the advent of the Carolingian Dynasty, Cingoli were assigned to the Papal States, under whose rule it remained until the Unification of Italy (1861).

Although being a municipality since 1150, the city depended on  Bishop of Osimo (1204), and, with the arrangement of Pontifical-land made by Cardinal Albornoz (1310-1367), the City had to recognize the supreme authority of Rome, as his “Podestà” were forced to pledge loyalty to the Papal Legate. Cingoli was involved in full fighter in the climate that characterized the Italian Middle Ages,  that saw the political life of  city torn by internal struggles between factions of  Guelphs and Ghibellines, so much so that a very serious disorder was born, which led to some attempts of noble families to disengage from the papal authority, but it was restored with hardness.

The Papal Legate, Francesco Silvestri,  Bishop of Florence from 1342 to 1355 , intervened heavily against the most powerful noble families of the city, decreeing for some of them not only the exile, but also the killing of their Tower-Houses, which, as is easily understandable, had repercussions on the ancient urban structure of the city, with the irretrievable loss of ancient palaces. Then, put down the infighting, between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, Cingoli had a significant increase in construction, which took shape with the building of several palaces. The housing boom continued in recent times too, but outside the walls, with the consequent preservation of the ancient Old Town, which today is one of the strongest reasons of tourist attraction, and a greater pride in the town, which can count on by enhancement of its heritage through the work of important local scholars.