VERONA CIVITAS

Verona has been selected by Roberto Amati in relation to the real history of european integration, then enlisted in the CITY OR CIVITAS category, accompanied by own fact SHEET useful to the comprehension, completed of historical MAPS AND IMAGES or with a direct linking to the related Blog contents dedicated to the the aeternitas and the future of Europe.

Verona is one of the most ancient cities of the history of European integration, signed in great part by Christianity. Civitas Verona was founded in 300 B.C. by Romans on the Adige river, in a strategic point in direction to the Alps at the crossing of two ancient roman ways: the Postumia way, coming from Genoa and passing through Piacenza to end in Aquileia, and the Claudia Augusta Way starting from Milan towards the Noricum province up to Augsburg and passing through the civitas of Bologna to end in Florence.

In origin Verona was a Municipium inhabited by families of local Celts Euganei and Italics under the rule of the Gens Popilia, who received large pieces of the public land (Ager Romanus) of the Roman ResPublica to share. Within the reform of Augustus (see Roman Empire), Verona was included in the Regio X Venetia et Histria of the Italiae province and obtain the building of the Ponte di Pietra stone bridge and the famous 'Arena' amphitheatre still existing today and symbol of the city!.

With the reform of Constantine I (see Christian Empire), Verona became part of the Italiae Diocesis and obtained the metropolitan archibishopric, because of its originary christian community. From the IV century A.D., the city became a fortress to opposite the various emperors Civil Wars and of the barbarian invasions but couldn't avoid the conquer of Ostrogoths and after the Greek-Gothic War of the Lombards, who in 569 A.D. included Verona in the Regna Lombardorum until it was conquerd by Charlemagne and assigned to the Regnum Italiae, under the rule of the Friuli Marquises dinasty of Unrochidi.

In late X century A.D., the emperor Otto I 'said the great' put that marquisade under the Verona archibishopric rule of the Reich counts provided of temporal powers, who could build the Saint Zeno basilica and the Santo Stefano and Santi Apostoli churches. But the increasing wealth of the burgher families eclipsed the power of the counts and in 1135 A.D. Verona was organised as a 'free Comune', becoming part of the Lombard League of the Italian civitas that defeated the emperor Frederick I, gaining more privileges and regalia as 'free town of the Empire': so, since 1257 A.D. the Duchy of Verona was ruled by the lords family of Della Scala, allied to the Staufer imperial dinasty in the 'Guelfi&Ghibellini' war against the Estensi family power, taking the political control of the near cities of Padua, Treviso and Vicenza with the Duke Cangrande I, patron of arts and protector of the main italian artists as Dante, Petrarca and Giotto. But in 1337 A.D. a league of the rival families de' Medici Lords of Florence, Visconti Duckies of Milan, Estensi Counts of Ferrara and Gonzaga Marquises of Mantua allied to the Republic of Venice could defeat the Della Scala power and reduce its dominions to Verona countryside. By fifty years later, Verona was annexed to the Duchy of Milan and followed its history and of Italy until today, becaming a central fortress of the Lombardy-Veneto Reign under the Reich and during the Italian Independence wars of XIX century A.D., while Verona has been the seat of the Statute of the Republic of Salò during the Second World War.

Why is famous Verona? Undubitably for the Arena theatre and the Juliet balcony of Shakespeare, so that the ancient urban structure and architecture of Verona named 'The Setting of Romeo and Juliet City' is enlisted in the UNESCO World Heritage. Nowadays, Verona is a big and rich city in the north-east of Italy, included into the Veneto region, whose patron is Saint Zeno an ancient bishop of the ancient city christian community.

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