Mantua
Mantua, located in northern Italy, is a historic city bordered on three sides by the River Mincio, which flows into the larger Po River. Its origins trace back to the Etruscan civilization, and it is noted in Virgil's "Aeneid" as a city enriched by a blend of cultures, including Etruscans, Venetians, and Umbrians. Archaeological findings suggest a significant Etruscan presence dating back to the fifth century BC, supporting Virgil's depiction of the city's diverse ancestry. Mantua maintained its importance through various invasions, including by the Gauls, who initially found the marshy terrain a protective barrier. By the Roman era, Mantua had integrated into the Roman Republic, receiving full citizenship and becoming part of the province known as Cisalpine Gaul. Despite its later challenges, including attacks from the Visigoths and Huns, Mantua has endured as a significant historical site, often recognized for its rich cultural heritage and connection to influential figures like Virgil. This blend of history and culture makes Mantua an intriguing subject for those interested in ancient civilizations and their legacies.
Subject Terms
Mantua
(Mantova)
A city of Cisalpine Gaul (northern Italy), surrounded on three sides by the river Mincius (Mincio)—a northern tributary of the Padus (Po)—which was probably navigable for part of its length in ancient times. Mantua stood on the northernmost of two or three islands in the river, at a point where it was broadening into a small lake.
In his Aeneid, Virgil, who came from the nearby village of Andes, describes the city as `rich in ancestry, yet not all of one stock: three races are there, and under each race four peoples, and she herself head of the people, her strength from Etruscan blood.’ He is apparently saying that the place controlled, or had amalgamated, twelve adjacent centers or villages, of which the inhabitants were divided among three different peoples, namely the Etruscans, Venetians and Umbrians (identified by some with a people named the Sarsinates from Perusia [Perugia]). Recent investigations have uncovered houses, apparently Etruscan, of the fifth century BC (at Castellazzo della Garolda and Forcella)—and the poet's assertion that the Etruscan element was dominant may well be correct, even if somewhat colored by his own partly Etruscan origin: his cognomen Maro is Etruscan, the family name Vergilius is commoner in Etruria than elsewhere, and the name of his mother, Magia, may be Etruscan as well. However, the tradition that Mantua rather than Felsina (Bononia, Bologna) was the principal Etruscan community in north Italy seems unwarranted; although the Mantuans sought to substantiate this assertion by tracing their foundation back to the mythological heroes Manto (said to be derived from Mantus, an equivalent of dis Pater) and Ocnus and Tarchon (an Etruscan name), and claiming that the city had been settled by colonists from Thebes in central Greece.
When the Gauls invaded northern Italy, giving it their name (Gallia Cisalpina), in the early fourth century BC, Mantua was protected from their assaults by its marshes, although perhaps only for a time, since the neighboring necropolis of Carzaghetto is exceptionally rich in Celtic material (otherwise scanty in Cisalpine Gaul). By 200 the city had reached an amicable understanding with the Romans, who subsequently made Cisalpine Gaul into a province, first extending Latin rights—which conferred the Roman franchise on local officials (89)—throughout the region, and then granting full citizenship to Mantua and other Transpadane cities (49). In 42 the province was incorporated into Italy; but after Antony's and Octavian's victory over Brutus and Cassius at Philippi ex-soldiers from the victorious army were presented with farmlands taken from Mantua and Cremona, amid lamentations from Virgil. Nevertheless, the elder Pliny recorded that in his time Mantua was the only Etruscan city remaining in existence across the Po. In the fifth century AD it suffered from the ravages first of Alaric the Visigoth and then of Attila the Hun.