Pisaurum

• n.. a city of Umbria, at the mouth of the Pisaurus, the mod. Pesaro, Mel. 2, 4, 5; Liv. 39, 44; Vell. 1, 15, 2; Caes. B. C. 1, 11 sq.; Cic. Fam. 16, 12, 2; id. Att. 2, 7, 2 sq.—Hence,
• • A Pisaurensis, e, adj., Pisaurian: T. Accius Pisaurensis, of Pisaurum, Cic. Brut. 78, 271; Plin. 7, 39, 40, § 128.—In plur.: Pisaurenses, ĭum, m., the Pisaurians, Inscr. Grut. 276, 3; 481, 9; 1085, 12.—
  • B ‡ Pisaurĭus, ii, m., name of a slave liberated by the city of Pisaurum, Inscr. Fabr. p. 438, n. 17.

PISAURUM (Πισαῦρον: Eth. Pisaurensis: Pesaro), a considerable town of Umbria, situated on the coast of the Adriatic, between Fanum Fortunae (Fano) and Ariminum (Rimini). It was on the line of the Via Flaminia, 24 miles from Ariminum (Itin. Ant. p. 126), at the mouth of the small river Pisaurus, from which it in all probability derived its name. (Plin. Nat. 3.14. s. 19.) This is now called the Foglia. The site of Pisaurum, together with all the adjoining country, had been originally included in the territory of the Galli Senones; but we have no account of the existence of a Gaulish town of the name, and the first mention of Pisaurum in history is that of the foundation of a Roman colony there. This took place in B.C. 184, simultaneously with that of Potentia in Picenum, so that the same triumvirs were charged with the settlement of both colonies. The settlers received 6 jugera each, and enjoyed the full rights of Roman citizens. (Liv, 39.44; Vellei. 1.15; Madvig, de Colon. pp. 253, 286.) A few years later we hear of the construction there of some public works, under the direction of the Roman censors (Liv. 41.27); but with this exception, we hear little of the new colony. It seems, however, to have certainly been a prosperous place, and one of the most considerable towns in this part of Italy. Hence, it was one of the places which Caesar hastened to occupy with his advanced cohorts as soon as he had passed the Rubicon, B.C. 49. (Caes. B.C. 1.11, 12; Cic. ad Fam. 16.1. 2) It is also repeatedly alluded to by Cicero as a flourishing town (Cic. pro Sest. 4, Phil. 13.12); hence it is impossible that the expression of Catullus, who calls it moribunda sedes Pisauri( Carm. 81. 3), can refer to the condition of the town itself. It would seem that its climate was reputed unhealthy, though this is not the case at the present day. Pisaurum received a fresh body of military colonists, which were settled there by M. Antonius; but suffered severely from an earthquake, which seems to have destroyed a great part of the town, just before the battle of Actium, B.C. 31. (Plut. Ant. 60.) It appears, however, to have been restored, and peopled with fresh colonists by Augustus, for we find it bearing in inscriptions the titles of Colonia Julia Felix;a nd though Pliny does not give it the title of a colony, its possession of that rank under the Empire is abundantly proved by inscriptions. (Plin. Nat. 2.14. s. 19; Orell. Inscr. 81, 3143, 3698, 4069, 4084.) From the same authority we learn that it was a place of some trade, and that vessels were built there, so that it had a Collegium Fabrorum Navalium.( Ib. 4084.) The port was undoubtedly formed by the mouth of the river, which still affords a harbour for small vessels. Its position on the great Flaminian Way also doubtless secured to Pisaurum a certain share of prosperity as long as the Roman empire continued; but it was always inferior to the neighbouring Fanum Fortunae. (Mel. 2.4.5; Ptol. 3.1.22; Itin. Ant. pp. 100, 126; Itin. Hier. p. 615; Tab. Peut. )

During the Gothic Wars Pisaurum was destroyed by Vitiges, but partially restored by Belisarius (Procop. B. G. 3.11); and rose again to prosperity under the exarchate of Ravenna, and became one of the cities of the Pentapolis. (Geogr. Rav. 4.31; P. Diac. Hist. Lang. 2.19.) The modern city of Pesaro is still a flourishing place; but has no remains of antiquity, except numerous inscriptions, which have been collected and published with a learned commentary by the Abate Olivieri. (Marmora Pisaurensia, fol. Pisaur. 1738.)

Now Pesaro; an ancient town of Umbria, near the mouth of the river Pisaurus (Foglia), on the road to Ariminum. It was colonized by the Romans in B.C. 186.

A Roman citizen colony founded in 184 B.C. on the Umbrian coast of the Adriatic at the mouth of the Pisaurus; it lies on the right bank of the river in a small plain between two spurs of the Apennines. It was a sister colony of Potentia in Picenum, founded the same year and with the same tresviri: Q. Fabius Labeo, M. Fulvius Flaccus, and Q. Fulvius Nobilior. A prehistoric necropolis (Novilara) has been discovered nearby, showing that the area was inhabited at least from the Early Iron Age. But the Roman city has its own plan, castrum-like, with a rectangular grid of streets, and a forum at the center near the crossing of arteries. Each colonist received six jugera of land (Livy 39.44.10); the colony was inscribed in the Tribus Camilia. Its most famous son was the tragic poet Accius (b. 170 B.C.).

Apparently the colony did not thrive, despite its situation on the Via Flaminia. It may have received a Sullan colony. Cicero (Sest. 9) speaks of it as a hotbed of discontent and full of men ready to join the Catilinarian conspiracy; Catullus (81.3) describes it as “moribunda” in the early fifties. It was briefly occupied by Caesar after the crossing of the Rubicon (BCiv. 1.11.4). It received a colony of Antony's veterans after Philippi (Plut. Vit.Ant. 60.2) and another of Augustus', after which it bore the name colonia Iulia Felix Pisaurum. It is mentioned under the Empire only by the geographers and reappears only in the Gothic wars, when it was burnt and its walls destroyed by Vittigis and rebuilt in haste by Belisarius in 544 (Procop. Goth. 3.11.32-34).

Of the walls of the ancient city enough has been traced to permit reconstruction of their rectangular plan (488 x 394 m), with an inward bow toward the N gate, whence the Via Flaminia issued. The base is of blocks of local sandstone, probably the wall of the original colony; the upper parts are a rebuilding in brick and mortar. Many mosaics have been found, many inscriptions, and other archaeological material, much of which is housed in Pesaro's Museo Oliveriano (formerly Athenaeum). The most famous of the finds is a bronze statue, the so-called Idolino, in the Museo Archeologico in Florence.

Nothing is known of Pisaurum's port, though inscriptions inform us it was an active shipbuilding center. There are noteworthy remains of an Augustan bridge over the Pisaurus (Foglia) and another over the Metaurus.

P. Gazzola, Ponti romani (1963) 2.68, 74-76; G. Annibaldi in Atti del XI Congresso di Storia dell'Architettura (1965) 46-47, 52-54; I. Zicari, “Pisaurum,” RE II (1968).