History

Before the Roman conquest (3rd century BC) the most important of the tribes who first inhabited the region in any numbers were the Piceni, who lived on the eastern seaboard of the Marche and the Umbri tribes up in the mountains .

Under the first Roman Emperor, Augustus, the Marche was divided - the northern stretches formed part of the Roman Umbria, while the south was known as Picenum. After the fall of Rome the area was invaded by the Goths. Then it formed part of the Holy Roman Empire . After the death of Charlemagne, many of the cities of central Italy , the Marche included, had their first taste of independence. In the 8th century the region passed under the nominal rule of the papacy.

In the 14th century the region was divided into a number of small states with the Malatesta in Fano, and the Montefeltro and later the Della Rovere in Urbino and some cities established free communes. From the 14th to the 16th century, the popes gradually established their rule in the Marche and ended local autonomy. The region was occupied by the French from 1797 to 1815, when it was restored to the papacy. The Marche was annexed by Italy in 1860, during the second war of independence.