Description : Urbisaglia is a comune in the province of Macerata, Marche, Italy. Its name comes from the ancient Roman town Urbs Salvia. Situated in the Regio V Picenum, along the via Salaria Gallica, the town was founded during the 2nd century BC as a colonia. Its importance reached the top with Augustus and Tiberius, when it was completely rebuilt. It gave birth to some leading figures of the Roman Empire, such as the consul Gaius Fufius Geminus, and Lucius Flavius Silva Nonius Bassus the conqueror of Masada. It was utterly destroyed by Alaric in 408–10 AD, and both Procopius (E.G. II. 16, 17) and Dante Alighieri (Paradise, XVI. 73 - 78) describe its desolation. During the following centuries, the inhabitants of Urbs Salvia gradually moved to the top of the hill, giving rise to the Castro de Orbesallia. In the 12th century, a very important religious, economic and cultural centre was founded nearby, the Abbey of Fiastra, which had to influence the Fiastra Valley and the surrounding area. Between 12th and 14th century, the town was ruled by the Abbracciamonte family; they slowly sold the town to the Comune of Tolentino, which became its only owner. After Francesco Sforza's signoria (1433–43), Urbisaglia came back under Tolentino's domination. Tolentino was given the papal permission to build a rocca, to prevent any rebellion attempt; in 1507 Tolentino sent a 12 soldiers garrison to defend the fortress. In 1569, after petitioning the Pope Pius V, the inhabitants of Urbisaglia were given the autonomy from Tolentino; the town was directly placed under Holy See's dependency. The first diggings in the Roman town took place during the papal government; after Italy's unification the standard of living improved thanks to industrial development, permitting the rise of a spinning mill and both a hosiery and a soap factory. Thanks to the benefactors Angelo Buccolini, Innocenzo Petrini and the marquis Alessandro Giannelli, the town was provided with a nursery school, an old people's home and a Mount of piety.
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