Placentia, founded in 218 BC, was the first roman colony in Northern Italy together with Cremona, a most important military outpost against Hannibal who was moving from Spain to Italy to devastate and subdue it in the nearby territories of the rivers Ticino and Trebbia. The city resisted the Punic attacks and flourished as a commercial centre along the Via Emilia.  The Christianisation of the city was made by martyrs such as Saint Antoninus, a local centurion killed further to Diocletian’s persecutions.

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