The Titano inhabited
Archaeological excavations attest the human presence on Mount Titano from the Neolithic, between 5000 and 4000 BC. There follow traces of the Bronze Age, of the Villanovan culture, of the Etruscan presence and of Roman colonisation after the foundation of Ariminum in 268 BC. The first communities of the Titano leave behind a legacy of tools, goldwork and pottery that today enriches the State Museum.
Marinus and freedom
According to the anonymous twelfth-century hagiography, the stonecutter Marinus reaches Rimini from Dalmatia in 257 AD and climbs the Titano to escape the persecutions ordered by Diocletian. His fame as a healer and the recovery of the son of the woman Felicissima lead to the donation of the mountain. On 3 September 301, before dying, Marinus utters the words destined to become the foundational motto: «Relinquo vos liberos ab utroque homine», "I leave you free from both men", that is, from the Emperor and the Pope.
A surprising order
The Placito Feretrano of 20 February 885 is the first written document on the life of the Sammarinese community. The Arengo, the assembly of the heads of family, holds power until 1243, when the first two Captains Regent are elected. In 1295 the Arengo promulgates the first body of laws, the ancestor of the Statutes of the late sixteenth century still in force. In 1463, after the war against the Malatesta, the territory reaches its present extent with the annexation of Fiorentino, Montegiardino, Serravalle and Faetano.
| Year | Event | Page |
|---|---|---|
| 5000-4000 BC | First traces of communities on the Titano | First communities |
| 301 AD | Traditional foundation, Saint Marinus | 12th-century hagiography |
| 885 | Placito Feretrano, first written attestation | Placito Feretrano |
| 1243 | First two Captains Regent | Middle Ages |
| 1463 | Present territorial extent, entry of Faetano | Castelli |
| 1503 | Cesare Borgia's occupation for 6 months | From the 16th to the 19th |
| 1740 | Liberation from the Alberonian occupation | Saint Agatha |
| 1797 | Recognition by Napoleon's France | Napoleon |
| 1815 | Congress of Vienna recognises independence | Nineteenth century |
| 1849 | Garibaldi finds asylum on the Titano | Garibaldi |
| 1906 | First referendum, reform of the Arengo | Twentieth century |
| 1944 | Allied bombing, San Marino takes in over 100,000 refugees | World wars |
From the 17th century to the 20th
The 17th century gives San Marino the Statutes still in force today. The following century brings the occupation by Cardinal Alberoni, repelled in 1740 and commemorated by the Feast of Saint Agatha. In 1797 Napoleon recognises the Republic through Gaspard Monge; in 1815 the Congress of Vienna confirms its independence. The Risorgimento sees on the Titano the passage of Giuseppe Garibaldi and the letter of Abraham Lincoln of 7 May 1861.
«Although your dominions are small, your State is nevertheless one of the most honoured in all history.»
The twentieth century is marked by emigration, by the two world wars with the welcoming of more than one hundred thousand refugees, by the extension of the vote to women (laws of 23 December 1958 and 11 September 1973) and by the entry into the main international organisations in the last decades of the century.