Send Gift Baskets to Reggio Emilia, Italy

The Via Aemilia, leading from Piacenza to Rimini (187 BC), was built by Marcus Aemilius Lepidus in Reggio (187 BC). As the city’s current name indicates, Reggio became a center for judicial administration, and the forum was initially called Regium Lepidi, then Regium.

As one of the military stations on the Via Aemilia, Regium is only referred to by Festus and Cicero during the Roman age. Nevertheless, the city flourished, a Municipium with statutes, magistrates, and art colleges.

According to the sources, Christianity was brought to Ravenna by Apollinaris of Ravenna in the 1st century C.E. Reggio had a diocese after the Edict of Milan (313). Valentinianus III placed the Reggio diocese under Ravenna’s jurisdiction in 440. However, Reggio had deteriorated so much that Saint Ambrose included it among the dilapidated cities by the end of the 4th century. As a result of the Barbarian invasions, further damage was caused. Reggio became part of Odoacer’s realm after Romulus Augustulus was deposed in 476. From 489 to 569, it was under Ostrogothic control; from 539 to 569, it was under Roman rule (Italy). Alboin’s Lombards took it in 569. The seat of the Duchy of Reggio was chosen in Reggio.

The Franks took Reggio in 773. In 781, Charlemagne gave the bishop royal authority over the city and established the diocese’s boundaries. Reggio was handed over to the Italian Kings in 888. As a result of the damage caused by the Magyars in 899, new walls were built. Bishop Azzo II was killed as a result of this damage. In 900, Emperor Louis III approved the construction of a castrum (castle) in the city’s center.

Reggio was included in the March of Tuscany, later held by Matilde of Canossa, along with Parma, Brescia, Modena, Mantua, and Ferrara.