Editing Padua (section)

=== Antiquity ===
[[File:Tomba di Antenore.jpg|thumb|left|[[Tomb of Antenor]]]]
Padua claims to be among the oldest cities in northern Italy. According to a tradition dated at least to the time of [[Virgil]]'s ''[[Aeneid]]'' and to [[Livy]]'s ''[[History of Rome (Livy)|Ab Urbe Condita]]'', Padua was founded around 1183&nbsp;BC by the [[troy|Trojan]] prince [[Antenor (mythology)|Antenor]].<ref>[[Livy]], ''[[Ab Urbe condita libri]]'', I.1.</ref>

After the [[Fall of Troy]], Antenor led a group of Trojans and their [[Paphlagonia]]n allies, the Eneti or [[Adriatic Veneti|Veneti]], who lost their king [[Pylaemenes]] to settle the Euganean plain in Italy. Thus, when a large ancient stone sarcophagus was exhumed in the year 1274, officials of the [[medieval commune]] declared the remains within to be those of Antenor. An inscription by the native [[humanist]] scholar [[Lovato Lovati]] placed near the tomb reads:
{{Blockquote|This sepulchre excavated from marble contains the body of the noble Antenor who left his country, guided the Eneti and Trojans, banished the Euganeans and founded Padua.<ref name="virtualtourist">{{cite web |url=http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/Italy/Veneto/Padova-146843/Things_To_Do-Padova-Tomb_of_Antenor-BR-1.html |title=Tomb of Antenor, Padova, Italy: Reviews, Photos plus Hotels Near Tomb of Antenor – VirtualTourist |publisher=virtualtourist.com |access-date=2015-08-16 |archive-date=12 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150712162721/http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/Italy/Veneto/Padova-146843/Things_To_Do-Padova-Tomb_of_Antenor-BR-1.html |url-status=live }}</ref>}}
However, more recent tests suggest the sepulcher dates back to between the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. Nevertheless, archeological remains confirm an early date for the foundation of the center of the town to between the 11th and 10th centuries B.C. By the 5th century BC, Padua, rose on the banks of the river Brenta, which in the Roman era was called ''Medoacus Maior'' and probably until AD 589 followed the path of the present-day Bacchiglione (''Retrone''). Padua was one of the principal centers of the [[Veneto|Veneti]].{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

The [[Rome|Roman]] historian [[Livy]] records an attempted invasion by the Spartan king Cleonimos around 302&nbsp;BC. The Spartans came up the river but were defeated by the Veneti in a naval battle and gave up the idea of conquest. Still, later, the Veneti of Padua successfully repulsed invasions by the [[Etruscans]] and [[Gauls]]. According to Livy and [[Silius Italicus]], the Veneti, including those of Padua, formed an alliance with the Romans by 226&nbsp;BC against their common enemies, first the Gauls and then the Carthaginians. Men from Padua fought and died beside the Romans at [[Battle of Cannae|Cannae]].{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

With Rome's northwards expansion, Padua was gradually assimilated into the [[Roman Republic]]. In 175&nbsp;BC, Padua requested the aid of Rome in putting down a local civil war. In 91&nbsp;BC, Padua, along with other cities of the Veneti, fought with Rome against the rebels in the [[Social War (90–88&nbsp;BC)|Social War]]. Around 49 (or 45 or 43) BC, Padua was made a Roman ''[[municipium]]'' under the ''Lex Julia Municipalis'' and its citizens ascribed to the Roman tribe, ''Fabia''. At that time the population of the city was perhaps 40,000.<ref name="google">{{cite book |title=Settlement, Urbanization, and Population |author1=Bowman, A. |author2=Wilson, A. |date=2011 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=9780199602353 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yf5b50KuibQC |page=148 |access-date=10 October 2014 }}</ref> The city was reputed for its excellent breed of horses and the wool of its sheep. In fact, the poet [[Martial]] remarks on the thickness of the tunics made there.<ref>Epist. xiv.143</ref> By the end of the first century BC, Padua seems to have been the wealthiest city in Italy outside of Rome.<ref name="B.O. Foster 1919">B.O. Foster, "Introduction", in Livy, ''Books I and II'', The Loeb Classical Library (New York, 1919), page x.</ref> The city became so powerful that it was reportedly able to raise two hundred thousand fighting men. However, despite its wealth, the city was also renowned for its simple manners and strict morality. This concern with morality is reflected in Livy's ''Roman History'' (XLIII.13.2) wherein he portrays Rome's rise to dominance as being founded upon her moral rectitude and discipline.<ref>B.O. Foster, "Introduction," in Livy, ''Books I and II,'' The Loeb Classical Library (New York, 1919), xxi.</ref> Still later, Pliny, referring to one of his Paduan protégés' Paduan grandmother, Sarrana Procula, lauds her as more upright and disciplined than any of her strict fellow citizens (Epist. i.xiv.6).<ref name="B.O. Foster 1919"/> Padua also provided the Empire with notable intellectuals. Nearby [[Abano Terme|Abano]] was the birthplace, and after many years spent in Rome, the death place of Livy, whose Latin was said by the critic Asinius Pollio to betray his ''Patavinitas'' (q.v. Quintilian, ''Inst. Or.'' viii.i.3).<ref>B.O. Foster, "Introduction," in Livy, ''Books I and II'', The Loeb Classical Library (New York, 1919), xxiii.</ref>

Padua was also the birthplace of [[Publius Clodius Thrasea Paetus|Thrasea Paetus]], [[Asconius Pedianus]], and perhaps [[Gaius Valerius Flaccus|Valerius Flaccus]].{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

Christianity was introduced in Padua and in most of the Veneto region by [[Prosdocimus|Saint Prosdocimus]]. He is venerated as the first bishop of the city. His deacon, the Jewish convert [[Daniel of Padua|Daniel]], is also a saintly patron of the city.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Back |first1=Get |last2=laurettadimmick |date=14 September 2019 |title=Padova, a lovely historic town in the Veneto (Padua, part 1) |url=https://getbacklauretta.com/2019/09/14/padova-a-lovely-historic-town-in-the-veneto/ |access-date=6 June 2023 |website=get back, lauretta! |language=en |archive-date=6 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230606121457/https://getbacklauretta.com/2019/09/14/padova-a-lovely-historic-town-in-the-veneto/ |url-status=live }}</ref>