MODENA (ancient Mutina), the capital of the above duchy, is situated in 44. 38. 52. N. Lat., and 10. 26. 5. E. Long., between the Rivers Secchia and Panaro, on the banks of a canal which connects it with both these rivers. In ancient times Mutina was an important town of Gallia Cispadana, situated on the Via Emilia. It was probably founded by the Etruscans, and afterwards fell into the hands of the Romans in 218 B.C., who, thirty-five years later, established a colony here, after annexing the country
belonging to the Boians, in which it was situated. Civic rights were soon accorded to the inhabitants, and the great Via Emilia constructed in order to develop the resources of the district. In 117 B.C., however, the settlers were disturbed by an incursion of the Ligurians, who for a short time held possession of the town. They were ultimately expelled by Consul Claudius, who inflicted a severe chastisement on the intruders. The next mention we have of Mutina is during the civil war, when in 78 B.C. it was held by M. Brutus against the victorious Pompey. Its most memorable occurrence in history, however, was during the bellum Mutinense, in 43 B.C., when it sustained a siege of about four months against the troops of Mark Antony. After the rupture of the latter with Octavius, he established a close blockade of Mutina, then garrisoned by Decimus Brutus. The forces of Antony held Bononia as well as Parma and Regium; while the main army, under his own leadership, kept up the siege of Mutina. For the relief of the latter the Senate had sent Consuls Hirtius and Pansa, besides the young Octavian. As Pansa was marching up to the support of his colleague with some newly-raised legions, he was attacked by Antony on the Bononian road, about eight miles from the besieged town. A severe action ensued, when the consul was mortally wounded; but Hirtius, taking the opportunity to attack the rear of Antony's army, forced him to retire to his camp before Mutina. The successful consul, however, was slain some days after, in a second battle near the town, which, nevertheless, had the effect of obliging his antagonist to raise the siege. In later years the town was besieged and taken by Constantine in 312 A.D., during his war with Maxentius; while after the decline of the empire it suffered severely from the barbaric invasions, and in 452 was laid waste by Attila. After the Longobard conquest it became the frontier city of their kingdom towards Ravenna; yet it gradually fell into such a state of decay, that in the tenth century it was almost totally deserted, and its site had in part become a morass. Most of the ancient buildings were allowed to go to decay, and ultimately became buried in the soil. From this abject state Mutina began to recover in the eleventh century, under the government of Countess Matilda, and gradually rose again to such prosperity, that in the fourteenth century it was already a very flourishing and opulent city.
The modern town is surrounded with walls, and defended by bastions and a citadel, which, though much enlarged and strengthened by the late Duke Francis IV. since 1830, is not capable of much defence. The city is well built, with a broad street running between two opposite gates. The houses are handsome, and many of them furnished with piazzas, or covered porticos, on the ground-floor. The ducal palace, which was begun by Francis I. in the seventeenth century, from the designs of Avanzini, and finished by the present Duke, Francis Ferdinand V., is a fine marble building, with several courts, open staircases, galleries, &c.; and still contains a large collection of paintings, though the best of them were sold in the last century, and form now the chief gems of the Dresden Gallery. In a wing of the palace is a collection of more than 25,000 coins and medals, and a museum of ancient sarcophagi, inscriptions, and curious mediaeval sculptures. In the same wing is also the Biblioteca Estense, or library, of 90,000 volumes and 3000 MSS., founded at the end of the seventeenth century by Francis II. Muratori, Zacharia, and Tiraboschi, three of the most learned men of Italy in the last century, were successively its librarians. The Duomo, or cathedral, begun by the Countess Matilda in 1099, is a very fine building, in what is called the Lombard style of architecture. Its bell-tower, or Ghirlandina, as it is named, from the bronze garland which surrounds the weathercock, is lined with marble, and attains a height of 315 feet. The worm-eaten Secchia, or wooden bucket, which, taken by the Modenese
from the Bolognese at the affray of Rapolino, November 15, 1325, formed the subject of Tassoni's well-known poem, La Secchia Rapita, was at the time solemnly deposited, and is still kept in the basement of this tower. There are within the city more than fifty churches, of which twenty-six formerly belonged to religious orders. The new theatre, the opera-house, and the barracks are the other most remarkable edifices. The university, which once was flourishing, has been closed for several years; and public education is now chiefly in the hands of the Jesuits, who are perhaps more flourishing at Modena than in any other Italian city. There is a Royal Academy of Arts, Sciences, and Letters, a Scientific Society, a Veterinary College, and college for the nobles; but there is little trade of any kind, and the inhabitants chiefly depend on agriculture and on the expenditure of the court for their subsistence.
Cardinal Sadoletto, the secretary of Leo X., Ludovico Castelvetro, the historian Sigonio, the poets Molza and Tassoni, and many other literary men, were born at Modena. Pop. (1855) 32,000. (***)