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Sassina

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(or Sarsina, the modern form), an ancient town of Umbria, Italy, on the left bank of the river Sapis (Savio), 16 m.

S. of Caesena (Cesena). In 266 B.C. both consuls, on different dates, celebrated a triumph over the Sassinates, as is recorded in the Fasti, and in the enumeration of the Italian allies of the Romans in 225 B.C. the Umbri and Sassinates are mentioned, on an equal footing, as providing 20,000 men between them. It is possible that the tribes Sapinia (the name of which is derived from the river Sapis) mentioned by Livy in the account of the Roman marches against the Boii in 201 and 196 B.C. formed a part of the Sassinates. The poet Plautus was a native of Sassina (b. 254 B.C.). The town was of some importance, as inscriptions show; these are preserved in the local museum. Remains of several buildings, one of which was probably the public baths, have been found (A. Santarelli in Notizie degli scavi, 1892, 370; A. Negrioli, ibid., 1900, 3 9 2). Its milk is frequently mentioned - no doubt it was the centre of a pasture district - and it provided a number of recruits for the praetorian guard.

An episcopal see was founded here in the 3rd century A.D. and still exists. The present town has 2291 inhabitants (commune, 3861).