1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Sentinum

SENTINUM, an ancient town of Umbria, Italy, lying to the S. of the modern town of Sassoferrato, in the low ground. The foundations of the city walls are preserved, and a road and remains of houses have been discovered, including several mosaic pavements (T. Buccolini in Notizie degli scavi, 1890, 346) and inscriptions of the latter half of the 3rd century A.D., including three important tabulae patronatus. In the neighbourhood the battle took place in which the Romans defeated the combined forces of the Samnites and Gauls in 295 B.C. It was taken and destroyed in 41 B.C. by the troops of Octavian, but continued to exist under the Empire. It was, however, only a municipium, never (as some wrongly suppose) a colonia. Sassoferrato gave its name to Giambattista Salvi, surnamed Sassoferrato (1605–1685), a painter celebrated for his Madonnas.