nt Pisaurum, which was founded by the Siculi, received its name
from the river which empties into the sea not far from the city, and
which is now known as the Foglia. In the year 570 of Rome the city
became a Roman colony. From the time of Augustus it belonged to the
fourth department of Italy, and from the time of Constantine to the
province of Flaminia. After the fall of the Roman Empire it suffered the
fate of all the Italian cities, especially in the great war of the Goths
with the Eastern emperor. Vitiges destroyed it; Belisarius restored it.

After the fall of the Gothic power, Pesaro was incorporated in the
Exarchate, and together with four other cities on the Adriatic--Ancona,
Fano, Sinigaglia, and Rimini--constituted the Pentapolis. When Ravenna
fell into the hands of the Lombard King Aistulf, Pesaro also became
Lombard; but later, by the deed of Pipin and Charles, it passed into the
possession of the Pope.

The subsequent history of the city is interwoven with that of the
Empire, the Church and the March of Ancona. For a long time imperial
counts resided there. Innocent III invested its title in Azzo d'Este,
the Lord of the March. During the struggles of the Hohenstaufen with the
papacy it first was in the possession of the emperor and later in that
of the Pope, who held it until the end of the thirteenth century, when
the Malatesta became podestas, and subsequently lords of the city. This
famous Guelph family from the castle of Verrucchio, which lies between
Rimini and S. Marino, fell heir to the fortress of Gradara, in the
territory of Pesaro, and by degrees extended its power in the direction
of Ancona. In 1285 Gianciotto Malatesta became lord of Pesaro, and on
his death, in 1304, his brother Pandolfo inherited his domain.

From that time the Malatesta, lords of nearby Rimini, controlled not
only Pesaro, but a large part of the March which they appropriated to
themselves when the papacy was removed to Avignon. They secured
themselves in the possession of Rimini, Pesaro, Fano, and Fossombrone by
an agreement made during the life of the famous Gil d'Albornoz,
confirming them in their position there as vicars of the Church. A
branch of this house resided in Pesaro until the time of Galeazzo
Malatesta. Threatened by his kinsman Sigismondo, the tyrant of Rimini,
and unable to hold Pesaro against his attack, he sold the city in 1445
for twenty thousand gold florins to Count Francesco Sforza, and the
latter gave