Auximum

Auximum was an ancient town in Picenum now known as Osimo. It is situated on a hill near the Adriatic Sea on a road between Ancona and Nuceria. The Romans used it as a fortress for their northern Picenum settlement in 174 B.C. The walls were made of large rectangular stones which are still there in some part. It was a colony until 157 B.C. The family of Pompey were its protectors and resisted Caesar in 49 B.C. It is considered to have been important during imperial times due to inscriptions and monuments in its town square. In the 6th century, the Byzantine historian Procopius said it was the leading town of Picenum.