1,500 Years of Piedmont History. Brought to Life Digitally.

Explore the ancient Bagienni region through the eyes of the people who shaped it. This digital storytelling project lets you experience the upper Tanaro valley between 520 BC and 1010 AD through vivid first-person accounts, connecting you directly with the chieftains, merchants, actors, monks, and midwives of the past.

Augusta Bagiennorum · Bene Vagienna archaeology

Discover Roman Augusta Bagiennorum, also known as Julia Augusta Bagiennorum, near modern Bene Vagienna (Benevagienna). Archaeology of Bene Vagienna provides context for imagined lives: these characters are fictional, informed by historical sources, not recovered eyewitness testimony.

Bagienni · Pre-Roman Piedmont · Early medieval Piedmont

From the Bagienni and other Ligurian tribes of Piedmont to Roman communities and the early medieval world, this digital project connects Piedmont ancient history with everyday experience. Interactive history in Piedmont becomes living history through conversations, maps, and character sheets.

Tanaro Valley · Corsaglia Valley · Digital historical storytelling

Follow the landscapes of the Tanaro and Corsaglia valleys through storytelling. Place names and search terms such as Pollenza and Polleria are not automatically treated as verified ancient sites: consult the maps and historical sources for identifications and uncertainty.

Presentazione in italiano · 1.500 anni di storia del Piemonte. Rivivono nel mondo digitale.

An interactive educational tool to converse with 31 historical figures from the Bagienni valley of Piedmont, spanning 520 BC – 1010 AD. Bilingual (English / Italian). Based on archaeological, literary, documentary, and local historical sources. Free to use, no account required.

Ancient & Roman World (520 BC – 10 BC)

Vindelos — Bagienni Chieftain, c. 520 BC: a Bagienni chieftain in the upper Tanaro valley c. 520 BC, balancing council authority, local custom, and cautious Mediterranean trade.
Euxenus — Massaliote Merchant, c. 520 BC: a Massaliote Greek merchant in the upper Tanaro valley c. 520 BC, building trust through languages, hospitality, and fair exchange.
Taranis — Ash-Walker, ~474 BC: a Vagienni ash-walker from c. 474 BC, who carries the memory of Himera and reads the changing politics of the Pesio–Tanaro valley.
Vel Turmsna — Etruscan Merchant, ~300 BC: an Etruscan merchant in the western Alps c. 300 BC, balancing long-distance trade, local loyalties, and a world Rome is beginning to change.
Brictomara — Vagienni Elder, ~200 BC: a Vagienni elder c. 200 BC, guarding ancestral customs and negotiating her people's future as Rome approaches.
Aemilia Severa — Vagienni Negotiatrix, ~150 BC: locally born Vagienni/Ligurian woman directing a river-trading business at the Pesio-Tanaro confluence, with a Roman name for contracts
Lucius Veranius — Roman Surveyor, ~10 BC: a Roman surveyor c. 10 BC, measuring new boundaries in the Bagienni valley where imperial order meets local memory.

Late Roman Empire (c. 77 – 476 AD)

Sextus Aemilius Nerva — Municipal Clerk, c. AD 100: a municipal clerk in Augusta Bagiennorum c. AD 100, whose records reveal the daily machinery of Roman town life.
Melia Litavia — Estate Owner, c. AD 100: young domina managing the Litavii estate in the Pesio Valley
Valeria Comatia — Aspiring Matrona, ~190 AD: an ambitious young matrona in Augusta Bagiennorum c. AD 190, learning to turn wealth, beauty, and effort into belonging.
Tiberius Julius Politanus — Negotiator, ~190 AD: a moneylender and former tax contractor in Augusta Bagiennorum c. AD 190, investing in business, status, and marriage.
Gaius Commodianus — Son of the House, ~190 AD: a four-year-old heir in Augusta Bagiennorum c. AD 190, adored by his household and already testing its limits.
Threptus — Gaius's Minder, ~190 AD: a fourteen-year-old household-born slave and Gaius's watchful minder in the Politanus household at Augusta Bagiennorum, c. AD 190.
Aurelius Veliocassus — Vagienni Veteran, ~280 AD: a Vagienni veteran of Rome's far frontiers c. AD 280, home from war with stories, a farm, and a guarded past.
Theodorus Cantor — Pantomimus & Director, ~350 AD: a Syrian-born pantomimus directing Augusta Bagiennorum's theatre c. AD 350 after a career-ending scandal in Rome.
Rufus Afer — Tragic Actor, ~350 AD: a Carthaginian tragic actor in Augusta Bagiennorum c. AD 350, carrying classical ambition into a provincial theatre.
Sosias — Comic Actor & Acrobat, ~350 AD: a Gaulish comic actor in Augusta Bagiennorum c. AD 350: Theodorus's affectionate mimic, Rufus's friend, and Medea's patient trainer.
Wulfric — Garrison Commander, ~350 AD: a Frankish-born Roman garrison commander in Augusta Bagiennorum c. AD 350, divided between military duty and a private devotion to theatre.
Corvus — Wanderer & Survivor, ~460 AD: a muleteer and survivor in the Pesio–Tanaro country c. AD 460, navigating abandoned farms, rival powers, and a dangerous freedom.

Medieval World (480 AD – 1010 AD)

Gundomar — Rugian Federate, ~480 AD: a Rugian federate serving Odoacer at Bene c. AD 480, guarding roads and collecting grain while Roman infrastructure falls into neglect.
Gisulf Robore — Blacksmith, c. 570 AD: a blacksmith in Lombard Italy c. AD 570, rebuilding tools, trust, and a working life after war reshapes the valley.
Berta — Discipula non rogata, c. 625 AD: an unwilling Lombard disciple c. AD 625, caught between a convent's discipline, a demanding teacher, and the life she expected.
Johannes of Bredulum — Deacon & Scriptor, c. 625 AD: a deacon and scriptor c. AD 625, preserving law, land records, and Roman learning in a changing Lombard world.
Agilulf the Notary — Lombard Administrator, ~660 AD: a Lombard administrator c. AD 660, translating royal power into charters, taxes, and practical order for local communities.
Draco — Byzantine Deserter, ~750 AD: a Byzantine deserter in the Pesio Valley c. AD 750, hiding from the army while carrying knowledge that rival powers need.
Valdrada — Apostate & Strategist, ~750 AD: an apostate strategist in Lombard Piedmont c. AD 750, leading a mobile band through faith, politics, and the roads of a fractured valley.
Engilmar — Imperial Forest-Warden, ~860 AD: an imperial forest-warden in the Bagienni country c. AD 860, protecting timber, borders, and a fragile Carolingian order.
Aldina — Midwife & Healer, ~950 AD: a midwife and healer in Piedmont c. AD 950, serving village women through raids, scarce remedies, and an uncertain new order.
Taric — Smuggler & Guide, 970 AD: a half-Lombard, half-Saracen smuggler and guide in the Corsaglia valley c. AD 970, crossing mountains others cannot.
Brother Ambrogio — Benedictine Monk, 970 AD: a Benedictine cantor and de facto prior in the hills above Augusta Bagiennorum c. AD 970, balancing faith, diplomacy, and survival.
Brother Teutpert — Benedictine Monk, ~1010 AD: a Benedictine monk c. AD 1010, recording the transfer of Bredolo as church power reshapes the valleys around Augusta Bagiennorum.

This site is based on 189 sources across 18 topic sections. Read the complete bibliography or open a profile above for historical context, timelines, persona notes, and sample voices. Enable JavaScript to interact with any of these historical figures.