ASCOLI PICENO' (anc. Asculum), episcopal see, Marches, Italy, capital of province of Ascoli Piceno, 17m. W. of Porto d'Ascoli (station on coast railway, 56m. S.S.E. of Ancona), and 53m. S. of Ancona direct, on south bank of Tronto (anc. Truen tus) at its confluence with the Castellano, 5ooft. above sea-level, and surrounded by mountains. Pop. (1931) town, 20,215; com mune, 36,965. The Porta Rotnana is double-arched; adjacent are remains of ancient city walls, in rectangular blocks two feet high, and remains of still earlier fortifications. The church of S. Gre gorio is built into a Roman tetrastyle Corinthian temple, two columns of which and the cella are still preserved; the site of the Roman theatre can be distinguished; and the church and con vent of the Annunziata (two fine cloisters and fresco by Cola 'The epithet distinguishes it from Ascoli Satriano (anc. Ausculurn, see APPM, which lies 19m. S. of Foggia by rail.
d'Amatrice in the refectory) stand on large Roman substructures of concrete. The mediaeval castle stands high and has a fine view of town and mountains. The picturesque colonnaded market place contains the rine Gothic church of S. Francesco and the orig inal Palazzo del Comune, now the prefecture (Gothic with Re naissance additions) . The cathedral is in origin Romanesque, much altered, and restored in 1888. The fortress of the Mala testa (1349) is destroyed save for a part now a prison. The Palazzo Comunale contains the picture gallery, with works by local masters; while in the Palazzo del Popolo there is a fine museum, with contents of prehistoric tombs, and a large collec tion of acorn-shaped lead missiles (glandes) used by slingers, be longing to the time of the siege of Asculum during the Social War (8g B.c.) . The Ponte di Porta Cappucina is a very fine Roman bridge, with a single arch of 7I ft. span. The Ponte di Cecco (so named from Cecco d'Ascoli), with two arches, is also Roman and belongs to the Via Salaria; the Ponte Maggiore and the Ponte Cartaro are, on the other hand, mediaeval. Near Ascoli is Castel Trosino, with an extensive 7th century Lombard necropolis. The ancient Asculum was the `capital of Picenum in a strong position in difficult country. Taken in 268 B.C. by Rome, the Via Salaria was continued to it (I 2 om. from Rome) . It played a prominent part in the Social War against Rome, the proconsul Q. Servilius and all the Roman citizens within its walls being mas sacred by the inhabitants in go B.C. It was captured of ter a long siege by Pompeius Strabo in 89 B.C. The leader, Judacilius, com mitted suicide, the principal citizens were put to death, and the rest exiled. Caesar occupied it, after crossing the Rubicon. In A.D. 301 it became the capital of Picenum Suburbicarium. In 545 it was taken by Totila, but it is spoken of by Paulus Diaconus as the chief city of Picenum shortly afterwards. Prince-bishops ruled it from Charlemagne's time and had coinage rights ; it be came a free republic in 1185 and a papal possession in the 15th century.
See C. Mariotti, Ascoli Piceno (Bergamo,