The town of Bevagna has pre-Roman origins: originally inhabited by the Umbrians, suffered as a result influences Etruscans.
The name probably comes from an aristocratic Etruscan, Mefana, who later became Mevaniain in Latin. There were reports of Bevagna as early as 308 BC, when the Roman historian Livy mentions it as the site of a battle between a league Umbra and the Romans:
“Dicto paruit consul magnisque itineribus to Mevaniam, ubi tum copiae Umbrorum erant, perrexit”.
Some historians doubt about the real existence of this battle, but it is certain that the city was allied with Rome in 295 and later became a Roman municipality, in 90 BC
The city was at the time very prosperous: it is testimony to the fact that you can still admire the baths, decorated with frescoes, the remains of the theater, which were built medieval houses, the amphitheater, outside the medieval walls Some stones and Latin inscriptions, a domus, several findings walls, part of a temple, which was converted into a church.
The prosperity of the city was due to the navigability of the rivers, like the Topino and Timia, and the passage of the Via Flaminia; in particular it is entering the eastern branch, from Ocriculum (Otricoli), Carsulae, Massa Martana, who then went to rejoin the other arm and passed through Spoleto. This second tract in time became the preferred one, while the other fell into disuse, probably because of the difficulty in its maintenance. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the city became steward of the Duchy of Spoleto.
Following the spread of Christianity, the city also had its own martyr, St. Vincent, patron saint of the city.
The city suffered severe damage in various historical periods: it was destroyed by Frederick Barbarossa around 1152, Count of Anjou and Trinci, to the domain of which had rebelled. Probably in one of these passages it was destroyed the Roman walls described by Pliny the Elder, who, together with the walls of Arezzo, are among the few examples of walls built of unbaked bricks. Remain examples of opus reticulatum in the north of the town. After the transition to the state of the Church, it became a free city governed by consuls; later came under the rule of the Trinci of Foligno, then return permanently under the direct control of the Church, until the unification of Italy.
