Modena

Description

In the sixth canto of the Paradiso, within the celebrated invective of Justinian against the imperial insignia and the banners of the Church, Modena appears alongside Perugia as a city that was «dolente» (grieving) following the civil wars that pitted Octavian Augustus against his rivals. The standard commentaries clarify that at Modena Augustus defeated Mark Antony, while Perugia was besieged and sacked because of the presence of Lucius Antony and his wife Fulvia. The Dantean recollection thus places the Modenese city among the places that suffered the consequences of the struggles of the Second Triumvirate, configuring it as a segment of the broad historical course opened by the death of Caesar and concluded by Augustus's vengeance upon his killers. Modena is also indirectly recalled in other cantos as the seat of public offices held by characters mentioned by Dante.