Around the VIIIth-VIIth BC the legend says of a tribe of Etruscan people named "Sabini" following a sacred bird named "Picchio", found this natural fortification on the cross of the two rivers: "Tronto" and "Castellano" and built here his village named "Piceni".Later they were conquered by the Romans, until in the 91 BC they started the independence war against Rome, ended two years later, with the partial destruction of the town. http://wikitravel.org/en/Ascoli Piceno