Su Iconology This is how Cesare Ripa describes the Marche in 1600:
It is depicted in the form of a beautiful woman of virile appearance, who with her right hand leans on a shield crossed with spear-arms, with a helmet on her head, and a pike as a crest, and with her left hand holds a bunch of ears of wheat, in the act of offering them, and next to her there is a dog.
It is represented beautiful for the charm of the Province, very well distinguished by nature in valleys, hills, plains, streams and rivers that irrigate it all, and make it also very charming and beautiful.
He is depicted with a virile appearance with one hand resting on the shield and other weapons to show the good soldiers who come from that province.
The crest was placed on it with the picus, the coat of arms of this region, since the picus, bird of Mars, was the guide and went ahead of the Sabine legions, and led them to the Marca to be a colony of that Province, and for this reason, in Roman times, the Marca was called Ager Picenus, as described very well in a brief eulogy by Signor Isidoro Ruberti in the beautiful and marvelous Gallery of the Vatican Palace, commissioned by Pope Gregory XIII of very happy memory, in which he was of great help to the Most Reverend Father Ignazio Danti, from Perugia and Bishop of Alatri, who had supreme care of it from his Beatitude, and the eulogy was this: "Ager Picenus, ager dictus est proper fertility, Picenus a Pico Martis, , aut ut Straboni placet, nam annona et militaritibus abundat, quibus saepe Romam, caeterasque Italia Europaeque partes invit”. And certainly the men of this Province have not only continually supplied Rome and the other Provinces with grain, but have also given aid with very strong soldiers, and at the same time shown notable signs of fidelity, in their greatest needs and those of Christianity, against the Turks and against the Heretics, and in the time of the ancient Romans they did so especially when a large part of the colonies of Italy conspired against them, and only the people of Marche made war on them, of whom the Fermani remained faithful, and fought in their service, whereby this Province and this City acquired the praise of being faithful, and for their glory in public places one sees written: “Firmum firma fides Romanorum Colonia”.
Wherefore it is reasonable that the dog was placed next to them, to demonstrate their loyalty. In addition to this, to demonstrate that in this Province there are dogs of great esteem and goodness, and some of them go throughout Italy, and returning to the value and loyalty of these soldiers, it is demonstrated by Velleius Paterculus when he says that Pompey armed a very large number of people for the Republic, but that " in cohort Picena Plurimum confidebat".
in more modern times, when Pope Clement VII was besieged in Castello S. Angelo by the Spanish and the Germans, the people of the Marche almost universally sent themselves towards Rome, of which Count Nicolò Maurizio da Tolentino, pushing ahead with some horses, and with him Tullio Ruberti, found themselves expelling him from Castello, when he went to save himself in Orvieto.
