Asti ( , , ; pms, Ast ) is a '' comune'' of 74,348 inhabitants (1-1-2021) located in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy, about east of Turin in the plain of the Tanaro River. It is the capital of the

province of Asti The Province of Asti ( it, Provincia di Asti, Piedmontese: ''Provincia d’Ast'') is a province in the Piedmont region of northern Italy. Its capital is the city of Asti. To the northwest it borders on the Metropolitan City of Turin; to the sou ...

and it is deemed to be the modern

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

of Montferrat. Asti mappa

History

Ancient times and early Middle Ages

People have lived in and around what is now Asti since the Neolithic period. Before their defeat in 174 BC by the Romans, tribes of Ligures, the Statielli, dominated the area and the toponym probably derives from ''Ast'' which means "hill" in the ancient Celtic language. In 124 BC the Romans built a '' castrum'', or fortified camp, which eventually evolved into a full city named Hasta. In 89 BC the city received the status of '' colonia'', and in 49 BC that of '' municipium''. Asti become an important city of the Augustan Regio IX, favoured by its strategic position on the Tanaro river and on the

Via Fulvia Via or VIA may refer to the following: Science and technology * MOS Technology 6522, Versatile Interface Adapter * ''Via'' (moth), a genus of moths in the family Noctuidae * Via (electronics), a through-connection * VIA Technologies, a Taiwan ...

, which linked Derthona ( Tortona) to Augusta Taurinorum ( Turin). Other roads connected the city to the main passes for what are today