SENTINUM  , an

ancient town of Umbria, Italy, lying to the S. of the modern town of Sassoferrato, in the low ground . The foundations of the city walls are preserved, and a road and remains of houses have been discovered, including several mosaic pavements (T . Buccolini in Notizie degli scavi, 1890, 346) and inscriptions of the latter half of the 3rd century A.D., including three important tabulae patronatus . In the neighbourhood the battle took place in which the Romans defeated the combined forces of the Samnites and Gauls in 295 B.C . It was taken and destroyed in 41 B.C. by the troops of Octavian, but continued to exist under the Empire . It was, however, only a municipium, never (as some wrongly suppose) a colonic . Sassoferrato gave its name to Giambattista Salvi, surnamed Sassoferrato (16o5-1685), a painter celebrated for his Madonnas .