The roman town of Pollentia (whose name has an auspicious meaning) was founded in the Ligures Bagienni territory (a celtic-ligurian population) in the valley of Tanaro. Historical sources such as Cicero and Suetonius reported that the city was, in its early stages, famous for some historical events as well as for dark wool and ceramic calyces production (according to Plinius, Martial and Columella).
In 402 A.D. Pollentia was the battlefield where the Roman Army, commanded by Stilicho (born a Vandal) defeated the Visigoths, led by Alaric. In the urban setting, traditionally marked by cardines and decumani, the public buildings emerged: the forum, the theatre and the amphitheatre, whose traces remain in the structure of the "Borgo del Colosseo" (Colosseo hamlet), built on the ruins of the cavea. Recently the remains of settlements of late-ancient and medieval age have been discovered in the garden of the "Agenzia", built in the XIX century by Carlo Alberto king of Piedmont and Sardinia.