Prosenna, the Etruscan King
The legend of the foundation of Proceno
Lars Porsenna, a powerful Lucumone of Chiusi, lived between the 6th and 5th centuries BC and went down in history for leading the war against Rome in support of King Tarquinius Superbus. His figure, among the most famous of the Etruscan civilization, is also linked to the legendary foundation of Proceno.
According to tradition, Porsenna was returning from a hunting trip or, for others, from the siege of Rome when, arriving in a thick forest between the rivers Paglia and Stridolone, he decided to stop for the night. It was a wild area, inhabited by enormous wild boars known for their raids on cultivated fields.
While he was sitting in meditation, a gigantic and ferocious wild boar attacked him. The king did not have time to draw his sword, but invoked the Goddess Uni, an Etruscan deity dear to him. Legend has it that Uni intervened, blocked the wild boar in mid-air and made it fall right on the sword of the Lucumone, stuck between two branches.
Porsenna, saved by divine protection, immediately wanted to thank the goddess. He erected a stele on the exact spot where the episode had occurred and ordered the foundation of a city with three gates, which would bear his name: Proceno.
There is no trace of that stele today, but the hill on which the village stands has long been considered a sacred place. It was there, centuries later, that Saint Agnes of Montepulciano founded a monastery, and it was there that the miracle of the Host brought to the saint by an angel took place.
