city, Emilia-Romagna regione, northern Italy. It lies between the Secchia and Panaro rivers, northwest of Bologna. Modena was the Mutina of the Boii, a Celtic people, and was subdued by the Romans about 218 BC, becoming a Roman colony on the Via Aemilia in 183 BC. It was attacked and ruined by the Huns under Attila and by the Lombards and was restored at the end of the 9th century under the direction of its bishop (later archbishop). As a dependency of the house of Canossa and later as a free commune, it was the scene of violent conflicts between the Guelf and Ghibelline (papal and imperial) factions until it passed to the house of Este in 1288; it became a duchy in 1452 and the Este capital after their loss of Ferrara in 1598. After internal difficulties under the reactionary policies of the last Este rulers, the representatives of Modena declared it part of the kingdom of Italy in 1859, a decision confirmed by the plebiscite of 1860.