San Marino, today the world's fifth-smallest state,…

San Marino, today the world's fifth-smallest state, claims to be world's oldest republic.

According to tradition, San Marino was founded in 301 CE when a Christian stonemason named Marinus the Dalmatian, later venerated as Saint Marinus, emigrated in 257 CE from the Dalmatian island of Rab, then a Roman colony, when the emperor Diocletian issued a decree calling for the reconstruction of the city walls of Rimini which had been destroyed by Liburnian pirates.

Finding persecution of his Christian beliefs, Marinus hid on the peak of Mount Titano (the highest of San Marino's seven hills) and founded a small community following Christian beliefs.

The owner of the land, Felicissima, a sympathetic lady of Rimini, bequeathed it to the small Christian community of mountain dwellers, recommending to them to remain always united.

It is certain that the region has been inhabited since prehistoric times, although evidence of the existence of a community on Mount Titano dates back only to the Middle Ages.

That evidence comes from a monk named Eugippio, who reports in several documents going back to 511 that another monk lived here.

In memory of the stonecutter, the land was renamed "Land of San Marino", and was finally changed to its present-day name, "Republic of San Marino".

Later papers from the 9th century report a well organized, open and proud community: the writings report that the bishop ruled this territory.

Under Lombard rule, San Marino was a fief of the dukes of Spoleto, but the free commune dates to the tenth century.

The original government structure was composed of a self-governed assembly known as the Arengo, which consisted of the heads of each family (as in the original Roman Senate, the Patres).

In 1243, the positions of Captains Regent (Capitani Reggenti) were established to be the joint heads of state.

The state's earliest statutes date back to 1263.

The Holy See confirmed the independence of San Marino in 1291.

San Marino has had a long standing of neutrality, preceding that of Switzerland by several centuries.

In quick succession, the lords of Montefeltro, the Malatesta of Rimini, and the lords of Urbino had attempted to conquer the little town, but without success.

The land area of San Marino consisted only of Mount Titano until 1463, at which time the republic had entered into an alliance against Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, duke of Rimini, who was later defeated.

As a result, Pope Pius II had given San Marino some castles and the towns of Fiorentino, Montegiardino and Serravalle.

Later that year, the town of Faetano had joined the republic on its own accord.

Since then, the size of San Marino has remained unchanged.

San Marino adopts its written constitution on October 8, 1600.