The town of Ticinum is said by Pliny the Elder to have been founded by the Laevi and Marici, two Ligurian tribes, while Ptolemy attributes it to the Insubres.

The Roman city most likely began as a small military camp, built by the consul Publius Cornelius Scipio in 218 BCE to guard a wooden bridge he had built over the river Ticinum, on his way to search for Hannibal, who is rumored to have managed to lead an army over the Alps and into Italy.

Located in the Lombardy region of northern Italy on the Ticino River twenty miles (thirty-two kilometers) south of Milan, modern Pavia, the capital of the province of Pavia, is to achieve its greatest political importance between 568 and 774, as the capital of the Kingdom of the Lombards.

Theodoric had made the philosopher-statesman Boethius magister officiorum ("master of the Palace") in 522, but he has soon been charged, unjustly, with treason in his relations with Pope John I. Theodoric has had Boethius imprisoned at Ticinum (Pavia) where he has composed “On the Consolation of Philosophy.” He translates most of Aristotle's treatises on logic into Latin, comments on some of them, pens brief treatises on logic, and summarizes Euclid's “Geometry.” In his summary of the “Arithmetic” and “Music” of Nicomachus of Gerasa, Boethius expresses a very broad view of music, dividing it into the harmony of the universe, the harmony of soul and body, and the harmony of sounding tones.

Boethius also produces five succinct theological treatises on such topics as Christian Greek theology on the Trinity, the incarnation, and the creed.

Theodoric orders his execution in about 524.

Belisarius consolidates imperial control Italy and begins mopping-up operations, capturing the Gothic fortifications.

The cities Ticinum and …

…soon besieged in their capital of Ticinum, the modern Pavia.

The Frankish siege lasts until June 774, when Desiderius surrenders and opens the gates in return for the lives of his soldiers and subjects.

Desiderius is exiled to the abbey of Corbie, where he will die sometime around 786, and his son Adelchis will spend his entire life in futile attempts to recover his father's kingdom.

Some sources state that the king and his family were banished to a monastery at Liège, Belgium.

Charles, unusually, has himself crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy and makes the magnates of Lombardy do homage to him at Pavia.

Only Duke Arechis II of Benevento refuses to submit and proclaims independence, adopting the title prince of Benevento.

Charlemagne is now master of Italy as king of the Lombards.

He leaves Italy with a garrison in Pavia and a few Frankish counts in place the same year.