Page "History of San Marino" Paragraph 2

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

According to tradition, San Marino was founded in 301 AD when a Christian stonemason named Marinus the Dalmatian, later venerated as Saint Marinus, emigrated in 257 AD 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.