[4] According to tradition, Arcevia originates from a Gallic settlement anterior to the Roman conquest of Italy; following that, it became overshadowed by more important nearby cities, such as Suasa.

Under the name of Rocca Contrada, the town was fortified by Pippin the Younger, King of the Franks, and was then donated by Charlemagne to the Papal States.

In the following centuries, Arcevia played a key role in the local balance of power, located as it was at the border of the Marca di Ancona, Umbria, and the Duchy of Urbino.

Later on, the troops of Francesco Sforza overtook Rocca Contrada, which, after several vicissitudes, ended up under the rule of the guelph Malatesta family.

Townspeople fought in the two world wars, and paid for their resistance to Nazi occupation with the slaughter of seventy people on Monte Sant'Angelo (Marche) in May 1944.