'Capua' is a city in the
province of Caserta,
Campania,
Italy situated 25 km (16 mi) north of
Naples, on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain. The city is often mistaken for
Santa Maria Capua Vetere which is the actual old city of Capua, site of the Amphitheatre. The commune of Capua was founded after the old city of Capua (today,
Santa Maria Capua Vetere) was destroyed by the Saracens in 841 CE.
Today the city counts fewer than 20,000 inhabitants.
History
Ancient Capua
The name of Capua comes from the
Etruscan ''Capue''. The meaning remains unknown. Its foundation is attributed by
Cato the Elder to the
Etruscans, and the date given as about 260 years before it was "taken" by
Rome. If this is true it refers not to its capture in the
second Punic War (
211 BC) but to its submission to Rome in
338 BC, placing the date of foundation at about
600 BC, while Etruscan power was at its highest. In the area several settlements of the
Villanovian civilization were present in pre-historical times, and these were probably enlarged by the
Oscans and subsequently by the Etruscans.
Etruscan supremacy in Campania came to an end with the
Samnite invasion in the latter half of the
5th century BC.
About 424 BC it was captured by the Samnites and in 343 BC implored Roman help against its conquerors. Capua entered into alliance with Rome for protection against the Samnite mountain tribes, along with its dependent communities
Casilinum,
Calatia,
Atella, so that the greater part of Campania now fell under Roman supremacy. The citizens of Capua received the ''civitas sine suffragio", citizenship without the vote.
In the second
Samnite War with Rome, Capua proved an untrustworthy Roman ally, so that after the defeat of the Samnites, the Ager Falerus on the right bank of the
Volturnus was confiscated. In
318 BC the powers of the native officials (meddices) were limited by the appointment of officials with the title ''praefecti Capuam Cumas'' (taking their name from the most important towns of Campania); these were at first mere deputies of the ''praetor urbanus'', but after
123 BC were elected Roman magistrates, four in number; they governed the whole of Campania until the time of Augustus, when they were abolished. It was the capital of
Campania Felix.
In
312 BC, Capua was connected with
Rome by the construction of the ''
Via Appia'', the most important of the military highways of Italy. The gate by which it left the
Servian walls of Rome bore the name
Porta Capena -- perhaps the only case in which a gate in this enceinte bears the name of the place to which it led. At what time the
Via Latina was prolonged to Casilinum is doubtful (it is quite possible that it was done when Capua fell under Roman supremacy, i.e. before the construction of the ''
Via Appia''); it afforded a route only 10 km (6 mi) longer, and the difficulties with its construction were much less; it also avoided the troublesome journey through the
Pontine Marshes.
The importance of Capua increased steadily during the
3rd century BC, and at the beginning of the
Second Punic War it was considered to be only slightly behind Rome and
Carthage themselves, and was able to furnish 30,000 infantry and 4,000 cavalry. Until after the defeat of
Cannae it remained faithful to Rome, but, after a vain demand that one of the consuls should always be selected from it or perhaps in order to secure regional supremacy in the event of a Carthaginian victory, it defected to
Hannibal, who made it his winter quarters: he and his army were voluntarily received by Capua.
Livy and others have suggested that the luxurious conditions were Hannibal's Cannae because his troops became soft and demoralized by luxurious living. Historians from Bosworth Smith onwards have been sceptical of this, observing that his troops gave as good account of themselves in battle after that winter as before. After a long siege it was taken by the Romans in
211 BC and severely punished; its magistrates and communal organization were abolished, the inhabitants who weren't killed lost their civic rights, and its territory was declared ''ager publicus'' (Roman state domain). Parts of it were sold in
205 BC and
199 BC, another part was divided among the citizens of the new colonies of
Volturnum and
Liternum established near the coast in
194 BC, but the greater portion of it was reserved to be let by the state.
Considerable difficulties occurred in preventing illegal encroachments by private persons, and it became necessary to buy a number of them out in
162 BC. It was, after that period, let, not to large but to small proprietors. Frequent attempts were made by the democratic leaders to divide the land among new settlers.
Brutus in
83 BC actually succeeded in establishing a colony, but it was soon dissolved; and
Cicero's speeches ''De Lege Agrania'' were directed against a similar attempt by
Servilius Rullus in
63 BC.
In the meantime the necessary organization of the inhabitants of this thickly populated district was in a measure supplied by grouping them round important shrines, especially that of
Diana Tifatina, in connection with which a ''pagus Dianae'' existed, as we learn from many inscriptions; a ''pagus Herculaneus'' is also known.
The town of Capua belonged to none of these organizations, and was entirely dependent on the ''praefecti''. It enjoyed great prosperity, however, owing their growing of
spelt, the grain of which was worked into groats, wine, roses, spices, unguents etc., and also owing to its manufacture, especially of bronze objects, of which both
the elder Cato and
the elder Pliny speak in the highest terms.
Its luxury remained proverbial; and Campania is especially spoken of as the home of
gladiatorial combats. From the gladiatorial schools of Campania came
Spartacus and his followers in
73 BC.
Julius Caesar as
consul in
59 BC succeeded in carrying out the establishment of a Roman colony under the name 'Julia Felix' in connection with his agrarian law, and 20,000 Roman citizens were settled in this territory.
The number of colonists was increased by
Mark Antony,
Augustus (who constructed an
aqueduct from the ''Mons Tifata'' and gave the town of Capua estates in the district of
Cnossus in
Crete valued at 12 million
sesterces) and
Nero.
In the war of
69 it took the side of
Vitellius. Under the later empire it is not often mentioned; but in the
4th century it was the seat of the ''consularis Campaniae'' and its chief town, though
Ausonius puts it behind Mediolanum (
Milan) and
Aquileia in his ''ordo nobilium urbium''.
Medieval Capua
:''See also
Principality of Capua''.
Under
Constantine we hear of the foundation of a Christian church in Capua. In
456 it was taken and destroyed by the Vandals under
Gaiseric, but must have been soon rebuilt.
During the
Gothic War Capua suffered greatly. When the
Lombards invaded
Italy in the second half of the
6th century, Capua was ravaged; later, it was included in the
Duchy of Benevento, and ruled by an official styled
gastald.
In
839, the
prince of Benevento,
Sicard, was assassinated by
Radelchis I of Benevento, who took over the throne. Sicard's brother
Siconulf was proclaimed independent
prince in Salerno and the
gastald of Capua declared himself independent.
In
841, the ancient Capua was burned to the ground by a band of
Saracens paid by Radelchis: it remained only the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, founded about
497. A new city was rebuilt in
856, but at some distance from the former site, where, however, another town later appeared under the name of
Santa Maria Capua Vetere ("Capua the Old").
Prince
Atenulf I conquered Benevento in
900 and united the principalities until
981, when
Pandulf Ironhead separated in his will for his children. Capua eclipsed Benevento thereafter and became the chief rival of Salerno. Under
Pandulf IV, the principality brought in the aid of the
Normans and, for a while had the loyalty of
Rainulf Drengot, until the latter abandoned him to aid the deposed
Sergius IV of Naples take back his city, annexed by Pandulf in
1027.
Upon Pandulf's death, Capua fell to his weaker sons and, in
1058, the city itself fell in a siege to Rainulf's nephew
Richard I, who took the title Prince of Aversa. For seven years (
1091-
1098),
Richard II was exiled from his city, but with the aid of his relatives, he retook the city after a
siege in 1098. His dynasty lived on as princes of Capua until the last claimant of their line died in
1156 and the principality was definitively united to the
kingdom of Sicily. Hereafter, Capua is no longer the capital of a larger principality, but a minor city in an important kingdom.
Main sights
Remains
No pre-Roman remains have been found within the town of Capua itself, but important cemeteries have been discovered on all sides of it, the earliest of which go back to the
7th or
6th century BC.
The tombs are of various forms, partly chambers with
frescoes on the walls, partly cubical blocks of
peperino, hollowed out, with grooved lids. The objects found within them consist mainly of vases of bronze (many of them without feet, and with incised designs of Etruscan style) and of clay, some of Greek, some of local manufacture, and of paintings. On the east of the town, in the Patturelli property, a temple has been discovered with
Oscan votive inscriptions originally thought to be Oscan, now recognized as
Etruscan, some of them inscribed upon terracotta tablets, the most famous of which is the
Tabula Capuana, conserved in Berlin, still, after more than a century of searching, the second-longest Etruscan text. Other brief inscriptions are on ''cippi.'' A group of 150
tufa statuettes represent a matron holding one or more children in her lap: three bore
Latin inscriptions of the early
Imperial period.
The site of the town being in a perfectly flat plain, without natural defences, it was possible to lay it out regularly. Its length from east to west is accurately determined by the fact that the ''Via Appia'', which runs from north-west to south-east from Casilinum to Calatia, turns due east very soon after passing the so-called ''
Arco di Adriano'' (a
triumphal arch of good brickwork, once faced with marble, with three openings, erected in honour of some emperor unknown), and continues to run in this direction for 1,600 m (6000 ancient Oscan feet).
The west gate was the ''Porta Romana''; remains of the east gate (the name of which we do not know) have been found. This fact shows that the main street of the town was perfectly oriented, and that before the ''Via Appia'' was constructed, i.e. in all probability in pre-Roman times. The width of the town from north to south cannot be so accurately determined as the line of the north and south walls is not known, though it can be approximately fixed by the absence of tombs. Beloch fixes it at 4,000 Oscan feet = 1,100 m, nor is it absolutely certain (though it is in the highest degree probable, for
Cicero praises its regular arrangement and fine streets) that the plan of the town was rectangular.
Within the town are remains of
public baths on the north of the Via Appia and of a theatre opposite, on the south. The former consisted of a large ''cryptoporticus'' round three sides of a court, the south side being open to the road; it now lies under the prisons. Beloch (see below) attributes this to the Oscan period; but the construction as shown in Labruzzi's drawing (v. 17) 1 is partly of brick-work and opus reticulatum, which may, of course, belong to a restoration. The stage of the theatre had its back to the road; Labruzzi (v. 18) gives an interesting view of the cavea. It appears from inscriptions that it was erected after the time of Augustus.
Other inscriptions, however, prove the existence of a theatre as early as 94 BC, so that the existence of another elsewhere must be assumed. We know that the Roman colony was divided into regions and possessed a ''capitolium'', with a temple of
Jupiter, within the town, and that the market-place, for unguents especially, was called Seplasia; we also hear of an ''aedes alba'', probably the original senate house, which stood in an open space known as albana. But the sites of all these are quite uncertain.
The Amphitheatre.
Amphitheatre
Outside the town, in S. Maria Capua Vetere, there is the
amphitheatre, built in the time of Augustus, restored by
Hadrian and dedicated by
Antoninus Pius, as the inscription over the main entrance recorded. The exterior was formed by 80
Doric arcades of four storeys each, but only two arches now remain. The keystones were adorned with heads of divinities.
Inside the amphitheater
The interior is better preserved; beneath the arena are subterranean passages like those in the amphitheatre at
Puteoli. It is one of the largest in existence; the longer diameter is 170 m (185 yd), the shorter 140 m (152 yd), and the arena measures 75 by 45 m (83 by 49 yd), the corresponding dimensions in the Colosseum at Rome being 188, 155, 85, 53 m (205, 170, 93 and 58 yd).
To the east are considerable remains of baths — a large octagonal building, an apse against which the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie is built, and several heaps of debris. On the Via Appia, to the south-east of the east gate of the town, arc two large and well-preserved tombs of the Roman period, known as ''le Carceri vecchie'' and ''la Conocchia''.
To the east of the amphitheatre an ancient road, the ''Via Dianae'', leads north to the Pagus Dianae, on the west slopes of the Mons Tifata, a community which sprang up round the famous and ancient temple of Diana, and probably received an independent organization after the abolition of that of Capua in
211 BC. The place often served as a base for attacks on the latter, and
Sulla, after his defeat of Gaius Norbanus, gave the whole of the mountain to the temple.
Within the territory of the ''pagus'' were several other temples with their ''magistri''. After the restoration of the community of Capua, we find ''magistri'' of the temple of Diana still existing, but they were probably officials of Capua itself.
The site is occupied by the
Benedictine church of ''San Michele Arcangelo'' in
Sant'Angelo in Formis. It dates from
944, and was reconstructed by the abbot Desiderius (afterwards
Pope Victor III) of
Monte Cassino. It has interesting paintings, dating from the end of the
11th century to the middle of the
12th, in which five different styles may be distinguished. They form a complete representation of all the chief episodes of the
New Testament. Deposits of votive objects (''favissae''), removed from the ancient temple from time to time as new ones came in and occupied all the available space, have been found, and considerable remains of buildings belonging to the ''Vicus Dianae'' (among them a triumphal arch and some baths, also a hail with frescoes, representing the goddess herself ready for the chase) still exist.
The ancient road from Capua went on beyond the ''Vicus Dianae'' to the Volturnus (remains of the bridge still exist) and then turned east along the river valley to
Caiatia and
Telesia. Other roads ran to
Puteoli and
Cumae (the so-called Via Campana) and to
Neapolis, and as we have seen the Via Appia passed through Capua, which was thus the most important road centre of Campania.
Miscellaneous
Capua has recently been included in the hit PC game '' as the governing settlement of Campania and the capital of the Roman faction of Scipii.
See also
★
History of Santa Maria Capua Vetere
★
Archdiocese of Capua
Sources and references
(incomplete)
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