Capua's name comes from theEtruscanCapeva,[2] which means 'City of Marshes'. Its foundation is attributed byCato the Elder to theEtruscans, and the date is given as about 260 years before it was "taken" byRome. That, if true, refers not to its capture in theSecond Punic War (211 BC), but to its submission to Rome in 338 BC. That places the date of foundation at about 600 BC, while Etruscan power was at its highest.[3] In the area, several settlements of theVillanovian civilization were present in prehistoric times. These were probably enlarged by theOscans, and subsequently by the Etruscans.
Etruscan supremacy in Campania came to an end with theSamnites' invasion in the latter half of the 5th century BC.[3]
In about 424 BC, Capua was captured by the Samnites, and in 343 BC, it sought Roman help against its conquerors. They allied for protection against the Samnite mountain tribes, along with its dependent communities ofCasilinum,Calatia,Atella and so the greater part of Campania now fell under Roman supremacy. The citizens of Capua received thecivitas sine suffragio[3] (citizenship without the vote).
In the secondSamnite War with Rome, Capua proved an untrustworthy Roman ally, so that after the defeat of the Samnites, the Ager Falernus on the right bank of theVolturnus was confiscated. In 318 BC the powers of the native officials (meddices) were limited by the appointment of officials with the titlepraefecti Capuam Cumas (taking their name from the most important towns of Campania); they were at first mere deputies of thepraetor 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.[3] It was the capital ofCampania Felix.
In 312 BC, Capua was connected with Rome by the construction of theVia Appia, the most important of the military highways of Italy. The gate by which it left theServian walls of Rome bore the namePorta Capena; perhaps the only case in which a gate in this line of fortifications bears the name of the place to which it led. At some time theVia Latina was extended to Casilinum. It afforded a route only 10 km (6.2 mi) longer, and the difficulties with its construction were much less; it also avoided the troublesome journey through thePontine Marshes.[3]
The importance of Capua increased steadily during the 3rd century BC, and at the beginning of theSecond Punic War, it was considered to be only slightly behind Rome andCarthage themselves and furnished 30,000 infantry and 4,000 cavalry. Until after the defeatof Cannae, it remained faithful to Rome, but, after an unsuccessful demand that one of the consuls should always be selected from it (or perhaps to secure regional supremacy in the event of a Carthaginian victory), it defected toHannibal.[3] He made it his winter quarters, and 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 fromReginald Bosworth Smith onwards have been skeptical of that and observed that his troops gave as good an account of themselves in battle after that winter as before.[4] Aftera long siege, Capua was taken by the Romans in 211 BC and severely punished; its magistrates and communal organization were abolished, the inhabitants who had not been killed lost their civic rights, and its territory was declaredager 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 ofVolturnum andLiternum, established near the coast in 194 BC, but the greater portion of it was reserved to be let by the state.[3]
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.M. Junius Brutus the Elder in 83 BC actually succeeded in establishing a colony, but it was soon dissolved; andCicero's speechesDe Lege Agrania were directed against a similar attempt byServilius Rullus in 63 BC.[3]
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. Many inscriptions testify to apagus Dianae associated with the shrine toDiana Tifatina; apagus Herculaneus is also known.[3]
The town of Capua belonged to none of those organizations, and was entirely dependent on thepraefecti. It enjoyed great prosperity, however, from its growing ofspelt, a grain that was put intogroats, wine, roses, spices,unguents etc and also from its manufacture, especially of bronze objects, of which boththe elder Cato andthe elder Pliny speak in the highest terms.[3]
Its luxury remained proverbial, and Campania was especially noted as the home ofgladiatorial combat. It was from the gladiatorial schools of the region thatSpartacus and his followers emerged during their revolt in 73 BC. In 59 BC,Julius Caesar, serving asconsul, established a Roman colony in the territory—namedColonia Julia Felix—under his agrarian reform, settling 20,000 Roman citizens in Capua.[5]
The number of colonists was increased byMark Antony,Augustus (who constructed anaqueduct from theMons Tifata and gave the town of Capua estates in the district ofKnossos inCrete valued at 12 millionsesterces) andNero.[6]
UnderConstantine, a Christian church was founded in Capua. In 456, it was taken and destroyed by the Vandals underGaiseric but was likely soon rebuilt.
During theGothic War, Capua suffered greatly. When theLombards invadedItaly in the second half of the 6th century, Capua was ravaged, Later, it was included in theDuchy of Benevento, and ruled by an official styledgastald.
In 840, ancient Capua was burned to the ground by a band ofSaracen mercenaries called byRadelchis I of Benevento[7] with only the church of Santa Maria Maggiore (founded about 497) remaining, which was purposely spared by the invading Muslims, whose policy was that to leave houses of worship alone. A new city was built in 856, but at some distance from the former site,[8] where another town later appeared under the name ofSanta Maria Capua Vetere ("Capua the Old").
PrinceAtenulf I conquered Benevento in 900 and united the principalities until 981, whenPandulf Ironhead separated them in his will for his children. Capua eclipsed Benevento thereafter and became the chief rival of Salerno. UnderPandulf IV, the principality brought in the aid of theNormans and, for a while had the loyalty ofRainulf Drengot, until the latter abandoned him to aid the deposedSergius 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 nephewRichard 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 asiege 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 thekingdom of Sicily. In the 1230s, KingFrederick I built the monumentalCity Gate of Capua.
In the early 1500s, it was reported toPope Alexander VI that his son,Cesare Borgia, had captured the city and promptly killed all 6,000 citizens, which included women and children, while commanding French troops during the sieges of Naples and Capua.[9]
TheBattle of Volturnus (1860), at the conclusion ofGaribaldi'sExpedition of the Thousand, partially took place in and around Capua. Prior to the battle, the Neapolitan Army, defeated in earlier engagements, was rebuilt in Capua under marshalGiosuè Ritucci. After fighting elsewhere in which the Neapolitans were ultimately defeated, the last of them, around 3,000 troops under ColonelEttore Perrone di San Martino, were holed up in Capua. The city was attacked by the Garibaldines and one Piedmontese regular Bersaglieri battalion, and captured. In the referendum several months later, its inhabitants voted overwhelmingly to join the newKingdom of Italy.
Cathedral of Santo Stefano — Originally built in 856, the cathedral features a loftycampanile and a renovated interior with three aisles. Both the church and itsatrium incorporate ancient granite columns. The restoredRomanesque crypt also contains ancient columns. Notable artworks include a finepaschal candlestick and fragments of a 13th-centurypulpit with marblemosaic. The cathedral also preserves an elaborateExultet roll and a late 12th-centuryevangelarium, bound in bronze and decorated with goldfiligree and enamels. Mosaics from the early 12th century once adorned the apses of the cathedral and the nearby church of San Benedetto, but were destroyed around 1720 and 1620, respectively.[8]
Church of San Marcello — Also erected in 856, this small church is one of the city's oldest.
Castle of Frederick II — Between 1232 and 1240, EmperorFrederick II built a castle to protect the Roman bridge over the Volturnus. The structure included atriumphal arch flanked by two towers and was decorated with statues imitating classical sculpture. The castle was demolished in 1557, but some statues are preserved in theMuseo Campano.[8]
Museo Campano — Established in 1870 and opened to the public in 1874, theMuseo Campano (Campania Provincial Museum of Capua) has since become a significant cultural institution for the region.[citation needed]
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.[6]
The tombs are of various forms, partly chambers withfrescoes on the walls, partly cubical blocks ofpeperino, 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 withOscan votive inscriptions originally thought to be Oscan, now recognized asEtruscan, some of them inscribed upon terracotta tablets,[6] the most famous of which is theTabula Capuana, conserved in Berlin, still, after more than a century of searching, the second-longest Etruscan text.[citation needed] Other brief inscriptions are oncippi. A group of 150tuff statuettes represent a matron holding one or more children in her lap: three boreLatin inscriptions of the earlyImperial period.[6]
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 theVia Appia, which runs from north-west to south-east from Casilinum to Calatia, turns due east very soon after passing the so-calledArch of Hadrian (atriumphal arch of 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 metres (5,200 ft) (6,000 ancient Oscan feet).[6]
The west gate was thePorta Romana; remains of the east gate have also been found, although its name is unknown. This fact shows that the main street of the town was perfectly oriented, and that before theVia 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 metres (3,600 ft), nor is it absolutely certain (though it is in the highest degree probable, forCicero praises its regular arrangement and fine streets) that the plan of the town was rectangular.[6]
Within the town are remains ofpublic baths on the north of the Via Appia and of a theatre opposite, on the south. The former consisted of a largecryptoporticus 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.[6]
Other inscriptions, however, prove the existence of a theatre as early as 94 BC. The Roman colony was divided into regions and possessed acapitolium, with a temple ofJupiter, within the town, and the marketplace, for unguents especially, was called Seplasia; anaedes alba is also mentioned, which is probably the original senate house, which stood in an open space known as albana. But the sites of all these are uncertain.[6] AMithraeum may also be seen, by appointment.[10]
Outside the town, inSanta Maria Capua Vetere, there is theamphitheatre, built in the time ofAugustus, restored byHadrian and dedicated byAntoninus Pius, as the inscription over the main entrance recorded. The exterior was formed by 80Doric arcades of four stories each, but only two arches now remain. The keystones were adorned with heads of divinities.[6]
The interior is better preserved; beneath the arena are subterranean passages like those in the amphitheatre atPuteoli. It is one of the largest in existence; the longer diameter is 170 metres (560 ft), the shorter 140 metres (460 ft), and the arena measures 75 by 45 metres (246 by 148 ft), the corresponding dimensions in the Colosseum at Rome being 188, 155, 85, 53 metres (615, 510, 279 and 174 ft).[6]
Dimensions of the largest amphitheatres of the Roman Empire
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 asle Carceri vecchie andla Conocchia.[6]
To the east of the amphitheatre an ancient road, theVia Dianae, leads north to the Pagus Dianae, on the west slopes of the Mons Tifata, a community which sprang up around 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, andSulla, after his defeat of Gaius Norbanus, gave the whole of the mountain to the temple.[6]
Within the territory of thepagus were several other temples with theirmagistri. After the restoration of the community of Capua,magistri of the temple of Diana are still attested, but they were probably officials of Capua itself.[6]
The site is occupied by theBenedictine church ofSan Michele Arcangelo inSant'Angelo in Formis. It dates from 944, and was reconstructed by the abbot Desiderius (afterwardsPope Victor III) ofMonte 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 theNew 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 theVicus Dianae (among them a triumphal arch and some baths, also a hail with frescoes, representing the goddess herself ready for the chase) still exist.[6]
The ancient road from Capua went on beyond theVicus Dianae to the Volturnus (remains of the bridge still exist) and then turned east along the river valley toCaiatia andTelesia. Other roads ran toPuteoli andCumae (the so-calledVia Campana) and toNeapolis, and the Via Appia passed through Capua, which was thus the most important road centre of Campania.[6]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Capua".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
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