Ancient era
Benevento, as Maleventum, was one of the chief cities of
Samnium, situated on the
Via Appia at a distance of 51 kilometres (32 mi) east from
Capua on the banks of the river Calor (modern Calore). There is some discrepancy as to the people to which it belonged at contact:
Pliny expressly assigns it to the
Hirpini; but
Livy certainly seems to consider it as belonging to the
Samnites proper, as distinguished from the Hirpini; and
Ptolemy adopts the same view.
[3] All ancient writers concur in representing it as a very ancient city;
Solinus and
Stephanus of Byzantium ascribe its foundation to
Diomedes; a legend which appears to have been adopted by the inhabitants, who, in the time of
Procopius, pretended to exhibit the tusks of the
Calydonian Boar in proof of their descent.
[4] Festus, on the contrary (
s. v. Ausoniam), related that it was founded by Auson, a son of
Ulysses and
Circe; a tradition which indicates that it was an ancient
Ausonian city, previous to its conquest by the Samnites. But it first appears in history as a Samnite city;
[5] and must have already been a place of strength, so that the
Romans
did not venture to attack it during their first two wars with the
Samnites. It appears, however, to have fallen into their hands during
the
Third Samnite War, though the exact occasion is unknown.
Benevento was certainly in the power of the Romans in 274 BC, when
Pyrrhus was defeated in a
great battle, fought in its immediate neighborhood, by the consul
Curius Dentatus.
[6] Six years later (268 BC) they further sought to secure its possession by establishing there a
Roman colony with Latin rights.
[7]
It was at this time that it first assumed the name of Beneventum,
having previously been called Maleventum, a name which the Romans
regarded as of evil augury, and changed into one of a more fortunate
signification.
[8] It is probable that the
Oscan or Samnite name was
Maloeis, or
Malieis (Μαλιείς in
Ancient Greek), whence the form Maleventum would derive, like Agrigentum from Acragas (modern
Agrigento), Selinuntium from Selinus (the ruins of which are at modern
Selinunte), etc.
[9]
View of the Roman Theatre of Benevento.
As a Roman colony Beneventum seems to have quickly become a flourishing place; and in the
Second Punic War was repeatedly occupied by Roman generals as a post of importance, on account of its proximity to
Campania, and its strength as a fortress. In its immediate neighborhood were fought two of the most decisive actions of the war: the
Battle of Beneventum, (214 BC), in which the
Carthaginian general
Hanno was defeated by
Tiberius Gracchus;
the other in 212 BC, when the camp of Hanno, in which he had
accumulated a vast quantity of corn and other stores, was stormed and
taken by the Roman consul
Quintus Fulvius Flaccus.
[10]
And though its territory was more than once laid waste by the
Carthaginians, it was still one of the eighteen Latin colonies which in
209 BCE were at once able and willing to furnish the required quota of
men and money for continuing the war.
[11] No mention of it occurs during the
Social War,
although it seems to have escaped from the calamities which at that
time befell so many cities of Samnium; towards the close of the
Roman Republic Benevento is described as one of the most opulent and flourishing cities of Italy.
[12]
Under the
Second Triumvirate its territory was portioned out by the Triumvirs to their veterans, and subsequently a fresh colony was established there by
Augustus, who greatly enlarged its domain by the addition of the territory of
Caudium (modern
Montesarchio). A third colony was settled there by
Nero, at which time it assumed the title of
Concordia; hence we find it bearing, in inscriptions of the reign of
Septimius Severus, the titles
Colonia Julia Augusta Concordia Felix Beneventum.
[13] Its importance and flourishing condition under the
Roman Empire
is sufficiently attested by existing remains and inscriptions; it was
at that period unquestionably the chief city of the Hirpini, and
probably, next to Capua, the most populous and considerable city of
southern Italy. For this prosperity it was doubtless indebted in part to
its position on the Via Appia, just at the junction of the two
principal arms or branches of that great road, the one called afterwards
the
Via Trajana, leading thence by
Aequum Tuticum into
Apulia; the other by
Aeclanum to Venusia (modern
Venosa) and Tarentum (modern
Taranto).
[14] Its wealth is also evidenced by the quantity of coins minted by Beneventum.
Horace famously notes Beneventum on his journey from
Rome to Brundusium (modern
Brindisi).
[15]
It was indebted to the same circumstance for the honor of repeated
visits from the emperors of Rome, among which those of Nero,
Trajan, and Septimus Severus, are particularly recorded.
[16]
It was probably for the same reason that the
triumphal arch, the
Arch of Trajan, was erected there by the senate and people of Rome and constructed by the architect
Apollodorus of Damascus in 114. The Arch of Trajan is one of the best-preserved Roman structures in the Campania. It repeats the formula of the
Arch of Titus in the
Roman Forum, with reliefs of
Trajan's life and exploits of his reign. Some of the sculptures are in the
British Museum.
Successive emperors seem to have bestowed on the city accessions of
territory, and erected, or at least given name to, various public
buildings. For administrative purposes it was first included, together
with the rest of the Hirpini, in the second region of Augustus, but was
afterwards annexed to Campania and placed under the control of the
consular of that province. Its inhabitants were included in the
Stellatine tribe.
[17] Beneventum retained its importance down to the close of the Empire, and though during the Gothic wars it was taken by
Totila,
and its walls razed to the ground, they were restored, as well as its
public buildings, shortly after; and P. Diaconus speaks of it as a very
wealthy city, and the capital of all the surrounding provinces.
[18]
Beneventum indeed seems to have been a place of much literary cultivation; it was the birthplace of
Orbilius
the grammarian, who long continued to teach in his native city before
he removed to Rome, and was honored with a statue by his
fellow-townsmen; while existing inscriptions record similar honors paid
to another grammarian,
Rutilius Aelianus, as well as to orators and poets, apparently only of local celebrity.
[19]
The territory of Beneventum under the Roman Empire was of very considerable extent. Towards the west it included that of
Caudium, with the exception of the town itself; to the north it extended as far as the river Tamarus (modern
Tammaro), including the village of
Pago Veiano, which, as we learn from an inscription, was anciently called
Pagus Veianus; on the northeast it comprised the town of
Aequum Tuticum (modern Sant'Eleuterio, near
Castelfranco in Miscano), and on the east and south bordered on the territories of
Aeclanum and
Abellinum.
An inscription has preserved to us the names of several of the pagi or
villages dependent upon Beneventum, but their sites cannot be
identified.
[20]
The city's most ancient coins bear the legend "Malies" or "Maliesa",
which have been supposed to belong to the Samnite, or pre-Samnite,
Maleventum. Coins with the legend "BENVENTOD" (an old
Latin – or Samnite – form for Beneventor-um), must have been struck after it became a Latin colony.
[21]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Benevento". Encyclopædia Britannica. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 727–728.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "article name needed". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
