Before the Roman conquest, the ancient
Abellinum was a centre of the Samnite
Hirpini, located on the Civita hill some outside the current town, in what is now
Atripalda. The city could correspond to the ancient
Velecha, documented by coins found in the area.
Abellinum was conquered by the
Romans in 293 BC, changing name several times in the following centuries (
Veneria,
Livia,
Augusta,
Alexandriana, and
Abellinatium). However, the construction of a true Roman town occurred only after the conquest by
Lucius Cornelius Sulla in the
civil wars in 89 BC. He razed the old site and in 82 BC founded the colony Veneria Abellinatium on the left bank of the river Sabato. The new city was surrounded by massive walls and had an orthogonal
hippodamian urban layout. In 7 AD
Augustus changed its name to Livia Augusta in honour of his wife, Livia Drusilla who owned the territories between Abellinum and
Aeclanum. In the 3rd century
Alexander Severus expanded the colony under the title of Livia Augusta Alexandrina with a massive immigration of oriental settlers. This helped to spread ancient Levantine cults such as
Sol Invictus in the territory. There followed economic crises (III and IV centuries), violent earthquakes (346) and disastrous volcanic eruptions (472). The town was Christianised around 500, becoming an episcopal seat. There were invasions of the
Goths (535–555) and the
Vandals. After the
Lombard conquest of southern Italy, the ancient city was abandoned in 568 (it is disputed if completely or partly) and a new settlement grew on the Terra hill, corresponding to the modern Avellino. Defended by a castle, it became part of the
Duchy (later Principality) of Benevento and, after the latter's fall, of the
Principality of Salerno. In 1100, during the
Norman rule of southern Italy, it was acquired by
Riccardo dell'Aquila. Later, King
Charles I of Anjou assigned it to the
Montfort family, who were succeeded by the
Del Balzo and the
Filangieri. The feudal rights to Avellino were purchased in 1581 by Don
Marino I Caracciolo, duke of
Atripalda, of a patrician family of Naples, who was made Prince of Avellino in 1589. Avellino became the main seat of the Caracciolo. Don Marino's son and grandson were consecutively Grand Chancellor of the Kingdom of Naples and chevaliers of the
Order of the Golden Fleece. The grandson, Don Marino II (1587–1630), was the patron of
Giambattista Basile, author of the
Pentamerone. In 1820 Avellino was seat of revolutionary riots. However, the
Unification of Italy some fifty years later did not bring any benefit to the city, being cut off from the main railway line Naples-Benevento-
Foggia, and far from the sea as well. In 1943 the city was bombed by Allied planes in an attempt to cut off the retreat of German panzer units over the important Bridge of Ferriera. Avellino has suffered from seismic activity throughout its history and was struck hard by the
earthquakes of 23 November 1980 and 14 February 1981. Avellino has also received ashfall from numerous eruptions of
Vesuvius which lies almost due west; the city sits on
type locality of
pumice deposited from a
Plinian eruption of Vesuvius
about 3800 years ago. ==Government==