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Ancient era Benevento, as
Maleventum, was one of the chief cities of
Samnium, situated on the
Appian Way at a distance of east of
Capua on the banks of the river Calor (now Calore). There is some discrepancy as to the tribe to which it belonged at contact:
Pliny the Elder expressly assigns it to the
Hirpini, while
Livy's wording is somewhat obscure and
Ptolemy considers the town as belonging to the
Samnites proper, as distinguished from the Hirpini. All ancient writers concur in representing it as a very ancient city, with
Gaius Julius Solinus and
Stephanus of Byzantium ascribing its foundation to this legend appears to have been adopted by the city's inhabitants, who in the time of
Procopius pretended to exhibit the tusks of the
Calydonian Boar as proof of their descent.
Sextus Pompeius Festus, on the contrary (
s. v. Ausoniam), related that the city was founded by Auson, a son of
Ulysses and
Circe, a tradition which indicates that it was an ancient
Ausonian city prior to its conquest by the Samnites. It first appears in history as a Samnite city, and must have already been a place of strength as 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 of Epirus was defeated in a
great battle, fought in its immediate neighborhood, by the consul
Manius Curius Dentatus. Six years later (268 BC) they further sought to secure its possession by establishing there a
Roman colony with Latin rights. It was at this time that it first assumed the name of Beneventum (good wind in latin), having previously been called Maleventum (bad wind in latin), a name which the Romans regarded as of evil augury, and changed into one of a more fortunate signification. 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 (now
Agrigento), Selinuntium from Selinus (the ruins of which are at now
Selinunte), etc. 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. 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. 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. 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 (now
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. 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 Traiana, leading thence by
Aequum Tuticum (now
Ariano Irpino) into
Apulia; the other by
Aeclanum to Venusia (now
Venosa) and Tarentum (now
Taranto). Its wealth is also evidenced by the quantity of coins minted by Beneventum.
Horace famously notes Beneventum on his journey from
Rome to Brundusium (now
Brindisi). 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. , as it appeared in the 18th century, etching by
Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Some of the
bas-reliefs are now in the
British Museum. 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. 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. Beneventum indeed seems to have been a place of much literary cultivation; it was the birthplace of
Lucius Orbilius Pupillus, 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. 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 (now
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 (now
Saint Eleutherio hamlet, between
Ariano Irpino and
Castelfranco in Miscano), and on the east and south bordered on the territories of
Aeclanum (now
Mirabella Eclano) and Abellinum (now
Avellino). An inscription has preserved to us the names of several of the pagi or villages dependent upon Beneventum, but their sites cannot be identified. 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.
Duchy of Benevento Not long after it had been sacked by
Totila and its walls razed (545), Benevento became the seat of a powerful
Lombard duchy. Benevento was acclaimed by a chronicler as a "second Pavia"——after the Lombard capital was lost. This principality was short-lived: in 851,
Salerno broke off under
Siconulf and, by the end of that century,
Capua was independent as well. Benevento was ruled again by the
Byzantines between 891 and 895. The so-called
Langobardia minor was unified for the last time by Duke
Pandolfo Testa di Ferro, who expanded his extensive control in the
Mezzogiorno from his base in Benevento and
Capua. Before his death (March 981), he had also gained the title of Duke of Spoleto from Emperor
Otto I. However, both Benevento and Salerno rebelled to his son and heir,
Pandulf II. The first decades of the 11th century saw two more German-descended rulers in southern Italy:
Henry II, conquered in 1022 both Capua and Benevento, but returned after the failed siege of
Troia.
Conrad II obtained similar results in 1038. In these years the three states (Benevento, Capua, and Salerno) were often engaged in local wars and disputes that favoured the rise of the
Normans from mercenaries to ruler of the whole of Southern Italy. The greatest of them was
Robert Guiscard, who captured Benevento in 1053 after the
Emperor Henry III had first authorised its conquest in 1047 when
Pandulf III and
Landulf VI shut the gates to him. These princes were later expelled from the city and then recalled after the pope failed to defend it from Guiscard. The city fell to Normans in 1077. It was a papal city until after 1081.
Papal rule lithography Benevento passed to the papacy peacefully when the emperor
Henry III ceded it to
Leo IX, in exchange for the pope's consent to the establishment of the
Diocese of Bamberg (1053).
Landulf II, Archbishop of Benevento, promoted reform, but also allied with the Normans. He was deposed for two years. Benevento was the cornerstone of the papacy's temporal powers in southern Italy. The papacy ruled it by appointed rectors, seated in a palace, and the principality continued to be a papal possession until 1806, when
Napoleon granted it to his minister
Talleyrand with the title of sovereign prince. Talleyrand was never to settle down and actually rule his new
principality; in 1815 Benevento was returned to the
papacy. It was
united with Italy in 1860. In 1130,
Anacletus II fled from Rome to the safety of Benevento after hearing that his rival,
Innocent II was gaining recognition in the north. When Anacletus created Roger the
king of Sicily, he granted Roger the right to conscript the citizens of the city into military service, despite city itself remaining under Papal rule. The declaration was not well received, as the citizens became afraid that the city was about to be annexed into the newly found kingdom. Therefore, when Roger made his move against
Robert of Capua and began the civil war, Benevento sided with Robert and ousted Anacletus's supporters from the city.
Manfred of Sicily lost his life in 1266 in battle with
Charles of Anjou not far from the town, in the course of the
Battle of Benevento. In the light of the 1820 unrest in the Two Sicilies, which had forced the kingdom to liberalise, the Carbonari stimulated the revolution in Benevento. Benevento requested twice to be incorporated into the
Two Sicilies, though these attempts were rejected both times as the nation refused to negotiate the affairs of Benevento except through the Pope, who they continued to recognise as sovereign over the area. The railway and industrial districts were hit the hardest, but the old city centre also suffered heavily; the
Cathedral was almost completely destroyed, and its reconstruction was only completed in the 1960s. After being briefly occupied by the Germans in the wake of the
Armistice of Cassibile, Benevento was liberated by the Allies on 2 October 1943. Four years after the war, on 2 October 1949, Benevento was hit hard by a flood of the
Calore Irpino. During the 1950s Benevento was mainly ruled by
Monarchist or
MSI mayors, and then for three decades (until the 1990s) by the
Christian Democracy.
Public sector grew considerably during this period, becoming a prime source of employment for many inhabitants of the province; the town also saw increasing demographic expansion, resulting in a somewhat incontrolled
building boom. In recent years, several
urban renewal projects have been carried out in the old city centre, and Benevento has become the seat of the
University of Sannio and several
research institutes.
Jewish history Epigraphical evidence show that a
Jewish community had existed in Benevento since at least the fifth century. In the 10th century, Jewish traveller
Ahimaaz ben Paltiel described the Jewish community of Benevento, among other southern Italy towns. One of Paltiel's relatives established a
Yeshiva in town, and a large part of his family resided in Benevento. In 1065, prince
Landulf IV of Benevento forced a number of
Jews to convert to
Christianity, which was censured by
Pope Alexander II. Jewish traveller
Benjamin of Tudela, who visited Benevento in 1159 or 1165, described 200 Jewish families living in the city. Being under Papal rule (unlike the rest of southern Italy), the
Jewish community of Benevento was not expelled, as most other southern Italy
Jewish communities in 1541. However, an unorganized Jewish community has persisted. In recent years, a few Israeli Jews have faced occasional anti-semitic incidents. ==Geography==