History

Titus Livius (59 BC-17 AD) described Capua as one of the richest cities of Italy. At the time of the Roman historian it was extended on 200 hectares of land, and in the middle of a faithful territory planted with cereals and vines, full of trades and handicrafts. The archaeological documents certifies that the site was certainly inhabited from the 9th century BC, and that it was lived without interruption until the Roman  age.

The first phase of the settlement is known mainly through the necropolis, the oldest of which dates back to the middle of the 9th century BC, and it was located in North-West of the city. Already from this first stage are attested some contact with the Greek world. The territory in the  archaic age was located among the Volturno and "Clanis" Rivers and mount "Tifata" to the North; for this period, the Roman literary tradition speaks of Capua as the capital of the "dodecapoli" ("twelve cities") in Campania.

Its flourishing economy, in the 7th and 6th century BC, was based mainly on the agriculture; in it flourished also the artistic handicrafts, particularly of bronzes and clay objects intended, especially the first, to meet the needs of the local aristocracy; Moreover, the city developed the trade with regions of the Southern Italy, and grew more intense contact with the Greeks.

At the end of the 6th century BC,  the Etruscan hegemony underwent the first crack with the defeat at the hands of the Latins, aided by the Greeks of Cumae, at the battle of Aricia. Diodorus Siculus (90-27 BC) narrated how formed the people of Campania ("Katà ten Italìan to ethnos ton Kampanon suneste"), or “from the merger of the Italic tribes and those of Campania”). In the  Samnite age were active the shrines of “Diana Tifatina”, famous in antiquity, and one in "Fund Patturelli", from which come the famous "Mothers" of Capua. During the Samnite wars (343 BC) the attack from the mountain people of the Sannio and the intervention of Rome in defence of the town marked the beginnings of the Roman domination in Campania, and the Romans (338 BC) gave in Capua the privilege of “civitas sine suffragio” (i.e. "citizenship without voting").

In 314 BC Capua rebelled against Rome, but the city was forced to surrender. The defeat of Hannibal (248-183 BC), whom Capua had supported during the Second Punic War, brought in 211 BC to the deprivation of the right of citizenship and the confiscation of land. The ruling class was dispersed, and the city was subdued under the jurisdiction of a "praefectus" ("Prefect", who was the representative of the Roman authority at the place). At the end of the 3rd century BC Capua was still the most important centre of Campania, characterized by an intense construction business and a specialized agricultural production such as that of the vine, while continued the tradition finishing bronze and iron.

The Romanization of Capua was completed by 59 BC, when it was deduced a colony of veterans who had fought with Julius Caesar. In Roman times, it recorded a time of considerable public and private construction business, and a substantial number of monuments contributed to change significantly the town-planning aspect of Capua. In the 4th century AD the city was still flourishing, so much so that the poet  Magnus Ausonius (310-394 AD) appointed it among the eight major cities of the Roman Empire.

Later Capua suffered some barbarian assaults; indeed, in 410 it was devastated by the Visigoths of Alaric (458-507) and in 455 by vandals of Geiseric (389-477); in 476, with the fall of the Roman Empire, the city was conquered by the Heruli of Odoacer (435-493) and  by Theodoric (471-526) in 493. Under Emperor Justinian (483-565), in 553, Capua had a period of calm thanks to refurbishing works that Emperor brought to the city.

The new found calm ceased after some time, with the arrival of the Lombards in Italy. In 594 Capua was the seat of a county to the dependencies of the Duchy of Benevento and for approximately three centuries, it was at the center of endless struggles and devastation among the Lombard duchies. During one of these struggles, done for the succession of the Duchy of Benevento, the Saracens, plundered and destroyed Capua (841), forcing the majority of citizens to move with name and insignia to "Casilinum", where the escapees founded the "New Capua".

To the Lombards took the place of  the Normans (1134), then the Swabians (1195) and finally the Anjevin (1268). After a period somewhat obscure, corresponding to the Spanish and Habsburg domination (1516-1738), with the advent of Bourbon, the city took advantage of the construction of the monumental Royal Palace of Caserta. At the beginning of the 19th century, the city had some importance as administrative center with  Gioacchino Murat (1767-1815). After the  “Risorgimento”, it entered the Kingdom of Italy in 1860.

Etymology

With regard to the etymology, contemporary studies also refer to the ancient legends for which Capua would derive from "Capys", "[…] mentioned in ' Aeneid ', V, 145 ff.. and in ' Chronicon Vulturnense ' by the Monk  John. It is of Etruscan origin and corresponds to the Latin ' Vultur ' (' hawk ') […] ". According to this etymology the city name may be translated as "the city of the Hawk". (See G. Rinaudo, Rivista Storica Italiana” ["Historic Italian Magazine], vol. 63, 1951:  437). G. Petrella emphasises that some scholars  would derive Capua from ‘Capi’, "i.e. from the omen of Falcons, which flew over this place (…) and this should not be surprised because the Etruscans were very observers of the omens" (See  G. Petrella, L. Alberti, “L’Officina del Geografo” ["The Workshop of the Geographer"], ed. Vita e Pensiero, 2004: 57).

Overall the etymology about the “falcon” would seems confirmed also by language studies, and G. B. Pellegrini writes: "[…] Capua would be attested as ' Capulva ' and as ethnic adjective ‘Capuan’ (…) Alessio suggests a link of Capua, Greek ' Kapue ', with the Etruscan ' Capys ' (' hawk '); in fact, according to Servius (4th-5th century) ‘falconis qui Tusca lingua ‘Capis’ dicitur "(According to Servius Capua would derive from ' hawk ', which is said in Tuscany ' Capi ') […] (See G.B. Pellegrini, “Toponomastica Italiana” [“Italian "Toponymy”], Hoepli, 1990: 93). On the contrary, according to a hypothesis dating from the 18th century, the name derives from the "curvature" of the city site. So O. Rinaldo narrates the origins of Capua: “Our Capua was called anciently in Greek ‘Karba’. Its name is ‘Capys’ and contains the meaning of ‘curvature’ ". (See O. Rinaldo, “Memorie Istoriche della Fedelissima città di Capua”, 1755: 339).