Montesarchio
Encyclopedia
Montesarchio is a comune
in the Province of Benevento
, Campania
, southern Italy
. It is located 18 km south-east of Benevento
in the Valle Caudina at the foot of Monte Taburno. The commune was granted the official status of City (Città) by a presidential decree of 31 July 1977..
, an ancient city of Apulia et Calabria, situated on the road from Beneventum (modern Benevento
) to Capua
. It seems probable that it was in early times a place of importance, and the capital or chief city of the tribe called the Caudini
; but it bears only a secondary place in history. It is first mentioned during the Second Samnite War, 321 BCE, when the Samnite
army under Gaius Pontius
encamped there, previous to the great disaster of the Romans
in the neighbouring pass known as the Caudine Forks (Livy
ix. 2); and again, a few years later, as the head-quarters occupied by the Samnites, with a view of being at hand to watch the movements of the Campanians
. (Id. ix. 27.) The town of Caudium is not mentioned during the Second Punic War
, though the tribe of the Caudini is repeatedly alluded to. Niebuhr supposes the city to have been destroyed by the Romans, in revenge for their great defeat in its neighbourhood; but there is no evidence for this. It reappears at a later period as a small town situated on the Appian Way
, and apparently deriving its chief importance from the transit of travellers (Hor. Sat. i. 5. 51; Strabo
v. p. 249): the same causes preserved it in existence down to the close of the Roman Empire
. (Ptol.
iii. 1. § 67; Itin. Ant.
p. 111; Itin. Hier. p. 610; Tab. Peut.
) We learn that it received a colony of veterans; and it appears from Pliny
, as well as from inscriptions, that it retained its municipal character, though deprived of a large portion of its territory in favor of the neighboring city of Beneventum. (Plin. iii. 11. s. 16; Lib. Colon. p. 232; Orelli, Inscr. 128, 131.) The period of its destruction is unknown: the name is still found in the 9th century, but it is uncertain whether the town still existed at that time.
The position of Caudium is fixed by the Itineraries, which all concur in placing it on the Appian Way, 21 Roman miles from Capua, and 11 from Beneventum; and as the total distance thus given from Capua to Beneventum is perfectly correct, there can be no doubt that the division of it is so too.
, in the 7th century a Lombard
nobleman called Arcolo founded a shelter and fought against Charlemagne
. In that occasion the burgh was fortified and a tower, still visible today, was built at the summit of the hill.
Later the castle was rebuilt, but the Normans destroyed it. It was again rebuilt in the 15th century. Feudataries who held Montesarchio include, starting from the 13th century, D'Aquino, Della Leonessa, Caracciolo
, Carafa
and D'Avalos, who owned it until the abolition of feudality in 1805.
, France
, since 1977. Torre del Greco
, Italy
, since 2008.
Comune
In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...
in the Province of Benevento
Province of Benevento
The Province of Benevento is a province in the Campania region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Benevento.It has an area of 2,071 km², and a total population of 289,455...
, Campania
Campania
Campania is a region in southern Italy. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,590 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...
, southern Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. It is located 18 km south-east of Benevento
Benevento
Benevento is a town and comune of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, 50 km northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill 130 m above sea-level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino and Sabato...
in the Valle Caudina at the foot of Monte Taburno. The commune was granted the official status of City (Città) by a presidential decree of 31 July 1977..
Ancient
Montesarchio is the site of ancient CaudiumCaudium (ancient city)
Caudium was an ancient city in Samnium situated on the Appian Way between Beneventum to Capua. In early times it was an important site: the capital or chief city of the Caudini.-History:Grave goods, found in the necropolis nearby, show that the site was inhabited from the 8th to the...
, an ancient city of Apulia et Calabria, situated on the road from Beneventum (modern Benevento
Benevento
Benevento is a town and comune of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, 50 km northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill 130 m above sea-level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino and Sabato...
) to Capua
Capua
Capua is a city and comune in the province of Caserta, Campania, southern Italy, situated 25 km north of Naples, on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain. Ancient Capua was situated where Santa Maria Capua Vetere is now...
. It seems probable that it was in early times a place of importance, and the capital or chief city of the tribe called the Caudini
Caudini
The Caudini were a Samnite tribe that lived among the mountains ringing Campania and in the valleys of the Isclero and Volturnus rivers. Their capital was at Caudium, but it seems certain that the appellation was not confined to the citizens of Caudium and its immediate territory...
; but it bears only a secondary place in history. It is first mentioned during the Second Samnite War, 321 BCE, when the Samnite
Samnium
Samnium is a Latin exonym for a region of south or south and central Italy in Roman times. The name survives in Italian today, but today's territory comprising it is only a small portion of what it once was. The populations of Samnium were called Samnites by the Romans...
army under Gaius Pontius
Gaius Pontius
Gaius Pontius, sometimes called as Gavius Pontius or simply Pontius, was a Samnite commander during the Second Samnite War. He is most well known for his victory over the Roman legions at the Battle of the Caudine Forks in 321 BCE...
encamped there, previous to the great disaster of the Romans
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
in the neighbouring pass known as the Caudine Forks (Livy
Livy
Titus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...
ix. 2); and again, a few years later, as the head-quarters occupied by the Samnites, with a view of being at hand to watch the movements of the Campanians
Campanians
The Campanians were an ancient Italic people, part of the Osci nation, speaking an Oscan language.Descending from the Apennines the proto-Osci settled in the areas of present day Campania at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC, or even before...
. (Id. ix. 27.) The town of Caudium is not mentioned during the Second Punic War
Second Punic War
The Second Punic War, also referred to as The Hannibalic War and The War Against Hannibal, lasted from 218 to 201 BC and involved combatants in the western and eastern Mediterranean. This was the second major war between Carthage and the Roman Republic, with the participation of the Berbers on...
, though the tribe of the Caudini is repeatedly alluded to. Niebuhr supposes the city to have been destroyed by the Romans, in revenge for their great defeat in its neighbourhood; but there is no evidence for this. It reappears at a later period as a small town situated on the Appian Way
Appian Way
The Appian Way was one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient republic. It connected Rome to Brindisi, Apulia, in southeast Italy...
, and apparently deriving its chief importance from the transit of travellers (Hor. Sat. i. 5. 51; Strabo
Strabo
Strabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
v. p. 249): the same causes preserved it in existence down to the close of the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. (Ptol.
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy , was a Roman citizen of Egypt who wrote in Greek. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under Roman rule, and is believed to have been born in the town of Ptolemais Hermiou in the...
iii. 1. § 67; Itin. Ant.
Antonine Itinerary
The Antonine Itinerary is a register of the stations and distances along the various roads of the Roman empire, containing directions how to get from one Roman settlement to another...
p. 111; Itin. Hier. p. 610; Tab. Peut.
Tabula Peutingeriana
The Tabula Peutingeriana is an itinerarium showing the cursus publicus, the road network in the Roman Empire. The original map of which this is a unique copy was last revised in the fourth or early fifth century. It covers Europe, parts of Asia and North Africa...
) We learn that it received a colony of veterans; and it appears from Pliny
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
, as well as from inscriptions, that it retained its municipal character, though deprived of a large portion of its territory in favor of the neighboring city of Beneventum. (Plin. iii. 11. s. 16; Lib. Colon. p. 232; Orelli, Inscr. 128, 131.) The period of its destruction is unknown: the name is still found in the 9th century, but it is uncertain whether the town still existed at that time.
The position of Caudium is fixed by the Itineraries, which all concur in placing it on the Appian Way, 21 Roman miles from Capua, and 11 from Beneventum; and as the total distance thus given from Capua to Beneventum is perfectly correct, there can be no doubt that the division of it is so too.
Later ages
After the fall of the Western Roman EmpireWestern Roman Empire
The Western Roman Empire was the western half of the Roman Empire after its division by Diocletian in 285; the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire, commonly referred to today as the Byzantine Empire....
, in the 7th century a Lombard
Lombards
The Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...
nobleman called Arcolo founded a shelter and fought against Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
. In that occasion the burgh was fortified and a tower, still visible today, was built at the summit of the hill.
Later the castle was rebuilt, but the Normans destroyed it. It was again rebuilt in the 15th century. Feudataries who held Montesarchio include, starting from the 13th century, D'Aquino, Della Leonessa, Caracciolo
Caracciolo
Caracciolo is the surname of a famous noble family of southern Italy.Its members include:*Battistello Caracciolo, Italian painter*Carmine Nicolao Caracciolo, Spanish viceroy of Peru*Francesco Caracciolo, Neapolitan admiral and revolutionist...
, Carafa
Carafa
Carafa is the name of a noble Neapolitan family of Italian nobles, clergy, and men of arts.* Cardinal Oliviero Carafa, , uncle of Paul IV...
and D'Avalos, who owned it until the abolition of feudality in 1805.
Main sights
- The D'Avalos Castle, later turned into a jail by the Bourbon Kings of Two Sicilies.
- Abbey of St. Nicholas.
- Church of St. Francis.
- Ancient marble fountain, in the main square.
Twin towns
La GardeLa Garde, Var
La Garde is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.It is located in the metropolitan Communauté d'agglomération Toulon Provence Méditerranée, and is east of the city of Toulon.-History:The name derives from the town's ancient origins,...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, since 1977. Torre del Greco
Torre del Greco
-Main sights:*Roman archaeological remains, including the so-called "Villa Sora" , probably a property of the Flavians.*Monastery of the Zoccolanti, with a cloister housing 28 frescoed panels depicting the life of St...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, since 2008.