Nicola Napolitano also known by the nickname Caprariello, a nickname derived from his activity of goat shepherd, was born in Nola

Nola

Nola is a city and comune of Campania, southern Italy, in the province of Naples, situated in the plain between Mount Vesuvius and the Apennines...

 from the peasants Sabato and Carmela from Naples. Illiterate, having never attended school, he was recruited in 1861 in the military service established by the newborn Regno d'Italia

Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)

The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...

, then known as Kingdom of the Two Sicilies

Kingdom of the Two Sicilies

The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, commonly known as the Two Sicilies even before formally coming into being, was the largest and wealthiest of the Italian states before Italian unification...

.

Disobedient, he was arrested and forced to attend military service, but deserted almost immediately, joining the brigands led by the La Gala brothers from Nola

Nola

Nola is a city and comune of Campania, southern Italy, in the province of Naples, situated in the plain between Mount Vesuvius and the Apennines...

, where he soon played an important role, gaining a reputation for his fierceness and strength, to the point of being able to put together and lead his own brigand band during 1862.

Arrested after a shooting fight at the beginning of September 1863, he was executed by shooting in his birth city, Nola

Nola

Nola is a city and comune of Campania, southern Italy, in the province of Naples, situated in the plain between Mount Vesuvius and the Apennines...

, on the 10th of that same month.