Benevento occupies the site of the ancient , originally '''Maleventum''' or more correctly '''Maloeis''' (derived from the Greek word for apple ''malon''). The Romans' theory that it meant "the site of bad wind" is no longer considered by historians today. Some older (and more speculative) authors also proposed it could mean "a place of crazy people", as in ancient times it was supposed that mad people had a sort of wind storm inside their head). In the
Imperial period it was supposed to have been founded by
Diomedes after the
Trojan War .
The site was the chief town of the
Samnites , who took refuge here after their defeat by the
Roman Republic in
314 BC . It appears not to have fallen into Roman hands until
Pyrrhus 's absence in
Sicily , but served as a base of operations in the last campaign against Pyrrhus, who gave up his campaign in Italy after the inconclusive
Battle Of Beneventum (
275 BC ).
A
Latin Colony was planted here in
268 BC , and it was then that the name was changed for the sake of superstition (''male'' = bad, ''bene'' = good), and probably then that the
Via Appia was extended from
Capua to ''Beneventum''. It remained in the hands of the Romans during both the
Punic and the
Social War s, and was a fortress of importance to them. After the Social War it became a ''
Municipium '' and under
Augustus a colony.
The position is naturally strong, being protected by the two rivers, and the medieval fortifications, which are nearly 2 miles in length, probably follow the ancient line, which was razed to the ground by
Totila .
, as it appeared in the 18th century, etching by
Piranesi . Some of the bas-reliefs are now in the
British Museum .]]
Being a meeting point of six main roads, Beneventum was much visited by travellers. The Arch of Trajan erected in 114 AD is one of the best-preserved Roman structures in the Campagna. 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 .
Not long after it had been sacked by by some soldiers led by a
Zotto , autonomously from the Lombard king.
Zotto's successor was Arechi I (died in
640 ), from the Duchy of Friuli, who captured
Capua and
Crotone , sacked the Byzantine
Amalfi but was unable to capture
Naples . After his reign the
Eastern Roman Empire had left in southern Italy only Naples, Amalfi, Gaeta, Sorrento, the tip of Calabria and the maritime cities of
Apulia .
In the following decades Benevento conquered some territories to the Roman-Byzantine duchy, but the main enemies was now the northern Lombard reign itself. King
Liutprand intervened in several times imposing a candidate of his own to the duchy's succession; his successor
Ratchis declared the duchies of Spoleto and Benevento foreign countries where it was forbidden to travel without a royal permission.
With the collapse of the Lombard kingdom in 773, ,
Salerno broke off under
Siconulf and, by the end of that century,
Capua was independent as well.
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), ha had gained from Emperor
Otto I the title of Duke of Spoleto also. However, both Benevento and Salerno rebelled to his son and heir,
Pandulf II .
The first decades of the 11th century saw two more descent of German rulers to southern Italy:
Henry II , conquered in
1022 both Capua and Benevento, but returned back after the failed siege of
Troia . Similar results obtained
Conrad II in
1038 . In these years the three states (Benevento, Capua, and Salerno) were often engaged in local wars and disputed that favoured the rise of the
Normans from mercenaries to ruler of the whole southern Italy. The greatest of them was
Robert Guiscard , who captured Benevento in
1053 .
Benevento passed to the Papacy peacefully when the emperor
Henry III ceded it to
Leo IX , in exchange for the
Bishopric of
Bamberg (
1077 ). Benevento was the cornerstone of the Papacy's temporal powers in southern Italy. The Papacy ruled it by appointed rectors, seated in a magnificent 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 To Italy in
1860 .
Manfred Of Sicily lost his life in
1266 in battle with
Charles Of Anjou not far from the town (see
Battle Of Benevento ).
The importance of Benevento in classical times is vouched for by the many remains of
Antiquity which it possesses, of which the most famous is the erected in honour of
Trajan by the
Senate and people of
Rome in
114 , with important reliefs relating to its history. Enclosed in the walls, this construction marked the entrance in Benevento of the
Via Traiana , the road built by the Spanish emperor to shorten the path from Rome to
Brindisi . The reliefs show the civil and military deeds of Traian.
There are other considerable remains from ancient era:
- The well-preserved ancient , next to the Cathedral and the Port'Arsas. This grandious building was erected by Hadrian , and later expanded by Caracalla . It had a diameter of 90 meters and could house up to 10,000 spectators. It is currently used for theatral, dance and opera spectacles.
- A large Cryptoporticus 60 m long, known as the ruins of , and probably an Emporium . According to Meomartini, the portion preserved is only a fraction of the whole, which once measured 520 m in length).
- A brick arch called .
- The , a bridge on the Via Appia over the Sabato river, below the city center.
- along the road to Avellino .
- The , popularly known as ''A ufara'' ("buffalo"). It is a basament in the shape of an ox or bull coming from the Temple of Isis.
Many inscriptions and ancient fragments may be seen built into the old houses. In
1903 the foundations of the Temple of Isis were discovered close to the Arch of Trajan, and many fragments of fine sculptures in both the Egyptian and the Greco-Roman style belonging to it were found. They had apparently been used as the foundation of a portion of the
City Wall , reconstructed in
663 under the fear of an attack by the
Byzantine Emperor Constans II , the temple having been destroyed by order of the bishop,
St Barbatus , to provide the necessary material (A. Meomartini, 0. Marucchi and L. Savignoni in ''Notizie degli Scafi'', 1904, 107 sqq.).
The church of is a circular Lombard edifice of about ; these are connected by arches which support the cupola. The inner hexagon is in turn enclosed in a decagonal ring with eight white limestone pilasters and two columns next to the entrance. The church has a fine
Cloister of the
12th Century , constructed in part of fragments of earlier buildings. The church interior was once totally frescoed by
Byzantine artists: fragments of these paintings, portraying the ''Histories of Christ'', can be still seen in the two side apses.
Santa Sofia was almost destroyed by the earthquake of
1688 , and rebuilt in
Baroque forms by commission of the then cardinal Orsini of Benevento (later
Pope Benedict XIII ). The original forms were hidden, and were recovered only after the discussed restoration of
1951 .
The cloiser give access to the Samnium Museum, with notable sections of remains from Ancient age and Middle Ages. These include an , one of the two that once decorated the Temple of Isis. The other one can be still seen in the city, in the central Piazza Papiniano.
The of S. Maria Assunta, with its fine arcaded façade and incomplete square
Campanile (begun in
1279 ) dates from the
9th Century . It was rebuilt in
1114 . The façade was inspired by the Pisane Gothic style. Its bronze doors, adorned with
Bas-relief s, are notable example of
Romanesque Art which may belong to the beginning of the
13th Century . The interior is in the form of a
Basilica , the double aisles carried on ancient columns. There are ambones resting on columns supported by lions, and decorated with reliefs and coloured marble mosaic, and a candelabrum of 1311. A marble statue of the apostle San Bartolomeo, by Nicola da Monteforte, is also from the 14th century.
The massive bell tower was built in
1269 by the archbishop Romano Capodiferro.
The castle of Benevento, best known as or '''Rocca di Manfredi''', stands at the highest point of the town, commanding the valley of the rivers Sabato and Calore, and the two main ancient roads Via Appia and Via Traiana. The site had been already used by the Samnites, who had constructed here a set of defensive terraces, and the Romans, with a thermal plant (''Castellum aquae''), whose remains can be still seen in the castle garden. The
Benedictines had here a monastery. It received the current name in the Middle Ages, when it became the seat of the Papal governors, the ''Rettori''.
The castle is in fact made by two distinct edifices: the Torrione ("Big Tower"), was built by the Lombards starting from 871; and the Palazzo dei Governatori, built by the Popes from
1320 .
- , not far from the Arch of Traian along the first trait of the Via Traiana, is a very ancient, small building dating from the end of the 6th or the beginning of the 7th Century .
- The (16th century).
- The church of , dating from the High Middle Ages.
- The Gothic church of .
- The Baroque churches of , '''San Bartolomeo''' and '''San Filippo'''.
The writer and artist
Giovanni De Caro was born here in 1971.
- Vera von Falkenhausen, "I Longobardi meridionali", in AA.VV., ''Il Mezzogiorno dai Bizantini a Federico II'', vol. III of ''Storia d’Italia'', ed. by Giuseppe Galasso, UTET, Torino 1983, pp. 251-364;
- Nicola Cilento, ''Italia meridionale longobarda'', Ricciardi, Milano-Napoli, 1971.
