Editing Benevento (section)

===Ancient era===
Benevento, as ''Maleventum'', was one of the chief cities of [[Samnium]], situated on the [[Appian Way]] at a distance of {{convert|51|km}} 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.<ref>Pliny iii. 11. s. 16; Livy xxii. 13; Ptolemy iii. 1. § 67.</ref> All ancient writers concur in representing it as a very ancient city, with [[Gaius Julius Solinus]] and [[Stephanus of Byzantium]] ascribing its foundation to {{nowrap|[[Diomedes]]{{hsp}}{{mdash}}}}{{hsp}}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.<ref>[[Gaius Julius Solinus]] 2. § 10; Steph. B. ''s. v.''; Procop. ''B. G.'' i. 15.</ref> [[Sextus Pompeius Festus]], on the contrary (''s. v.'' Ausoniam), related that the city was founded by Auson, a son of [[Odysseus|Ulysses]] and [[Circe]], a tradition which indicates that it was an ancient [[Ausoni]]an city prior to its conquest by the Samnites. It first appears in history as a Samnite city,<ref>Livy ix. 27.</ref> and must have already been a place of strength as the [[ancient Rome|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 [[Battle of Beneventum (275 BC)|great battle]], fought in its immediate neighborhood, by the consul [[Manius Curius Dentatus]].<ref>[[Plutarch]] ''Pyrrh.'' 25; [[Frontinus]] ''Strategemata'' iv. 1. § 14.</ref> Six years later (268 BC) they further sought to secure its possession by establishing there a [[Colonia (Roman)|Roman colony]] with Latin rights.<ref>Livy ''Epit.'' xv.; [[Velleius Paterculus]] i. 14.</ref> It was at this time that it first assumed the name of Beneventum, having previously been called Maleventum, a name which the Romans regarded as of evil augury, and changed into one of a more fortunate signification.<ref>Pliny iii. 11. s. 16; Liv. ix. 27; Fest. ''s. v.'' Beneventum, p. 34; Steph. B. ''s. v.''; Procop. ''B. G.'' i. 15.</ref> 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.<ref>[[James Millingen]], ''Numnismatique de l'Italie'', p. 223.</ref>
[[File:Roman Theater terraces and stage.jpg|thumb|left|View of the Roman Theatre of Benevento.]]
[[File:Benevento (Panoramic from Taburno).jpg|thumb|left|Panoramic view of Benevento from the mount Pentime, part of the [[Taburno Camposauro]]]]
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)|Battle of Beneventum]] (214 BC), in which the [[Carthage|Carthaginian]] general [[Hanno, son of Bomilcar|Hanno]] was defeated by [[Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus (consul 215 BC)|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 (consul 237 BC)|Quintus Fulvius Flaccus]].<ref>Liv. xxii. 13, xxiv. 14, 16, xxv. 13, 14, 15, 17; [[Appian]], ''Annib.'' 36, 37.</ref> 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.<ref>Livy xxvii. 10.</ref> No mention of it occurs during the [[Social War (91–88 BC)|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.<ref>Appian, ''B.C.'' iv. 3; Strabo v. p. 250; [[Cicero]] ''[[In Verrem]]'' i. 1. 5.</ref>

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'''.<ref>Appian. ''l. c.''; Lib. Colon. pp. 231, 232; Inscr. ap. Romanelli, vol. ii. pp. 382, 384; Orell. ''Inscr.'' 128, 590.</ref> 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]]).<ref>Strabo vi. p. 283.</ref>  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]]).<ref>''Sat.'' i. 5, 71.</ref> 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.<ref>[[Tacitus]] ''Ann.'' xv. 34.</ref>
[[File:PiranesiArchTrajanBenevento.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The Arch of Trajan, provided with a [[portcullis]], as it appeared in the 18th century, etching by [[Giovanni Battista Piranesi]]. Some of the [[bas-relief]]s are now in the [[British Museum]].]] 
It was probably for the same reason that the [[triumphal arch]], the [[Arch of Trajan (Benevento)|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.<ref>Pliny iii. 11. s. 16; Mommsen, ''Topogr. degli Irpini'', p. 167, in ''Bull. dell'Inst. Arch.'' 1847.</ref> 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.<ref>Procop. ''B. G.'' iii. 6; P. Diac. ii. 20; De Vita, ''Antiq. Benev.'' pp. 271, 286.</ref>

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.<ref>Suet. ''Gram.'' 9; Orell. ''Inscr.'' 1178, 1185.</ref>

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.<ref>Henzen, ''Tab. Aliment. Baebian'', pp. 93–108; Mommsen, ''Topogr. degli Irpini'', pp. 168–171.</ref>

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.<ref>Millingen, ''Numismatique de l'Anc. Italie'', p. 223; Friedländer, ''Osk. Münz.'' p. 67; McClure, British Place-Names etc., p. 33.</ref>