Caesar the Brave was the admiral of the fleet of the Duchy of Naples

Duchy of Naples

The Duchy of Naples began as a Byzantine province that was constituted in the seventh century, in the reduced coastal lands that the Lombards had not conquered during their invasion of Italy in the sixth century...

 during the reigns (840 – 870 AD) of his father, Sergius I

Sergius I of Naples

Sergius I was the first duke of Naples of his dynasty, often dubbed the "Sergi," which ruled over Naples for almost three centuries from his accession in 840 until the death of his namesake Sergius VII in 1137....

, and brother, Gregory III

Gregory III of Naples

Gregory III , eldest son of Sergius I of Naples and Drusa, was the duke of Naples as co-regent with his father from 850 and as successor to his father from his father's death in 864 to his own some six years later. He was recorded as a man of learning, fluent in both Greek and Latin.During his...

.

In 846, he commanded the Neapolitan contingent in the Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 victory over the Saracens at Gaeta

Gaeta

Gaeta is a city and comune in the province of Latina, in Lazio, central Italy. Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is 120 km from Rome and 80 km from Naples....

. In 849, he commaned the Neapolitans at the Battle of Ostia

Battle of Ostia

The naval Battle of Ostia took place in 849 between some Saracen pirates and an Italian league of Papal, Neapolitan, Amalfitan and Gaetan ships. The battled ended in favor of the Italian league, as they successfully beat off the pirates...

.

In May 859, a massive joint expedition of Salerno

Salerno

Salerno is a city and comune in Campania and is the capital of the province of the same name. It is located on the Gulf of Salerno on the Tyrrhenian Sea....

, Naples

Naples

Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

, Amalfi

Amalfi

Amalfi is a town and comune in the province of Salerno, in the region of Campania, Italy, on the Gulf of Salerno, c. 35 km southeast of Naples. It lies at the mouth of a deep ravine, at the foot of Monte Cerreto , surrounded by dramatic cliffs and coastal scenery...

, and Suessola marched on 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...

. Count Lando I

Lando I of Capua

Lando I was the count of Capua from 843. He was the eldest son and successor of Landulf the Old. Like his father, he supported Siconulf against Radelchis in the civil war dividing the Principality of Benevento in the 840s....

 was in a paralysis at that time and his son Lando II

Lando II of Capua

Lando II, called Cyruttu, was the count of Capua briefly for six months in 861. He was the eldest son and successor of Lando I.In May 859, a massive joint expedition of Salerno, Naples, Amalfi, and Suessola marched on Capua. Lando I was in a paralysis at that time and his son Lando II took up arms...

 took up arms to defend the city. He defeated the forces sent against them, led by Caesar and Gregory, at the bridge of Teodemondo over the Volturno

Volturno

The Volturno is a river in south-central Italy.-Geography:It rises in the Abruzzese central Apennines of Samnium near Rocchetta a Volturno and flows southeast as far as its junction with the Calore River near Caiazzo and runs south as far as Venafro, and then turns southwest, past Capua, to...

. Caesar was captured with 800 soldiers and led back to Capua in chains. Erchempert

Erchempert

Erchempert was a monk of Monte Cassino in the final quarter of the ninth century. He chronicled a history of Lombard Benevento, giving especially vivid account of the violence surrounding his monastic retreat in his own day. The work, Historia Langobardorum Beneventanorum, stops in the winter of...

 places the battle on 8 May, the day of Michael the Archangel, whose cult was popular among the Lombards

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...

. It is therefore significant to Erchempert (a Lombard) that the Lombard Lando should defeat a largely Greek army on such a day.

In 870 Caesar was imprisoned by his nephew, Sergius II

Sergius II of Naples

Sergius II was Duke of Naples from 870 to 877.He continued the policies of his father, Gregory III, and grandfather, Sergius I. He maintained good relations with the Franks or the Byzantines only as it suited Neapolitan interests....

, having opposed his closeness to the Aghlabid

Aghlabid

The Aghlabids were a dynasty of emirs, members of the Arab tribe of Bani Tamim, who ruled Ifriqiya, nominally on behalf of the Abbasid Caliph, for about a century, until overthrown by the new power of the Fatimid.-History:...

s, and he died in prison.