Caudium (ancient city)
Encyclopedia
Caudium was an ancient city in Samnium
situated on the Appian Way
between Beneventum (modern Benevento) to Capua
. (It was 21 Roman miles from Capua, and 11 from Beneventum.) In early times it was an important site: the capital or chief city of the Caudini
.
Caudium is first mentioned during the Second Samnite War, when in 321 BC
the Samnite army under C. Pontius encamped there just before their great victory over the Romans in the nearby mountain called the Caudine Forks (Livy 9.2). A few years later, the Samnites used Caudium as a place from which to watch the Campanians (Liv. 9.27).
Caudium is not mentioned during the Second Punic War
, but the Caudini are repeatedly mentioned. Niebuhr supposed that the city was destroyed by the Romans in revenge for their great defeat at the Caudine Forks, but there is no evidence for this, and in a later period it was known as a stopping place along the Appian Way, both in the time of Augustus (Hor. Sat. 1.5.51; Strabo 5. p. 249) and in the late empire.
In the triumviral
period Caudium 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 ninth century, but it is uncertain whether the town still existed at that time.
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...
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...
between Beneventum (modern Benevento) 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 was 21 Roman miles from Capua, and 11 from Beneventum.) In early times it was an important site: the capital or chief city of 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...
.
History
Grave goods, found in the necropolis nearby, show that the site was inhabited from the 8th to the 3rd centuries.Caudium is first mentioned during the Second Samnite War, when in 321 BC
321 BC
Year 321 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Calvinus and Caudinus...
the Samnite army under C. Pontius encamped there just before their great victory over the Romans in the nearby mountain called the Caudine Forks (Livy 9.2). A few years later, the Samnites used Caudium as a place from which to watch the Campanians (Liv. 9.27).
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...
, but the Caudini are repeatedly mentioned. Niebuhr supposed that the city was destroyed by the Romans in revenge for their great defeat at the Caudine Forks, but there is no evidence for this, and in a later period it was known as a stopping place along the Appian Way, both in the time of Augustus (Hor. Sat. 1.5.51; Strabo 5. p. 249) and in the late empire.
In the triumviral
Triumvirate
A triumvirate is a political regime dominated by three powerful individuals, each a triumvir . The arrangement can be formal or informal, and though the three are usually equal on paper, in reality this is rarely the case...
period Caudium received a colony
Colonia (Roman)
A Roman colonia was originally a Roman outpost established in conquered territory to secure it. Eventually, however, the term came to denote the highest status of Roman city.-History:...
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 ninth century, but it is uncertain whether the town still existed at that time.