Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 1.djvu/530

 513 CAPUA. chief sources of the public revenue : so that it was exempted even in the general distributions of the public lands by the Gracchi, and by Sulla (Cic. de Leg, Agr. i. 7), though the latter seems to have at least trenched upon some portions of it. {Lib. Colon. p. 232 ; Zumpt, de Colon, p. 252.) In b. c. 63, the tribune, Servilius Rullus, brought in an agrarian law, of which one of the chief objects was the division of this celebrated district : but the elo- quence of Cicero procured its rejection. (Cic. in Pison. 2; Plut. Cic. 12.) A few years later, however, the same measure was carried into effect by the Lex Julia Agraria passed by Caesar in his consulship, b. c. 59, and 20,000 Roman dtissens were settled in the "ager Campanus," and the adjoining district, called the Campus Stellatis. (Dion Cass, xxxviii. 7 ; Caes. B. C.i. 14 ; Suet. Caes. 20; Appian, B, C, ii. 10; Veil Pat. ii. 44; C'icadAU.u. 16.) Capua thus became a Roman colony, and from henceforth contanned to enjoy a dignity correspimd- ing to its real importance. But the colonists settled here by Caesar were not long permitted to retain their lands in tranquillity. Among the cities cf Italy, the possession of which the Triumvirs were compelled to promise to their legions in b. c. 43, Capua held a prominent place (Appian, B. C. iv. 3): it appears to have &llen to the lot of the veterans of Octavian, on which account the latter made it the head- quarters of his army previous to the war of Perusia, B.C. 41. (Id. v. 24.) We learn also that he further increased it by the establishment of fresh bodies of vetei'ans after the battle of Actium : in consequence of which repeated accessions, the city appears to have assumed the titles of " Colonia Julia Augusta Felix," which we find it bearing in inscriptions. On the last of these occasions Au- gustus conferred an additional boon upon Capua (which he seems to have regarded with especial &vour) by bestowing upon the municipality a valu- able tract of land in the island of Crete, and by constructing an aqueduct, which added greatly to the salubrity of the city. (VelL Pat. ii. 81 ; Dion Cass. xlix. 14.) Under the Roman Empire we hear comparatively little of Capua, though it is clear from incidental notices, as well as from still extant inscriptions, that it continued to be a flourishing and populous city. Strabo calls it the metropolis of Campania, and says that it so far surpassed- the other cities of the pro- vince, that they were merely small towns in com- parison (v. p. 248). It received a fresh colony of veterans under Nero ; but during the civil wars of A. D. 69 its stead&st adherence to the party of Vitellius involved many of the chief families of its citizens in ruin. (Tac. Ann, xiii. 31, ffist iii. 57, iv. 3.) At a much later period Ausonius speaks of it as having greatly declined from its former splendour, but he still ranks it as the eighth city in the Roman Empire, and it is evident that there was no other in Southern Italy that could for a moment dispute its superiority. (Auson. Ord. Nohil. Urb. 6.) Its prosperity, however, probably rendered it an especial object of attack to the barbarians, who desolated Italy after tJie fall of the Western Empire. It was taken by Genseric, king of the Vandals, in A. D. 456, and, as we ate told, utterly destroyed {Hist MigceU, xiv. p. 98, ed. Mur. ; Const. Porph. de Adm. Imp. 27) ; but though it appears to have never recovered this blow, it figures again, though in a veiy reduced condition, iu the Gothic wars cf CAPUA. Belisarius (Procop. B. G. i. 14, iii. 18, 26), and must have subsequently much revived, as P. Dlaconns in the eighth century terms it one of the three most opulent cities of Campania. {Hist. Lcmg. iL 17.) Its final destruction dates from its capture by the Saracens in a. d. 840, who are said to have reduced it to ashes. Its defenceless position in the midst of the plain caused it to be at this period altogether abandoned, its inhabitants taking refuge in the neighbouring mountains: but a few years after- wards (a. d. 856) they were induced, by their bishop Landulfus, to return, and establish them- selves on the site of the ancient Casilinnm, a pc sition which they converted into a strong fortress, and to which they gave the name of thdr ancient city. (Chron. Casinat. i. 31, ap. Mnrat. Script vol. ii. p. 303 ; Constantin. Porphyr. {. c.) It is thus that the modem city of Capoua (one of the strongest fortresses in the Neapolitan dominions) has arisen on the site of Casilinum : that of the ancient Capua being occupied by the lai^ village or Casaie^ called Santa Maria di Capoua^ or iSto Maria Maggiore, which, though it does no^ rank as a town, contains near 10,000 inhabitants. Ancient writers abound in declamatory allusions to the luxury and refinement of the Capuans, which is sidd even to have surpassed the fabulous extra- vagance of the Sybarites (Polyb. ap. Athen. xii. 36); but they have left us scarcely any topographi- cal notices of the city itself. We learn from Cicero that in consequence of its position in a perfectly level plain, it was spread over a wide extent of ground, with broad streets and low houses. (Cic. de Ijeg. Agr, ii. 35.) Two of these streets or squares (plateae), called the Seplasia and Albana, are particularly celebrated, and seem to have been the most frequented and busy in the dty. The former was occupied to a great extent by the shops of perfumers (unguentarii), a trade for which Capua was noted, so that the most luxurious Romans de- rived their supplies from thence. (Cic. 2. c. 34; pro Sest. 8, in Pison, 11; Ascon. ad Or. »ii^. p. 10; Val. Max. ix. 1, Ext. 1; Athen. xr. p. 288, e. The " Unguentarii Seplaaiarii " are mentioned also in inscriptions,) The aqueduct constructed by Augustus, and named the Aqua Julia, was a splendid work, and the pride of the town, for its magnificence as well as its utility. (Dion Cass. xlix. 14.) The amphi. theatre, of which the ruins still remain, was cer- tainly not constructed before the time of the Roman Empire: but Capua was ahcady at a much earlier period celebrated for its shows of gladiators, and ap- pears to have been a favourite place for their train- ing and exercise. It was frY>m a school of gladia- tors here that Spartacus first broke out with 70 companions; at the commencement of the civil war there was a large body of them in training here, in the service of Caesar. (Cic ad Att. viL 14; Caca. B. C. L 14.) We learn from Suetonius that Capua, like many other cities of the Roman empire, had its Capitolium in imitation of that of Rome. (Suet. Tib. 40, Cal. 57.) The existing remains of Capua are, for the most part, of but little interest, and though covering a great space of ground, are very imperfectly preserved. Some {Mrtions of the ancient walls, as well as the broad ditch which surrounded them, are still visible, and by means of these and other indications the circuit of the city may be traced with tolerable cer- tainty. According to Pratilli, it was between, fivt