Beneventum was a Roman colony located along the Via Appia[1].  Originally called Maleventum, when the Samnite city was conquered by the Romans[2]. and made into a colony in 271B.C.[3]. the name was changed to Beneventum, meaning “well come” from the older Maleventum meaning “badly come”[4].  Its location along several important highways meant Beneventum was an important center for communications in the Roman empire[5].  Its location also made it important in later wars as a command post, particularly during the second Punic War[6]. Despite the destructive effects of wars, repeated rebuilding, and even earthquakes that served to erase most traces of the town’s layout[7], many beautiful monuments such as the Arch of Trajan and an Amphitheatre still survive today in good condition.  Beneventum, now called Benevento, is still a town in Italy, occupying the same site as the ancient city with a population of 62,230[8].


1.  1. Harry Thurston Peck.  1898. Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. New York,  Harper and Brothers. pg.1008

  2. Charles Knight. 1866. The English Cyclopaedia. London, Evans and Co.

3.  Harry Thurston Peck.  1898. Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. New York,  Harper and Brothers. pg.1008


4.  Pliny, John Bostock, Henry Thomas Riley. 1893. The Natural History of Pliny George Bell & Sons, London. pg.229

5 5.  Richard MacDonald Stillwell, William L. McAlister, Marian Holland. 1976. The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites “Beneventum” Princeton, N.J., Princeton University Press.

6 6.  Dodge, Theodore Ayrault. 1891. Hannibal. Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Company. pg.434

7. Richard MacDonald Stillwell, William L. McAlister, Marian Holland. 1976. The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites “Beneventum” Princeton, N.J., Princeton University Press.

8. "Benevento." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/beneventum. (accessed December 6, 2008).


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