Submitted for award of PhD September 2006. - King's College London

Leadership among the Samnites and related 

Oscan-speaking peoples between the fifth and first 

centuries BC 

Nikoletta Farkas 

Submitted for award of PhD 

King's College London 

September 2006. 

r ^. '_F f 

T_ 

1

Abstract 

The thesis studies the Samnite political systems in two regions, the central Apennines 

and Campania, between the fifth and first centuries BC. The thesis revisits previous 

arguments about the political structures, creates and modifies models for the 

functioning of Samnite political institutions by using Roman and 

sources, Oscan inscriptions, archaeological and numismatic evidence. 

Greek literary 

The introductory chapter explains the aims and problems of the thesis and 

summarizes the achievements of previous studies in the field. Chapter two focuses on 

the political institutions of the highland Samnites. It rejects the view of a long-lived 

Samnite league and argues instead that Samnite tribes and autonomous communities 

formed loose, temporary alliances to wage wars and to promote religious cults in the 

fourth and third centuries BC. Defeat in the Samnite Wars resulted in the 

independent development of Samnite federal states in the central Apennines. The 

chapter concentrates on the political institutions of the best-attested Pentri tribe and 

argues that the meddix tuticus was the single, annual and eponymous leader of this 

federal state. 

Chapters three to six study evidence for the political structures of Campania. 

Chapter three argues that there is little evidence to suggest that Capua headed a long- 

lived league, although its hegemony over Atella, Calatia and Sabatinum may be 

allowed. Chapter four suggests that Cumae was independent from Capua. Chapter 

five concludes that the evidence does not suggest that Abella was subordinate to 

Nola. Chapter six challenges that idea that Herculaneum, Pompeii, Stabiae and 

Surrentum formed a league under the leadership of Nuceria Alfaterna. Chapter seven 

briefly summarizes the arguments and achievements of the thesis.

Acknowledgements 

I am most thankful to my supervisor, Prof. Dominic Rathbone, for his invaluable 

teaching and excellent guidance during the writing of this thesis. I am also grateful to 

Prof. Michael Crawford for providing me with important pieces of information about 

Oscan inscriptions on numerous occasions from his forthcoming Imagines Italicae 

Project. I am also indebted to Margaret Watmough for her linguistic comments and 

invaluable friendship. Parts of the text were read 

by Jessica Hughes, Tina 

Chronopoulos, Peter Agöcs, Kate Cooper and Dominic Clarke; for their comments I 

am most grateful. Simon Mahony and Gabriel Bodard helped me to overcome 

technical hurdles, while other friends, Maggie Robb, Valentina Asciutti, Eleonora 

Litta Modignani Picozzi, Ryosuke Takahashi, Francesco Trifilo and Stephen Moorby 

made research in the Institute of Classical Studies Library more enjoyable. 

Special thanks are due to my partner, Sergio Maffeis, whose encouragement, 

care and support considerably eased the painful process of studying and writing. 

Last, but by no means least, I would like to thank my parents for their encouragement 

and patience, Silvana and Max Maffeis for their warmth and support and Esa and 

Pino Francavilla for hosting me at Valmosca where a considerable part of the text 

was born. 

3

Contents 

Abstract ........................................................................................... 

Acknowledgements .............................................................................. 

List of maps ....................................................................................... 

Abbreviations ..................................................................................... 

1. Introduction .................................................................................. 

1.1. Contents of the thesis ............................................................. 

1.2. History of scholarship ............................................................ 

2. Highland Samnites 

.......................................................................... 

2.1. Introduction ........................................................................ 

2.2. Samnite states in history ......................................................... 

2.2.1. Safin ....................................................................... 

2.2.2. The Samnite Wars ....................................................... 

2.2.3. The Second Punic War .................................................. 

2.2.4. The Social War ........................................................... 

2.2.5. Voting tribes and Augustan regions ................................... 

2.2.6. Conclusions ............................................................... 

2.3. Ancient sites ....................................................................... 

2.3.1. Evidence and models ................................................... 

2.3.2. Hill forts of the Samnites 

............................................... 

2.3.3. Settlement patterns ...................................................... 

2.3.4. Sanctuaries 

............................................................... 

2.3.5. Conclusions .............................................................. 

2 

3 

7 

9 

10 

10 

12 

23 

23 

26 

26 

27 

36 

38 

41 

43 

45 

45 

48 

54 

60 

65 

4

2.4. Administrative institutions ....................................................... 

2.4.1. Touta and pagi .......................................................... 

2.4.2. Meddix tuticus ........................................................... 

2.4.3. Other offices .............................................................. 

2.5. Social elite and Samnite leaders 

................................................. 

2.6. Conclusions ........................................................................ 

3. Capua and the Campani ..................................................................... 

3.1. Introduction ........................................................................ 

3.2. Historical background ............................................................ 

3.2.1. Foundation myths ....................................................... 

3.2.2. The Samnite takeover ................................................. 

3.2.3. The coming of Rome .................................................. 

3.2.4. Territory ................................................................. 

3.2.5. Campanian magistrates and assemblies in Roman literary 

sources 

........................................................................... 

3.3. Administrative institutions in the epigraphic evidence 

........................ 116 

3.4. The elite families of Capua 

....................................................... 

3.5. Conclusions: The supposed Campanian confederation ...................... 

3.6. Appendix: the pagi of Roman Capua ............................................ 

4. Cumae ...................................................................................... 

4.1. Introduction ...................................................................... 

4.2. The history and archaeology of Samnite Cumae 

............................ 

4.3. Samnite magistrates at Cumae 

................................................. 

4.4. The vereis ........................................................................ 

4.5. Conclusions 

...................................................................... 

66 

66 

71 

82 

84 

93 

96 

96 

98 

98 

100 

103 

107 

111 

125 

135 

138 

141 

141 

141 

147 

151 

156 

5

5. Nola and Abella ........................................................................... 

5.1. Introduction ....................................................................... 

5.2. Literary sources .................................................................. 

5.3. Coins .............................................................................. 

5.4. Epigraphic evidence ............................................................. 

5.4.1. Magistrates at Nola and Abella ....................................... 

5.4.2. Cippus Abellanus ...................................................... 

5.5. Elite families ...................................................................... 

5.6. Conclusions ....................................................................... 

6. Pompeii and Nuceria ...................................................................... 

6.1. Introduction ....................................................................... 

6.2. Literary evidence ................................................................. 

158 

158 

158 

163 

167 

167 

174 

182 

183 

186 

186 

188 

6.2.1. Who were the Alfaterni? 188 

............................................................ 

6.2.2. Political history of the region ......................................... 

6.3. Political institutions at Pompeii ................................................. 

6.3.1. Introduction ............................................................. 

6.3.2. Meddices ................................................................ 

6.3.3. Aediles ................................................................... 

6.3.4. Quaestores .............................................................. 

6.3.5. Other institutions ....................................................... 

6.3.6. The time of transition .................................................. 

6.3.7. Elite families ........................................................... 

6.4. Herculaneum ...................................................................... 

6.5. Meddices of Minerva ............................................................. 

6.6. Nuceria ............................................................................ 

196 

202 

202 

206 

209 

213 

217 

226 

234 

23 8 

239 

242 

6

6.6.1. Bronze coins with the legend irnOii ............................................... 

6.6.2. Silver and bronze coins fromNuceria Alfatema .................. 245 

6.6.3. The Confederation of Cirta ........................................... 

6.7. Conclusions ....................................................................... 

7. Conclusions 

................................................................................. 

7.1. Problems and aims of the thesis ............................................... 

7.2. Institutions ........................................................................ 

7.3. Political institutions of Samnium and Campania 

............................ 

Bibliography 260 

............................................................................................................. 

Maps 298 

.......................................................................................................................... 

242 

248 

251 

254 

254 

254 

258 

7

Maps 

Map I: Settlements of Samnium and transhumance 

trails. Adapted from La Regina 

(1984) 23. 

Map II: The Samnites and their neighbours. Adapted from Salmon (1967) 25. 

Map III: Ager Campanus before 340 BC. Adapted from Gargiulo (2002) Tav. XXXI. 

Map IV: Ager Campanus after 340 BC. Adapted from Gargiulo (2002) Tav. XXXI. 

Map V: Reconstructions of the sanctuary of Hercules between Nola and Abella by 

Pulgram (1960) 20 and Franchi de Bellis (1988) 47. 

Map VI: Samnite Pompeii, places of discovery of 

Oscan inscriptions. 

8

Abbreviations 

Bu = Buck, C. D., A Grammar of Oscan and Umbrian (Hildesheim, New York, 

1974). 

Co = Conway, R. S., The Italic Dialects (Cambridge, 1897). 

NSc = Notizie degli Scavi 

Pi = Pisani, V., Le lingue dell'Italia antica oltre il latino (Turin, 1953) 

Pocc = Poccetti, P., Nuovi documenti italici: a complemento del Manuale di E. Vetter 

(Pisa, 1979). 

REI = Rivista di Epigrafia Italica in Studi Etruschi, followed by the number and the 

year of the publication of the Studi Etruschi. 

RhM = Rheinisches Museum für Philologie. 

ST = Rix, H., Sabellische Texte: die Texte des Oskischen, Umbrischen und 

Südpikenischen (Heidelberg, 2002). Followed by the abbreviation of the region 

where the inscription comes from and the number of the inscription, both as 

given in the edition. 

Strazzulla = Strazzulla, M. J., Ì1 santuario sannitico di Pietrabbondante', Documenti 

di antichitä italiche e romane I (Molise, 1973). 

Ve = Vetter, E., Handbuch der Italischen Dialekte (Heidelberg, 1953). 

9

1.1. Contents of the thesis 

Chapter 1. Introduction 

This thesis examines the political institutions of the Samnites in two geographical 

regions, the central Apennines and Campania, in the period between the fifth and 

first centuries BC. New finds of inscriptions and tile-stamps attesting magistrates and 

new archaeological data from the central Apennines make it worth re-examining 

previous arguments on leadership views. From the last quarter of the fifth century 

BC, the Samnites from the central Apennines occupied most of the cities of 

Campania. They took their language and their own political institutions with them, as 

literary, epigraphic and numismatic evidence confirm. By studying and comparing 

the evidence from these two regions together, I hope to develop a more holistic and 

better founded interpretation of the political institutions of each known community. 

The Samnites of the central Apennines are generally supposed to have formed 

a permanent league to govern their territories, to wage wars and to celebrate common 

cults. So too, some of the cities of Campania are supposed to have formed three 

confederations under the leadership of Capua, Nola and Nuceria. The aim of the 

thesis is to see if the existence of the highland Samnite league and the confederations 

of Campania can be confirmed from the evidence for political institutions in these 

two regions. A recurrent question is the meaning of the title of the meddix and the 

various adjectives, especially tuticus, by which it was usually qualified. The rest of 

this chapter reviews scholarship in the field. 

10

Chapter 2 looks at what the accounts of the Samnite Wars, Second Punic War 

and Social War tell us about the political structure of the Samnites of the central 

Apennines and whether it is justified to speak of a long-term league of Samnite 

peoples. The normal view is that the population of the central Apennines lived 

predominantly in villages, while their political organization is described as `tribal'. I 

examine the notion of a tribal state through the study of the recent archaeological 

evidence for the settlement pattern, hill-forts and sanctuaries and the study of the 

political institutions attested in inscriptions of the Pentri. The Hirpini, Caudini and 

the Carracini will be omitted because of the lack of relevant inscriptions from these 

regions. 

Chapters 3 to 6 are about Campania and have similar structures. Their aim is to 

see if there is good evidence for the existence of confederations headed by Capua, 

Nola and Nuceria: whether literary evidence suggests the subordination of a number 

of towns to these cities; whether the coinages of these cities could have served as 

federal money for the organizations they headed; whether epigraphic evidence 

supports the thesis of confederations. 

The study of Samnite political institutions is hindered by several difficulties. 

The first is the paucity of literary and epigraphic evidence. The Samnites did not 

leave behind their own literature. Greek and Roman writers mention the Samnites 

only when they come into contact with them, mainly in their accounts of the Samnite 

Wars, Second Punic War and Social War. Literary sources alone do not provide us 

with enough information to assess what political structures the Samnites had. The 

epigraphic evidence is scattered and covers a long time period, which can distort our 

picture. In the central Apennines, almost all the epigraphic evidence comes from 

rural sanctuaries. Most of the stone inscriptions were found at Pietrabbondante and 

11

date from the late third to early first century BC, while tile stamps, whose importance 

has increased since the finds at the rural sanctuary of Campochiaro, were mainly 

found in the area of Bovianum. In Campania, we have numerous inscriptions of a 

funerary type at Capua from the fourth to third centuries BC and dedicatory 

inscriptions at Pompeii mainly dating from the second century BC. A handful of 

dedications by magistrates has also been found at Herculaneum, Cumae, Nola and 

Abella, also from the second century BC. 

1.2. History of scholarship 

In this section, I summarize the contributions of historians and linguists to the study 

of public institutions in pre-Roman Southern Italy and I give an overview of how our 

understanding of the Italic world and its political institutions has changed since the 

late nineteeth century. In doing so, I focus on two sets of questions. First, what is the 

literary, epigraphic and archaeological evidence for the nature of public institutions 

of Samnite states, and can it tell us anything about the office of the meddix/meddix 

tuticus? Second, how have historians contextualised this office or offices within the 

broader environment of constitutions and state formation? Reference will be made to 

the study of the Italic world in general in order to understand the position and 

contribution of several seminal studies. 

Nineteenth-century historiography focused on the city of Rome and identified 

the history of the peninsula with that of Rome. The Italic world was not credited with 

its own political institutions but was treated as land to be `civilised'. Roman 

expansion was perceived as a sequence of military successes leading to the 

12

unification of Italy and the growth of a world power. Mommsen's Römische 

Geschichte, the product of German idealist historicism, was one of the most 

influential works of the time, although its flaws and controversial claims were noted 

at an early date. ' The world to be conquered by the Roman army was divided into 

states with fixed borders and distinct ethnic origins, that is the territorial states of the 

Umbrians, Vestini, Frentani, Paeligni, Marsi, Samnites, Campani, Lucani and so on. 

The title meddix is characteristic of the Oscan and Umbrian languages. 

Inscriptions attesting this office have been found over a large area: written in Oscan 

it occurs in Campania and in the central Apennines. Attestations from Lucania, 

Bruttium and Sicily, and also on a helmet of unknown origin are written in the Greek 

alphabet. The territories of the Volsci, Aequicoli and Marsi have yielded evidence in 

Latin, while from Assisi we have evidence in Umbrian. In Oscan, the word appears 

in the nominative singular as meddis or meddfss, sometimes abbreviated as m, med, 

medd, and md in Campania. Meddis occurs several times on the Tabula Bantina in 

Lucania, inedix at Velletri in the territory of the Volsci, medis at Antinum and 

meddiss at Collemaggiore in the territory of the Aequicoli, all in the Latin alphabet. 

At Assisi it appears in Umbrian as mestica. In Greek script the title appears in 

Lucania as µebtxtat (locative singular) and in Sicily as pEböEtý (nominative plural). 

Scholars normally use the Latinised version meddix. The word meddiss is a 

compound of two Italic words, *med- or *med-es- 'right', and *dik- 'to say, to 

declare' and thus corresponds to the Latin word 'iudex'. 2 The title is more often than 

not qualified by an adjective. Sometimes the adjective represents the name of a 

location. Other adjectives include aticus and degetasius at Corfinium and Nola 

1 On how contemporary views and events influenced Mommsen's works as ancient historian, 

see Mouritsen (1998) 23-37. 

2 Untermann (2000) 459. 

13

epectively, while at Punta della Campanella we find the title of meddix menerevius 

and at Cumae the offices of meddix v and meddix x. However, the title is most often 

qualified by the adjective tuticus (in Latinized form). Tuticus is related to the noun 

touta, which is also found in Umbrian inscriptions. This word comes from the Proto- 

Indo-European word *teutah2 which originally meant `mass, people'. The possible 

meaning of touta in Oscan and theories about its extension will 

be discussed later. 

The main debate which has occupied studies of the public institutions of 

Southern Italy since the late nineteenth century is over the differences that the above 

mentioned adjectives make to the title of meddix. Early, mainly German, scholarship 

focused on several aspects of the office: was the office of the plain meddix different 

from that of the meddix tuticus? Was the authority of the meddix tuticus local or 

federal? Was it a single or a collegial office? Was it yearly and elective? 

The first attempt to place Oscan inscriptions from Campania into a broader 

context was that of Beloch at the end of the nineteenth century. 3 Beloch's work was 

strongly influenced by the nineteenth-century German national liberalism and by 

political events of his time, such as the birth of nation states. Beloch, following 

Mommsen, imagined long-lived federal states in southern Italy, reflecting the 

German cantonal system of his time. Beloch argued that Capua and Nuceria were the 

capitals of two cantonal federations (Gauverbände) consisting of a number of 

settlements around these cities. Another novelty of Beloch's thesis was the 

suggestion that the supposed leagues in Campania were each headed by a meddix 

tuticus. 5 Beloch also saw evidence for the existence of local public institutions in the 

titles of meddis [k]apv(ans) and medikeis pümpaiianeis, local officers whose title 

3 Beloch (1880). 

° Beloch (1890) 315, Beloch (1877) 285-98. 

5 Beloch (1877) 295-6. 

14

was qualified by the place-name of their communities (Bundesstädte) and who were 

subordinate to the authority of the meddix tuticus. 6 

Beloch's thesis was first questioned by Garofalo, but it was Rosenberg's 

comparative study of Italic constitutions that brought some of its problems to wider 

attention. 7 Rosenberg's work opened up a new generation of studies that argued that 

the Italic states enjoyed their own political and constitutional life, which had some 

influence on the development of Roman political institutions. Rosenberg paid more 

attention to the processes by which the Italic communities came into contact with 

Roman power. He argued that the title rnedik(u)d tüvtik(ud) kapv(anud) attested in an 

inscription from Capua does not fit Beloch's thesis that the meddix tuticus was a 

federal magistrate, because the meddix tuticus would not have been called Campanus 

if he had not been a local magistrate of Capua. 8 Rosenberg also proposed that Oscan 

towns and cities were governed by pairs of meddices. 

9 He saw a reference to the 

pairs of meddices in Ennius' phrase summus ibi capitur meddix, occiditur alter, 

which implies that one of them was superior to the other. 1° Ennius' summus meddfx 

can be compared to Livy's description of a meddix tuticus of Capua who was 

suminus magistratus Campanis. " Rosenberg also cited an inscription from Capua: 

medik. minive kersna[i7ias. 12 The expression medik. minive had been interpreted by 

Buck as meddix minor, and Rosenberg argued that Buck's meddix minor was in fact 

the (meddfx) alter of Ennius. 13 Rosenberg concluded that the meddix tuticus was the 

summus magistratus in Ennius, in other words the chief political, juridical and 

6 Beloch (1890) 11. Now ST Cp31, Cp35 and ST Po 1. 

7 Garofalo (1903) 61-79; Rosenberg (1913). 

8 Rosenberg (1913) 18. 

9 Rosenberg noted that two meddices appear on inscriptions at Messina (ST Me 1-3), Nola (ST Cm 6, 

7 and Cm I A3-5), Corfinium (ST Pgl) and Velitrae (ST Vm 2). 

10 Rosenberg (1913) 21. 

11 Livy 23.35.13. 

12 Ennius, Ann. 289; ST Cp 34. 

13 See Rosenberg (1913) 22. 

15

military leader of the city after whom years were named. His inferior was a meddix, 

whose task was to run everyday administration. 14 

Less than two decades later Weinstock rejected several points of Rosenberg's 

thesis. 15 He criticised the idea of the unequal collegiality in the office of meddix by 

pointing out that the summus magistratus in Ennius is the office of the meddix 

tuticus; if two meddices had been in office, Ennius would have written superior 

instead of summus. The fact that most inscriptions attest single meddices tutici and 

that passages in Livy imply that the year was named after them would indicate that 

the office of meddix tuticus was single. Weinstock also doubted that all Oscan 

communities were governed by pairs of meddices, he argued that pairs of 

magistrates, where they appear, are signs of Roman constitutional influence after the 

communities had become allies of Rome. Weinstock's most important point was that 

the adjective tuticus does not refer to any particular function and was therefore 

dispensable because meddices without a qualifying adjective performed the same 

duties as meddices tutici. The title of meddix is a general term for the magistratus in 

Oscan, as confirmed by the use of the word meddix in the Tabula Bantina and by 

Festus: `Meddix apud Oscos nomen magistratus est'. 16 

The title of meddix tuticus has also been compared to Roman offices. Building 

on the notion that the use of the word meddix in the Tabula Bantina and in Festus 

implies that it corresponded to the Latin word magistratus, the title of the meddix 

tuticus has been connected to that of the magister populi, which Weinstock noted 

was the original name for the Roman dictator. '? He later modified his view and 

suggested that the leading office of the Samnite states was similar to the yearly 

14 Rosenberg (1913) 28. 

is Weinstock (1931) 243. 

16 Festus, p. 123 L. 

17 Weinstock (1931) 237. 

16

dictatorship of the Latin states. 18 Some historians noted that in Latin inscriptions the 

meddices in Oscan communities were replaced by praetors, and in literature the 

words praetor and strategos are used instead of meddix. 19 

All scholars after Weinstock have agreed that the meddix tuticus was not a pan- 

Samnite federal magistrate. However, the number and collegiality of the meddices 

have continued to be debated, as well as whether the titles of meddix tuticus and 

plain meddix denoted the same office. Heurgon accepted that the meddix tuticus was 

the single leading officer of a community, but argued that the meddiz without any 

adjective was inferior (minive or minor) to the meddix tuticus, similar to the 

relationship of the praetores ininores to the praetor urbanus at Rome. 20 Mazzarino 

argued against the existence of separate Etruscan, Latin or Oscan constitutions, he 

instead championed the idea of an Italic koine with a common constitution but with 

many local variations, so that changes. would have had repercussions on the 

neighbouring communities? ' This argument allowed for some communities with 

only one eponymous meddix, as in Lucania. Others, however, had two equal 

ineddices, as at Velletri and Messina, or two unequal ones as at Capua. 22 Mazzarino 

also suggested that the collegial rnagistratus had evolved from the single magistracy. 

The colleagues in office in several communities were replaced by pairs of praetores 

under Roman influence, as at Anagni of the Hernici and Velletri of the Volsci. 23 

Although the argument that the rneddix tuticus was a federal magistrate has 

been generally been rejected, few doubts have been raised about the existence of 

leagues in Campania. Sartori's work, for instance, begins with the affirmation that 

18 Weinstock (1931) 245. 

19 CIL IX 689,690,698, Livy 8.39.13; 23.7.8; 24.47.7; Diodorus 22.13.2,5. 

20 Heurgon (1942) 235. 

21 Mazzarino (1992). 

22 Mazzarino (1992) 162. 

23 Mazzarino (1992) 163. 

17

there were three leagues in Campania, those of Capua, Nola and Nuceria. 24 On the 

basis that both offices were eponymous, Sartori concluded that the words meddix and 

meddix tuticus denote the same office. This would also imply that the qualifying 

adjective tuticus was unnecessary. 

25 Whenever a meddix is attested without an 

adjective, Sartori argued, he was the supreme magistrate, but whenever we have the 

title meddix tuticus, there was probably also a meddix minive as a magistrate of lower 

rank. 26 Three years later, Camporeale attempted to separate the original Samnite 

offices from those instituted under Roman influence, and to place the offices in a 

chronological framework. However, his study did not contribute to any of the 

previously debated aspects of the offices. 27 

Scholars after Sartori have been more interested in another important topic. 8 

During the 1960s, historians and linguists approached the office of meddix tuticus by 

examining the adjective of the title; they tried to define the meaning and extension of 

the touta and to determine the authority of the meddix tuticus in the light of this 

analysis. The word touta is attested in a number of Indo-European languages, as 

shown by Watmough. 29 The study of the touta was not an entirely new topic. The 

definition of touta varies according to the interpretation of the meddix tuticus title 

and so scholarly opinion can be divided into two groups: Beloch referred to the 

meddix tuticus as the magistrate of a Gauverbände, equating a touta with the territory 

of a federation. His followers, like Zotta, argued that a touta was a unit larger than a 

civitas, which must have been identical with one of Beloch's federations. 30 

Rosenberg, who did not think that the meddix tuticus was at the head of a federation, 

24 Sartori (1953) 18. 

25 Sartori (1953) 21. 

26 Sartori (1953) 21. 

27 Camporeale (1957) 31-108. 

28 This change of focus was pointed out by Senatore (2001) 194. 

29 Watmough (1997) 77. 

18

narrowed the meaning of touta down to a Stadtgemeinde, an urban community. 

Devoto and Camporeale accepted Rosenberg's views regarding the authority of the 

meddix luticus and therefore of the extension of a touta. 31 

Salmon's interpretation of the word touta differed significantly from that of 

Beloch and Rosenberg. He identified Livy's populi Samnitium with the tribes of the 

Pentri, the Caudini, the Carracini and the Hirpini in the central Apennines and argued 

that each of these populi formed a touta. 32 Salmon also argued that these four tribes 

formed the so-called Samnite league. 33 This was not a federal state, but a 

confederation of independent states; the novelty of his thesis was that the ineddix 

tuticus was not the leading officer of the federation, but that of each individual state, 

that is of each touta. According to Salmon, ancient sources did not know the exact 

title of the overall leader of this Samnite league, sometimes calling him dux or 

Imperator, occasionally basileus or princeps. 34 Salmon also attempted to provide the 

individual touta with an administrative structure. Since there was no tradition of 

urbanized citizen communities (civitates) among the Samnites, a touta consisted of a 

number of pagi, an administrative term which was often used among Latin-speaking 

populations such as the Vestini. 35 He also thought it possible that the meddix without 

adjective was the officer of a pages subordinate to the meddix tuticus. 36 

Prosdocimi's definition of the touta recalls Rosenberg's argument, although his 

conclusions were reached by a different route. 37 Prosdocimi revisited previous 

arguments which had noted a relationship between the expressions touta iguviana - 

touta tadinate and the arx (ocri/ocar, citadel) in the Iguvine Tablets. He argued that, 

30 Zotta (1932) 7. 

31 Devoto (1967) 215-224; Camporeale (1956) 97. 

32 Salmon (1967) 81 on Livy, 9.22.2. 

33 Salmon (1967) 95-7. 

34 Salmon (1967) 99. 

35 Salmon (1967) 79-80. 

19

from the fourth century on, a touta was an urban community which had a citadel. 

Similar ocri-touta pairs have been found in several other towns in Oscan-speaking 

territory of central Italy from the mid sixth century BC, which implies both that they 

were widespread throughout the whole Italic world and that these communities had 

comparable public structures. 

38 Prosdocimi contended that the expression touta 

marouca, attested on the bronze tablet of Rapino, refers to a settlement, identified by 

Cianfarani with Civita Danzica 39 The Marrucini tribe was called such because it was 

linked to the touta marouca, and so it follows that the touta marouca is not identical 

with the nomen of the Marrucini, but must be a single, urban or proto-urban 

community. As regards the Penna Sant'Andrea inscriptions, Prosdocimi argued that 

the word safinim is an ethnic nomen, and that the touta is a subdivision of the nomen 

which emerged in the fourth century4° 

La Regina published ground-breaking studies on the Italic peoples of southern 

Italy in the 1970s and 1980s, including articles on the settlement pattern, Samnite 

hill-forts, processes of formation of ethnic identities in the central Apennines, Italic 

public institutions, and differences in the structure of public institutions between 

Campania and the central Apennines. His 1981 article was an important step forward 

in the study of the touta. 41 He focused on how the differences in settlement patterns 

affected the construction of public institutions. In urbanized territories, he argued, 

especially in Campania under the influence of Greek city-states, a touta included 

only one urban centre and was identical with the civitas; the office of the meddix 

36 Salmon (1967) 87. 

37 Prosdocimi (1978) 29-74 

38 The bronze tablet of Rapino (ST MV 1) has the touta marouca and ocres tarincres (gen. sing. ) on. 

An ocrei safina and safinas tzitas occur in two inscriptions from Penna. Sant'Andrea in South 

Picentine territory (ST Sp TE 7 and ST Sp TE 5), while another touta/ocri pair appears in an 

inscription from Mendolito, in Sicily. See Prosdocimi (1978) 51. 

39 Prosdocimi (1978) 49-50; Cianfarani (1956) 311-327; Cianfarani, Franchi Dell'Orto, La Regina 

(1978) 521. 

40 prosdocimi (1978) 51,68-9. 

20

tuticus was consequently an urban office. In contrast, in the central Apennines, which 

lacked large cities, a touta coincided with the nomen. 42 Since the extension of the 

touta was tailored to the Campanian urban centres following the Samnite occupation, 

it seemed logical to suggest that a touta was originally a nomen, but changed in 

substance under new circumstances. La Regina's study in the monumental edition of 

Italia omnium terrarum parens sums up his views about the public institutions of the 

Samnites 43 La Regina extended Salmon's thesis that the four populi Samnitium each 

formed one touta by proposing that the four tribes had together originally formed one 

touta before the fourth century BC. 44 However, from the fourth century BC each of 

the four populi formed its own touta, a tribal, national state. This supports his 

argument of 1981, contra Prosdocimi's study, that the touta was identical with the 

nomen. 

The latest influential study is that of Letta, who criticised La Regina's equation 

of touta with nomen or ethnos. 45 Letta, whose views were strongly 

influenced by 

Prosdocimi's study of 1978, tried to restrict the meaning of a touta to a local 

community also in the central Apennines. 46 Letta rejected the existence of a single 

national state in the central Apennines and argued that the autonomous local 

communities, the individual touta, formed some kind of pan-Samnite entity, nomen, 

what he calls the Samnite League, because the Samnite Wars were waged against the 

41 La Regina (1981) 129-37. 

42 The idea had already appeared in his publication of (1980) 41. 

43 La Regina (1989) 301-432. 

44 La Regina (1989) 362. 

45 Letta (1994) 387-405. 

46 

Letta argued that the following pieces of evidence do not fit within the idea of a centralised state: 1. 

Allifae during the fourth century BC and Aquilonia during the third century BC minted coins, which 

implies their independence from a national, unitary state. 2. Livy refers to the ager Aeserninus under 

the year 295 BC, years before the establishment of the Roman colony. 3. An inscription (ST Sa 17) 

from Aufidena attests the office of meddix tuticus at a time when the town probably was a praefectura 

and its lands were part of the ager Romanus. 4. The ethnic sai(pinaz) is attested on a tile stamp from 

Saepinum. Letta argued that a tile factory in Saepinum could not have produced tiles with the name of 

the eponymous meddix tuticus of the Pentri state. 

21

Samnite nomen and not against individual communities. The structure and the 

functioning of this organization are, however, unknown. 

22

2.1. Introduction 

Chapter 2. Highland Samnites 

This chapter aims to reconstruct the political structures of the highland Samnites 

between the early fourth and first centuries BC by critical examination of the 

dominant models of Salmon and La Regina. I examine the literary and epigraphic 

evidence for the existence of a tribal state or states in Samnium, and also the recent 

archaeological evidence for the hill-forts, the settlement pattern and sanctuaries in 

the central Apennines. I refer to the inhabitants of this region as highland Samnites to 

distinguish them from the ethnic Samnites living in Campania and other areas of 

Southern Italy. 

The models of Salmon and La Regina for the political organization of the 

Samnites are accepted by most scholars. Salmon suggested that the Samnites formed 

a long-lived, permanent association, the Samnite League, for the purpose of waging 

wars against outsiders and for other common objectives. 47 Salmon said that it is not 

known when the so-called League was formed, but it first appears in Livy's account 

of a treaty that the Samnites made with the Romans in 354 BC. The League was 

dissolved at the end of the Samnite wars. For Salmon, the basic units of this League 

were the Samnite tribal states (see map I). Salmon admitted that ancient sources 

mention the member tribes of the League only sporadically, fail to localize them and 

23

generally say very little about them. Salmon also argued that the city-state as a form 

of government did not exist among the Samnites, but their political and 

administrative unit was a touta 48 The Latin word populus is similar in meaning, but 

probably the Oscan term had no exact equivalent. Thus for Salmon the populi 

Samnitium, mentioned in two references in Livy, were the tribal states of Carracini, 

Pentri, Caudini and Hirpini. 49 A touta, argued Salmon, consisted of a number of 

pagi, independent administrative units, which comprised in turn villages (vici), 

citadels (oppida, castella) and sanctuaries. It is, however, not known how a touta 

developed out of the pagi. A touta probably had a capital as centre of administration 

for the whole touta. Salmon also argued that each touta was headed by a meddix 

tuticus, while the simple meddices may have been the chief magistrates of the pagi. so 

The League had a council which the meddices were expected to consult. 

La Regina developed Salmon's model. He argued that all Samnium formed a 

single touta before the third century BC. Then Rome separated the territories of the 

Hirpini, Caudini and Carracini from the territory of the Pentri, which became what 

the Romans recognised as Samnium. Each of the four territories became an 

independent touta with own meddix tuticus as its chief magistrate. 51 

Letta's criticism of the model of La Regina of a centralised Samnite state has 

already been mentioned. 52 Letta, supporting the view that the term touta denoted an 

urban or pre-urban community also in the central Apennines, argued that a number of 

tout as formed a pan-Samnite federation, the Samnite league between the fourth 

47 Salmon (1967) 41-9; 77-101. On p. 97: `The association of Samnite tribes at the very last took the 

form of a permanent military alliance, what the Greeks call symmachy'. 

48 Salmon (1967) 78. 

49 Livy 9.22.1,10.14.9. 

so Salmon (1967) 81 and 87. 

51 La Regina (1989) 362. 

52 See chapter 1.2. 

24

century BC and the Social War. 53 For Letta, this ethnic league fought the Romans 

during the Samnite Wars, not the individual Samnite communities. The institutions 

of the league are, however, unknown and Letta thinks it possible that it was also 

called touta and was represented by the ineddices tutici. He also believes that the 

organization may not have had annually elected officials, but that it chose generals in 

cases of wars. 

In his recent publication on the literary evidence for the Samnite league, 

Senatore takes up a more cautious position. 54 He argues that it is not possible to 

conclude at present whether the term touta denoted a local (urban or pre-urban) unit 

or a tribal state. 55 Senatore supports Salmon's view that the populi Samnitium of 

Livy referred to the four Samnite tribes. The accounts of the Samnite Wars for 

Senatore suggest that the Samnite tribes and possibly other autonomous communities 

formed la cosidetta legs sannitica", thus rejecting La Regina's view of a centralised 

Samnite state during these wars. Senatore, similarly to Letta, concludes that the 

institutions of the Samnite League are unknown. 56 

Our main source of information for the fourth and third centuries BC is the 

Roman and Greek literary accounts of the so-called Samnite Wars: Livy, Dionysius 

of Halicamassus, Diodorus Siculus and Appian. In later centuries the Samnites 

appear occasionally in ancient sources for their role in the Second Punic War and 

Social War. For the period between these wars we have limited epigraphic evidence 

from rural sanctuaries. Archaeological evidence for the settlement pattern runs 

through the period, but is richest for the second century BC onwards. 

53 Letta (1994) 404-5. 

54 Senatore (2006). 

55 Senatore (2006) 65. 

56 Letta (1994) 404. 

25

2.2. Samnite states in history 

2.2.1. Safte 

We have epigraphic evidence for the indigenous use of the ethnic `Samnite' in the 

Oscan safin. Can the people who called themselves safin be identified with the 

peoples that Latin sources call Samnites and the Greeks Saunitai? This problem has 

already been studied by Dench, whose understanding of the question is accepted by 

most scholars. 57 The earliest attestations of safin are to be found in two inscriptions 

from Penna Sant'Andrea and another discovered at nearby Bellante, both in the area 

of ancient Picenum. 58 All the three inscriptions date from the fifth century BC. 

Archaeological and literary evidence are very scarce in this region, which makes it 

difficult to define the geographical extension of the entity to which the apparent 

ethnic refers. Dench concluded that during the fifth century BC, the ethnic safin- 

referred to a `larger identity' and should be interpreted in the largest possible sense, 

as a nomen of the `Sabini'. 59 This nomen, a self-conscious ethnic community, bound 

by religious or political relations, consisted of tribes and other subgroups, which 

gradually broke off from the larger ethnic safin-. Among them were the Sabines, 

conquered by M'. Curius Dentatus in 290 BC. The Latin expression Samnium also 

derives from the ethnic satin-, but this name reached Rome by a different route, 

probably through the Greek form Saunitai via Campania during the conflicts between 

Rome and the Samnites during the fourth century BC. The term satin- was 

57 Dench (1995) 198-217. 

58 ST Te 5,6 and 7. 

59 Dench (1995) 198-203. 

26

esurrected by the Pentri in second century BC and again in the Social War (see 

sections 2.2.4 and 2.2.5). 

2.2.2. The Samnite Wars 

The highland Samnites first appear in the Roman historical record in 354 BC when 

they are said to have made an alliance with Rome. 60 This was followed by a long 

period of hostilities with Rome, traditionally known as the Samnite Wars. The 

histories of these wars, although written from the perspectives of Greeks and 

Romans, provide us with a substantial body of topographical data and military 

events, generally thought to be historically accurate. The seventh to tenth books of 

Livy offer the most detailed and coherent description of these wars. The histories of 

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Diodorus Siculus and Appian often omit basic elements 

needed for an understanding of the flow of the events. Ancient sources locate the 

territories of the highland Samnites roughly between the lands of the Campani, 

Sidicini, Aurunci and Volsci to the west, and those of the Frentani to the east. To the 

north lay the territories of the Marsi and Paeligni, and to the south those of the 

Dauni, Apuli and Lucani. 

Ancient sources suggest the existence of an ethnically based military alliance 

among the Samnite populations during the Samnite wars: the triumphal Fasti always 

mention triumphs over the Samnites and not over one or another people or tribe. 61 

Furthermore, three silver oboloi of unknown provenance show the legend 

SAVNITAN, the Greek name for the Samnites. On the obverse of the coins, a tip of a 

60 Livy 7.19.4 dated to 354 BC, Diod. 16.45.8 to 350 BC. 

61 Degrassi (1947) 68-75. 

27

spear (oauviov) can be seen at the centre of a laurel crown. On the reverse, next to 

the legend, the veiled head of a woman appears. Cantilena argued that the legend and 

iconography of the coins suggest that they were minted at Tarentum for the 

Samnites, and ancient sources confirm friendly relations between the Samnites and 

the Tarentines from the first half of the fourth century BC. It is likely that the coins 

were minted for the allied ethnic Samnite forces possibly during the First or Second 

Samnite War. 62 The small number of the coins suggests that they were probably used 

for the payment of soldiers during the Samnite wars rather than playing a part in 

economic relations. 

Livy and Dionysius of Halicamassus very sporadically refer to various Samnite 

councils during the Samnite wars. Livy mentions a concilium on three occasions. 

Under the year 343 BC, the Campani complained about Samnite incursions into their 

territory and allegedly surrendered to Rome in order to obtain Rome's protection. 

The Romans sent legates to the concilium Samnilium and asked them to stop 

devastating the territories of the Campani. 63 The concilium decided to continue the 

attacks. This event led to war between Rome and the Samnites, the conflict which is 

generally called the First Samnite war. Under the year 322 BC, Livy mentions that 

the Samnites discussed omnibus conciliis, in all their councils, who was responsible 

for the Samnite defeat by the Romans. 64 They decided that Brutulus Papius had 

broken the previous truce and that this had led to the disaster. They therefore ordered 

the praetors to pass a decree to hand Papius over to Rome. In this passage, Livy 

implies that a number of councils existed. A concilium is mentioned under the year 

298 BC. 65 Following complaints of the Lucanians that the Samnites were devastating 

62 Rutter (2001) 60, nr. 446. Cantilena (1996) 63-5. 

63 Livy 7.3 1.11. 

64 Livy 8.39.10. 

65 Livy 10.12.2: 'si quod adissent in Samnio concilium, ' 

28

their country, the Romans decided to form an alliance with the Lucanians and sent 

fetials to the Samnites. The fetials met Samnite messengers on their way, who 

warned them that if they went before the conciliunz they would not leave unharmed. 

Livy also mentions a consilium. 66 Herennius Pontius, the aged father of Gaius 

Pontius, is carried to the consilium to advise the Samnite leaders about how they 

should deal with the Romans trapped in the Caudine Forks. Some scholars have 

argued that there was an institutional difference between the concilium and this 

consilium. 67 They argued that the concilium was a general assembly, while the 

consilium was a council with membership restricted to the military leaders. The 

consilium, however, appears only once in Livy. It follows the mention of a consilium 

of the Roman consuls, which suggests that Livy imagined the Samnites to have had a 

similar institution for their military leaders too. While it is likely that Samnite 

military leaders took advice, the existence of formal consilium may be doubted. Livy 

also mentions a coetus Sarnnitium. 68 Spurius Postumius, maker of the Caudine Peace, 

convinced the Roman senate to surrender him and his fellow soldiers to the Samnites 

in order to annul their obligation to the treaty. Postumius was taken to the town of 

Caudium, where he appeared before the coetus Samnitium and the tribunal of 

Pontius. It could have been a meeting of the Samnite commanders rather than of a 

permanent council. 

Dionysius of Halicarnassus twice mentions Samnite councils. In books 17/18, 

the historian provides us with a partly different picture of the year 298 BC from that 

given by Livy. 69 After the Samnite devastation of their territory, the Lucanians 

66 Livy 9.3.9. 

67 Livy 9.3.11: filius aliique principes. Gaius Pontius appears as Imperator and dux as it will be 

mentioned under the 2.5. Social 61ite and Samnite leaders section. Firpo (1994) 465-6 and Senatore 

(2006) 37-48. 

68 Livy 9.10.8. 

69 Dion. Hal. 17/18 1-2. 

29

formed an alliance with the Romans. The Roman senate soon sent ambassadors to 

the KOLV1 rcDv Eavvrr(Dv Qvvobos. The xotv4 ovvobos rejected the Roman 

demands and voted to make necessary preparations for the war xotvI, 

7 TE xai xaza 

rr6Actc, both jointly and each city for itself. On another occasion, Dionysius of 

Halicarnassus describes a diplomatic crisis that broke out between Naples and the 

Romans in 327 BC. 70 After having learned that the Samnites were supporting the 

Neapolitans and were gathering an army, the Romans decided to send ambassadors 

to the npößovAot 'r&v EavvtT(bv, councillors and deputies of the Samnites 

demanding, among other matters, that they stop helping the Neapolitans. The 

rc pößovAot, àfter consulting together', issued a response to the Romans rejecting 

their claims and the event led to the so-called Second Samnite war. Dionysius of 

Halicarnassus goes on to say: `When they had departed from the assembly and each 

side had reported to its cities what had been said, they drew opposite conclusions 

about each other'. 7 This suggests that the n pößovAot were the delegates of cities. 

They accepted foreign ambassadors and issued a statement to the Romans that led to 

war. In Firpo's interpretation, the rcpößovAot formed a council with membership 

restricted to the military leaders, to which he compared the consilium in Livy. 72 The 

reality, however, of Livy's consilium is dubious, and the r pößovAoc are implicitly 

the representatives of a number of councils (ßövAat). 

In his account of the Samnite wars, Livy refers to the leaders of Samnite armies 

as imperator73, dux, 74 magistratus75 and praetor76, while Festus uses the word 

70 Dion. Hal. 15.7.1. 

71 Dion. Hal. 15.10.1. 

72 Firpo (1994) 466; Livy 9.3.8-9. 

73 Imperator as leader of the Samnite army in Livy: 8.39.9,9.1.2,9.3.4,9.15.8,9.22.6 and 9,9. 

44.13,10.29.16,10.31.12,10.38.7 and 12, Per. 11, Oros 3.22. 

30

princeps. 77 The titles imperator and dux appear to be interchangeable and are both 

used in the plural, denoting more than one leader78 Livy implies that the appointment 

of the imperator lasted for one year. 79 The title of meddix tuticus is never used for a 

leader of Samnite forces, whereas it occurs at Capua in a military context. 80 One 

possible explanation is that the Samnites elected special magistrates to lead their 

army, whose office was different from that of the meddix or meddix tuticus, like the 

Lucani, who elected a (3ac LAthS to lead them in wars. 81 In contrast, at Rome the 

consuls and praetors were both civic magistrates and military leaders. The other 

possibility is that the meddix tuticus may have been meant by the variant titles of the 

Latin authors: praetor and magistratus could well stand for meddix tuticus, and 

Roman consuls and praetors were often called dux or imperator in military 

contexts. 82 The military leaders were probably advised by a council or general 

assembly, for Livy once says that the magistratus were ordered to carry out a levy of 

the army. 83 

In the histories of the Samnite wars, the enemies of Rome appear 

indiscriminately as `Samnites', a vague homogenous ethnic conglomeration which 

inhabits the central Apennines. In his occasional references, Livy defines the 

geographical extension of Samnium by mentioning urban communities (see maps I, 

II and III). Saticula is described as part of Samnium during the First Samnite war and 

74 Dux Livy 7.32.4,9.1.2,9.15.9,9.22.11, I0.20.13,10.21.2. Florus 1.11.16.10. Oros. 3.15. 

3 and 9. 

75 Magistratus in Livy 7.31.11,8.23.2,10.13.3. 

76 Livy 8.26.1: the praetor is the commander of the Samnite garrison at Palaeopolis. 

77 Princeps Festus 150 L. 

78 Herennius Pontius in Livy 9.1.2 is referred to both as imperator and dux. Imperatores: Livy 10.38. 

3 and 10. Duces Livy 9.22.5,9.27.6,6,10.20. Gellius Egnatius dux Samnitium: 10.18.1; 10.19. 

14; 10.21.2. Imperator Samnitium 10.29.16. 

79 Livy 9.1.2: `Samnitium eo anno imperatorem C. Pontfunt Herenni f lium habuerunt'. 

80 Livy 23.35.13; 24.19.2; 26.6.13. See also section 3.2.5. 

8) Cappelletti (2002) 206 and 210-21 on the basis of Strabo 6.1.3. 

82 Livy 23.7.8 and 24.47.7. 

83 Livy 8.23.2. 

31

Nuceria Alfaterna in the Second Samnite War. 84 As result of this conflict, the 

Samnites were driven back into the middle Volturnus valley. 85 After a period of 

truce, hostilities resumed between the Romans and the Samnites in 327/6 BC. Livy 

mentions three Samnite defeats in 326 BC in the middle Volturnus valley, near 

Allifae, Callifae and Rufrium, a territory he here describes as Samnium. 86 By 315 

BC, after a series of battles, the Samnites also seem to have lost their influence in the 

Liris valley. These towns are not described as belonging to one or another Samnite 

tribe, but as part of Samnium. In his accounts of the second Samnite War, Livy 

mentions the names of numerous other Samnite cities and fortifications: Caudium, 

Malventum, Aquilonia, Bovianum, Saepinum, Aufidena and Aesernia. 87 He also 

mentions a number of unidentified fortified 88 

centres. 

With the withdrawal of Samnite troops from Campania and the transferral of 

military activities to the central Apennines, the first ethnic division arises in the 

previously homogeneous ethnic group: Livy and Dionysius of Halicarnassus mention 

the Samnite Pentri on account of their wealthy capital, Bovianum. 89 

Following the capture of Bovianum by the consul C. Iunius Bubulcus for the 

first time in 311 BC, Roman incursions became frequent in this region and 

Livy from 

this point confines his use of the word Samnium to the central Apennines. 90 This is 

probably also the sense of Samnium in the inscription on the sarcophagus of L. 

Cornelius Scipio Barbatus, the earliest Latin source for the word, in which 

he boasts 

84 Saticula: Livy 7.32.2. Nuceria: Livy 9.41.3. 

85 Livy 7.32-37. 

86 Livy 8.25.4. 

87 Caudium: Livy 9.2.1,9.10.2-6,9.11.13,9.12.9. Malventum: 9.27.14,10.14.1. Aquilonia 

(whose location is uncertain, see section 2.3.2 on Hill-forts) 10.38.6-10,10.41.11,10.42.5,10. 

43.9,10.44.2-5. Bovianum: 9.28.2,9.31.4,9.44.6-15,10.12.9,10.41.11,10.43.15. 

Saepinum: 10.44.9,10.45.12. Aesernia: 10.31.2. 

88 Cimetra (Livy 10.14.6), Murgantia (Livy 10.17.3,10.17.11), Romulea (Livy 10.17.6,10.17. 

11), Cesennia (Livy 9.44.16), Duronia (Livy 10.39.4), Cominium (Livy 10.39.5,10.43.9), 

Taurasia and Cisauna inscribed on the sarcophagus of 

89 Livy 9.31.4; Dion. Hal. 17/18.4.4. 

Scipio Barbatus. 

32

that he had captured Taurasia, Cisauna (in? ) Samnium and the whole of 

Lucania. 91 

Scipio Barbatus, who was consul in 298 BC, probably died about twenty years later, 

but La Regina has argued that the inscription as we have it was made after the death 

of his son, L. Cornelius L. f. Cn. n. Scipio, consul of 259, in around 230 BC, 

although Coarelli dates it to the early second century BC. 92 Bovianum appears to 

have been captured twice more by the Romans, and later Aufidena, Aquilonia and 

Saepinum were also taken. 93 A new wave of hostilities arose with the arrival of 

Pyrrhus in Italy. The eventual Samnite defeat was reinforced by the establishment of 

Roman colonies at Beneventum (268 BC) and Aesernia (263 BC), which involved a 

loss of land to the Latin colonies and the strengthening of the military presence. 

Sources give us very little direct information about the political structure of the 

highland Samnites. The mention of the Pentri implies that the Samnites had other 

tribal units as well. Furthermore, Livy occasionally refers to Samnitium populi 94 

Salmon, mentioned above, identified the Samnitium populi with the four known 

Samnite tribes. The word, however, is ambivalent as it can mean both an urban 

centred community and a larger political unit including several units with urban 

bases. Thus, the expression Samnitium populi could well denote Samnite tribes but 

also autonomous urban communities. In the accounts of the Samnite Wars, ancient 

sources provide us with very little information about Samnite tribal units: only the 

name of the Pentri appears, other tribal names emerge only in the descriptions of 

later historical events, mainly the Punic Wars, as will be mentioned in section 2.2.3. 

90 Livy 9.31.4. 

91 CIL 12 7, p. 377-8. Patterson in his article of (1985a) 185-99 excluded the possibility that the 

expression Samnio in the text was an accusative sing. without the final `d', thus confirming that the 

term refers to a region. 

92 La Regina (1968) 173-5, Coarelli (1972) 89-90. 

93 Bovianum: 9.44.14 (305 BC); Bovianum and Aquilonia 10.12.9 (298 BC); 10.44.5 (293 BC); 

Saepinum 10.45.12-14 (293 BC) 

94 Populus: Livy 7.31.7,8.2.3,9.11.2. Populi: 9.20.1,10.14.9. 

33

Nevertheless, it is likely that tribal divisions existed already during the Samnite wars, 

but nothing is known of their political structure at this time as will be mentioned. 

Coinages of a number of Samnite towns, however, suggest that some 

communities enjoyed a certain degree of autonomy. Allifae is known to have 

produced coins towards the end of the fifth, beginning of fourth centuries BC 95 The 

otherwise unknown Fistelia appears to have had minted didrachms at the beginning 

and obols at the end of the fourth century BC. 96 It has been suggested that coins 

bearing the legend AKUDUNNIAD may have been linked with Aquilonia, whose 

location is still argued. 97 Furthermore, coins showing the legend Malies, produced 

during the Second Samnite War have been related to Samnite Benevento n. 98 

In his description of the crisis of 327 BC that lead to the Second Samnite War, 

Dionysius of Halicarnassus refers to the Samnites as xoLvöv and Tö xotvöv rCov 

Eavvrrrciv 11 Dionysius uses the expression r6 xotvöv Tcov AaTivcwv when refers 

to the Latin league. 1°° It is difficult to know what Dionysius meant by the term in this 

passage, as the term xoivöv has a wide range of meanings, it can denote any kind of 

association, commonwealth or league. Furthermore, he uses the expression on only 

one occasion, in reference to the crisis of 327 BC and the term does not appear 

anywhere else related to the Samnites. Probably Dionysius in face of the lack of 

information about the political institutions of the Samnites, used a wide term to refer 

to them. He may also have expected that the Samnites had similar political 

institutions to the Latins of the same period. Again related to the crisis of 

327 BC, 

Samnite delegates express the chagrin of the civitas Sa, nnitiurn, the Samnite nation, 

95 Tagliamonte (2000) 59. 

96 Tagliamone (1997) 131 and 222. 

97 Historia Nummorum3 (2002) 74, nr. 620. For debate on the location of Aquilonia see section 2.3.2. 

98 Cantilena (2000) 84. 

99 Dion. Hal. 15.8.2. 

34

that the Romans had rebuilt the destroyed Fregellae and planted a Latin colony on 

Samnite land. 101 

This passage has been interpreted by Salmon as a clear reference to 

the Samnite league. 102 The expression appears only once in Livy in reference to the 

Samnites and it is unclear what he meant by it, as this word too has a wide variety of 

meanings ranging from city-state, union of citizens, commonwealth or tribe. 

In conclusion, Livy's accounts of the Samnite Wars, the triumphal Fasti and 

the oboloi bearing the legend SAVNITAN suggest the existence of an ethnically 

based military alliance. The scattered references to Samnite councils, concilium and 

concilia in Livy suggest the existence of one or perhaps more common deliberative 

body that acted in military matters. It received international envoys and could declare 

war. It could investigate the military actions of magistrates and give orders or advice 

to military leaders and other officials. The xotvi ovvobo; in the excerpts of 

Dionysius of Halicarnassus receives international envoys and votes to declare wars. 

Its name and the circumstances described suggest that it was the general assembly. It 

is plausible, therefore, that both authors are speaking about the same council. 

Dionysius gives the impression that the general assembly was formed of the 

representatives of cities. His phrase xotvý 'rE xai xaTa rröAEis suggests a federal 

organization of the Samnite troops, in which the local units were the cities. The 

leaders occasionally mentioned in Livy appear to have been the generals of the 

troops of an ethnically based league rather than local political leaders. I would 

conclude therefore that a Samnite military alliance, what the Greeks call ovµµaxia, 

existed among the Samnites. 

10° Dion. Hal. 5.52.2,5.54.5,5.61.1-5 and 5.76.2. 

'o' Livy 8.23.6. 

102 Salmon (1967) 95. 

35

The Sanmites seem to appear as a politically and militarily homogeneous 

ethnic population in the accounts of the Samnite Wars; Livy mostly cites towns to 

denote the location of the Samnites and to mark the movement of Roman troops. A 

mention of the Pentri tribe and Livy's other references to various Samnite peoples 

(Samnitium populi) make it probable, however, that this ethnic conglomerate was 

divided into tribal units. It is, however, not clear how these ethnic tribes were formed 

and what their political institutions were. Coinages that can be related to towns in the 

area show that several communities enjoyed some degree of authonomy. This may 

suggest that local urban or pre-urban communities may have been united by federal 

bonds into tribal units than formed one unitary Samnite state as La Regina suggests 

during the Samnite Wars. An ethnic Samnite military alliance therefore may have 

been formed by tribal units and probably autonomous civic communities of 

Campania, such as Saticula and Nuceria Alfatema. This is, however, as far as the 

evidence allows us to go: we have no information about the extension of the 

individual ethnic units and their political institutions remain obscure. 

2.2.3. The Second Punic War 

In the accounts of the Hannibalic War the names of two further Samnite ethnic 

communities appear. The Hirpini are said to have joined Hannibal and the Caudini 

probably also supported the Carthaginians, while the Pentri remained loyal to the 

Romans. 103 Ancient sources locate the territory of the Hirpini to the east of 

103 

Livy 22.61.11. 

36

Beneventum, in the upper valleys of the rivers Calore and Tammaro. 104 The Caudini 

lived around their main town, Caudium. 105 A fourth tribe, the Carracini, is mentioned 

by Zonaras, Tacitus and Pliny the Elder. 106 

They probably lived in the valley of the 

river Sangro and in the surrounding mountains; their main settlements were Iuvanum 

and Cluviae. In accounts of the Second Punic War the territories of the Hirpini and 

the Caudini are clearly distinguished from Samnium. After the wars with Hannibal 

ancient sources tend to apply the name Samnium to the lands and towns around 

Bovianum, the capital of the Pentri tribe. 107 

In 180 BC, the Romans settled 40,000 

Ligurians in the ager Taurasinus, thereby separating the territories of the Pentri and 

Hirpini. 

The appearance of two further ethnic communities within the Samnite ethnic 

conglomerate might not be incidental in the Hannibalic Wars. These wars may have 

been a turning-point in the self-consciousness of the population of this territory. 108 

The Pentri tribe could have taken advantage of the position they achieved by 

remaining loyal to Rome during the wars, promoting and defining themselves as 

safin-, `true Samnites' against other Samnite populations. A Latin inscription at 

Aesernia dating from the second century BC confirms that the locals identified 

themselves as Samnites to distinguish themselves from the colonists. 109 The ethnic 

104 Ancient sources strongly emphasise the distinct characteristics of the Hirpini from the rest of the 

Samnites: Livy 23.11.37,23.11.41,23.11.43,23.13.61,27.15; Cic. De divin. 1.79, De leg. agr. 

3.8, Strabo 5.4.12, Sil. Ital. 8.569, App. B. C. 1.39.51, Vell. Pat. 2.16.68, Servius ad Aen. 11. 

785, Polyb. 3.91.9. Their main settlement was Malventum (which the Romans changed to 

Beneventum) Abellinum, Aeclanum, and Aequum Tuticum (whose name suggest that it was the seat 

of a council). Compsa is attested on a helmet. The helmet is to be found in the Poldi Pezzoli Museum 

in Milan. It bears two Oscan inscriptions in Greek script, ST Lu 37: '-OEQctav xaµrtvavav 

tc'rartovTLvaa 

2ov7t pEbLKLaL 7[o[-?. It has been suggested that the inscription refers to a 

mercenary or allied contingent of Compsa, stationed at Metapontum during the 5`h century BC. 

'05 Apart from their main settlement the towns of Telesia, Saticula, Caiatia, Trebula and Cubulteria 

probably also belonged to the Caudini. 

06 Zonaras 8.7.1 mentions a rebellion organized by a certain Lollius in 269 BC, Tac. Hist. 4.5; 

Pliny. NH. 3.106. 

107 

Livy 22.13.1. Hannibal left the territories of the Hirpini and marched into Samnium. 

108 

Dench (1995) 210. 

109 CIL 12 3201: Samnites inquolae. See also La Regina (1970-1) 452-3. 

37

safin- appears on a fragmentary cippus discovered in Temple A at Pietrabbondante, 

which dates from the middle of the second century BC. 110 

2.2.4. The Social War 

Diodorus gives the fullest picture of the organization of the allies during the Social 

War. ' 11 Ile lists the ethnic communities and cities that revolted from Rome in 91 BC 

as `the Samnites, the peoples of Asculum, the Lucanians, the Picentines, the people 

of Nola and other cities and nations'. The allies established Corfinium as their 

common headquarters, xotvý rröAtS. They built a forum, a council hall, and 

gathered money, food supplies and provisions for war. They founded a joint council 

of five hundred members (al v¬bpot), from whom they selected a number of worthy 

men `to rule the country and capable of providing for the common safety'. These 

men were entrusted with the conduct of war and immediately ordered the election of 

two ürrätovS, leaders, consuls, and twelve cnQarTjyovc, military commanders. 

Diodorus also names the consuls: the Marsian Quintus Pompaedius Silo, and the 

Samnite Gaius Aponius Motylus, probably an error for the C. Papius Mutilus given 

by ' 12 

other sources. The territory controlled by the allies was called Ìtaly', the 

capital was named Ìtalia'. The two leaders divided the territory between themselves, 

like the two consuls each with a provincia. Diodorus points out that the government 

that they organized copied `for the most part the time-honoured Roman pattern'. 

Strabo says that Corfinium was the common headquarters and that the allies changed 

10 ST Sa 4. See section 2.4.3. Other offices. 

111 Diodorus Siculus 37.2.4-8. 

112 The name of the Samnite leader appears in Appian BC 1.42 as Gaius Papius. Later Mutilus, the 

Samnite general is mentioned (Appian BC 1.51) and it seems likely that both passages 

refer to the 

38

the name of the place to Italia. He also tells us that the allies elected vrräTovc and 

QTpaurgyoüc and that the gens of the leader was Pompaedius. 113 

The archaic ethnic safin- was employed again during the Social War. Among 

the bulk of coins produced by the allies to fund their military expenses in the Social 

War between 90 and 88 BC, we have a handful of silver coins that bear the ethnic 

safinim. 114 The iconography of the coins of the allies is partly borrowed from Rome 

though invested with new meaning but new themes also appear. 115 The early coins 

display the Dioscuri, oath-scenes and a bull trampling a wolf as their reverse types. 

Some of these coins had the legend Italia in Latin characters. 117 Later issues include 

coins with the legend Italia in Oscan, Viteliü. Other coins give the name of the 

Samnite general, Gaius Papius Mutilus son of Gaius on the obverse in Oscan 

script. ' 18 The reverse of this coin type often features a reclining bull and a soldier 

with a spear and a sword standing next to the bull. Central figures on the coins with 

Oscan legends are the (mythical) bull, either reclining or trampling the Roman she- 

wolf and the goddesses Victoria and Italia. Oath-taking scenes or soldiers with 

swords and spears also appear on the coins. The coins with the Latin legends 

probably circulated among the northern allies, those with the Oscan legend among 

the southern members. Within this group, the coins bearing the ethnic safinim 

probably referred to one group of allies. In Diodorus, the Samnites are listed as one 

same person, Gaius Papius Mutilus, who also appears on the coins of the allies. See section 2.4 on 

Social elite. 

1" Strabo 5.4.2. 

114 Crawford (1964) 148. 

115 On links with Roman coins see the article of Crawford (1964). 

116 Crawford (1964) 146-8. ST nPg la-8. 

1" See Rutter (2001) 55-57, nr 406428. One coin with the legend Italia also shows the name of the 

Marsic leader as Q. Silo. 

"8 

nPg 6a and 6b The title embratur also appears on two types by the name of the commander, Gaius 

Papius Mutilus. One coin also shows the name of another general, N. Lucius son of Maraeus. 

" 6 

39

ethnic group and it is likely that we ought to identify them with the safininz of the 

coins. 119 

Historians debate whether the aim of the Italians at the beginning of the Social 

War was to gain Roman citizenship or to break away from Rome and create a new 

state. 120 The organization of the allies presented by Diodorus and Strabo has been 

called a `saldo ordinamento federale' (De Sanctis), `great league or confederacy' 

(Keaveney) or `some kind of federal organization' (Salmon). 121 Mouritsen and 

Sherwin-White also favour the view of a federal organization, which, they argue, 

could have been the basis for a future federal state. 122 

The organization of the allies 

has been variously compared to Hellenistic leagues or seen as a partial imitation of 

the Roman constitution. 123 I believe that this organization was a vvµµaxia, a 

military alliance for the purpose of waging war against Rome. The federation 

established a common council, military officers executing its orders and 

headquarters. Appian mentions that the allies during the Social War had both 

`common generals' and `city-based generals'. 124 The organization, however, was 

immediately divided into two parts, each with its own circulation of coinage, which 

makes is difficult to see how it could have formed the basis of a common federal 

political arrangement of the allies after the war. 

19 Dench (1995) 214 and (1997) 48-49 suggested that they referred to the Pentri as they could not 

have referred to the whole southern block of the allied forces. 

120 Sherwin-White (1973) 144-9. 

121 De Sanctis (1976) 39; Keaveney (1987) 121; Salmon (1967) 350. 

'22 Mouritsen (1998) 139, Sherwin-White (1973) 144-9. 

123 Meyer (1958) 74-9 argues for the similarities between the organization of the Italians and the 

Roman constitutions, while Salmon (1967) 350-1 compared it to the Thessalian League. 

124 Appian B. C. 1.40. 

40

2.2.5. Voting tribes and Augustan regions 

After the Social war, the territories of the previous Italian socii became an organic 

part of the Roman state. Their major settlements were allotted to already existing 

Roman voting units. In assigning the new territories to voting districts, the Roman 

administration occasionally seemed to follow previous ethnic borders. 125 In the 

central Apennines the formation of the voting units shows signs of geographically 

coherent patterns: Bovianum, Aufidena, Terventum, Fagifulae and Saepinum were 

assigned to the Voltinia voting tribe. Aesernia was assigned to the Tromentina tribe 

soon after the establishment of the Latin colony there in 263 BC. To the east, the 

settlements of the Frentani were all attributed to the Arnensis voting tribe, together 

with the towns of the Carracini, Cluviae and Iuvanum. Larinum, an independent 

settlement of the Frentani, belonged to the Clustumina tribe. Ligures Corneliani and 

Baebiani were assigned to the Velina voting tribe. The Caudini were probably 

allotted as a whole to the Falernia tribe. To the west of the area assigned to the 

Voltinia tribe, all known settlements belong to the Teretina district, thus marking a 

clear borderline. 126 To the north, on the other side of the River Sangrus, the Marsian 

and Paelignian settlements were put into the same tribe, the Sergia. 

One of Augustus' administrative reforms was to overlay the voting tribes with 

a new system of regions. Samnium lay in the region that Pliny the Elder calls `the 

fourth region, which includes the bravest races in Italy'. '27 It contained the territory 

of nine ethnic communities: the Frentani, Marrucini, Paeligni, Marsi, Albenses, 

Aequicolani, Vestini, Samnites and Sabini. Pliny describes the land of the Samnites 

by listing seven or eight populations or communities: the `colony of Bovianum Vetus 

125 Salmon (1967) 43. 

126 Allifae, Venafrum, Atina, once Samnite, became praefecturae after the Pyrrhic War. 

41

and the other Bovianum which bears the name of the Eleventh Legion, the 

Aufidenates, the Aesernini, the Fagifulani, the Ficolenses, the Saepinates and the 

Tereventinates'. 128 The territory of the Samnites corresponds to the area described 

above as the Voltinia voting district with the inclusion of Aesernia. 

In Mommsen's view, Pliny's phrase `the colony of Bovianum Vetus and the 

other Bovianum which bears the name of the Eleventh Legion' refers to two different 

settlements: the first is to be identified with modem Pietrabbondante, the second with 

Boiano. The colony of Bovianum Vetus, according to this view, should be dated to 

the late first century BC, while the colony of the XI Legion at Bovianum was 

founded under Vespasian. 129 La Regina rejected the claim that there was a colony at 

Pietrabbondante, and thought that the passage refers to the same settlement at Boiano 

but in two different periods. 130 Excavations at the ancient religious centre of 

Pietrabbondante have revealed that cult activities ceased there soon after the Social 

War, in the early 80s BC, and that the site was abandoned afterwards. 13 1 The ancient 

name of Pietrabbondante is not known. According to Keppie, a settlement at Boiano 

by the XI Legion could have been set up earlier than Mommsen thought, perhaps 

under Caesar or after Philippi, and was then upgraded to colonial status, perhaps after 

Actium. 132 One of the communities mentioned by Pliny, the Ficolenses, was a 

settlement close to Rome and belonged to the first region. It is very likely that Pliny 

included it in his description of the Samnite territory in error. '33 

The borders of the Augustan regions often followed rivers, which defined 

larger geographic regions and tribal boundaries. The territory of Samnium lay in the 

127 

Pliny, NH 3.106: 'regio quarta gentium vel fortissimarum Italiae. ' 

128 

Pliny, NH. 3.107. 

129 

CIL IX. 257,239. 

130 Coarelli-La Regina (1990) 162. 

13' La Regina (1966): 260-285; La Regina (1965) Pietrabbondante. 

132 Keppie (1983) 163. 

42

southernmost part of the fourth region and was bordered by the second region to the 

south and by the first region to the west. The territories of the Samnite Hirpini and 

Caudini were assigned to the latter two regions. The fourth region's borders with the 

first and second regions are identical with those of the voting tribes to the west and 

south. 

2.2.6. Conclusions 

Livy's account of the Samnite Wars, the triumphal Fasti and the oboloi bearing the 

legend SAVNITAN suggest the existence of an ethnically based military alliance. 

Livy and Dionysius of Halicarnassus incidentally refer to a general assembly or 

assemblies (concilium and xoivrj uvvoboc), which was probably a deliberative 

body or bodies of a Samnite military alliance. Leaders, who occasionally appear in 

the descriptions of the wars in Livy, seem to have been the generals of Samnite 

troops during the wars rather than political leaders of Samnite states. 

In the accounts of the Samnite Wars, Livy refers to towns rather than tribal 

groups to describe the territories of the Samnites and to denote the movement of 

Roman troops. In his references to a general assembly of the Samnite troops, 

Dionysius of Halicarnassus suggests that this council was formed of representatives 

of Samnite cities. The Samnite troops also seemed to have been based on cities rather 

than tribes. The existence of tribal divisions among the Samnites, however, is not to 

be doubted, but the lack of evidence does not allow us to assess their political 

structure. Thus, the expression populi Samnitium in Livy might refer to various 

133 

Plin. NH 3.64. 

43

Samnite tribal groups formed of units with urban bases and autonomous urban 

communities. It is, however, not explicit in ancient sources that we are dealing with 

one, long-lived league of cities, underpinned by a permanent structure of assemblies, 

military leaders and a common army. It can be argued that the Samnites formed 

occasional alliances in order to carry out military campaigns or in cases of 

emergency to defend their territories. It can be also argued that Samnite military 

alliances were formed on a yearly basis (with elected generals, Gaius Papius was an 

imperator of the year 321 BC) and also that the members of the alliances changed 

from time to time. The arrangements of the troops in the Samnite wars and during the 

Social War suggest that the Samnites preferred the federal organization of troops to 

wage wars. The descriptions of these wars, however, are not helpful for 

understanding the political institutions either of the Samnite territories of the fourth 

and third centuries BC, or those of the allied forces during the Social War. 

The term Samnium was used to denote the lands of the Samnite allies at the 

time of the Samnite wars. In this ethnic conglomerate, the Pentri make the earliest 

separate appearance. In the description of the Hannibalic Wars, we learn the names 

of two further tribes, those of the Hirpini and the Caudini. The Carracini appear in 

later sources unrelated to the wars. The voting tribes and the Augustan regions show 

that a number of settlements were treated as one coherent group by the Roman 

administration in the late Republic: Aufidena, Terventum, Fagifulae, Saepinum, and 

Bovianum. Since Livy refers to Bovianum as the capital of the Pentri, it is likely 

therefore that the mentioned towns belonged to this ethnic community. Following the 

Samnite Wars, the use of the ethnic `Samnite' seems to have been restricted to this 

group. 

44

We must, however, ask whether the appearance of tribal divisions within the 

Samnites was only due to the Romans acquiring better knowledge of the region. It 

seems that after the Samnite Wars Roman sources took trouble to separate the 

Hirpini, Caudini and Carracini from the Pentri `Samnites'. Separate identities were 

certainly supported or maybe enforced by the Romans in order to prevent alliances 

similar to those formed during the Samnite wars. I suggest therefore that the ethnic 

communities of the Hirpini, Caudini, Pentri and the Carracini might have been 

encouraged to form separate ethnic states after the Samnite Wars. The expression 

`tribe' is not entirely satisfactory for its association with barbarian communities 

without urban centres. In the next section, I focus on the territory of the Pentri which 

provides us with the largest amount of archaeological and epigraphic evidence for a 

study of its political institutions. 

2.3. Ancient sites 

2.3.1. Evidence and models 

The importance of archaeology for research on Samnium in the post-third century 

sense has long been recognized. Salmon's view that, because of the lack of large 

cities as centres of administration, the Italic populations preferred a system based on 

territorial units, is generally accepted. 134 This system today is called, with reference 

to the Latin-speaking areas, the pagano-vicanic system; Within each territorial unit 

(pages) features with diverse functions co-existed, such as oppida, castella and 

134 

See section 2.1. Introduction. 

45

sanctuaries. This section re-examines Salmon's view in the light of new 

archaeological data from the region. 

Since Salmon's publication of 1967 excavations have been conducted in most 

known rural sanctuaries and the number of known hill-forts is much greater than it 

used to be. The 1950s saw a shift in the scope of excavations: a new trend in 

archaeology, field-walking, drew attention to the remains of the Samnite countryside. 

Increasingly from the 1970s, studies of several river valleys have located a large 

number of small villages and scattered farmsteads which seem to have constituted 

the main feature of the settlement pattern in those areas. 

135 This section examines the 

relationships between the hill-forts, sanctuaries and settlement pattern as possible 

evidence for the study of political organisation in Samnium. 

Models for relations between the hill-forts and the settlement pattern have been 

produced for other Oscan-speaking areas, notably the hill-fort of Roccagloriosa and 

the territory of the Marsi. Archaeological finds in the territory of Roccagloriosa 

suggest that a Samnite population inhabited the area around Mount Capitenali from 

the first half of the fifth century BC. 136 Remains of several buildings have been 

located on the plateau of the hill. A cemetery in nearby Scala has yielded material 

probably used at banquets. The richness of these finds associates them with the local 

elite. In the fourth century BC, polygonal walls were built to enclose an area of about 

15 hectares at Roccagloriosa. At the same time, the number of hamlets and 

farmsteads situated on the hill-side grew. These sites seem to have been dependent 

on the hill-fort, the only place that yields evidence for the office of meddix, 

documented in a recently found fragmentary bronze tablet. 137 The tablet has been 

135 Curti, Dench, Patterson (1996) 170-89. 

'36 Fracchia (2004) 69-83. 

137 For archaeological and historical circumstances of the tablet see Gualtieri (2000) 243-53. See also 

Tocco (2000). 224-9. Fracchia (2000) n. 21. 

46

dated to the end of the fourth or beginning of the third centuy BC on the basis of its 

archaeological context. This particular hill-fort probably served as the centre of local 

administration in the period. The third century BC brought with it a substantial 

change in the settlement system in Lucania: fortified centres were abandoned and the 

vici in the neighbourhood seem to have transferred their relations to the colony of 

Buxentum: an agricultural settlement situated on the plain, near busy roads. 

The territory of the Marsi provides us with a slightly different model of 

relations between the hill-forts and the rest of the settlement system. 138 

The area had 

a high number of fortifications, the building of which probably started before the 

fourth century BC. Evidence from the sites of the hill-forts implies that most of them 

were inhabited before and during the fourth century BC. A study of the hamlets and 

villages in the area reveals that the earliest date from the end of the third century, but 

that most of them were probably built during the second century BC. It is therefore 

probable that before the end of the third century BC the major part of the population 

lived in and around the fortifications. They descended to cultivate their lands in the 

plain; the necropoleis situated on the plains suggest that they also buried their dead 

there. The villages do not seem to have been centred on large hill-forts. Letta argued 

that these villages were probably built during the period of political stability that 

followed the treaty in 302 BC between the Marsi and Rome. It is not surprising that 

the villages depended on the municipal centres supported by Rome rather than the 

hill-forts. The only place that has yielded evidence for the office of meddix among 

the Marsi is the hill-fort of Antinum. 139 

The site later became a seat of a municipium 

itself. It is particularly interesting that the hill-forts of the Marsi continued to be 

138 

Letta (1988) 217-33. 

139 

ST VM 3, Bo 32, Pi 56, SE 42 (1974) 358. 

47

inhabited, in contrast with evidence for the abandonment of sites in Lucania such as 

Roccagloriosa in the same period. 

It cannot be accidental that in both cases, at Roccagloriosa and in the territory 

of the Marsi, it is the hill-forts that provide evidence for the presence of the meddix. 

In the case of the Roccagloriosa inscription, the reference dates from the period 

before Roman influence. At Antinum the situation is different, because the only 

inscription we have makes it clear that the meddix is a lower rank magistrate, since 

the cetur (probably censor or quaestor) seems to be the eponymous magistrate. 140 

It 

is possible that the office of the meddix had lost power to the censor after the Marsi 

became Roman allies. Nevertheless, the hill-forts suggest that in these Oscan- 

speaking areas there was a close relation between the hill-forts and the office of 

meddix, at least before the Roman conquest. 

2.3.2. Hill forts of the Samnites 

In his descriptions of the Samnite wars, Livy often uses expressions such as oppida, 

moenia, and castella to denote enemy centres. Aquilonia and Bovianum appear as 

oppida, as do Allifae, Callifae, and Rufrium. 14' L. Volumnius attacked three castella 

in Samnium in the year 296 BC. 142 Appian tells us that there were three citadels 

(äxpat) around Bovianum at the time of the Social War. 143 

In Latin, the expression 

oppidum generally refers to a settlement including public and private buildings 

within its fortified walls, whereas the word castellum simply denotes a fortification, 

without any implication for its political or public life. The description of the Samnite 

140 

See Letta (1975) 194-6. 

14' Livy 10.44.1; 9.31.5; 8.25.4. 

'42 Livy 10.18.8. 

143 App. B. C. 1.51. 

48

heartland as being heavily fortified is confirmed by the remains of massive polygonal 

walls, a distinctive archaeological feature of the central Apennines. 

The study of the hill-forts in their relation to the settlement system of 

Samnium, is, however, hindered by several difficulties, posed particularly by the 

nature of the hill-forts themselves (see map II). A major problem is that the 

polygonal walls themselves cannot be dated. 144 Lugli defined four types of wall 

according to their level of elaboration, but the styles cannot be firmly connected to 

dates. 145 Associated archaeological finds can help the dating of walls. Serious 

concerns have been raised about the precision and reliability of dating based on 

pottery. 146 On Oakley's model, the oldest walls are to be dated to the late seventh or 

early sixth centuries BC. 147 The main period of fortification-building was the late 

fifth and fourth centuries BC, but it is probable that a significant number of building 

programmes was carried out in the third century BC. Conta Haller's thesis that the 

main reason for building was the Samnite Wars is not universally accepted. 148 

In 

later centuries some of the walls were restored, and others enlarged and probably re- 

used during the Punic and Social Wars; the latest examples date from the first 

century BC. Another problem is the diversity of the hill-forts. Often more than one 

style of masonry was used at the same site, and the area included within the 

fortifications also differs greatly from site to site. 

It is generally agreed that the purpose of the walls was primarily to defend 

those who lived both inside and outside them. 149 This is confirmed by the fact that 

almost all settlements in Samnium that became municipia after the Social War had 

144 Oakley (1995) 129. 

'a5 Lugli (1957) vol. 1,51-165. 

146 Oakley (1995) 135-8. 

147 Oakley (1995)138. 

148 Conta Haller (1978). Gabba (1979) 171-2. 

J 

/.. -~ý 

ýý 

ter .. "; 

. ,ý _ 

49

hill-forts in their vicinity. It is also argued that fortifications formed articulated 

systems to control strategically important passes. 150 Others have suggested that 

networks of fortifications were used to exercise control over larger areas, a claim that 

Oakley strongly rejects. 151 

Instead, he emphasises the importance of hill-forts as 

focal points of refuge for local communities. Some of the hill-forts were built at 

intermediate height, as on the Matese Mountains, and could have connected fertile 

lowlands with the upland pasture in the summer months, thus playing an important 

part in `vertical transhumance'. 152 

La Regina identified a net of fortifications formed 

by the forts of Santa Maria of Vignali (Pescolanciano), Colle d'Onofrio (Chiauci), 

Civitanova del Sannio, and Duronia to which we can also add that of Castropignano, 

along a line of communication that became the Castel di Sangro-Lucera 

transhumance trail. '53 

More important for this study is that the six Samnite hill-forts, which have been 

excavated at least in part, all show signs of habitation. These are Monte Vairano, 

Curino (Alfedena), Rocca di Oratino, Monte Pallano, Monte Terravecchia (Sepino), 

and Santa Croce (Villa Santa Croce). Finds at Monte Vairano clearly reveal that it 

was inhabited permanently between the fourth and the first centuries BC. Mariani 

seems to suggest that the Curino site may have been occupied in the seventh and 

sixth centuries at the same time as use of the necropolis of Campo Consolino. 

149 

La Regina (1975) 271-82; Conta Haller (1978); Mattiocco (1981); Gualtieri (1987) 30-46; Oakley 

(1995) passim. 

150 Caiazza (1995) 30; Oakley (1995) 139 identified links between Monte Auro, Colle Vrecciale and 

Castello Monteforte. Rainini (1996) identified a looser network of fortifications in the area of 

Capracotta, around the valley of the Verrino, made up by Fonte del Romito, Monte San Nicola and 

Fonte San Lorenzo, a corresponding system on the opposite side of the Verrino of Capracotta, Monte 

Cavallerizzo and Monte Saraceno (Pietrabbondante). 

151 

Oakley (1995) 139- 40. 

152 Oakley (1995) 146 lists Boiano with three forts, Campochiaro with two, Colle di Rocco 

(Guardiaregia), Terravecchia (Sepino), Morcone, Rocca od Monte Cigno (Cerreto Sannita), Telese 

with four centres, Alife with two forts, Roccavecchia of Pratella, Monte Castellone (Torcino), Mandra 

Castellone (Capriati al Volturno), Civitella and Castello Riportso. 

153 

La Regina (1975) 275. 

50

Remains of buildings and associated pottery finds suggest that the site was certainly 

inhabited during the third and second centuries BC. 154 A small excavation has 

recovered enough material, mainly pottery, to show that the site of Rocca di Oratino 

was occupied from the fourth to the second centuries BC. 155 Monte Pallano also 

shows signs of occupation; its walls were built during the fourth and third centuries 

BC and the site was inhabited well into the imperial period. ' 56 Terravecchia and 

Monte Santa Croce were also inhabited, but have not yielded enough material for us 

to assess when this occurred. In fact, field walking of the other fortifications found 

that most of these showed some sign of habitation, such as pottery and tiles. But, 

uncertainties about the dating of the polygonal walls and pottery-remains do not 

allow us to establish when and for how long an individual site was inhabited, or 

which sites were inhabited at a particular time. 157 

Many hill-forts were either too small or their location was unfavourable, which 

makes it unlikely that they were inhabited permanently or at all. Still, several 

excavated sites have produced evidence for the co-existence of buildings of diverse 

functions, architectural elements, and use of space, all of which are usually 

'54 Marian (1901) 235. Mariani (1901) 268- The first excavations in Campo Consolino were begun by 

De Nino in 1876, and the results were published in the Notizie degli Scavi (1877) 276; (1879) 320- 

334; (1882) 68; (1885) 344. The finds from the territory around Aufidena formed the basis of the 

collection of Museo Civico di Aufidena. L. Mariani was appointed to study the material of the 

Museum and to continue the excavations in 1897. Following the excavations, a study was published in 

Monumenti Antichi in 1901 and then 'Dei recenti scavi' in Aufidena in Atti del congresso 

internazionale di scienze storiche, 12 vols. V. (1904) 243-53. In the second half of the 1970s the 

excavations were begun again and the first publication of the material can be found in Notizie degli 

scavi (1975) 409-81. Later Badoni and Giove re-published the findings as Alfedena, La Necropoli di 

Campo Consolino, Chieti, 1980.1700 of the 12.600 tombs were excavated and analysed. 

us Oakley (1995) 116-7. 

156 Colonna (1955) 177 and (1956) 214, Pellegrino (1980) 349-65. The community living in Monte 

Pallano also produced coins with the legend PALAGINU (see in Head (1913) 29). 

157 

Although several criteria have been used to identify sites which might have been inhabited for 

longer periods, these efforts still do not yield a useful list of fortifications. One criterion is the 

separation of those fortifications in which an inner circuit marked off an acropolis within the outer 

circuit of the walls: Guadagno (1978 -9) 273-5 argued that it was more likely that the site was 

inhabited. This method, however, does not seem to accommodate all the evidence, because 

those 

fortifications which have only one wall circuit were left out of the list. Another, perhaps more useful 

criterion is the size of the fortification. La Regina (1975) 279. suggests that Monte Vairano (Busso), 

51

associated with urban planning and fit nicely with the idea of a Roman oppidum. For 

example, traces of a modest residential district have been found within the walled 

area of Curino. One particular building shows signs that point to public use: it was 

provided with a frontal portico with wooden columns, cisterns and a semicircular 

podium. 158 

La Regina called it a basilica. Associated pottery finds suggest that it was 

built in the third century BC. 159 Near this building, the remains of a small temple 

have been found. The temple, with its simple plan and Doric stone columns, 

dated to the third century BC, but it continued in use until the imperial period. 

has been 

The site of Monte Vairano was relatively large: its impressive polygonal walls 

surrounded an area of 49 hectares. It was accessible through three gates: the south 

gate, the west gate, and the so-called Victoria gate. At the Victoria gate remains of 

two towers can be seen. Private houses were built in stone along the paved street that 

leads in from the south gate. One of these has been named the 'house of `LN" on the 

basis of the Oscan graffiti on pottery found on the site. The finds include several 

cups, two large barrels, dishes, loom-weights, a mortar, lanterns and styli. The 

material remains of this house give the impression of a well-equipped household not 

inferior to parallels in Roman or other Italic areas. In the centre of this hill-fort traces 

of another stone building and of a well have been found. The excavators also 

discovered three kilns, one inside the wall next to the Victoria gate, and two others 

located just outside the walls. 160 There are another two buildings, whose function 

cannot be identified, although one of them shows similarities to a building in the 

sacred area of Vastogirardi. 16' Around a hundred fragments of Rhodian amphorae 

Curino and Monte Civitalta (Alfedena), Castellone/Civitella (Frosolone), Terravecchia (Saepinum) 

and Monte Verrante were of suitable size for permanent occupation. 

iss Mariani (1902) 518. 

159 Cianfarani, Franchi dell'Orto, La Regina (1978) 319. La Regina (1976) 223. 

160 De Benedittis (1990) 116. De Benedittis (1980) 337-41. 

161 De Benedittis (1991 a) 129. 

52

were scattered over the area of the hill-fort. 162 Many have stamps, and can be dated 

to the third and second centuries BC. 163 

In his account of the Second Punic War, and 

particularly of events in the year 293 BC, Livy often mentions the otherwise 

unknown city of Aquilonia. He implies that it was close to Bovianum, which 

prompted La Regina to identify the city with the site of Monte Vairano. His 

argument is accepted by most scholars, although Oakley argued that other sites such 

as another Aquilonia, in the territory of the Hirpini, must be taken into consideration 

as possible candidates for the city. 

' 64 

One of the aims of the Sangro Valley Project, which is still ongoing, is to 

explore the area surrounded by the polygonal walls on Monte Pallano, and to clarify 

the role of this hill-fort and sanctuary, which dominates the lower valley of the river 

Sangro. 165 This fort is suspected to have played a central role in the political, 

administrative, economic and religious life of the region. 166 It is particularly 

interesting that it is positioned on the border of three ethnic communities, those of 

the Marrucini, the Samnite Carracini and the Frentani. Excavations carried out by 

teams from Oberlin College and Oxford University since 1999 have discovered the 

temenos of a late-Hellenistic sanctuary of unexpected wealth and sophistication. The 

walls were probably built in the second century BC. 

162 

De Benedittis, (1991b)140. 

163 

Bevilacqua (1980) 21-34. The names are: Arkhidamos, Diodotos, Sokrates, Damon, Aristopolis, 

Eukleitos, Aphrosodios, Glaukas, Doros?, Philokrates, Musaios, Metro-or Menodoros, Timokleidas. 

164 

For arguments see La Regina (1989) 401-23, De Benedittis (1980) and (1987) 15. Oakley (1995) 

149-51. Coins with the legend AKVDVNNIAD dating to the first half of the third century BC have 

attributed to Aquilonia, although evidence is meagre to support this view. See further Historia 

Nummorum3 (2002) 74, nr. 620. 

165 For latest information on the Project see http: //www. sangro. org/reports/res_des. pdf 

166 Faustoferri-Lloyd (1998) 5-22. 

53

2.3.3. Settlement patterns 

The ancient Greek and Roman sources do not provide us with a coherent picture of 

the settlement system of the central Apennines, but imply in incidental references 

that the general pattern of settlement was based on villages. Appian mentions the 

destruction of eighty-one villages as result of the wars with Rome in 322 BC. 167 

When he comments that the Samnites lived in scattered villages (vicalim), Livy 

describes the peoples of the central Apennines as ùncouth mountain-dwellers'. 168 

The prevalence of scattered farmsteads and small villages in the settlement 

pattern of Samnium after the Samnite Wars is confirmed by archaeology. Evidence 

for this comes from the Biferno Valley Project conducted by Barker and others in the 

1970s, which looked at several sections of that river valley, which runs from the 

Samnite heart-land down into the Adriatic Sea, through the territories of the Pentri 

and the Frentani. 169 The survey found that the number of farmsteads and hamlets 

located in well watered areas of the upper valleys increased considerably in the 

period between 350 and 80 BC. 170 Barker also found evidence for at least two 

villages, one at San Martino, near Campochiaro, and one near Colle Sparanise. 

The Sangro Valley Project was begun in 1994 to study the changes in 

economy, society, and settlement pattern of this valley. '7' It focused on the 

predominantly pastoral zone between Opi and Villetta Barrea in the Upper Valley, 

'67 Appian Samn. 4.1 

168 Livy 9.13.7. 'montani atque agrestes'. Dench (1995) 21 and 114-5 suggested that Livy followed 

the tradition of `geographical determinism' which categorises the character of the inhabitants of a 

particular territory according to their environment. Saying that the Samnites lived in villages is part of 

the standard picture of the `rough highlanders' or barbarians, as opposed to the city-dwellers. This 

approach is used ideologically by Hellenistic authors in order to justify the conquest of other peoples. 

169 Barker (1981). 

170 

Barker (1981) 181-8. 

171 

The Project is a joint programme of the Archaeological Soprintendenze of Abruzzo and Molise, the 

Universities of Oxford and Leicester and Oberlin College, United States. 

54

the hill fort of Monte Pallano in the middle valley, and Fara in the floodplain. 

However, no information about settlement pattern has yet been published. 

The San Vincenzo Project was initiated by the University of Sheffield with the 

intention of studying the early medieval abbey of San Vincenzo and its hinterland, 

but the scope of the research has been extended to include also the study of finds of 

Republican and 

imperial date. ' 72 The project focused on the Rocchetta plain, Scapoli, 

Valle Porcina, Castelvecchio and Salvone, and has identified a handful of ancient 

sites. 173 The most important of these was the site of the medieval abbey on the 

Rocchetta Plain. Excavations in the area of the abbey found a Roman villa-complex, 

and revealed foundations of walls under the villa, which together with black glazed 

pottery suggest that the abbey was preceded by an extensive site of Republican 

date. 174 

Patterson has identified this site as a village which exploited the arable land 

of the Rocchetta plain and the vicinity of transhumance trails. He also argued that the 

lands of the ancient settlement formed part of the territory of Aesernia rather than 

Aufidena or Venafrum. 175 

A survey conducted by Di Niro in the Tappino valley has revealed that the 

agricultural terracing had begun already in the Samnite period. 176 Traces of a great 

number of farms and hamlets were found in the region. A relatively large house was 

discovered at Cercemaggiore (loc. Pesco Morelli), which appears, on the basis of 

finds at the necropolis of Morgia della Chiusa, to have been occupied in the period 

between the late fifth and the end of the second centuries BC. The areas around 

Cercemaggiore and Gildone also show traces of small settlements. Excavations also 

shed light on a farmstead near Matrice, which dates from the late third to the early 

172 

Hodges-Mitchell (1985). 

13 Patterson (1985) 213-26, especially p. 218-21. 

'70 Patterson (1985) 219. 

173 Patterson (1985) 216-8. 

55

second centuries and was enlarged in the first century BC. 177 Capini draws attention 

to two settlements, one outside the walls of the hill-forts at Monte San Paolo, 

inhabited during the third and second centuries BC, and another near Ponte San 

Mauro. '78 Traces of a village were found in the vicinity of Fonte del Romito 

(Capracotta), which was inhabited from the 9t' century BC, although the 

archaeological material increases during the fourth and third centuries BC, when the 

settlement was reorganized and enlarged. 179 The late second century BC saw an 

important change in the plan of this settlement, with the buildings being rebuilt 

around an open space. ' 80 

Most of the farmsteads mentioned above were built of stone in the peaceful 

period following the Samnite Wars, when the population increasingly tended to settle 

near the land they cultivated. We can conclude that the number of villages and 

farmsteads grew considerably after the Samnite Wars. Letta and Fracchia, as noted 

above, have already identified an analogous tendency in the area of the Marsi and 

around the fortified centre of Roccagloriosa. 18' 

The ancient literary record also relates the existence of urban or pre-urban 

settlements in the region. Under the year 296 BC Livy mentions that the Roman 

general P. Decius, having learned that the enemy had fled after a series of defeats, 

decided to lay waste to cities and fortifications rather than wandering around the 

villages (vicatim) of Samnium. 182 Strabo noted that many poleis in Samnium had 

become mere villages by his time, thus emphasizing the earlier existence of cities in 

176 

A. Di Niro (1991) 121-6. 

'77 Lloyd-Rathbone (1984) 216-9. 

178 

Capini (2000) 260. 

179 

Rainini (1996) 52-194. 

180 

Rainini (1996) 193-4. 

'$' See introduction to section 2.2. on Ancient sites. 

182 

Livy 10.17.2: `Quin urbes et moenia adgredimur? ' 

56

the region. 183 Livy uses the term urbs in relation to two places, Bovianum and 

Saepinum, in the late fourth to early third century. 184 

According to Livy, both cities 

were occupied by the Romans after long, exhausting sieges. It is difficult to 

determine what he meant by urbs in a Samnite context, especially since his usage is 

not consistent. A Graeco-Roman city was generally characterized by the presence of 

some of the following features: city wall, defined streets, public 

buildings including 

temples, porticoes and baths, and solid private houses. 185 

The use of the word orbs is 

more natural in the case of Bovianum, because of its status in Livy as the capital and 

the richest city of Samnium, well fortified and populous. Appian, apart from calling 

Bovianum a polls, tells us that it was the seat of a rebel council in the Social War. 186 

At present we have no archaeological evidence for fourth/third century urbanization 

at Bovianum or Saepinum. 

The emergence of urban centres in Samnium was until recently usually linked 

to the impact of Rome in the region. The accepted view was that the prospect of 

becoming municipia after the Social War prompted the settlements of Aufidena, 

Terventum, Fagifulae, Bovianurn, and Saepinum to develop into urban centres. 

However, scholars have recently found evidence that the first signs of urban 

development are visible in almost all of these settlements well before the Social War. 

Larinum probably had a regular city-plan in the third century BC. 187 The fort at 

Terravecchia reveals signs of inhabitation, and Colonna has suggested that this was 

actually the settlement besieged by the Romans in 293 BC during the Samnite Wars. 

It is usually thought that after the hill-fort was destroyed by the Romans its 

183 

Strabo 5.4.11. Dench (1995) 133-4 notes that Strabo's emphasis on the reduction of important 

Samnite cities to mere villages was part of a post-Sullan ideology which tried to justify Sulla's acts in 

the region. The archaeological records of Saepinum seem to contradict Strabo's description of the 

Samnium of his time. 

84 Livy 9.44.14; 10.45.12-14. 

185 

Poccetti (1988) 318. 

57

population moved to the plain where Roman Saepinum later developed. ' 88 

Excavations have now revealed fine private houses and a fullery of the later second 

century alongside the imperial forum of Saepinum and their location implies that the 

forum and the main street with its associated drain, had already been laid out. 189 

The 

Romans founded colony at Aesernia in 263 BC. 190 Aufidena probably became a 

praefectura after the Samnite wars. These settlements may have attracted Samnite 

settlers, since Livy claims that 4,000 Samnite and Paelignian families had moved to 

the Latin colony of Fregellae by 177 BC. 191 Second-century BC Samnium enjoyed a 

more sophisticated lifestyle than has been previously presumed as the numerous 

fragments of fine wares and wine amphorae at Monte Vairano attest. 192 Bovianum, 

the centre of local pottery production, also shows scattered signs of urbanization. '93 

La Regina emphasised that the choice of locations which became municipia in 

Samnium after the Social War was not arbitrary, but was influenced by pre-existing 

urban development at the sites. 

'94 

Most of the future inunicipia were located near lines of communication that 

crossed Samnium, which were used as transhumance trails through to late Roman 

times (see map II). The early development of Bovianum and Saepinum was probably 

encouraged by the Pescasseroli-Candela trail. Aesernia lay between the rivers 

Carpino and Sordo, at the meeting point of important lines of communication leading 

south to Bovianum, west to Campania and the Liris valley, and north to Aufidena 

186 

App. Bell. Civ. 1.51. 

187 

Dench (1995) 134. 

188 

La Regina (1970) 198-200. 

189 Matteini Chiari (1982) 15-9. 

190 

The Latin colonny of Aesernia produced its own coinage in the twenty years or so after its 

foundation. For the coins see Rutter (2001) 58, nos. 429,430 and 431. 

191 

Livy 41.8.8. 

192 

See 2.3.2. Hill-forts 

193 

The names of Bovianum and Saepinum may indicate a connection with cattle raising. The name of 

Bovianum is connected to cattle, Latin bos (cow), while the name of Saepinum is conventionally 

related to the verb saepio, to mark off an area with hedge or fence. 

58

and the Sangro valley. Aufidena was located on trails that led from the territories of 

the Marsi and Paeligni towards the heart of Samnium. In certain parts of Samnium 

the fertile river valleys may have constituted lines of communication, as well as 

providing agricultural land. These factors must have influenced the location of 

Fagifulae in the Biferno valley, and Terventum in the valley of the Trigno. 

The links of these settlements to hill-forts must also be emphasised. There is a 

strong relation between forts, the settlement system and communication lines. The 

presence of hill-forts can be observed in the vicinity of almost all future municipia. 

Near Bovianum we find Monte Crocella, Civita Superiore, Civitella, and Tre 

Torrette. 195 Aesernia too has its forts which, with three circuits of polygonal walls, 

lay on the slopes of the nearby La Romana. 196 The site was organised on two 

different levels. 197 The forts near Aesernia at Longano and Montelungo could have 

also formed part of this defensive system. 198 

Terravecchia is often called the arx of 

Saepinum. This fortification was situated on the slope of the hill at different levels 

and recalls the defence system of Aesernia. Around Alfedena, the fortifications of 

Curino and Monte Civitalta are particularly important. Near Venafrum, we find 

Monte Cavallerizzo and Monte Santa Croce. Areas with a higher number of forts 

were probably more densely populated, like the hills south of today's Campobasso 

with their numerous fortifications: Monte Vairano (Busso), Rocca di Monteverde 

(Vinchiaturo), Ferrazzano, Monte Sant'Antonio, Montagna di Gildone and Monte 

Saraceno (Cercemaggiore). 

194 

La Regina (1970) 191-207. 

195 

Oakley (1995) 107-112. 

196 

Capini (1984a) 194-5; Capini (1984) 449-50. 

197 

Livy and Diodorus Siculus refer to three battles against the Samnites here in 305 BC. Livy 9.44. 

16 says that the Romans won back Sora, Arpinum and Cesennia. Diodorus Siculus 20.90 speaks of 

the re-capture of Sora, Harpina and Serennia. It is normally assumed that Cesennia and Serennia are 

the same settlement; perhaps they are references to Samnite Aesernia. It is possible that Aesernia was 

in Roman hands by that time, since Livy 10.31.2 mentions Samnite raids on the territory of Aesernia 

in 295. 

59

In his article of 1970, La Regina argued that urbanized settlement began to 

appear among the Italic populations as centres of administration from the third 

century BC. When a new urban settlement was formed within the territory of a 

community, it probably developed on top of a previously inhabited settlement, 

bearing in mind the favourable conditions of the location for communication and 

future development. La Regina argued that urbanization was part of Romanization in 

the region. However, it is clear that those settlements which became municipia after 

the Social War had begun to acquire urban features during the second century. Some 

fortified centres apparently had public buildings and consequently may have played a 

significant role in the administrative system. Curino and Monte Vairano probably did 

not become municipia subsequently because their mountaintop location was 

unsuitable for urban centres on the Roman model. 

2.3.4. Sanctuaries 

The rural sanctuaries are probably the best-attested and most informative features of 

Samnite culture. Their importance is reinforced by the fact that we know little about 

pre-Roman settlements. Extra-urban sanctuaries have been discovered at 

Pietrabbondante, Campochiaro, Schiavi d'Abruzzo, Vastogirardi, S. Giovanni in 

Galdo, Gildone, S. Pietro Avellana, Macchia Valfortore and Quadri. It has been 

suggested that public and private wealth was spent on the building and restoration of 

rural sanctuaries rather than urban public (and military) buildings or private 

housing. 199 

The sanctuaries have attracted more modern attention than other sites in 

198 Terzani-Matteini Chiari (1997) 13. 

199 Patterson (1991) 151. 

60

Samnium, partly because the visible remains of temples were more promising, partly 

because the epigraphic evidence found in the sacred areas allowed scholars to study 

several different aspects of Samnite history. The temples usually follow the building 

style of the so-called Italic temples (elevated podium, a single cella, an altar 

in front 

of the building, and a row of steps leading up to the podium), but they also show 

Hellenistic features (e. g. proportions of plan, size and decoration, and association 

with the theatre at Pietrabbondante). 

We can identify three particular periods of building and embellishment of 

sacred buildings in Samnium. Dench argues that these three periods of building 

activity do not coincide with periods of prosperity. 200 Evidence for building activity 

within sacred areas has been noted from the fifth century BC, but the earliest 

evidence for building on a monumental scale dates from the second half of the third 

century BC, when the so-called Ionic temple at Pietrabbondante and the modest 

temple at Curino were built, both 201 

with similar colonnades. This building phase 

was interrupted by the Second Punic War, which was probably responsible for the 

destruction of the Ionic temple at Pietrabbondante, because the Pentri, according to 

Livy, remained loyal to Rome. 202 

Pentrian prosperity after the Second Punic War led to a second and larger wave 

of the building of sanctuaries. Although the sanctuary of Civitella near Campochiaro 

was in use from the fourth century BC, it underwent a major restoration in the early 

second century BC. The sacred area was divided into two parts by a long portico. 

The temple was located on a higher level to the west of the portico so the portico 

served as its entrance-hall. 203 The sanctuary is thought to be the fanum Herculis Rani 

200 

Dench (1995) 136-140. 

201 

La Regina (1976) 226. 

202 

Livy 22.61.11. 

203 

Capini (1991) 117. 

61

mentioned in the Tabula Peutingeriana204 This kind of monumental reorganisation 

of a site on different levels has Hellenistic precedents, notably at Pergamum. Traces 

of two temples were found at Colle della Torre (a few kilometres from modem 

Schiavi d'Abruzzo), the older of which was probably built at the same time as the 

development of the sacred area of Civitella of Campochiaro. It seems that the second 

temple at Pietrabbondante, traditionally called Temple A, was built at this time, and 

the older temple of Schiavi d'Abruzzo as well. 

Similarities have been detected 

between the capitals of these two temples. 205 The podium of a Samnite temple at 

Quadri survives because the church of the Madonna dello Spineto was built on it in 

medieval times. 206 The outer section of the podium is almost identical to that of the 

older temple at Schiavi d'Abruzzo, which allows us to date the two temples to the 

same period. The small temple of Macchia Valfortore can also be dated with some 

certainty to the first half of the second century BC. 

The building of these temples was probably provided for mainly by public 

funds as the numerous inscriptions that mention Oscan officials and councils 

confirm, but it is also likely that considerable financial aid came from wealthy locals. 

Epigraphic evidence suggests that the Samnites took advantage of the business 

opportunities opened up by the Roman conquest of the Mediterranean. Numerous 

Oscan names, most assumed to be Campanians, but probably from the Pentri and 

other Samnite peoples too, appear on the Greek mainland, the Cyclades and in Asia 

Minor. 207 Spain, North Italy and Egypt also yield evidence for Saninite businessmen. 

Probably some of this wealth was used to fund the building of sanctuaries in central 

Italy. 

204 On the identification of the sanctuary with that of Hercules Rani see La Regina (1989) 364-72. 

205 La Regina (1976) 230. 

206 Cianfarani, Franchi dell'Orto, La Regina (1978) 499. 

207 Hatzfeld (1919) 17-30. 

62

Another surge in building activity within sanctuaries can be seen at the end of 

the second and beginning of the first century BC in the decades before the outbreak 

of the Social War. The so-called Temple B, with a theatre in front of it, was built in 

this period at Pietrabbondante. By the end of the second century BC, the Ionic temple 

had totally disappeared from the sanctuary and its remains were incorporated into the 

podium of Temple B. 208 

The theatre occupies the sacred area of the old Ionic temple. 

It is plausible that there was another temple behind Temple A, which was 

demolished later. The smaller temple in the Schiavi d'Abruzzo sanctuary probably 

dates to the turn of the century. Lapenna concludes that its architectural decoration in 

terracotta imitates that of Pietrabbondante 

temple B (frieze with Doric triglyphs and 

metopes with head of an ox)209 The sanctuary had a pavement made of small red 

stones. The pottery remains suggest that the temple of Vastogirardi was built in the 

late second century BC. Its decoration also shows similarities to that of Temple B at 

Pietrabbondante210 The red stones of the floor with white decoration in the small 

temple of San Giovanni in Galdo recall the later temple of Schiavi d'Abruzzo and 

help to date the temple to the second half of the second century BC. 211 The rubbish 

dump behind the temple confirms this date: it contains votive objects, mainly pottery 

from the late second to early first century BC. Coins have also been found in the 

sacred area. 212 These date from the third and second centuries BC; the latest coin is 

from 104 BC. In the case of a small number of other sites where votive material or 

part of the podium has been found, it can be only said that they were sacred sites. 

These are Roccaspromonte, Carovilli (loc. Monte Ferrante), San Buono (loc. Fonte 

San Nicola), Villalfonsina (loc. Morandici) and Vacri (Porcareccia). 

208 

Capini (1991) 113-4. 

209 

Lapenna (1997) 81. 

210 

Morel (1976) 256. D 

21! Cianfarani, Franchi dell'Orto, La Regina (1978) 500. 

63

The role of sanctuaries in peasant societies has been studied in great depth. 

They seem not only to have been meeting spots, places to exchange information, 

where trade was carried out under of the eye of the divinity of the temple, but they 

also served as museums of collective memory and the history of those who 

celebrated the cult. Numerous war spoils have been found around temples A and B of 

Pietrabbondante, all of which date from the fifth to third centuries BC. They include 

helmets of Tarentine and Roman (Montefortino) style which attest whom the 

Samnites had been fighting. They were probably moved from the previous temples of 

the sanctuary. 

213 We also have an inscription set up in honour of the goddess 

Victoria. 214 The architectural connections which bound Samnium to the rest of the 

Italian peninsula must be also considered here. The theatre at Pietrabbondante has its 

closest parallel in the Great Theatre of Pompeii before the Sullan reconstructions 

while the typology of the older temple recalls that of the altar found at fondo 

Patturelli near Capua. 215 The pavements of small red stones in the smaller temple of 

Schiavi d'Abruzzo and S. Giovanni in Galdo recall those in private houses of 

Campania. 216 The scenographic placing of the temple of Campochiaro and that of 

Pietrabbondante suggests their builders were acquainted with the architectural culture 

of Asia Minor. It is striking that the plans and decor do not imitate Roman forms, 

whether for political or aesthetic reasons. 

The importance of the sanctuary at Pietrabbondante to the independent identity 

of the Pentri is also confirmed by the fact that its use came to an abrupt end with the 

Social War. The construction of Temple B and the theatre was never finished and the 

212 

La Regina (1976) 237-8. 

213 Cianfarani, Franchi dell'Orto La Regina (1978) tab. 305-6-7 

214 ST Sa 24. 

215 La Regina (1965) under the word Pietrabbondante. 

64

site was abandoned after the war. Other smaller sanctuaries, however, continued to 

be frequented. Coins found between the pavement stones of the temples of Schiavi 

d'Abruzzo date from 217 BC to AD 253.217 The sanctuary of Campochiaro was 

destroyed by a fire during the Social War, but was fully restored later. 218 

2.3.5. Conclusions 

Most of the Samnite hill-forts were probably first constructed in the fourth century 

BC and originally served mainly as refuges. In his accounts of the Samnite wars, 

however, Livy seldom mentions sieges of hill-forts. The Samnites seemed to have 

preferred to come out and fight in open battle, leaving the most vulnerable people in 

the forts. The hill-forts were also a means of maintaining control over strategically 

important passes or territories. The polygonal walls were also meant to impress and 

symbolize territorial control. Most of the hill-forts show some sign of habitation but 

some also seem to have included public buildings and private housing. Hill-forts 

could have acted as regional centres, as has been suggested in the case of Curino and 

Monte Vairano, and perhaps Capracotta and Monte Pallano. Similar use of hill-forts 

as centres of administration is indicated by the excavations at Roccagloriosa and the 

hill-forts of the Marsi. 

In the absence of large urban centres, the settlement pattern was based mainly 

on villages and scattered farmsteads, which increased in number in areas suitable for 

agriculture, especially in the third and second centuries BC. Under Roman influence, 

216 

For the private houses of Rome see: Matini (1971). For those in Campania: the most elaborate 

example is that of Ercolaneo, Maiuri (1958) 206; Santa Maria Capua Vetere, Via Riccardi: Notizie 

degli Scavi (1956) 65. 

217 

Lapenna (2001) 46. 

65

Aesernia, a Latin colony, and Aufidena, probably a praefectura, became regional 

centres. The communication lines and transhumance trails certainly contributed to 

the emergence of these centres. Literary sources mention Bovianum and Saepinum as 

wealthy and populous during the Samnite Wars, and archaeology attests considerable 

urbanisation at Saepinum in the second century BC. We know little about Terventum 

and Fagifulae. 

The building of sanctuaries also intensified during the second century BC. 

Three waves of constructing sanctuaries are known before the Social War. The 

architecture and decoration of these sanctuaries shows closer relations to temples 

found in Campania and the Greek world: they do not suggest Roman influence. 

Temples, however, more often than not are associated with towns. 

2.4. Administrative institutions 

2.4.1. Touta and pagi 

A study of the administrative institutions of the Samnite heartland between the fourth 

and first centuries BC is not without its difficulties. The most significant problems 

are the sheer amount of evidence and the ambiguity of administrative terminology. 

This section discusses the institutions of the touta and the meddix tuticus and other 

offices as attested in the epigraphic and numismatic evidence. All the Oscan 

inscriptions from the region date from the period between the Second Punic War and 

the Social War. 

219 

Capini, Campochiaro, in Franchi dell'Orto-La Regina (1978) 440. 

66

It is generally accepted that the word touta is a fundamental expression in the 

definition of an autonomous community, people, tribe or city-state in the Oscan and 

Umbrian-speaking territories. However, we must remember that we know the 

existence of the touta in Samnium only through the adjective in the title of meddix 

tuticus. As was noted in the introductory section 2.1, Salmon suggested that the 

expression populi Samnitium in Livy denoted the Samnite tribes of the Carracini, 

Pentri, Caudini, and the Hirpini and argued that each tribe formed one touts. 219 

According to the model of La Regina, the area later called Samnium was 

occupied by one centralised, ethnic state between the fourth and first century BC, 

which formed one touta. 220 The name of only one tribe, that of the Pentri, appears in 

the central Apennines, with Bovianum as its capital. This coherence of settlements in 

the region is confirmed by the allocation of most of the settlements in the area to the 

Voltinia voting tribe and later in one block to Augustus' fourth Region. 

The few inscriptions that attest the word touta appear in other territories too, 

and are scattered across a large area and over a long period of time. The earliest 

references are from the area of Penna Sant'Andrea and date from the fifth century 

BC 221 They mention the safina tuta. In this case, the expression touta must be 

interpreted in the widest possible sense, as nomen, meaning 'the Sabine people'. 222 

The 2cuQro µaµtQ rtvo refers to an autonomous community formed by the Oscan 

speakers at the city of Messina in Sicily from the third century BC. 223 In the Iguvine 

Tablets the expressions tota iiouina and tota tarsinate are qualified by the names of 

urban centres. In second-century BC Umbria, the tota therefore referred to a city- 

219 

See section 2.1.1. 

220 

La Regina (1981) 129-33. 

221 ST TE 5 and 7. See also section 2.2.1 

222 Prosdocimi (1978a) 50-1. 

223 

ST Me 1,2,3, Ve 196, Co 1, Bu 62. Morandi 37 

67

centred community. 224 A similar meaning has been also suggested for the touta 

marouca, which designated those who formed an autonomous community around the 

urban centre called Teate Marrucinorum in the Roman period. 225 In the Tabula 

Bantina, the expression bansae touta refers to the inhabitants of Bantia, a single 

community in the last quarter of the second century BC. 226 Prosdocimi has argued for 

links between the term touta and the citadel of a pre-urban and urban centre called in 

Oscan ocri/ocar (in Latin arx, in Greek akro-). 227 

It seems that the touta in all these 

cases, apart from the tuta safina, was probably equivalent to the Latin term populus. 

The fact that in Samnium the noun touta does not appear qualified by an 

adjective which indicates its geographical extension makes it difficult to define, since 

it could be used to describe a larger entity (nomen or tribe), but also a community 

within the touta. The use of the word populus has a similar double sense in Latin: the 

populus Veientanus was part of the Roman state, the populus Romanus. In the 

previous section I cited evidence for the development of distinct city-based 

communities. 228 This raises the question of whether touta denoted the state of the 

Pentri or local Pentrian communities or both. 

A second problem regarding administrative terminology is also related to the 

notion of Samnium as a tribal state. It is a commonly held view that the 

administrative system of the Italic populations was based on territorial units, called 

pagi, rather than on cities. In his description of the Samnite wars, Cornell suggests 

that the pagus was a `canton comprising one or more villages (vici)'. 229 The 

expression pagus occurs in Latin inscriptions of imperial date in the territory of the 

224 for instance ST Um 1. VIa 29 and VIla 11. 

225 The expression appears in the so-called Tabula Rapinensis, which was dated to the mid third 

century BC: Cianfarani (1956) 311-327. 

226 ST Lu 1.19. Buck (1995) 234-5. 

227 Prosdocimi (1978) 29-74. 

228 See section 2.3.3. 

68

Vestini and Paeligni. Some of the pagi had Oscan names, which has led several 

scholars to believe that they go back to pre-Roman administrative units. 230 Pagi are 

also known in territories of formerly Samnite peoples: the alimentary table of 

Ligures Baebiani, which dates from the reign of Trajan, lists 19 pagi in the territory 

of Beneventum. The table is fragmentary and La Regina suggested that the overall 

number of the pagi must have been between 30 and 35.231 On the basis of the 

proportion of the number of pagi in the geographical area of the territory of 

Beneventum, he produced hypothetical numbers for the pagi in the territories of the 

Paeligni and Vestini. La Regina also estimated the number of vici included within the 

pagi. The settlement pattern of the Samnite areas of the central Apennines is not as 

homogeneous as those of the territories of the Vestini and Paeligni, so comparable 

numbers for these areas cannot not be estimated, but La Regina still argued that a 

pagus-system functioned also in Samnium. Capogrossi Colognesi has rightly 

criticised the thesis that pagi existed among the Italic populations before the 

introduction of Roman administration. 232 He notes that the idea that the pagi of 

Beneventum go back to an original Samnite system presupposes a fairly uniform 

settlement pattern in the Samnite period, a claim that cannot be substantiated. The 

constant, organic relation between pagi and vici suggested by La Regina also lacks 

evidence. 

229 

Cornell (1995) 345. 

230 

Inscriptions mention the names of a handful of pagi in the territory of the Paeligi, such as the pagus 

Vecellanus (ILS 932 a), and pagus Boedinus (ILS 6532), pagi Interpromini (ILS 5609), in Campania 

the pagus Herculaneus at/near Capua (ILS 6302), pagus Agrifanus, pagus Capriculanus, pagus Lanita 

and pagus Myttianus at Nola or in the Hirpini the pagi Meflanus and Aequanus (ILS 6350) in the 

territory of Beneventum (ILS 6509). 

231 CIL IX 1455, La Regina (1970-1) 445-6. 

232 Capogrossi Colognesi (2002) On the Tabula Alimentaria: 131-58, on the Samnite pagi: 170-92. 

69

Scholars have also tried to establish relations between the touta and the pagi 

and vici: Salmon thought that the pagi were administrative sub-units of the touta233 

The pagi included vici, oppida and castella, which therefore did not have political 

lives of their own. Capogrossi Colognesi rejects Salmon's scheme, arguing that we 

have no evidence to confirm relations between the tribal units and the pagi. He 

concludes that this and the attribution of political life to the pagi are based on a 

preconception of Schulten, who was influenced by partial knowledge of the pagi of 

Genpan tribes234. Capogrossi Colognesi thinks it unlikely that the vici had no 

political or administrative importance. He points out that Strabo and Livy say that the 

Samnites lived xccµriböv and vicatim, ìn villages' and not pagatim, ìn pagi'. I 

agree with Capogrossi Colognesi that the pagi were introduced in the territory of 

Beneventum and those of the Vestini and Paeligni by the Roman state, and that 

Salmon's suggestion that the pagi formed the political and administrative sub-unit of 

the touta is without basis. If the touta had a sub-unit, we are not aware of what it was 

called. 

In conclusion, after the fourth century BC sporadic epigraphic evidence 

suggests that the term touta often denoted an urban centre and its territory. However 

in Samnium, that is the region of the Pentri, because of the lack of direct evidence, 

the question of whether touta denoted a local urban centre and its territory or a larger 

ethnic community or both, must be left open for now. I accept the view that rejects 

the idea that a touta was formed of a number of pagi. This does not mean that a touta 

did not have sub-units, but only that we do not have information about them. We are 

233 Salmon (1967) 79-80; Cornell (1995) 345 follows Salmon's view: À group of such pagi would 

together form a larger tribal unit, for which the Oscan term was touto (Latin populus)'. 

234 For criticism of Salmon's concept of the pagi see Capogrossi Colognesi (2002) 171-5. 

70

i 

still left with the question of what sort of touta was presided over by the meddix 

tuticus in Samnium. 

2.4.2. Meddix tuticus 

We have a dozen stone inscriptions and a substantial number of tile stamps recording 

the names of officials, mostly meddices tutici, which yield direct evidence for the 

study of the administrative institutions of the Samnite heartland in the period roughly 

between the Second Punic War and the Social War. In this period, the Pentri 

probably enjoyed the support of Rome for their loyalty during the Second Punic War. 

The limited epigraphic evidence comes from rural sanctuaries or is of unknown 

provenance. 

235 Inscriptions with the names of magistrates are found on fragments of 

stone and bronze inscriptions and on tiles in Samnium. Most of the stone and bronze 

inscriptions come from two sanctuaries, Pietrabbondante and Schiavi d'Abruzzo. 

They document the building of parts of temples, the dedication of temples or the 

donation of equipment to the temples. Some of the roof-tiles found in excavations in 

the central Apennines form a special group because they bear the abbreviation M T, 

which stands for meddix tuticus. The presence of public inscriptions in sanctuaries 

suggests that they were under public control. A stamp on a fragment of a jar seems to 

support this. 236 

235 

The so-called schede Chiovitti are notes of a professor of mathematics, B. Chiovitti, who 

passionately collected and drew Oscan and Roman inscriptions, which he saw in the area of Boiano. 

The material has been lost, but the schede were published by De Benedittis (1978) 410-4. 

236 ST tPo 42. The fragment, found behind temple A, shows the letters &v, meaning `public'. The 

object, perhaps a storage jar, belonged to the sanctuary. It was classified by Rix in error among the 

Pompeian tile stamps. I am particularly grateful to Prof. Michael Crawford for this piece of 

information. 

71

A considerable number of tile fragments was found in the sanctuary of 

Campochiaro during the excavation of the site begun in 1975 by the Archaeological 

Soprintendenza of Molise, which have greatly increased the body of tile stamps from 

Samnium. At present the tiles can only be sensibly dated by relating them to the 

construction of the building they covered. The sanctuary of Hercules Rani at 

Campochiaro was in use from the fourth century BC, and was rebuilt in the early 

second century BC. 237 The tiles probably covered the roof of this second building. 

The title meddix tuticus was abolished after the Social War. The tiles therefore date 

from a period of about 120 years. Only one name, that of ni dek(itius) g(avi) f., can 

perhaps be identified. Under 217 BC, Livy describes Numerius Decitius as à person 

of consequence both in family and fortune, not only in his town of Bovianum but in 

all Samnium'. 238 

If we are dealing with the same person, the tile must be one of the 

oldest in the sanctuary, but the man named on the tile could be a later relation. 

Numerous tiles also come from several small and unidentified temples around 

Boiano. Others were found at Saepinum, Castel di Sangro and Pietrabbondante. 

One of the most fundamental questions about the Samnite political system is 

whether the office of the meddix tuticus was single or collegial. Most of the 

epigraphic evidence from Samnium documents the name of only one meddix tuticus, 

thus implying that the office was single. We have twenty-six different stamps which 

use the abbreviation M T, that is, meddiz tuticus. They give one or, in a few cases, 

two names, also in abbreviated form. Prosdocimi divided the tile stamps into three 

groups according to the position of the office on the stamp. 39 In group A of 19 

stamps, the office is followed by the name of the office-holder; 240 group B comprises 

237 See in section 2.2.3, on Sanctuaries. 

238 Livy 22.24.11. 

239 Prosdocimi (1980) 209. 

240 ST tSa5-23. 

72

three stamps in which the name of the office holder precedes the office, 241 

the four 

stamps of group C give two names with MT between them. 42 

Where a tile stamp bears only one name, it must be that of the meddix tuticus. 

Group A, the majority, where the name comes after the office seems to have been 

Oscan usage. Group B, where the office comes after the name or names, however, 

follows the Roman practice. Stone inscriptions in Samnium also follow the Roman 

usage. It is possible that the two usages in the tile stamps can be dated to two 

different periods, group A probably came first. In Oscan inscriptions concerning 

collegiate magistrates such as aedile, the office usually follows the two names. 243 

The problem is how to interpret group C. The vast majority of names in types 

A and B include the praenomen, nomen gentilicium and patronym 244 None of the 

names in group C preceding the abbreviation for meddix tuticus include a 

patronymic. This suggests that the first name is not that of a meddix tuticus and 

therefore that the name following the office is that of the meddix tuticus. It also rules 

out the theory of La Regina that the two names refer to the same period of office, that 

the first person died in office and the second took his place. 245 

In any case, it is not 

plausible that this happened in four out of 26 cases. The identity of the name in front 

of the office is still open to debate. Capini suggested that it is that of the tilemaker. 246 

Other possibilities are that it is the man who paid for the tiles or the name of a local 

magistrate. 

241 

ST tSa 24-6. 

242 

ST tSa 1-4. 

243 

See ST Sa 14, although the inscriptions is fragmentary, it is plausible that the names of three 

aediles were inscribed in the stone. This practice is also known from Pompeii: ST Po 1,2,8,15 with 

the aedilis and questor offices. 

244 

Apart from the fragmentary ones, where the second part of the inscription is missing and one, that 

of v. kr. m. t. 1. kar. This is the only tile stamp where it is doubtless that the second name does not 

have affiliation. 

245 

La Regina (1989) 328. 

246 

Capini (1978) 433. 

73

Three recently found tile stamps from Bovianum and Campochiaro apparently 

also cast doubt on whether there was a single meddix tuticus. One tile, ST tSa 21, 

records m. t. sn. staff mitl k, the second, ST tSa 20, m. t. 1. sta. A. mit. We might be 

dealing with two pairs of meddices tutici, the first being composed of Stenius Staius 

and Mitulus C() and the second of Lucius Staius and Ovius Mitulus. 247 However, in 

most tile stamps the name of the meddiz tuticus includes his patronymic and La 

Regina has argued that these abbreviations give the patronymic and papponymic of 

each meddix tuticus: Stenius Staius son of Mitulus grandson of C( ) and Lucius 

Staius son of Ovius grandson of Mitulus. 248 Capini instead suggests that the fourth 

element in each case is an abbreviated cognomen: Stenius Staius C() son of Mitulus 

and Lucius Staius Mitulus son of 

Ovius. 249 

Two stone inscriptions from Pietrabbondante are relevant 

here. 250 

ST Sa 13: gn(aivs) staatiis. l(üvkieis) klar [. m(eddis). tüvtiks). süvad eitiuva]d. 

pestlüm. üpsannüm. faamated. p(ediim). LX (Pietrabbondante, Temple B) 

ST Sa 21: gn(aivs). staiis. m(ara)h(eis). stafidins. metd(is) t(üvtiks). 

dadikatted (Pietrabbondante, Temple A) 

The names of two meddices tutici consist of four parts in these inscriptions: those of 

Gnaeus Staius Stabidinus son of Maraeus and Gnaeus Statius Clar() son of Lucius. 

Since the verbs of both inscriptions are singular (dedfkated, faamated), a single 

meddix tuticus must be meant in both cases. The fourth element of the names seems 

to be a cognomen. In the first case Clar might be toponymic or papponymic, in the 

247 for mitt = Mitulus / Mutilus see Salonries (1987) 105-6. 

248 La Regina (1989) 336 nr. 9 and 12. La Regina emended the abbreviation C to Gellius. 

249 Capini (1978) 424. Poccetti supports Capini's view for ST tSa 21. 

250 The Oscan text appear throughout the thesis as given by Rix (2002). His usage of dots and brackets 

are also followed: [... ] for letters not now preserved which the editor believe to have been inscribed 

74

second Stabidinus is plausibly the toponym from Stabiae. It should also be noted that 

in each case a Staius is mentioned. This gens name was probably so common that the 

men added their patronym and cognomen to distinguish themselves from other Staii. 

The third tile stamp, ST tSa 24, documents Gaius Papius son of Mitulus MT 

X. The letter X following the abbreviation of the office of meddix tuticus has been 

interpreted in several ways. La Regina thought it denoted a meddix tuticus who was 

holding office for the tenth time. 251 Prosdocimi compared it to the meddices degelasii 

at Nola, and proposed that X stands for dekelasis, although none of the meddices at 

Nola is tuticus. More plausibly, Capini has suggested that it refers to a decennial 

meddix tuticus. 252 It is possible that the same man appears as meddix tuticus in the 

tile stamp n]i. staa. m. t. g. paap. mit, whether omitting the X or in a previous 

tenure. 253 

In any case, all scholars agree that the letter X does not imply that there 

were ten meddices. The tile stamps therefore do not compel us to revise the generally 

accepted view that the office of meddix tuticus was single. 

The tiles were stamped with the name of the chief magistrate to indicate the 

year when they were made as was common practice in Greek and Roman states. 254 

The eponymous use of the office of the meddix tuticus can be observed also in a new 

inscription from Schiavi d'Abruzzo, where the office and the name of the holder, Ni. 

Dekitiüd, are given in the ablative absolute to denote the year when the temple was 

dedicated. 255 This proves that the office of meddix tuticus was annual. 

and (... ) letters supplied by the editor to fill out an abbreviation in the inscribed text. Both brackets are 

also used in the traslations. 

251 La Regina (1989) 328. 

252 Capini (1985) 248. 

253 ST tSa 1. 

254 Vitruv. De arch. 2.3.2. mentions bricks made at least two years before their use are the best 

building material. In Utica only bricks made five years previously were used and àppoved as such by 

the authority of the magistrate'. Vitruv. De arch. 2.8.19 also alleged that the strongest walls were 

built of roofing tiles which endured weathering. 

255 ST Sa 2. 

75

The tile stamps raise other fundamental questions. If we take the stamps as a 

single corpus, we find that occasionally the same name appears in several 

sanctuaries. Lucius Cleppius son of Lucius is attested at Campochiaro, Colle 

d'Anchise and Saepinum. 256 Stamps of Gaius Numerius son of Herennius have been 

found at Campochiaro and Bovianum. 257 Mitulus Papius son of Lucius appears on 

tiles at Campochiaro and Bovianum. 258 The same is true for Trebius Satrius son of 

Trebius and Lucius Staius son of Ovius grandson of Mitulus. 259 Pacius Laius son of 

Pacius is known at Castellone, Colle d'Anchise and Campochiaro. 260 One 

straightforward conclusion is that the sanctuaries around Bovianum and Saepinum 

were subject to the same public office and belonged to the same political unit in the 

period between the end of the third and the beginning of the first centuries BC. 

Unless we suppose that these two settlements formed one administrative unit 

separate from other settlements in the region, this is strong evidence for the view that 

the meddix tuticus was the chief magistrate of a larger political unit, the Pentrian 

state. 261 

The vast majority of the stone inscriptions show meddices tutici building, 

dedicating or embellishing sanctuaries. Most of the stone inscriptions have been 

found in or in the vicinity of the sanctuary at Pietrabbondante. Temple A was 

256 

ST tSa 10. One of the tiles was found by Cianfarani in the area of the Forum of Saepinum, as 

reported by La Regina (1966) 269, n. 16. 

25 ST tSa 8. 

258 ST tSa 6. 

259 ST tSa 7 and ST tSa 20. 

260STtSa5. 

built in 

261 The only alternative interpretation is that the tiles in the small sanctuaries around Bovianum were 

made in Bovianum and were dated by the annual magistrate of that settlement. But the fact that the 

same tile stamps were also found at Campochiaro, Colle d'Anchise, and Saepinum cannot possibly 

explained this way. 

76

the first half of the second century BC. 262 Inscriptions recording repair or 

embellishment can only be dated to some time after the building of the temple. 

On the facade at least two separate inscriptions are attested. One refers to the 

dedication of the temple: ST Sa 21, Ve 151, Pocc 19, Co 174, Bu 47, Strazzulla 1, SE 

42 (1974), 374,3. 

gn(aivs). staiis. m(ara)h(eis). stafidins. metd(is) t(üvtiks). dadikatted 

Gnaeus Staius Stabidinus (of Stabiae? ) son of Maraeus meddix tuticus 

dedicated. 

The other inscription, ST Sa 3, Ve 152, Co 172, Strazzulla 2, SE 42 (374) 4, records 

that Titus Staiius son of Titus, probably meddix tuticus, also constructed some part of 

the temple. 

t. staiis. t. [ -? - e]kak. üpsajnnam. de]ded. esidum. prüfatted. 

Titus Staiius son of Titus [-? 

He himself approved it. 

-] commissioned the construction of this (... ). 

Another ineddix tuticus whose name is uncertain contributed to the building or 

embellishment of the temple: ST Sa 5, Ve 153, Co 170, Bu 48, Pi 40A, CII 2873 

twice, Strazzulla 4, SE 42 (1974), 374,5. 

sten[is. - 10/12 -] meddis tüvt [ik]s. üpsannam. deded. inim. prüfatted 

Sthenius [- 10/12 -] meddix tuticus commissioned the construction of (this) 

and he approved (it). 

An extremely fragmentary inscription, STSa 4, which will be discussed in detail in 

section 2.4.3, mentions the donation of a door to the temple A. 

262 See section 2.2.3. 

77

Temple B, built at the end of the second or beginning of the first century BC, 

also has dedications by meddices tutici. One of them is ST Sa 13, Ve 154, Pocc 18, 

Co 173, Bu 49, Pi 40C, Strazzulla 7, SE 44 (1976) 291. 

gn(aivs) staatiis. 1(üvkieis) klar [. m(eddis). tüvtiks). süvad eitiuva]d. pestlüm. 

üpsannüm. faamated. p(edüm). LX 

Gnaeus Statius Clarus son of Lucius [meddix tuticus] ordered that this 

podium, sixty feet (long), was to be built [with his own money]. 

The inscription records a private contribution by Gnaeus Statius Clarus son of 

Lucius, possibly when he was meddix tuticus. 

Three inscriptions record that Pacius Staius son of Lucius commissioned the making 

of three basins for the sanctuary. 

First, ST Sa 10, Pocc 14, PdP 30 (1975) 167-9, SE 44 (1976) 291, which was found 

south-west of the corner of Temple B: 

pak(is). staiis. 1(üvkieis). m(eddis). t(üvtiks). aapam kellaked. 2 

Inim. Urass. 

ekask. emanafed 3esidum. pn fatted. 

Pacius Staius son of Lucius meddix tuticus stored water and commissioned 

these basins. He himself approved (them). 

Second, ST Sa 11, Pocc 13, AION L 13 (1991) 240, RhM 109 (1966) 264,3, 

Strazzulla 10. This is identical to ST Sa 10. 

pjak(is). staiis. 1(üvkieis). m] t (üvtiks). aapa[m kellak]ed. 2[i]njim. k]ürjass. 

ekask. ] am [a]nafed 3esidum. 

prüfatted. 

Pacius Staius son of Lucius. meddix tuticus stored water and commissioned 

these basins. He himself approved (them). 

Third, ST Sa 12, Pocc. 15, RhM 109 (1966) 264-6,4, RhM 113 (1970) 262, 

Strazzulla 13. 

78

pak(is). staiis. 1(üvkieis). m(eddis). t(üvtiks). aapam [ek]ak. patajna]m 

2kellaked. inim. Urass. ekask. [-]manafed esidum. prüfatted. 

Pacius Staius son of Lucius meddix tuticus stored this òpen' water and he 

commissioned these basins. He himself approved (them). 

A further donative inscription, ST Sa 28, found in the vicinity of the temple B, is too 

fragmentary to provide us with the name of the magistrate. We have only his title: 

ineddix tuticus. 

Epigraphic evidence from other sites records meddices tutici acting on behalf or with 

the approval of councils. 

ST Sa 9, Pocc 20, SE 44 (1976) 283-4 and 288-90. Colle Verrone, near 

263 

Pietrabbondante. 

[-? ]iis. h(eire)n(neis). m(eddis) t(iivtiks). pukele[i. iüviii]i. assass. aamanafed 

2[s]enateis {u} tanginüd. esidum. prüfated. 

[... ] son of Herennius meddix tuticus commissioned the altars to the son (of) 

Juppiter264 by the decision of the senate. He himself approved (them). 

The Latin name of the council, senatus, shows Roman influence and points to a later 

date, perhaps towards the end of the second century BC. 265 

A similar text comes from Schiavi d'Abruzzo: ST Sa 2, Pocc 34.266 

263 

Published by La Regina (1976) 283-4. 

264 

For pukele[i. see Prosdocimi (1976) 288-9, Lejeune (1976) 289-91 and Untermann (1979) 306-7. 

265 

For the etymology of senatus see: Camporeale (1957) 64-5. 

266 

La Regina (1970-1) 458; La Regina (1976) 237; Untermann (1979) 308-9, no. 11; Prosdocimi 

(1980) 187-93; La Regina (1991) 149-52; Lapenna (1997) 81-8; Lapenna (2002) 48-50. 

79

m(ediküd) t(üvtikiid) ni(umsiüd) dekitiüd. mi(ineis). mi, (inis) püpelii(s) 

st(aatieis) legü. tanginüd 2aamanafed. esidum. pr[ü]fated. üpsed. g(aavis). 

paapi(is). g(aavieis) 

f( ) 

When Numidius Decitius son of Minius was meddix tuticus, Minius Pupelius 

son of Statius by the decree of leg-ti commissioned (this temple). He himself 

approved it. Gavius Papius son of Gavius built it. 

This inscription records that a person who was not meddix tuticus commissioned and 

approved the smaller and later temple at the sanctuary of 

Schiavi d'Abruzzo 

according to the decision of what may perhaps have been a council. 267 The 

inscription shows strong Latin influence. First, the title and name of meddix tuticus 

appear in the ablative absolute, which is commonly used for dating in Rome. The 

name of the builder apparently has the letter f to denote filiation by the Latin filius. 

This and the previous text both use the formula tanginüd aamanafed esfdum 

priifated, which is conventionally Latinised as (senatus) sententiafaciendum curavit 

idemque probavit. The end of the same formula also appears on a fragmentary 

bronze plate from Temple B at Pietrabbonante. 268 ST Sa 2 is the only inscription in 

which the word legt is attested. It appears in the same position as the senatus in the 

former inscription and presumably denotes the council giving orders or approval for 

the commission of the sanctuary. It is not clear whether the legü was the same as the 

senalus. At Pompeii two urban councils are attested in inscriptions, the kümbenneis 

and [k]ümparakineis, which both gave orders to the quaestores. In Lucania too a 

senate appears to have instructed or advised a local quaestor. 269 The two inscriptions 

from Samnium similarly suggest that the construction work in sanctuaries was 

267 The position of the word (legii tanginüd, as s]enateis {u} tangin id above) and its relation of the 

Latin word lex suggest that it could have been a counselling body. See Untermann (2000) under lege. 

268STSa8. 

80

.ý -ý: 

ordered or approved by a council. The question of which communities were 

represented by this council or councils must, however, remain open. 

An inscription from Pietrabbondante shows a meddix tuticus acting on behalf 

of a community 270 ST Sa 7, Ve 150, Co 171, Bu 146, Pi 40B, Strazzulla 6, SE 42 

(1974) 373-4,2. 

n(in)v(is). vesullia2is. tr(ebieis). m(eddis). t(üvtiks). 3ekik. sakara 4 k1üm. büva 

5 

ianüd 6aikdafed 

Novius Vesulliaeus son of Trebius meddix tuticus (... )ed this sanctuary 

for/from Bovianum271. 

The ablative case of the place name can be interpreted at least in two ways: it could 

refer to the place where the magistrate held his position, but it is more likely that it 

indicates the community on behalf of which the meddix tuticus acted. 

Lastly, a complete stone inscription from Fagifulae uniquely records a meddix 

without the adjective tuticus. ST Sa 25, Ve 156, Co 163, Bu 51. 

b(a)n(tis). betitis. b(a)n(ttieis). meddiss. pniffed 

Bantius Betitius son of Bantius meddix approved (it). 

The question is whether this nieddix was distinct from the meddix tuticus. Beloch and 

Salmon thought that this simple ineddix was a local magistrate who was inferior to 

the chief magistrate of the Pentrian state, the meddix tuticus. 272 

The name bn bet [... ] 

meddix tuticus is attested on a tile stamp found at Bovianum273 If the same person is 

269 ST Lu 6 and 7. 

270 Further bibliography: Bullettino Archaeologico Napoletano 3 (1844-5) and Avellino in Bullettino 

Archeologico Napoletano 6 (1847-8), Lejeune (1973) 94-111. 

271 

The meaning of the word aikdafed is still debated. 

272 

Beloch (1880) 169; Salmon (1967) 87. 

273 ST tSa 18. See Capini's comments in SE 53 (1985) 248. 

81

attested, it would follow that the Fagifulae meddix was probably the meddix tuticus 

with the qualifying adjective omitted. However, the tile is fragmentary and the 

filiation of the officer is lost, so we cannot be sure that it is the same man rather than 

a homonym or relation. It is possible that the meddix in the Fagifulae inscription was 

a local magistrate. The interpretation of this case must remain open for now. 

2.4.3. Other offices 

Other public offices are also attested in Samnium. A fragmentary stone inscription 

from Valle di Comino in Barrea, north of Aufidena, apparently from a temple, attests 

some aediles: ST Sa 14, Ve 143, Co 178, Pi 35C, RIGI 11 (1927) 293. 

-? -]s: 2 [.?. m]inieis: 3[.?. ga]avieis: aidili [s: 4 -? ]m: peessli m: 5 -? - p]rüfatt 

[ens] 

[... ] son of []s, [... ] son of Minius [... ] son of Gavius aediles [... ] the 

podium [... ]approved (it). 

This is our only record of the aedileship among the Pentri. 274 The exact location of 

the temple is not known. The title aidili[s] is -clearly borrowed from Latin 275 

Presumably there were at least three aediles in this community or possibly four. As at 

Rome and Pompeii, they were inferior to the chief magistracy. 

Another inscription records a censor in Samnium. ST Sa 4, Ve 149, Co 169, Bu 50, 

Strazzulla 3, SE 42 (1974) 373,1. 

274 Camporeale draws attention to the problems of reading the word as singular or plural: (1957) 48-9. 

275 Camporeale (1957) 47. 

82

pürtam. liis[eis az2 pü]d safinim. sak[arat inim 3ur]upar. iak. üin[itü. 

tüvtü4in]im. keenstur [uupsen5m]aiieis. maraiieis [eitiuvad 6p]aam. essuf. 

ümbn[ited. dilei 7a]vt. püstiris. esidu[m. dunneis] 8duunated. fiis[nai-----(-) 

9]nim. leigüss. samid[------ (-)10 -]üvfrikünüss. fifliked] 

The door of the ills- by which Samnium shrine(? ) and (... )upam the üin- 

tuvtu? and the censor [built] (.... ) of Maius Maraeus which he himself made, 

but later the same gave as a gift to the temple, he provided 

.... (... ) ... 

This fragmentary cippus comes from temple A at Pietrabbondante276 The office of 

censor is not attested elsewhere in Samnium, but it appears in the territory of the 

Frentani and in the Roman influenced Tabula Bantina among the Lucani. It is a 

generally held opinion that the Samnites adopted the title from Rome. 277 At Rome 

censors took the census, registered the property of citizens and arranged state 

contracts. 278 The text here is too lacunose to be certain what the censor had done at 

Pietrabbondante. Vetter thought that he had administered collection of money needed 

to build temple A, but there is no evidence to confirm this. 

The epigraphic evidence suggests that the Pentri did not have indigenous 

names for offices other than meddix tuticus, but borrowed Roman terms for them. 

This might imply that these other offices were new creations, adopted and perhaps 

adapted from the system of Rome and its colonies. But the attestations are so few, 

and all from a later period of alliance with Rome, that we cannot be sure whether 

these were older offices given new names. 

276 Rix suggests that Maius Maraeus built something at his own expense, and later donated it to the 

temple: Rix (1993) 345. He might have been an earlier magistrate, perhaps meddix tuticus. 

277 Watmough (1995/6) 94-6. Camporeale however argues that the office was originally Italic: 

Camporeale (1956) 75-6. 

83

2.5. Social elite and Samnite leaders 

The importance of kinship and genres in southern Italy in antiquity has long been 

recognised. 279 The leading genres were prime movers of changes of different types: 

their need for land led to the conflicts with Rome, which culminated in the Samnite 

Wars, and their desire for the recognition of their rights or the Roman citizenship was 

one main motive for the Social War. Several genres appear again and again in 

inscriptions and written accounts of Samnium. The questions of how family groups 

were defined and how some achieved a leading role cannot be studied due to the lack 

of evidence. Few scholars go beyond describing the Samnites broadly as a society of 

peasants and herdsmen, who `lived a life of toil and hardship'. Large landed estates, 

Salmon continued, `were owned by a handful of families who enjoyed wealth, 

power, and authority, and for centuries were the leaders of the nation and makers of 

its policy'. 280 Dench has drawn a more nuanced picture of the social structure of the 

Samnite `mountain' society? g' It is not my aim here to provide a general study of 

Samnite society. However, prosopographic evidence from inscriptions, coins and 

literary sources, can be used to study the breadth or narrowness of the elite in 

Samnium, and the issue of elite mobility. 

The safest approach is to study two elite groups that can be identified with 

certainty: first the political elite, who appear as meddices tutici in inscribed 

dedications and tile stamps; second, the military leaders of the Social War attested on 

coins and in the literary evidence. A third group of the recorded military leaders of 

278 Lintott (1999) 115-20. 

279 

e. g. Lomas (2000) 84 on Apulia. 

280 Salmon (1967) 52-3. 

281 Dench (1995) 140-53. 

84

the Samnites during the Samnite and Punic Wars can be added, although their 

historicity may be open to some doubt. 

Table la: Gens names of ineddices tutici, and their Latin equivalents from 

inscriptions 

Oscan gens names from inscriptions Latin equivalents 

betitis (ST Sa 25-meddix); Betitius 

dekitiüd( ST Sa 2), dekitis (La Regina (1966) 262); Decitius 

staiis (ST Sa 10,11,12), stalls (ST Sa 3 meddix tuticus?, 21); Staius 

staatiis (ST Sa 13); Statius 

vesulliais (ST Sa 7); Vesulliaeus 

Table lb: From tile stamps. 

bet (ST tSa 18); Betitius 

dek (ST tSa 22); Decitius 

ega (ST tSa 12 ); Egnatius ? 

heri (ST tSa 13); Herius 

paap (ST tSa 1); paa (ST tSa 6); pap (ST tSa 23 and 25); papi (ST 

tSa 24); 

Papius 

pümt (ST tSa 9,11); Pontius or 

sadri (ST tSa 7); Satrius 

staff (ST tSa 16,21), staff (ST tSa 26), staff (ST tSa 32); Staius 

Pomponius ? 282 

282 Asa praenomen see Salomies (1987) 87-8. Rix (2002) implies that pz mt of ST tSa 9 and 11 is the 

same gens name of rco12 uw in ST Me I and 2, no i7 TOLEU ST Me 3, pz ntfis of ST Po I, ponties of 

ST Pg 5 and puntieis of ST Cm 28. 

85

staa (ST tSa 1), sta (ST tSa 2,14,20,31); Statius 

Table 1 c: Fragmentary gens names from tile stamps. 

Oscan family-names Latin 

aim (ST tSa 16); Aemilius? 

es (ST tSa 19); 

ka (ST tSa 3); Caius? 

kar (De Benedittis (1978) 411,1 a, b, c) ; 

kli (ST tSa 10); Cleppius? 

lai (ST tSa 5); Laius? 

nim (ST tSa 8); Numerius? 

st (ST tSa 17); Staius? Statius? 

Table 2: Names of generals on coins of the allied forces 

g. paapi g. mutil (St nPg 3; 4a, b; 5; 6 a, b); Gaius Papius 

Mutilus son of 

Gaius 

ni. lüvki mr (ST nPg 7) Numerius Lucius 

Table 3: Names of generals in literary texts 

Titus Lafrenus (App., B. C. 1.42. ) 

Gaius Pontilius (App., B. C. 1.42. ) 

Marius Egnatius (App., B. C. 1.42. ) 

Quintus Popidaeus (App., B. C. 1.42. ) 

son of Maraeus 

86

Marcus Lamponius (App., B. C. 1.42. ) 

Gaius Vidacilius (App., B. C. 1.42. ) 

Herius Asinius (App., B. C. 1.42. ) 

Vettius Scaton (App., B. C. 1.42. ) 

The first Papius appears in Livy, vir nobilis potensque. 283. Papius appears as 

the leader of the Samnite troops who occupied Nola, Stabiae, Minervium (that is 

Surrentum) and Nuceria. 284 Mutilus, a Samnite general, wounded by Sulla, took 

refuge in Aesernia. Sulla later destroyed his camp and moved on to attack the seat of 

the council of the insurgents at Bovianum. 285 

It is very likely that the Gaius Papius of 

Appian's list and the Mutilus who appears in Appian's second passage as the leader 

of the Samnite army, are both identical with the Gaius Papius Mutilus attested on the 

coins. The gentilicium and cognomen of this general also appear in a number of other 

accounts of the Social War. 286 

The lists collected above from stones and tile stamps in tables la and lb, 

contain 31 names where the gens-name is certain. Out of the 31 names, 9 belong to 

the Staii and 6 to the Statii. So 29% of the magistrates bore the name Staius, and 19.3 

% that of Statius. This indicates the importance of these two family groups in the 

political life of the Pentri. Of course not all Staii and Statii belonged to the same 

family. Probably, as at Rome, some genres had split into separate family groups. 287 

We can, however conclude that over the roughly 120 years covered by our 

283 

Livy, 8.39.5; App., B. C. 1.41. 

284 

App., B. C. 1.42. 

285 

App., B. C. 1.51. 

286 

Licinian 36.10 Critini: Papius Mutilus, Livy Per. 69: Mutilus; Orosius 5.18.10. Greek sources 

report the name with some corruption: Diod. Sic. 37.2.6 : F&ioc Arcio toc MötuAoc Diod. Sic. 

37.2.7 Fat, MariAyD Plut. fort. Rom. 9.6. MoviALoc. 

87

epigraphic evidence, the Pentrian state was dominated by a restricted group of 

politically active families. 

Names of several gentes have been found at numerous locations within 

Samnium and sometimes outside it as well. A Latin inscription attests L. Satrius L. f. 

magister of the Samnites inquolae at Aesernia. 288 

Tiles from the sanctuaries of Civita 

di Boiano and Campochiaro document Trebius Satrius son of Trebius as meddix 

tuticus. 289 Other people with the same gens-name spread to other parts of southern 

Italy: an inscription from Pompeii mentions Vibius Sadrius son of Vibius as aedilis, 

while we find a P. Sadries son of Titus as one of the meddices atici of the Paeligni. 290 

Several bearers of the name Decitius are recorded in inscriptions. Numidius 

Decitius is attested on the pavement inscription at Schiavi d'Abruzzo as meddix 

tuticus. 291 Two others, though not holding the office, are attested at Aufidena and at 

Pietrabbondante. 292 Tile stamps document the name of the gens at 

Campochiaro. 293 

Other Decitii appear in Latin inscriptions from Terventum. 294 Livy refers to a 

Numerius Decitius as a military leader in the Second Punic War. 295 Cicero refers to 

Cn. Decitius Samnis who was proscribed by Sulla in 82 BC. 296 

Some Betitii are attested at Campochiaro, 297 others at Monte Vairano 298 As 

regards the name Pomponius, we have two meddices tutici inscriptions, one from 

Campochiaro and one found in the area of Boiano. 299 

287 

Hopkins (1983) 54. 

288 

CIL 12 3201. 

289 

ST tSa 7. 

290 ST Po 1I and ST Pg 1. 

291 ST Sa 2. 

292 

ST Sa 18 and 24. 

293 

ST tSa 22. 

294 

CIL IX 2596,2611,2612. 

295 

Livy 22.24.11. 

296 

Pro Cluent. 161. 

297 

ST tSa 18. 

298 

REI 48 (1980) 420. 

299 

ST tSa 9 and 11. 

88

Table 4: The Staii as meddices tutici 

Name Date"Ou Type of Reference 

inscription 

Titus Staius son of Dedicator of temple A of Stone ST Sa 3 

Titus Pietrabbondante, around 180 

BC. Probably meddix tuticus 

Gnaeus Staius Decorated of temple A of Stone ST Sa 21 

Stabidinus son of 

Maraeus BC 

Pietrabbondante, around 180 

Sn ? Staius son of Around 130 BC Tile stamp ST tSa 21 

Mitulus grandson 

of Caius 

Lucius Staius son Tile stamp ST tSa 2 and 

of Maraeus ST tSa 16 

Gaius Staius (son Around 120 BC (? ) Tile stamp ST tSa 17 

of ?) 

Pacius Staius son Donor of three stone basins of Stone ST Sa 10,11 

of Lucius Pietrabbondante, shortly before and 12. 

90 BC 

Lucius Staius son Tile stamp ST tSa 20 

of Ovius grandson 

of Mitulus 

300 

Dates are based on the information provided by La Regina (1989) 334-8. 

89

Numerous bearers of this gens name also appear outside Samnium. Pz 

(Pacius? ) Staius son of Pz (Pacius) is attested on a boundary stone from the territory 

of Nola as a member of a committee of four magistrates. 

301 Staii are attested in Latin 

inscriptions at Larinum, Beneventum, Luceria, Minturnae, Aeclanum and in the 

territory of Paeligni. 302 We also find Staii amongst the inhabitants of Delos. In the 

early second century BC, Minatus Staius son of Ovius and Caius Staius son of Ovius, 

perhaps brothers, were benefactors of the local temple of 

Sarapis. 303 

The inventory of the temples of -Apollo and Artemis of Delos records the 

donation of a gold crown to Apollo and a silver crown to Artemis by Minatus Statius 

son of Minatus of Cumae presumably in return for economic success. 304 Appian tells 

us that Statius `the Samnite, who had had great influence with the Samnites during 

the Social War and who had been raised to the rank of a Roman senator for his noble 

deeds, his wealth, his lineage, and who was not eighty years of age, was proscribed 

on account of his riches' in 43 BC. 305 Statii are also found in Campania: Cerrinus 

Statius son of Cerrinus is known as a magistrate at Nola. 306 Another Statius appears 

in a fragmentary inscription from Abella. 307 

The above list of members of genres provides further evidence for the 

geographic dispersion of kinship groups in ancient Italy. The names reveal the ties 

between the Samnite heartland and Campania. One pattern can be also observed: 

several genres whose members held important offices in the Pentrian state also 

appear among the political elite of other territories, such as the gens Satria, who 

301 ST Cm 48. See section 5.3.1: Administrative institutions of Nola and Abella. 

302 

Larinum: CIL IX 6251; Beneventum: CIL IX 1971; Luceria: CIL IX 816; Minturnae: CIL 12 2702; 

Aeclanum: CIL IX 1169,1311,1498; Paeligni: CIL IX 3080. 

303 Wilson (1966) 117. 

304 ID (1929) 442 B147, ID (1929) 443 Bb64, ID (1935) 1403 Bb 1191, ID (1935) 1432 Ab 130 and 

ID (1935) 1443 A1 123 mention Mivarros Mivätov Ti Atos Pwµaioc ix Kvµrls. Tt A tog has 

been identified as Staius. by Münzer in RE, under Staius. 

soy Appian B. C. 4.25. Wiseman (1971) nr. 414. 

306 ST Cm 48 and also section 5.3.1: Administrative institutions of Nola and Abella. 

90

produced a magister for the Samnite inhabitants of Aesemia, an aedilis for Pompeii 

and a 'neddix aticus in the territory of the Paeligni. The Decitii were particularly 

active within Samnium, while the Staii and the Statii are attested both in Samnium 

and Campania as high ranking magistrates. 

La Regina, in his article about the stemma of the gens Papia, thought that both 

the father and grandfather of the Samnite general of the Social War are attested on 

tile stamps. 308 The father may be Gaius Papius son of Mitulus, meddix tuticus, and 

perhaps also Gaius Papius Mitulus, meddix tuticus X. 309 The grandfather 

is identified 

as the meddix tuticus Mitulus Papius son of Lucius (? ). 310 Other bearers of the gens 

name include: Numerius Papius son of Maraeus meddix tuticus on two tile stamps; 311 

Marcus Papius Mutilus son of Marcus, grandson of Numerius, suffect consul in AD 

9, probably a novus homo; 312 C. Papius who paved the forum of Saepinum in the 

time of Augustus: 313 on an inscription from Vastogirardi, Sextus Papius son of 

Nonius and perhaps his three sons, Marcus Papius, Caius Papius and Lucius 

Papius; 314 at Aufidena, Caius Papius Ferox son of (... ) 315 

Ancient sources occasionally mention names of Samnite generals during the 

Samnite Wars. The victory of the Caudine Forks was attributed to the Pontii. 316 The 

peace treaty that followed was arranged by Gaius Pontius and his father Herennius, 

who was an old man at the time and had retired from his military and civil duties. 

Herennius Pontius attracted the attention of several ancient authors: Cicero's Cato 

307 ST Cm 3. 

308 La Regina (1991) 149 and 151. The article often overstreches the evidence. 

309 La Regina (1991) 149. ST tSa I and ST tSa 24. 

310STtSa6. 

311 ST tSa 23 and 25. 

312 Klein (1881) 18. 

3: 3 A Epig. (1959) 70, n. 276. 

314 CIL 12 1757. 

315 CIL IX 2771 only the name of his wife is attested in this inscription; CIL IX 2808. 

316 Livy 9.3.5,9.1.2,9.15.8, Per. 11,9.22.6-7; Quadrig. fr. 19.21; Dion. Hal. 16.1,4; Val. Max. 

7.2. exat. 17; Flor. 1.11 (16) 10; 

91

major claims that his Tarentine host, Nearchus, told him a story of a meeting 

between the Pythagorean Archytas of Tarentum and Herennius Pontius in the 

presence of Plato. 317 It is probable that Cicero has picked up a story invented as 

Tarentine propaganda of the 320s BC, presenting the Samnites in a favourable light 

to secure their support. 318 

In Eutropius and Ampelius, Gaius Pontius is called Pontius 

Telesinus. 319 His identity probably had been assimilated to the Pontius Telesinus who 

was a general of the Italian allies in the Social War. The name of the gens is often 

attested in Oscan-speaking territories such as Pompeii, Saticula, Sulmo of the 

Paeligni and Messina in Sicily. 20 One famous distant relative is Pontius Pilatus. 

Names of other Samnite leaders during the Samnite Wars include Brutulus Papius, 321 

Gellius Egnatius, 322 Statius Gellius323 and Staius Minatius. 324 Caution is called for 

when using the names of Samnite military leaders during the fourth and third 

centuries BC as evidence for the Fasti of Samnium. Some of them might 

be fictious, 

retrojecting the names of families which played important roles in the period of the 

Social War, especially the Papii. 325 The idea that these commanders were the 

generals of one Samnite touta, the Samnite tribal state in the fourth century BC, fits 

well in the model of La Regina. 326 However, we know very little about the political 

institutions of the Samnites during the Samnite wars. Some of them may have been 

local leaders. I think therefore that it is inappropriate to treat them as evidence for the 

political offices of Samnium in the fourth and third centuries BC here. 

App. Samn. 4.4, vir. ill. 30.1; Oros. 3.15.3; 

3' Cic. Cat. mai. 41 

318 For more about the Tarentine propaganda see Dench (1995) 53-66. 

3'9 Eutrop. 10.17.2; Ampelius 20.10. and 28.2. 

320 

ST Po 1, ST Me 1,2,3, ST Cm 28, ST Pg 5. The name might be appearing also in Samnium as 

limp in ST tSa 9 and 11. 

21 Livy 8.39.12-14. Also found in tile stamps, see table lb. 

322 

Livy 10.18,1; 10.19.14; 10.21.2. Livy 10.29.16. Also found in tile stamps, see table lb. 

323 

Livy 9.44.13. 

324 Livy 10.20.13. 

325 

Beloch (1926) 128. 

92


Literary accounts of the Samnite Wars, the triumphal Fasti and coins with the legend 

SAUNITAN suggest the existence of an ethnically based Samnite military alliance. 

Livy and Dionysius of Halicarnassus mention a general assembly or assemblies 

(concilium and xoivi o-vvoboc) probably the council or councils of a Samnite 

military alliance, along with the leaders of Samnite troops during the wars. It is not 

explicit in the sources whether the alliance was permanent or formed yearly or on a 

temporary basis to carry out military campaigns or for defence. The members of this 

alliance may also have changed from time to time. 

The use of the term Samnium in literary sources changed significantly between 

the fourth and first centuries. During the Samnite Wars it referred to the lands of the 

members of the ethnic military alliance. The voting tribes and the Augustan regions 

suggest that by the time of Augustus Samnium denoted only the area of a number of 

settlements around Bovianum. Roman sources emphasise tribal divisions after the 

Sainnite Wars: the territories of the Hirpini, Caudini and Carracini were separated 

from the Pentri. The Romans might have encouraged the separate formation of these 

tribal states. After the Samnite Wars use of the ethnic Samnite was limited to the 

Pentri. The state of the Pentri yields the largest amount of epigraphic and 

archaeological evidence for a study of its political system. The epigraphic evidence 

covers the period between the Samnite Wars and the Social War. The office of 

ineddix tuticus appears in a number of locations in Samnium, but is never qualified 

326 La Regina (1989) 339. 

93

y a toponym which would help to define the geographical authority of the office. A 

study of the tile stamps and inscriptions in stone suggests that the office of the 

meddix tuticus was single and annual, because it was eponymous. It follows that this 

office was the chief magistracy of the federal state of the Pentri. The vast majority of 

the epigraphic evidence comes from rural sanctuaries of which some were and some 

were not linked to towns. Several inscriptions attest meddices tutici issuing contracts 

for building parts of temples and checking the completion of the building work, 

which implies that sanctuary buildings were under federal control. The sanctuary of 

Pietrabbondante with its theatre, which may have been used for council meetings, 

was particularly important as suggested by its abandonment soon after the Social 

War. The appearance of the senate and possibly another council in inscriptions at 

Schiavi d'Abruzzo implies that this was a federal senate which could give orders or 

advice to the meddix tuticus. The office of the censor was probably also a federal 

one. 

Evidence for the local units of the Pentri state is provided by the local meddix 

of Fagifulae and possibly the aediles of Alfedena. The building of the great number 

of hill-forts required substantial manpower and expertise, and their maintenance and 

occasional restoration must have been overseen by magistrates. Because of the lack 

of inscriptions and tile stamps from hill-forts at present we cannot tell whether they 

were built and maintained by local communities or by the Pentrian state. 

I have emphasised that there are broad similarities between the models of Letta 

and Fracchia and the situation in Samnium, especially as regards the relationship 

between the fortified centres and the settlement pattern: the population of villages 

and urban-and pre-urban settlements grew significantly in the vicinity of the 

fortifications in the period between the Samnite Wars and the Social War. The hill- 

94

fort of Roccagloriosa and some hill-forts in the territory of the Marsi functioned as 

administrative centres, and the same may have been true at least of Curino and 

Monte Vairano and perhaps of Capracotta and Monte Pallano. The lack of direct 

evidence for a connection between the political system and the fortified centres in 

Samnium prevents us from seeing the extent to which the situations of the three 

territories, those of the Marsi, the Lucanians and the Samnites, were similiar to or 

different from one another. Further evidence might change this situation. 

I therefore support the view put forward by La Regina that the Pentri, that is 

the Samnites in the post-Hannibalic War sense, constituted one touta. Although after 

the fourth century BC scattered epigraphic evidence suggests that the term touta may 

have been linked with an urban centre and its territory, this cannot be shown in 

Samnium. I accept the view that rejects the idea that a touta was formed from a 

number of pagi. If the touta of the Pentri had sub-units in the period of the second 

century BC, they may have been the pre-urban and urban settlements, headed by a 

meddfx, as in the case of Fagifulae, some within hill-forts, such as Monte Variano 

and Curino. The emergence of urbanizing settlements, most of which became 

municipia after the Social War may also support this view. 

It must be, however, admitted that the strong emphasis on the touta as the 

fundamental political and administrative unit makes this model static, and does not 

allow for constitutional changes and developments which may have occurred as a 

result of the defeat by Rome, the foundation of the colony at Aesernia and the 

praefectura at Alfedena. Changes in the settlement pattern, the growth in the number 

of rural settlements in the third century BC and the urbanization in the second 

century BC may also have contributed to changes in the administrative system. 

95


Chapter 3. Capua and the Campani 

The most fundamental difference between the administrative institutions of Samnium 

and those of the geographical region of Campania is that the administrative system of 

the latter was based on pre-existing cities. This chapter concentrates on whether there 

is good evidence for the existence of the so-called Campanian league; the supposed 

leagues of Nola and Nuceria are discussed in chapters 5 and 6. This question will be 

looked at through the study of relevant literary, epigraphic and numismatic evidence. 

The traditional view that the towns of the Campanian plain were united in a 

confederation or a league under the leadership of Capua has been accepted by 

scholars ever since it was put forward by Mommsen. 327 Although it is generally 

agreed that three federations existed in Campania, with their centres at Capua, Nola 

and Nuceria, the extension of their territories and the dates of their dissolution have 

been debated. Beloch argued that the Samnite invasion broke up the Etruscan-period 

league of twelve cities dominated by Capua into three smaller confederations headed 

by Capua, Nola and Nuceria. 328 The Capuan league consisted of Atella, Calatia, 

Velecha, Sabatinum, Casilinum, Volturnum, Liternum and Puteoli. Later in his book, 

Beloch also added Cumae, Acerrae and Suessula to the list. 329 The seat of the leading 

officer, the meddix tuticus, was at Capua, and each town had a meddix, inferior to the 

meddix tuticus. The league was dissolved after the Second Punic War. 

327 Mommsen (1860) 335. 

328 Beloch (1879) 11 and 314-20. 

329 Beloch (1879) 316. 

97

Although they suggest that the meddix tuticus was a local magistrate, 

Heurgon, Sartori, Camporeale and Frederiksen also accept the existence of the 

Capuan league. 330 For Heurgon the league came into existence after the conquest of 

Capua by the Samnites in 437 or 423 BC. It was dissolved after the First Samnite 

war, when towns in Campania were bound to Rome by grants of citizenship. 

Frederiksen accepts that the cities of Campania formed à kind of league or 

confederation', whose member cities managed their own affairs, until it was 

dissolved in 211 BC during the Second Punic war. None of the four historians 

mentioned above explained the public institutions of the so-called league. 

`The plain round Capua is the most celebrated in all Italy, both for its fertility 

and beauty, and because it is served by those seaports at which voyagers to Italy 

from nearly all parts of the world land'; thus Polybius praises the Campanian 

plain. 331 The territory of Capua was among the most fertile lands in the 

Mediterranean. The city's importance was confirmed by its strategic location at the 

meeting point of several communication lines: the via Appia ran through the city and 

it lay at the end of a route that was re-built as via Latina in Roman times. The latter 

road connected the north of Campania with the regions of the river Tiber and the 

territory of the Faliscans. Capua also controlled the route leading from the mountains 

to the plain, and from Nola to the north. Furthermore, the city took advantage of the 

port on the river Volturno, Casilinum, today's Capua. 

The ancient city lies under modem Santa Maria Capua Vetere and cannot be 

excavated, but several necropoleis, situated around the edge of the ancient 

settlement, have been discovered and provide a considerable amount of information 

330 

Heurgon (1942) 116-8,189-90; Sartori (1953) 17, Camporeale (1956) 36; Frederiksen (1984) 140- 

1. 

98

about the material culture of the settlement before the arrival of the Samnites. 332 A 

necropolis found at Sant'Angelo in Formis on the slopes of Mount Tifata suggests 

that the territory was inhabited continuously from the tenth century BC. 333 The 

indigenous peoples of Campania, to whom most ancient sources refer as Ausoni, had 

to face an increasing number of settlers. 334 Cumae, a colony founded by the Greek 

inhabitants of Pithecussa in the mid-eighth century BC, became the dominant city in 

Campania and until the fifth century BC directed the economic and cultural relations 

both of settlements on the coast and of those situated in the inner parts of Campania. 

The archaeological material of tombs around Capua in this period shows mainly 

Greek and an increasing Etruscan influence. 

3.2. Historical background 

3.2.1. Foundation myths 

Several ancient sources recount the foundation of Capua. Some relate the name 

of the city to Capys, who appears in the Iliad as the father of Anchises. 335 The 

earliest is Hecataeus from the middle of the sixth century BC, whose brief note on 

331 

Polyb. 3.91. 

332 For necropoleis see Cerchiai (1995) 142 for finds of the so-called `tomba Dutuit' and p. 144 

necropolis of Fornaci. For votive terracottas: the `Capua preromana' series published from 1965. 

333 

Cerchiai (1995) 41-2. 

334 Ancient sources suggest that large parts of central and southern Italy were occupied by the Ausoni: 

Stat. Silv. 4.5.37, Strabo 5.3.6 and Pliny NH 10.95. Some argued for their identification with 

Aurunci, some others with the Osci or Opici. We have only literary evidence for the existence of this 

little known ethnic, but attempts have been made to relate them to the pre-Etruscan material culture of 

Campania. 

335 

Hom. Il. 20.239. 

99

Capua is preserved in Stephanus Byzantinus. 336 This long pre-dates the efforts by 

Latin authors to find ancestors or founders of cities among the wandering heroes of 

the Trojan war, and indicates a strong Greek interest in the region. According to 

Dionysius of Halicamassus, Remus founded Capua and named it after his great- 

grandfather, Capys; this ties the earliest history of the city to that of Rome and the 

Latin towns which were founded by Romulus and Remus. 337 

Strabo lists the numerous peoples of the plain from the earliest times, but 

attributes the foundation of Capua to the Etruscans, who founded twelve cities in the 

region as a league with Capua as the head. 338 This suspiciously recalls the supposed 

league of twelve cities in Etruria, and enhances Capua's importance as the capital of 

this alliance. 39 Velleius Paterculus discusses the possible year of the city's 

foundation, suggesting that the Etruscans founded Capua in about 800 BC, but he 

also mentions Cato's opinion that it had existed for about 260 years before the 

Roman conquest. 340 Livy even gives the Etruscan name of the town, Volturnum, and 

claims that it was later renamed by the Samnites. 341 Archaeological remains suggest 

that the early urban development of Capua was due to the Etruscans, a claim that is 

accepted by most modem historians, although the question of the precise date has led 

to unprofitable 

debate. 342 

Attempts by Diodorus Siculus and Livy to derive the name of the city from 

campus seem doubtful because they presuppose the local use of Latin at a very early 

date. The derivation from the word caput, capital, in Strabo, is also dubious and 

336 Hecat (Steph. Byz. 70). 

337 

Dion. Hal. 1.73.3; Strabo 5.4.10. 

338 Strabo 5.4.3; Livy 4.37.1. 

339 Similar mentions of the Etruscan organization based on twelve cities: Polybius 2.17; Livy 5.33.5, 

Servius 2.278 and 8.845. 

340 Vell. Pat. 1.7. It is not clear which conquest Cato is thinking of. it may be the occupation of 211 

BC, in which case the city would have been founded in 471 BC; if however he refers to the beginning 

of the Samnite Wars, it it would go back to the early sixth century BC. 

341 

Livy 4.37.1. 

100

eflects the claim that Capua was the chief city of the area. 343 The modem theory that 

the word Capua comes from the Etruscan word for falcon, capus in Latin, has some 

linguistic foundations, but one may wonder whether this similarity is not just mere 

coincidence. 344 Bonfante's idea that the name of the city proves that a group of 

Illyrians lived in the region is not convincing 345 Livy claims that Capua was 

renamed by the Samnites after their leader, Capys, but this is dubious in the light of 

the reference in Hecataeus, which proves that the city was called Capua in the mid- 

sixth century, long before the arrival of the Samnites. 

The foundation stories of cities and populations were directed by ideological 

or political reasons. Ancient sources, almost all dating from a later period, sought to 

provide Capua with famous ancestors and a long, prestigious history, all paying 

tribute to Capua's importance, which the city achieved by control of the most fertile 

lands in Italy. 

3.2.2. The Samnite takeover 

The date and circumstances of the beginning of the domination of Capua by 

Sainnite settlers are unclear. Under the year 438 BC, Diodorus Siculus notes: Ìn 

Italy, during this year, the nation (E6voc) of the Campani was formed, deriving their 

name from the fertility of the plain about them'. 346 Livy and Dionysius of 

Halicarnassus present us with a different picture. Livy under the year 423 BC records 

the occupation of Capua, an Etruscan town at the time, by military force by the 

342 On the debate of when Capua was founded see Sacchi (2002) n. 85. 

343 Diod. Sic. 12.31.1. 

344 Alessio (1992) 149-54. 

345 Bonfante (1992) 91-3. 

101

Samnites. 347 Dionysius's passage, an imaginative speech by Roman soldiers 

stationed in Capua during the Samnite wars, offers a similar picture: the Campani, 

guests of the Etruscans, betrayed their hosts, slew the men of the city and took their 

wives, houses, cities and lands. 348 As background we could imagine the migration of 

small groups of Samnites from the Central Apennines, who were accepted into the 

Capuan urban community or settled in Capuan territory, and lived together with or 

under the dominant Etruscan element for a certain period of time, until they became 

numerous enough to take control, whether peacefully or by force. A terminus ante 

quern is provided by the agreement of the ancient sources that in 421/0 BC the 

Samnite Campani attacked Curnae with a strong army. 349 The city was looted, the 

citizens were reduced into slavery, and many were killed. 

The use of the word Cainpanus in Greek and Latin sources is complex. First, 

the substantive (and hence adjective) Campanus in the overwhelming majority of the 

ancient sources refers to the inhabitants of the city of Capua and its civic territory, 

the ager Campanus. 350 Other cities of the region, Naples, Nola and Nuceria, were 

independent communities and the substantive did not apply to them. There is a strong 

relation between the name of Capua and the substantive Campanus: coins struck 

between 415 and 405 BC show the legends KAMIIANO, KAIIIIANOE, 

KAIIIIANOI and KAMIIANOE, while those minted during the Second Punic War 

346 

Diod. Sic. 12.31.1. 

347 

Livy 4.37.1. 

348 

Dion. Hal. 15.3.4. 

349 

Livy 4.44.12; Dion. Hal. 12.76.4. 

350 Livy 7.30.6: `We Campanians, ..., are inferior neither in the splendour of our city, nor yet in the 

fertility of our soil, to any people.. '; 7.30.19,7.31.11; and numerous other examples, Vell. Pat. 1.1. 

14. and Val. Max. 5.1.5. The passage in Diod. Sic. (12.31.1, studied later) which mentions the 

foundation of the `Campani nation' clearly refers to the city of Capua.. Strabo also uses the ethnic in 

the same way: Strabo 5.4.13. For a similar argument see Rutter (1971) 55-61, especially 59-61. 

102

show KAI-IV . 351 Furthermore, the ethnic also appears as kapu in Oscan inscriptions 

dating from the third century BC. 352 Capua was perhaps originally called Campua, 

which might have rapidly changed in Greek and Oscan to Capua. Second, the 

Cainpani appear in the accounts of the Latin, Samnite and Hannibalic wars, possibly 

to denote the army of a population larger than that of the civic territory of the city of 

Capua, perhaps members of a military alliance. Third, the name Campania appears in 

Greek and Roman writers from the second century BC to denote the geographical 

region, including coastal as well as inland cities. 353 

Apart from Capua, several other Campanian communities minted coins in the 

period between 420 and 380 BC. The following ethnics appear on coins: Cumae, 

Neapolis, Hyria, Nola, Fistelia, Allifae and Fenserni. Cumae, Neapolis, Nola, Capua 

and Allifae were independent urban-based communities, but the locations of Hyria, 

Fistelia and the Fenserni are unknown. The vast majority of the coins of these 

communities bear a man-faced bull as reverse type with wide variations of themes on 

their obverses. Rutter established die-transferences between the coins of Capua and 

those of Cumae and Neapolis, which were two well-known centres of minting during 

the fifth century BC. 354 Rutter argued that the Samnite occupation of Cumae resulted 

in the decrease of its coin output and later probably the transferral of its mint to 

Naples around 420 BC, as changes in the Neapolitan iconography of that period 

suggest. 355 It is therefore probable that the coins were minted at Naples for Capua. 

Rutter also found that the Capuan coinage shared dies with most of the coins of other 

351 

Frederiksen (1984) 138; Rutter (2001) nr. 476-8 and 479-510. 

352 

ST Cp 33,34 and 35. They will be studied in section 3.3. 

353 Diod. Sic. 16.90.2 or Livy 8.1.9 just to mention a few. 

354 Rutter (1979) 82. 

355 

Rutter (1979) 96. 

103

Campanian issues as well, thus suggesting that the coins of all the above-mentioned 

communities might have been minted at Naples. 356 

3.2.3. The coming of Rome 

Roman intervention led to changes in Capua's political position from the mid- 

fourth century to 211 BC. The ager Campanus was gradually divided and eventually 

came under Rome's control. The Campani appear as the initial cause of the 

hostilities between Rome and the Samnites conventionally called the Samnite Wars. 

Livy claims that the Romans accepted a deditio (surrender) from the Capuans in 343 

BC, when they asked for help against incursions by their kinsmen, the Samnites of 

the highlands. 357 

This act of deditio has long been debated and no consensus has been 

reached. Deditio means the handing over of the land, properties and inhabitants of a 

city, usually after a military defeat. Several scholars have rejected the idea of a total 

and unconditional surrender of Capua to Rome, and argue that the two cities must 

have committed themselves only to a foedus (alliance) in 343 BC. 358 Frederiksen, 

however, defends the historicity of Capua's surrender. He argues that one should not 

regard the deditio as the ancient equivalent of unconditional surrender, but rather as a 

temporary act, whereby a city or population handed over the right to deal with its 

future to another, more powerful state. 

359 Frederiksen did not explicitly state whether 

the surrendering state would have been incorporated into the Roman state and its 

sovereignty extinguished, or whether it would have been left independent. He 

356 

Rutter (1979) 91-102. 

357 

Livy 7.31.1-4. 

358 

Beloch (1926) 369-72; Heurgon (1942) 171-77; Salmon (1967) 197. 

359 

Frederiksen (1984) 188. 

104

provides a long list of instances where cities or populations surrendered themselves 

and sought protection against military aggression, but this does not mean that deditio 

actually happened in Capua's case. First of all, as scholars have pointed out 

previously, such an act would be out of place in the flow of events: Capua allegedly 

made a deditio yet within two years was allied to the Latins against Rome in the 

Latin Wars. It is probable that Livy (or one or more earlier annalists) invented the 

deditio of Capua to defend Rome against accusations that it unlawfully attacked the 

Samnites, to whom it had been allied since 354 BC. Frederiksen also argues that the 

Capuans surrendered in order to compel Rome to defend them, because it was 

reluctant to accept their foedus. However, the Romans are said to have refused to 

accept the deditio of the Sidicini soon after, although their situation was identical to 

that of Capua. 360 They were attacked by the Samnites and sought Rome's help; 

instead, the Latins accepted the alliance of the Sidicini. I therefore agree with those 

who argue that Capua probably made an alliance with Rome rather than surrendered 

to it. 

The settlement after the Latin War constitutes a milestone in Roman foreign 

policy and had a big effect on relations between Capua and Rome. In 341 BC Capua 

joined the so-called rebels in the first part of the Latin War and the Romans were 

compelled to ask for Samnite help. However, the Capuan aristocracy, who provided 

the cavalry, refused to fight against Rome in the first part of the war. In the second 

part of the war Capua withdrew entirely. The peace settlement that followed 

stipulated that the ager Falernus was to be confiscated and distributed among the 

Roman plebs. 361 Sources mention two peace settlements: the first was drawn up 

following the surrender of the Latins and Campanians in 340 BC, the second in 338 

360 

Livy 8.2.5-7. 

361 

Livy 8.11.13. 

105

BC, after the final defeat of the Latins at Pedum. Both affected Capua. Livy says that 

1600 Campanian equites were granted Roman citizenship as a reward and their 

fellow citizens were compelled to pay a tax or levy (vectigal) to them. 362 Livy 

suggests that all the inhabitants of Capua were given Roman citizenship without 

suffrage in the second settlement 363 This is confirmed by other ancient sources and 

is accepted by historians, although the earlier reward to the 1600 cavalrymen has 

caused debates among scholars. 364 The end of the Latin Wars left Capua with a blend 

of obligations to and benefits from Rome: it became a socius of Rome, lost some of 

its lands and was obliged to provide Rome with soldiers. The citizenship without a 

vote, however, allowed the right of commerce and intermarriage with Romans, while 

the political and legal institutions of Capua were maintained and permitted to 

function. 

The last important change in Capua's position occurred at the end of the Second 

Punic War. After the battle of Cannae, in 216 BC, Capua joined Hannibal's side, 

because they thought Hannibal could win and in order to evade its growing military 

obligation towards Rome 365 

It is now accepted that a second phase of the Capuan coinage can be linked to this 

period. 366 Numerous bronze and some gold and silver coins 

have been found bearing 

the legend KAPV, clearly referring to Capua. The cities of Atella and Calatia also 

362 Livy mentions that the grant of citizenship and the regular payment to the equites were recorded on 

a bronze tablet placed in the Temple of Castor and Pollux, protectors of cavalrymen, in the Forum 

Romanum: Livy 8.11.16. 

363 Livy S. 11.16; Livy 8.14.10. 

364 Frederiksen (1984) 191-8 points out that by the time of the Punic wars the equites had only the 

same rights as the rest of the Capuans and there is not further mention of the vectigal. Frederiksen 

therefore concludes that the 1600 cavalrymen were honoured with personal grants of citizenship and a 

one-off gift. Sherwin-White (1973) 40 raises that possibility that they were granted the right to Roman 

citizenship by migrating to Rome. 

365 Livy 23.7.1-2. 

366 Rutter (2001) nr. 479-510. 

106

produced large amounts of coin, which, on the basis of iconographic similarities, 

have been dated to the same period. 367 Crawford notes that most of these coins were 

overstruck Roman coins. 368 These cities, Crawford argues, having been granted 

citizenship without suffrage, were part of the Roman state, making it unlikely that 

they could have overstruck Roman coins before their revolt. 

The city surrendered to Rome after a long siege in 211 BC, and was punished 

by the loss of its independence. The appointment of praefecti for Capua, resident 

Roman officials, began in 318 BC, according to Livy, as part of the terms imposed 

on Capua by the praetor L. Furius. Roman intervention, Livy says, was requested by 

the Capuans themselves at a time of internal discord as a remedy for their 

'disease'. 369 Festus gives a list of ten praefecturae which were established in 

Campania but there is no indication of their date. 370 Sartori has argued that in 318 BC 

four officers were sent to Capua, whose authority was later extended to Cumae and 

soon after to other communities. They were appointed regularly to 211 BC. Their 

function was to dispense justice among the Roman citizens of the Falerna tribus. 371 

Capua was allowed to maintain its own Oscan institutions. Sartori suggested that 

what Festus refers to is the establishment of ten praefecturae in Campania in 211 

BC. In Capua, this office took over civic administration after the abolition of its own 

institutions. Sherwin-White and Frederiksen, however, did not accept this 

reconstruction of events. 72 Both argued that Livy does not imply that praefecti were 

sent out regularly from 318 BC, but that they were a short-term appointment to 

367 Crawford (1985) 62-5. 

368 For overstrikes see Crawford (1985) appendix D 336-7 and Crawford (1974)105. 

369 Livy 9.20.5. 

370 Festus (L. 262) Capua, Cuma, Casilinum, Voltumum, Liternum, Puteoli, Acerrae, Suessula, Atella 

and Calatium. 

371 Sartori (1953) 165-7 1. See previous bibliography. 

107

supervise the introduction of new regulations following the acceptance of the city 

into civitas sine suffragio. 373 Sherwin-White also pointed out that our sources do not 

attest Roman interference in Capuan internal affairs. Both scholars agreed that the 

passage in Festus refers to the completely new situation after 211 BC, when four 

praefecti were sent out from Rome every year, who were elected officials numbered 

among minor Roman officers. A passage in Velleius Paterculus seems to confirm 

this. 374 The importance of the praefectura in Capua withered with the Social War, 

especially with the establishment of a Roman colony at Capua after Caesar's 

legislation of 59 BC. Perhaps after this date the title became honorific, until its 

abolition in 13 BC. 375 

3.2.4. Territory 

It seems that Capua was a leading city in the region already before the 

Samnite conquest, but it is impossible to determine how large its territory was. 

Roman and Greek sources imply that before the Samnite Wars the civic territory of 

Capua included the ager Falernus as far as Mons Massicus and the ager Stellas as far 

as the lands that belonged to Cales on the east side of the river Voltumus, which 

constituted the border between Cales and Capua (see map III). On the west side of 

the river the large plain, called the ager Campanus in Latin, formed the core of the 

city's territory. The limits of this land can be fixed with fair precision. With the 

372 

Frederiksen (1984) 228-9, Sherwin-White (1973) 43-5. 

373 

The view, which probably derives from De Sanctis, that the activities of praefecti sent to Capua in 

318 BC were extended also to Cumae, looks mysterious. I could find no literary evidence to support 

this argument. 

374 Vell. Pat. 2.44.4. 

375 Cass. Dio 54.26.7. 

108

apidly diminishing power of Cumae during the fifth century BC, Capua took over 

most of the lands south of the river Clanius as far as the sea. The sanctuary of 

Hamae, mentioned by Livy under 215 BC as being situated three miles 

from Cumae, 

probably lay on the border between the land of Cumae and that of Capua. 376 The 

ager Phlegreus was the most fertile part of the ager Campanus and also included 

Mons Gaurus. 377 The Roman consuls later demarcated it by two military roads 

leading from Cumae and Puteoli to Capua. The Colles Leucogaei formed the 

boundary between the land of Naples and the ager Campanus. Where the south- 

eastern border of the ager Campanus lay is not easy to say. By the mid-fourth 

century Calatia, Suessula, Acerrae and Cales seem to have become independent with 

their own territories. These communities grew perhaps on the edge of the ager 

Campanus to guard routes leading south of Capua and towards the interior of the 

peninsula. Atella emerges as a separate settlement before the late fourth century, but 

the extent of its land is still disputed. To the north, the sanctuary of Diana Tifatina, 

Capua's main extraurban sanctuary, was provided with lands for its maintenance, 

which naturally were part of the ager Campanus. The sanctuary, situated on the 

Mons of Tifata, which in itself constituted a natural northern border to the territory of 

Capua, was probably built near the border of the territories of Capua and Caiatia. 

The Romans first annexed part of the ager Campanus by detaching the ager 

Falernus after the Latin Wars in 340 BC, when it was distributed among the plebs, 

probably by viritane allocation (see map IV). 378 The protection of the territory was 

entrusted to the Roman colony established near Cales, where 2500 colonists were 

376 Livy 23.35. Frederiksen (1984) 37 identifies it with today's Torre S. Severino, close to the ancient 

Liternum. 

377 Pliny NH 18.111. suggests that the agri Leborini were called the Phlegraean fields by the Greeks. 

378 Livy 8.11.13-4. Taylor (1960) 56. 

109

settled in 334 BC. 379 But the Falerna voting tribe was established only in 318 BC. 

Guadagno suggested that the date Livy gives for annexation of the ager Falernus is 

too early because the area was isolated and exposed. 380 The colony of Fregellae was 

established to guard the inland route from Rome in 328 BC, but it was soon captured 

by the Samnites. The coastal routes were secured by the colony of Anxur founded in 

329 BC, Fundi and Forniae around 327 BC, and Suessa Aurunca in 313 BC. The via 

Appia was laid out as far as Formiae by 312, and the foundation of the colonies of 

Minturnae and Sinuessa in 295 BC was probably related to the continuation of the 

road as far as Capua. The centuriation of the ager Falernus is determined by the 

route of the via Appia, sb it cannot have taken place before the last decade of the 

fourth century BC. 381 These reasons suggest that the division of the ager Falernus 

occurred probably later than Livy says it did. Perhaps even the creation of the 

Falerna voting tribe needs to be downdated until after the centuriation of the land. 

The ager Stellas, to the east of the ager Falernus, remained part of the ager 

Campanus. 382 The centuriation of the ager of Cales was clearly posterior to the 

building of the via Latina and the extension of the via Appia as far as Capua. These 

roads determined the aligment of the centuriation of this territory. 

Recent studies have examined relations between drainage systems, centuriation 

and land management of the ager Campanus, which was subject to flooding. 383 

Considerable parts of it were marshy and unable to be cultivated in antiquity, 

especially along the river Clanius. The coastline was scattered with lagoons and the 

neighbourhood around Literrum was infamous for its marshland. 384 The campi 

379 

Livy 9.20.6. 

380 Guadagno (1987) 17-18. 

381 Guadagno (1987) 18-24. 

382 Livy 9.44.5 mentioned Samnite incursions 'in campum Stellatem agri Campani' in 305 BC. 

383 Monaco (2002) 87-123. 

384 Livy 22.16.4, Val. Max. 5.3.2, Sil. Ital. 8.530-1. 

110

Leborini show signs of canalization, while the `Greek ditch' was a canal, and there 

were also canals to channel water to Lake Licola from the nearby plain. Most of the 

ager Falernus, especially near the rivers Savus and Voltumus, was uncultivable due 

to excess water. The centuriation of the ager Falerzus was closely related to the 

drainage of its wetlands, because the canals that lead water to the river Savus run 

along the lines of the centuriation. That the ager Falernus was not extensively 

cultivated before its Roman occupation is suggested by its lack of any urban centre 

prior to the Roman foundation of Forum Popilii by the consul of 316 BC or, more 

likely, the consul of 132 BC, who also built the road from Capua to Rhegium, the via 

Popilia. 385 

After Capua's surrender to Rome in 211 BC, the Roman senate decided that the 

ager Campanus should be made ager publicus populi Romani, and that the 

inhabitants should be enslaved, although in the end only some were. 386 

To raise some 

revenue from the territory, the proconsul Q. Fulvius Flaccus leased out some lands 

for a tithe of the crop in 210 BC. 387 

In 209 BC the senate and the people voted to let 

the censors lease out the ager Campanus on longer contracts. 388 

In 205 BC, the lands 

between the `Greek ditch' and the sea were sold by the quaestores to provide funds 

for the wars against 

Carthage; 389 

the lands around the sanctuary of Diana Tifatina 

were sold in 199 BC. 390 However, it seems that many Campanians remained in 

possession of their farms, partly, perhaps, to maintain production of grain for 

Rome. 391 Three small colonies were founded on the coast, those of Volturnum, 

aas Guadagno (1987) 29. 

386 Livy 26.16.7,26.34.2- 13 and Vell. Pat. 2.44.4. For general discussion see Rathbone (2003). 

387 Livy 27.3. I. 

388 Livy 27.11.8. 

389 Livy 28.46.4-6. 

390 Livy 32.7.3. 

391 Livy 28. and Cic. De Leg. Agr. 2.31.84. 

111

Litemum and Puteoli in 194 BC; 392 the lands for Volturnum and Liternum were 

carved out of the ager Campanus. 

It seems, however, that first serious attempt to implement the scheme of 211 and 

209 BC was only made in 173 BC, when the consul L. Postumius demarcated ager 

publicus from private land, because much public land had fallen into private 

hands. 393 Rathbone argues that Postumius laid out the centuriation grid of 200-iugera 

blocks, which was re-used by the Gracchan land-commissioners, and is still visible in 

Campania 394 Although the censors were able to lease out some lands in the 

following year, in 165 BC the senate had to instruct the praetor P. Lentulus to buy 

back public land voluntarily from its occupiers. 395 Lentulus acquired 50,000 iugera 

and had a bronze map drawn up of the land divisions, which was placed in the 

Atrium Libertatis, thus creating the first Roman public record of a land division. 

These divisions of the ager Campanus, with slight amendments by the Gracchi and 

Sulla, were altered only by Caesar, who distributed most of it among poor citizens, 

thereby making the land private property. The process of privatisation was completed 

by the veteran settlements of Caesar and Octavian. 396 

3.2.5. Campanian magistrates and assemblies in Roman literary sources 

392 The foundation (Livy 34.45.1) was carried out as it was previously agreed, mentions Livy 32.29. 

3-4. Frederiksen argues that the foundation of these colonies meant their withdrawal from the ten 

praefecturae: Frederiksen (1984) 269. Frederiksen (1984) 270 also thinks it possible that the old 

inhabitants of Puteoli were retained in the praefectura, while the colonists were subject to the 

jurisdiction of the duoviri of the colony. 

393 

Livy 42.1.6. 

394 

Rathbone (2003) 156. 

395 Cic. De Leg. Agr. 2.30.82 and Gran. Licin 28.29-37 (Teubner) 

396 Rathbone (2003) 156. 

112

This section attempts to draw a picture of the political institutions of Capua on the 

basis of the literary evidence. The next section brings in the epigraphic evidence. 

The arrival of the Samnites ended the old political system at Capua associated 

with the Etruscans. The Samnites brought their own administrative institutions with 

them, but adjusted them to the reality that Capua was an urbanized settlement and 

centre of a large territory before their arrival. The city's territory was scattered with 

small villages and farmsteads, occasionally documented by archaeology, which did 

not grow large enough to become independent centres themselves and therefore were 

under the administrative system of Capua. Capua became a socius of Rome after the 

Latin Wars, but was allowed to govern itself according to its own customs and laws. 

Livy clearly identifies the nzeddix tuticus as the suinmus magistratus, the leading 

office, of the Campani. 397 Elsewhere he mentions the office of the praetor 

Campanus, by which, as the context shows, he again means the meddix tuticus 398 

In 

an unclear passage in the context of the Second Punic war, Ennius says that summus 

ibi capitur rneddix occiditur alter. 399 This prompted scholars to argue that the office 

of the ineddix tuticus was collegial 40° Skutsch, however, pointed out that the word 

alter in Latin could mean not only 'other' but a 'second one, another. In that case, 

the meddix tuticus, the single summus magistratus, would have had at least one lower 

meddix subordinate to him. This is compatible with the passage in Festus 'ineddix 

apud Oscos nomen magistratus est' 402 A qualifying adjective would specify his rank 

and authority. The use of the title meddix in the probably second century BC Tabula 

397 Livy 23.35.13; 24.19.2; 26.6.13. 

398 Livy 23.7.8. 

399 Ennius Ann. 8.289. 

400 See Chapter 1.2 History of scholarship 

401 Skutsch (1986) 467-468. 

402 Festur p. 110.19. L 

113

Bantina, an Oscan constitution, is similar. It meant `magistrate' in general, but it 

must be pointed out that this text draws on the Roman practice. 403 

Occasional references suggest that the office of meddix tuticus was annual: Cn. 

Magius Atellanus, qui in eo anno meddix tuticus Brat; 404 medix tuticus, qui summus 

magistratus apud Campanos est, eo anno Seppius Loesius erat. 405 Sources mention 

only one Campanian meddix luticus at a time, which supports that idea that the office 

was single. It is therefore possible to reconstruct the fasti of Campanian meddices 

tutici for a few years during the Second Punic War: 

217 BC: Pacuvius Calavius (summus magistratus) 406 

216 BC: Marius Blossius (praetor Campanus)407 

215 BC: Marius Alfius (meddix tuticus, summus magistratus)408 

214 BC: Cn. Magius Atellanus (meddix tuticus)409 

211 BC: Seppius Loesius (meddix tuticus)410 

The practice of using the names of the chief magistrates to denote the year was 

standard practice in the non-monarchic states of the Greco-Roman world. 

Personal names that occur in sources relating to Capua can also help. The 

cognomina of Cn. Magius Atellanus and Vestia Oppia Atellana indicate that they 

were from Atella. 41 1 The fact that someone from Atella could become meddix tuticus 

of Capua can be explained in several ways. The most popular is that Atella was part 

of the so-called Capuan league. 412 Alternatively, Frederiksen suggested that Magius 

403 ST Lu 1, Crawford (1996) 271-292, no. 13. 

404 Livy 24.19.2. 

405 Livy 26.6.13. 

406 Livy 23.2.3. 

407 Livy 23.7.8. 

408 Livy 23.35.17. 

409 Livy 24.19.2. 

410 Livy 26.6.13. 

411 Vestia Oppia Atellana: Livy 26.33.8. 

412 Frederiksen (1984) 141. 

114

had been granted Capuan citizenship. His family had probably migrated from Atella 

and the name of that settlement was preserved in their cognomen. 

Little is said about the functions of the rneddices tutici. They mostly appear as 

leaders of the anny. However, on one occasion Marius Blossius appears in a political 

role, when he summoned the popular assembly of Capua. 413 The accounts of the 

revolt of Capua from Rome in 216 BC give us an insight into the workings of the 

internal politics in the city. 414 Livy mentions that Capua had a senatus. 

415 It seems to 

have been common practice among Oscan speaking communities, at least later, to 

borrow the Latin term for their leading council as is shown by other examples from 

Southern Italy. 416 Frederiksen has argued that a passage in Livy describing the 

political crisis at Capua following the battle of Cannae suggests that the members of 

the senate were elected. 417 Livy says that the populace wanted to join Hannibal's 

side, kill the members of the senate and give the power to an ex-meddix tuticus, 

Pacuvius Calavius. Calavius solved the crisis by proposing that the people should 

decide whether each member was worthy of belonging to the senate. Since the 

people could not find better members than the old ones, the senate remained in place. 

All sides were satisfied with the result. Later Calavius was the leader of the faction 

that made Capua join the Carthaginians. 418 The Capuan leading classes were loyal to 

the Romans because of intermarriage and other connections, while the people were 

keen to revolt, especially since Hannibal was already in the region. Similar events are 

recorded in other cities and towns of Southern Italy. The credibility of the passage is 

413 Livy 23.7.9. 

414 Livy 23.2-10. 

4I5 Livy 23.2.2. 

416 ST Sa 9 (Pietrabbondante) ST Cml A8, B9 (Nola and Abella). 

417 Frederisksen (1984) 141. Livy 23.2-10. 

418 Livy 23.8.3. 

115

undermined, however, by several factors: apart from the copious imaginative 

speeches, the text is laden with Livy's political prejudices towards Capua and 

Calavius. Several members of the gens Calavia, as will be discussed later, were noted 

for their anti-Roman behaviour. Whatever its historicity, this passage illustrates 

actions taken in a time of political crisis rather than general practice 

in Capua. 

Another passage suggests that membership of the senate depended on wealth and 

birth 419 It is plausible that it included the ex-meddices tutici and other ex-magistrates 

as well. For what it is worth, no other ancient source suggests that the membership of 

this council was not for life. 

Ancient sources imply that Capua had a popular assembly. Two references in 

Livy suggest that the assembly was summoned by the meddix tuticus. 420 Cicero refers 

to the consilium commune, dissolved by the Romans after the Second Punic War, 

probably meaning the popular assembly rather than the senate. 21 Diodorus Siculus 

mentions that the decision to side with Hannibal was taken in the ExxAgQia 

KOIVTj 422 

It is possible that Hannibal's presence in Southern Italy triggered democratic 

movements in some cities. In 211 BC, Seppius Loesius, a citizen of humble birth and 

little fortune, obtained the office of meddix tuticus, 423 Livy says that, in the city 

stricken by hunger and war, those who were eligible for office by birth refused to run 

for it. This also indicates that the office of the meddix tuticus was chosen by popular 

election at least by the late third century BC. 

419 

Livy 23 3.11. 

420 Livy 23.3.1 (Pacuvius Calavius ex meddix tuticus) and 23.7.9 (Marius Blossius praetor 

Campanus). 

421 Cic. De leg. Agr. 1.19: Ìn Capua, our ancestors abolished the magistates, the senate, the popular 

assembly (consilium commune) and all the marks of the republic, leaving nothing else in the city 

except the empty name of Capua. ' 

422 Diod. Sic. 26.10. 

423 Livy 26.6.13 loco obscuro tenuiquefortuna ortus 

116

The descriptions of the political institutions of Capua in ancient sources, 

particularly those of the senate and the popular assembly, seem to suggest that they 

were concerned with the affairs of the city of Capua rather than of a federation of 

communities. 

3.3. Administrative institutions in the epigraphic evidence 

The aim of this section is to see how the epigraphic evidence complements or alters 

the general picture of the ancient literary sources about the administrative institutions 

of Capua in the independent Samnite period of the city. 

The only Oscan inscriptions of Capua come from a funerary context. They are 

traditionally called iüvilas inscriptions after the word that occurs in most of them. 

The inscriptions are dedications on behalf of individuals or genres, and advertise or 

record sacrifices held during certain public or private holidays. Most of the 

inscriptions come from the necropolis of fondo Patturelli, an estate outside the 

eastern gate of Capua, south of the Appian way. 424 A smaller number seem to have 

been found at a different location, fondo Tirone 425 This is another estate north of 

Capua where it is thought there was another necropolis and a sanctuary. The 

typology of the inscriptions from the fondo Tirone is the same as those of the fondo 

Patturelli, but owing to the unclear circumstances of the discovery of the inscriptions 

it is doubtful whether they came from the fondo Tirone at all 426 

424 

The owner of this land, Carlo Patturelli, discovered traces of an ancient sanctuary by chance in 

1845. A monumental altar and a substantial body of tufa statues, terracotta antefixes and statues, 

inscriptions etc. were found. Excavations began in 1873, but were not well documented, and most of 

the finds were lost or destroyed. It soon became clear that the sanctuary was surrounded by several 

altars and that it stood at the centre of a necropolis. This site is known as the fondo Patturelli, but no 

traces of the necropolis and the sanctuary are visible today. 

425 ST Cp 20, ST Cp 21, ST Cp 22, ST Cp 23, and ST Cp 24, 

426 1 am grateful for this piece of information to Prof. Crawford (see his forthcoming article). 

117

We have twenty-six iüvilas inscriptions altogether, sixteen of which are made 

of terracotta, ten of tufa. 427 It is believed that the tufa inscriptions are more recent 

than the terracotta ones. Conway, on the basis of phonetic and morphological 

differences and changes in the forms of letters, divided the inscriptions into three 

chronological groups. He compared these groups to the forms of letters on legends of 

coins minted for Capua, Atella and Calatia, apparently between 268 and 

211 BC. 

Thus Conway argued that the earliest group of inscriptions was inscribed well before 

268 BC, probably in the second half of the fourth century BC, the second group not 

long before 268, and the most recent group soon after this date, in the second half of 

the third century BC. Buck argued that the earliest inscriptions, the ones which lack 

the i and ü, were inscribed at the end of the fourth century BC, while most of the 

inscriptions come from the third century BC428. Heurgon and Franchi de Bellis 

accepted Conway's groups, with slight corrections, and although they found it 

difficult to date the groups, they made no drastic changes to Conway's absolute 

chronology. 429 The inscriptions can be therefore divided into the following 

chronological groups: 

430 

1. second part of fourth century BC: ST Cp 8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16, 

17,19. 

2. end of fourth century, beginning of third century BC: ST Cp 18,20,21,22, 

23,26,35. 

3. Third century: ST Cp 24,25,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34. 

427 

Terracotta ones: ST Cp 8-25, tufa ones are: ST Cp 27-35. 

428 

Buck (1904) 247. 

429 Heurgon (1942a) 39-46 cites more recent studies, which suggest that the Capua, Atella and Calatia 

minted coins probably only after they revolted from Rome, between 216 and 211, which makes it 

difficult to date Conway's groups. Heurgon argued that the forms of letters of the oldest inscriptions 

resemble coins minted by Fistelia from the first half of the fourth century. On some of the terracotta 

tiles by the side of the text female heads were stamped. Heurgon points out the similarities between 

these heads and antefixes from the mid-fourth century BC. 

430 

Franchi de Bellis (1981) 28. 

118

The meaning of the word iüvilas is disputed. A commonly accepted view is that the 

term is etymologically related to Jupiter. Both words derive from the common Indo- 

European stem dien-. The form diüvila appears in the terracotta inscriptions, thought 

to be older; the word iüvila is used in the later texts on tufa. h vilas inscriptions were 

set up for one person or several members of the same gens, and in one case a iirvila 

was put up for Jupiter Flagius 431 Inscriptions occasionally refer to their location: by 

the gates, in the (sacred) grove, in the vicinity, which suggests that the izivilas was a 

separate object and not the inscription itself. 432 Bücheler believed that they were `res 

ad lovem pertinentes', while Altheim went further in suggesting that they were 

images of Jupiter on stelae, like those of Zeus Meilichios at the sanctuary of 

Selinunte. 433 Heurgon argued that they were votive statues and Pisani thought that 

they were altars 434 Franchi de Bellis considered them to have been little columns or 

stelae. 435 

The inscriptions on terracotta form a coherent group. The texts were often 

inscribed on both sides of the stelae, and on all the inscriptions which survive 

complete figures appear next to the texts: a head of female divinity, one or more 

cakes and a boar. One of the terracotta inscriptions mentions a magistrate, ST Cp 24; 

I will return to the others in section 3.4. on the elite families of Capua, with the one 

tufa inscription, ST Cp 26, which does not mention a magistrate. 

The following ten iüvilas inscriptions, all but one tufa, mention magistrates of 

Capua: ST Cp 24,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34, and 35. Their content follows the 

431 

ST Cp 25. 

432 

ST Cp 24 and 35. 

433 

Bücheler (1874) 609 and Altheim (1931) 64. 

434 

Heurgon (1942a) 47-53 and Pisani (1953) 74. 

119

same structure: the name or names of the beneficiary or beneficiaries of the sacrifice, 

the date or holiday during which the celebration was or will be held, and a reference 

to the presence or office of a magistrate. 

Four inscriptions do not give the name of the official, only his title: 

1. ST Cp 31, Ve 86, Co 113, Bu 29, Pi 25a, FdB 20, He 16. 

üpil(eis). vi(bieis). pak(ieis) 2tantrnnaiüm 3iüvilas. sakran4nas. eidüis. ma 

5merttiais pün 6meddis. [k]apv(ans). ad 7fust iüvi, (1)ass. ne 8ssimas staef 

9fu(fe)d sakriss. sa1°krafir avt 11Wtiumam ker12ssnais 

The iiuvilas of Opillius, Vibius, (and) Paccius Tanterneus must be dedicated at 

the Ides of Mamers. When the meddix Campanus is present, he should set up 

the iüvilas sacrifices [to be sacrificed] with animal offerings, but the last one 

with cereals. 

2. ST Cp 32, Ve 87, Co 114, Bu 30, Pi 25 b, FdB 21, He 17. 

üpil(eis). vi(bieis). pak(ieis). 2tantrnnaiüm 3iüvil(ü). sakrann(ü) 4pümperiais 

5sä11---ais 6pün. medd(iküm). pis 7num, 

(nud) verehi(as) 8(ad)fust. sakrid 

9sakrafir 

The iüvila of Opilius, Vibius, (and) Pacius Tanterneus must be dedicated 

during the solemn (? ) pomperiae. When any of the meddices will be present 

representing the vereiia, (the iüvila) is to be sacrificed with animal offerings. 

435 


120

3. ST Cp 33, Ve 88 A, Co 117a, Bu 31a, FdB 17B, He 22a. On the same stone as ST 

Cp 34. 

[- ?- sakra]itir 2kas[it. damsen]n 3 

ias. pas. filet 4püstrei. iüklei 5vehiianasüm 

6avt. sakrim 7fakiiad kasit 8medik(u)d436 tüvtik(ud) 9kapv(anud)437. 

adpüd 

'°fiiet 

Feast tables must to be offered, (which are) on the day after the vehianae, but 

animal sacrifice is needed. In the presence of the meddix tuticus Campanus, 

as long as they last ?. 

3. ST Cp 35, Ve 91, Co 119, FdB 15, He Suppl. 29. 

eka(s): tris 111 2med(ikud) kapva(nud) 3sakra(tas): [f]ufe(ns) 4e[k]a(s): [- 

]miia(i): 5n[e] ssimas: 

These three III (iüvilas? ). There were? animal sacrifices in the presence of the 

meddix tuticus. These [... ] next. 

One inscription mentions two magistrates, naming only one of them: 

5. ST Cp 34, Ve 88B, Co 117, Bu 31b, FdB 17A, He 22b. On the same stone as ST 

Cp 33. 

[ekas iüvilas tr 21s] pak(ieis) [hele]vii(eis) 3pak(ieis) medik(u)d 4tüvtik(ud) 

kapv(anud) 5sakraitir kasit 6damssennias 7pas. filet. püstr(ei) 8iüklei 

vehiian(asüm) 9medik(kiai). mi(nieis). nive(llieis) 1°kersnajs]ias 

436 

The reading of the final letter in medik(u)d is ambiguous: Rix reads it as medik(u)d and this 

prompted him to complement the rest of the title to the ablative case. Vetter, however, reads the word 

medikk and completed the rest of the title as nominative case. 

437 The emendation of the office is uncertain: Rix completes it to the ablative case, Vetter, however, 

suggest that it was a nominative case. 

121

[These three are the iüvilas] of Pacius Helvius son of Pacius. In the presence? 

of the meddix tuticus Campanus feast tables must be offered, which are 

(prepared) on the day after the vehianae, when Minius Nivellius was meddix, 

with cereal offerings. 

In the remaining five inscriptions the officials are named: 

6. ST Cp 24, Ve 81, Co 109, Bu 26, Pi 24, FdB 24, He 13d 

tr(ebieis). virriieis. ken2ssurineis. ekas 3iüvilas. 

tris. eh4peilatasset. ve5sulliais. 

fertalis 

6staflatas set 7mi(nieis). blüssii(eis). mi(nieis). m(eddikkiai). t(üvtikai) 

8nessimas. 

staiet 9veruis. lAvkei 

These three iüvilas of Trebius Virrius Censorinus were set up the vesulliae 

fertaliae, they were erected when Minius Blossius son of Minius was meddix 

tuticus. They are standing by the gates, in the (sacred) grove. 

7. ST Cp 27, Ve 82, Co 106, Bu 32, FdB 18, He 20. 

sepis Zhelevi(is) 3pümpe(riais) 4faler(niias) Siüvil(ü). de(kieis) 6virriieis 

7medikiai 

(This is the iüvila) of Seppius Helvius. During the pumperiae falerniae. This 

iüvilas (was made) when Decius Virrius was meddix. 

8. ST Cp 28, Ve 83, Co 107, Bu 33, FdB 19, He 21. 

esepieis. 2heleviie 3is. süm bmi(nieis). anni Zieff(s). medik3kiai. tüv(tikai) 

4iüvilam 5prüf(a)t(ten)s 6pümperia(s) 7falernaia(s) 

122

I am of Seppius Helvius. They approved the iüvila when Minius Annius was 

meddix tuticus. During the pomperiae falerniae. 

9. ST Cp 29, Ve 84, Co 115, Bu 27, Pi 26 A, FdB 23, He 18. 

ek(ük). iiivil(ii). sp(urieis) ka21üvieis. inim 3fratrdm. müi 4nik(it). est. fiisiais. 

5pümperiais. pra 6i. mamerttiais. . 7pas. set. kerssn8asias. 1(üvkeis). pettiei9s. 

meddikiai 

' °fufens. 

This is the common iüvila of Spurius Calvius and his brothers. During the 

pumperiae feasts, which are (held) before (the month of) Mamers. The cereal 

offerings took place when Lucius Pettius was meddix. 

10. ST Cp 30, Ve 85, Co 116, Bu 28, Pi 26 B, FdB 22, He 19. 

[ek(iik)]. i[nvi]1(ü)[. sp(urieis). ] 2kalüvieis. ini 3m. fratrüm 4müinik(ü). est. 

5fiisiais. püm 6periais. pas. pr. 7 ai. mamerttia 8is. set. sakrasia 9s. 1(ükieis). 

pettieis. me10ddikkiai 

fuf 'lens 

[This is the common iüvila of Spurius] Calavius and his brothers. During the 

pumperiae feasts, which are (held) before (the month of) Mamers. The animal 

sacrifice took place when Lucius Pettius was meddix. 

The first four inscriptions make it clear that the presence of a public officer was 

fundamental for a sacrifice to take place or to validate an offering. The official of the 

state therefore does not appear in these inscriptions to date the events, and this is why 

his name is omitted438. Where names of magistrates are given, they are in the 

genitive singular and the offices in the locative case: medikkiai is attested in the 

123

inscriptions ST Cp 27,29, and 30, and medikkiai tüvtikai in ST Cp 28 439 Buck 

suggests that the locative of the office should be translated as ìn the meddixship', 

which was used to date the inscriptions 440 Thus the three inscriptions, ST Cp 27,29 

and 30, would record celebrations while Decius Virrius and Lucius Pettius were the 

meddices and ST Cp 28 a feast while Minius Annius was the meddix tuticus. An 

alternative view, put forward by Franchi de Bellis that it should be translated as ìn 

the presence of, is not convincing 441 

Sartori and Campanile have argued that if both the title meddix and meddix 

tuticus were eponymous it would follow that the two were identical 442 The fact that 

in every case the name of only one office-holder appears seems to confirm this 

argument. Admittedly, the inscription ST Cp 34 says that ìn the presence of the 

meddix tuticus Cainpanus feast tables must be offered, which are (prepared) on the 

day after the vehianae, when Minius Nivellius was the meddix', which seems to 

distinguish the title of the meddix tuticus Campanus form that of the simple 

meddiz. 443 However, the simple meddiz probably stands for the office of meddix 

tuticus, but the qualifying adjective of the title is omitted. Epigraphic and literary 

evidence therefore agree that the office of the meddix tuticus was single, annual and 

eponymous. 

438 The arguments of Franchi de Bellis (1981) 67-74 are convincing. 

439 In inscription ST Cp 34 the office appearing at the end of the inscription is emended to 

medik(kiai), in ST Cp 24 to m(eddikkiai). t(üvtikai). 

440 

Buck (1974) 200. 

441 

Franchi de-Bellis (1981) 194. 

442 See Sartori (1959) 20-1. Campanile-Letta (1979) 20. 

443 Before Vetter it was thought that the office of meddix was followed by one word, minive, 

interpreted as an adjective, minor, linked to the office, which implied that the meddix tuticus had a 

colleague of lower rank. However Vetter pointed out minive is in fact two words: mi nive, which 

probably stand for the name of the meddix, Minius Nivellius. The interpretation of Franchi de Bellis 

(1981) 145 does not seem convincing. She accepts the previous reading of minive, but translates the 

word as `limitatamente', suggesting that the meddix tuticus Campanus assisted the whole banquet 

(adpüd filet = as long as they last, reference taken from the other side of the stone, ST Cp 33), while 

the presence of the meddix was `limited' only to the sacrifice with cereals. 

124

Inscriptions mention two types of sacrifices: the kerssnasia and the sakrasias. 

The first term refers to the offering of cereals, the latter to the bloody type of 

sacrifice called hostia by the Romans. It has been suggested that the former word 

refers to the cakes represented on the terracotta inscriptions, while the second word 

refers to the boar. 444 Meddices, meddices tutici and meddices tutici Campani appear 

at both types of sacrifices, so that the type of sacrifice does not determine the title of 

the magistrate, as the following table shows (it omits the inscriptions where the 

office appears for dating purposes). 

Kerssnasia Official Sakrasia Official 

ST Cp 31 meddix Campanus ST Cp 31 meddix Campanus 

ST Cp 32 meddix 

ST Cp 34 meddix tuticus Campanus 

ST Cp 35 meddix Campanus 

The sacrifices took place during public holidays, but the type of the holiday does not 

seem to require an official of a particular title: 

Holiday Reference Official 

eidüis mamerttiais ST Cp 31 meddix Campanus 

pümperiais süllem[n]ais ST Cp 32 meddix 

iüklei vehiianasüm ST Cp 33 meddix tuticus Campanus 

iüklei vehiian(asüm) ST Cp 34 meddix tuticus Campanus and 

444 


meddix 

125

The inscription ST Cp 32 suggests the existence of different meddices: it 

mentions the iüvilas of three members of the gens Tanternea, which must be held in 

the presence of àny meddix representing the vereia'. 445 The title of this meddix 

might be specified in order to distinguish him from the eponymous meddix/meddix 

tuticus. 

Campanile proposed that the ethnic Campanus, which often appears by the 

title, is omissible. 6 If the meddix Pompeianus and the quaestor Pompeianus 

referred to the magistrates of Pompeii, it would follow that the meddix Campanus 

and the meddix tuticus Campanus meant officials of Capua. He argued that the 

passage in Livy `Loesius, who complained that Capua had been abandoned and 

betrayed by its leading men, was the last of all the Campanians to receive their 

highest magistracy' makes sense if there was only one meddix tuticus for all the 

Campani and not both a meddix tuticus and meddix tuticus Campanus. 447 

Campanile's argument seems to be correct. It is, however, not possible to explain 

why the Campanus qualifying adjective appears only in cases where the name of the 

office-holder is omitted. 

The cognomen of the beneficiary of the longest terracotta inscription, that of 

Trebius Virrius Censorinus, suggests that he had held the office of censor. Given that 

the inscription dates from the third century BC, when Capua was allied to the 

Romans and was obliged to provide it with a number of soldiers, it is hardly 

surprising to find a censor in Capua to take a census of the citizens in order to 

establish their military obligations. 

aas ST Cp 32 medd(iküm). pis = meddicum quis. Scattered inscriptions link only the office of meddix 

to the institution of vereia, not that of the meddix tuticus: See section 4.2.1 

446 Campanile-Letts (1979) 23-4. 

447 

Livy 26.6.17. 

126

3.4. The elite families of Capua 

This section considers what the literary and epigraphic evidence tell us about the 

composition of elite at Capua, including to what extent it was a regional rather that 

just a civic elite. 

genres. 

First, the inscriptions on terracotta stelae tell us the names of individuals or 

ST Cp 8, Ve 74, Co 101, Bu 21, FdB 10, He 1. This stela 

is lost. 

diuvilam. tirentium 2magiium. sulum. muinikiam. 3fisiais. eiduis. luisarifs. 

°sakrvist. iiuk. destrst 

The iüvila common to all the Terentii Magii is dedicated during the festive 

Ides of the month of Loesar448. It is on the right449. 

ST Cp 9, Ve 75, Co 102, Bu 22, FdB 11, He 2. Next to the text: one loaf can be seen 

ek(uk). diuvil(u). 2upfaleis 3saidiieis 4sakruvi(s)t 5pustrei 6[diuklei] 7a[-5-7] 

8a[-5-7-] 9f1-5-7- 10 

-7- 

This is the iüvila of Offellus Saedius. The sacrifice is on the next 

[day] [.... ] 

ST Cp 10, Ve 76, Co 103, Bu 24 a, b, FdB 6, He 4. On one side: the head of female 

divinity (? ), on the other a boar. 

448 

For the name of the month see: He 1. 

°49 Heurgon (1942a) 61-3 identifies the fisiais with Latin feriae. 

127

ekluva[tiium] 2diuvia. 

[is] 3damu[senias] 

bkluvajtiium] 2damuse[nias] 3diuvia[is] 

Of the Clovatii, during the holiday of Jupiter. (There will be a) public 

banquet. 

Of the Clovatii, public banquet, during the holiday of Jupiter450 

ST Cp 11, Ve 77, Co 105, Bu 23, FdB 2, He 5. Head of 

epumperias. pustm[as] 2kluvatiium 

bpumperias pustmjas] 2kluvatiium 

'Of the Clovatii. The last pumperiae 

bOf the Clovatii. The last pumperiae45' 

female divinity (? ). 

ST Cp 12, Ve 78, Co 111, FdB 3, He 3. On one side a head of female divinity (? ) can 

be on the other side a boar 

eves[ulias -? -] 2kluv[atiium] 

bvesulias. aj-? -] 2kluvati[ium] 

The vesulliae. Of the Clovatii. 

The vesulliae. Of the Clovatii. 452 

ST Cp 13, Ve 79, Co 104, FdB 7, He 6. The stela is fragmentary 

seidu[is] 2mamjerttiais b-? -]S2 [-? -] akrid 

450 Franchi de Bellis (1981) 65-7 argues that the term damnuseias is related to the Greek word 

baµoOotvia meaning public banquet 

451 Pumperia seems to be monthly held holiday, probably related to the movements of the moon- for 

history of interpretations of this term see Franchi de Bellis (1981) 56-9. 

452 Heurgon(1942a) 78-80 argues that the vesullia was could have been the private feast of the gens 

Vesullia, which later became a general term for public holidays. Rix (1995) 355, however, suggests 

that the word Vesullia is the diminutive of the Umbrian Vesune. 

128

During the Ides of Maurers [... ] with the sacrifice of an animal. 

ST Cp 14, Ve 81a, Co 121, FdB 8, He 9. Next to the text a boar. 

ve[sullia(i)s -? -] 

During the vesulliae 

ST Cp 15, Ve 81b, Co 122, FdB 5, He 10. Next to the text three loaves 

fisjaniium] 2ftiisiais] 3deiv[inais] 

Of the Fisani. In the divine holidays(? ) 

ST Cp 16, Ve 81 c, Co 120, FdB 4, He 8. Next to the head of a female divinity 

ni[nium] 

2fiis[iais] 3vesu[liais] 

Of the Ninni. During the vesulliae-holidays. 

ST Cp 17, Ve 92a, Co 125, FdB 9, He p29 b. The stela 

[-? - sak]rid [--] 

With an animal 

is fragmentary. 

ST Cp 18, Ve 89, Co 118, FdB 14, He 11. On one side of the stela three loaves, on 

the other side a boar. 

aiuvilu[. -? ] 2sakrak[-? 

-] 3vehiia[nais] 

biuvilu. [? ] 2sakrid 

alovila [of gentilicium]. Sacrificed [... ] During the Veia festival. 

bIovila [of gentilicium] with an animal. 

129

ST Cp 19, Ve 93, Co 112, FdB 1, He 7. On one side a loaf (divided into 3 parts), on 

the other side boar. 

amina(teis): naseni(eis) 

bmina(teis): naseni(eis) 

'Of Minatus Nasennius 

bof Minatus Nasennius 

ST Cp 20, Ve 80, FdB 12y, He 14. On one side a head of female divinity (? ) can be 

seen by the text and a boar the other side 

viriium 2vesuliais 3deivinais 

Of the Virrii. During the divine vesulliae 

ST Cp 21, Ve 80, Co 110, FdB 12ß, SE 61 (1995) 354. 

viriium 2vesuliais 3deivinais 


ST Cp 22, Ve 80, SE 61 (1995) 354. 

viriium 

2vesuliais 3deivinais 


ST Cp 23, Ve 80, FdB 12 a. 

viriium 2vesuliaf is] 3deivinais 

Of the Virrii. During divine vesulliae 

ST Cp 24, Ve 81, Co 109, Bu 26, Pi 24, FdB 24, He 13d Now lost. 

130

tr(ebieis). virriieis. ken 2ssurineis. ekas 3iüvilas. tris. eh4peilatasset. ve5sulliais. 

fertalis 6staflatas set 7mi(nieis). blüssii(eis). mi(nieis). m(eddikkiai). t(üvtikai) 

8nessimas. 

staiet 9veruis. lüvkei 

These three iüvilas of Trebius Virrius Censorinus were set up in the vesulliae 

fertaliae (month). They were erected when Minius Blossius son of Minius 

was meddix tuticus. They are standing by the gates, in the grove. 

ST Cp 25, Ve 94, Co 108, Bu 25 a, b, Pi 23, FdB 16, He 12. On one side three 

loaves, on the other side a boar. 

aminieis. kaisillieis. minateis. ner(eis). 2ekas. iuvilas. iuvei. flagui 3stahint 

b2minnieis kaisillieis. minateis: ner(eis). 'ekas: iüvilas. iüvei. flagiui. stahint. 

80f Minius Caesillius Nerius son of Minatus453 These ii vilas stand in 

dedication to Iupiter Flagius. 

b0f Minius Caesillius Nerius son of Minatus. These iüvilas stand for Iupiter 

Flagius. 454 

Private celebrations of the dead during holidays are made public by the appearance 

of an official or are held in the context of public event. Coarelli noted similarities 

between the sanctuaries of Libitina outside the Esquiline gates on the Campus 

Esquilinus, and that of fondo Patturelli. The sanctuary of Libitina stood in the lucus 

Libitinae, at the centre of a necropolis. 455 Cicero mentions a senatus consultum 

which assigned a piece of public land in the campus Esquilinus for the tomb of Ser. 

453 

It is not certain whether the term ner means princeps, suggested by Heurgon (1942a) 18 or a 

cognomen, as Franchi de Bellis (1981) interprets. 

454 The dative case of iüvei. flagiul was usually translated as for `lupiter Flagius'. Franchi de Bellis, 

however, argues that we should understand as `next to', a reference to the location of the iovila. 

455 

Coarelli (1995) 383-7. 

131

Sulpicius Rufus to be built at public expense; his tomb became hereditaryash The 

tombs in this necropolis included those of generals who had triumphed and other 

public leaders. The situation at fondo Patturelli could have been similar: the tombs 

linked to the sanctuary very likely belonged to local gentes who had achieved public 

eminence in Capua. 

The gens Clovatia is mentioned only in inscriptions. The three terracotta 

stelae are among the oldest Capuan inscribed texts, probably from the late fourth to 

early third centuries BC. 457 The name is definitely Oscan. Another member of the 

gens, Pacius Clovatius son of Valaemia, appears several times on a curse tablet from 

Capua 458 Heurgon, following the argument of Schulze, suggested that the gens 

Clovatia could be a branch of the gens Cluvia, abundantly represented in Campania 

in Latin inscriptions. 459 

It is possible that the gens Cluvia originated from the town of 

Cluviae of the Carracini. 

The Magii appear both in inscriptions and in literary sources. Buck argues 

that the names Maiios> Magis> Mahis> Mais refer to the same gens. 460 An early 

terracotta inscription mentions the common iüvilas of all the Terentii Magii, who 

might represent one branch of the Magius family in Capua. The cognomen Atellanus 

of Cn. Magius, meddix tuticus in 214 BC, might distinguish this branch of the gens 

from other branches in Capua such as the Terentif. 461 The image of this gens in 

Roman sources is very positive: during the crisis of 216 BC, Decius Magius appears 

as an unshakeable ally of the Romans, who tried to prevent the Capuans from joining 

456 

Cic. Phil. 9.7.17 mentioned by Coarelli. 

457 ST Cp 10,11,12. 

458 ST Cp 37. 

459 Heurgon (1942) 110. CIL 10.3823 from S. Leucio claims the sacra Cluviana. 

460 Buck (1975) 60. 

461 This idea was put forward by Heurgon (1942) 110. 

132

the Carthaginians. 462 In his accolade to Decius Magius, Silius Italicus attributes the 

foundation of Capua to this gens at the instigation of Jupiter. 463 Velleius Paterculus 

mentions Decius Magius as one of his maternal ancestors along with another member 

of his family, Minatus Magius Aeculensis. 464 Two Oscan inscriptions from 

Aeclanum, one probably the basis of a statue to the goddess Mefitis, confirm that a 

branch of the Magii were leading inhabitants of this town 465 From the age of Sulla, 

the Magii appeared also at Rome: the sons of Minatus Magius held the 

praetorship 466 

The Virrii, Blossii and Calavii of Capua fell victim to Roman propaganda 

after the Second Punic War, because they were active when the city revolted from 

Rome. They were made to embody luxuria, voluptas, licentia and libido, vices 

associated with Capua 467 Inscriptions show that the Virrii provided Capua with a 

468 

censor and a meddix. A terracotta stela shows that ceremonies were held in honour 

of the gens. Vibius Virrius appears in Livy for his part in the embassy sent to Rome 

from Capua in 216 BC to ask for the release of the three hundred cavalrymen who 

had served in Sicily. 469 Upon his return to Capua, he convinced his fellow-citizens to 

revolt from Rome, and took part in the embassy of the Capuan senate to Hannibal to 

negotiate the terms on which Capua joined the Carthaginians. A bronze tablet from a 

Roman tomb tells us that two other members of this gens, Sthenius Virrius and 

462 Livy 23.7.4. 

463 Sil. Ital. Pun. 11.177. 

464 Veil. Pat. 2.16.2. 

465 ST Hi 1: Gabius Magius son of Pacius, ST Hi 4: Sivius Magius. 

466 Münzer (P. W. 14 439 (8). 

467 Livy 7.38.5,23.2.1-2 and 23.4.4-5. 

acs ST Cp 24 and 27. 

469 

Livy 23.6.1. 

133

Triphius Virrius, were probably put under a curse 470 The name Triphius suggests 

that he was a freedmen of the gens Virria. 

Two members of the gens Blossia are known: Minius Blossius son of Minius 

was meddix tuticus when the iüvilas of Trebius Virrius Censorinus was presented. 

471 

Livy mentions that Marius Blossius was the praetor Campanus, that is meddix 

tuticus of Capua in 216 BC 472 Blossius acted as a faithful ally to Hannibal during the 

Roman siege of the city when one hundred and seventy leading Capuans committed 

suicide under the leadership of him and his brother. 473 Cicero associated the name of 

this family with the arrogance and haughtiness 

typical of the Campanians 474 

The gentilicium of the Calavii/Caluvii derives from the stem *caluo-, from 

which the Latin adjective calves derives. It appears in the Latin nomen gentilicium 

Calvius. Two large tufa slabs record that the iuvila of Spurius Calavius took place 

when Lucius Pettius was meddix. Maius Calavius appears on a fragment of a black- 

glaze pot. 475 Numerous members of the gens appear in other Oscan-speaking 

territories. In Aesernia, Sthenius Calavius son of Gabius donated a gold ring to the 

goddess Angitia. 476 At Nola Pacius Calavius son of Pacius is one of four magistrates 

(meddix degetasius) named on a boundary stone. 477 Stenius Calavius is mentioned on 

a bronze curse tablet from Cumae 478 St(enius? ) Cal(avius? ), whose name appears on 

a tile-stamp from Pompeii, was probably the rneddix tuticus of Pompeii. Calavii are 

also present in Latin inscriptions from Pompeii, Puteoli, Beneventum and 

470 ST Cp 20-23. Curse tablet; ST Cp 36. Considering that the tablet was found in a Roman tomb, but 

with Oscan script, it probably dates from the late Republic or early Empire. 

"71 ST Cp 24. 

472 Livy 23.7.8. 

473 Livy 27.3.5. 

474 Cic. De Leg Agr. 2.93. 

475 ST Cp 29 and 30, ST Cp 39. 

476 ST Sa 22. 

477 ST Cm 48. This inscription will be studied in detail in the `Nola' section. 

478 ST Cm 13. 

134

Larinum. 479 In ancient sources, the Calavii appear at two crucial points in Roman 

history: in the Sainnite Wars after the Caudine Forks and in the Second Punic war. 

Ofillius Calavius is the only member of the gens painted in a favourable light by 

Roman historiography. Following the disaster of the Caudine Forks, Livy mentions 

that the returning Roman army was welcomed at Capua with pity, and that Ofillius 

upheld the alliance with Rome. 480 The brothers Ovius and Nonius Calavius are 

mentioned as plotters against Rome in 314 BC, who then commit suicide. 81 

Pacavius Calavius, ineddix tuticus in 217 BC, had strong relations with Rome: his 

wife was the daughter of an Appius Claudius and his daughter married M. Livius 482 

Livy attributes to him the resolution of a political crisis at Capua in 216 BC, but he is 

accused of taking a major role in the revolt of Capua from Rome after the battle of 

Cannae. Finally Livy blames the Calavii for setting fire to the heart of Rome in 210 

BC in retaliation for the abolition of the Capuan autonomy in the previous year. They 

were denounced by a slave whom they had treated 'badly. 483 It is likely that the 

episodes of the secret conspiracy in 314 BC and the fire at Rome were Roman 

fabrications. 

Two tufa slabs commemorate sacrifices in honour of three members of the 

gens Tanterneia: Upilus, Vibius and Pacius. 484 The noinen gentilicium is probably 

the Oscanized version of the Etruscan 'Tantlna', attested at Naples on Latin 

inscriptions as 'Tantilius' 485 This is not the only gens in Capua supposed to have had 

Etruscan origins. Apart from the Magii (see above), Buonamici argued that the gens 

Annia to which the meddix tuticus Minius Annius belongs, originated from the 

479 Pompeii: CIL X 1090, Puteoli: X 2202, Beneventum: CIL IX 1985 and Larinum: CIL IX 749, 

480 Livy 9.7.2. 

aal Livy 9.26.7. 

4: 2 Livy 22.2.6. 

483 

Briquel (2001) 117-35. 

484STCp31 and 32. 

135

Etruscan gens Ane. 486 Heurgon, citing Schulze, gave a list of other family names of 

likely Etruscan origin: Casellius, Helvius, Loesius, Nasennius, Pettius and 

Saedius 487 This list suggests that the original Etruscan leaders of Capua probably 

continued to be part of the social and political elite even after the conquest of the city 

by the Samnites. 

The study of the Capuan elite suggests that it was restricted and hereditary, 

but not closed. We have evidence for names of Etruscan origin, which implies that 

Etruscan families and their descendants were not excluded from taking part in the 

Capuan political life in the Samnite period. Bearers of Capuan elite family names are 

found in other Campanian cities and both literary and epigraphic evidence suggests 

that the leading families of Capua also had links with Rome. 

3.5. Conclusions: The supposed Campanian confederation 

The only model for the organization of the Campanian confederation is 

Beloch's thesis that the federal magistrate was the meddix tuticus and the meddices 

without qualifying adjective were the representatives of the participating cities of the 

league. 488 This model was rejected by Rosenberg, who argued that the meddix tuticus 

was the local magistrate of the city of Capua. 489 The thesis of the existence of the so- 

called Campanian confederation is still the accepted view, but historians do not 

explain its organization and institutions. 

ass Heurgon (1942) 105. 

486 Buonamici (1932) 258. 

487 Heurgon (1942) 111-2. Casellius: ST Cp 25, Helvius: ST Cp 27 and 28, Loesius: meddix of 211 

BC, Nasennius: ST Cp 19, Pettius: meddix ST Cp 29 and 30, Saedius: ST Cp 9. 

488 

Beloch (1877) 295-6. 

489 

Rosenberg (1913) 18. 

136

The use of the ethnic Campanus remains ambiguous: in ancient sources it can 

refer to the inhabitants of the city of Capua and its civic territory, but sources 

narrating wars often imply that the ethnic denoted those who belonged to a larger 

political or military association. It also denoted the inhabitants of the region called 

Campania490. It is usually agreed that the coins dating from the late fourth century 

with the legends KAMIIANO, KAIIIZANOE, KAIZIiANOIM and 

KAMIIANOE, and the coins of the Hannibalic War with the legend KAIIV were 

minted by the Capuan civic community. It is also the accepted view that the meddix 

tuticus Campanus of the inscriptions was the local, civic magistrate of Capua. On 

balance, I would conclude that the ethnic probably denoted those who lived at Capua 

and in its territory. The territory of the city of Capua was much larger than that of 

any other urban community in Campania. It is also apparent that within the ager 

Campanus, in spite of its extent and fertility, the only other larger settlement that 

emerged was Atella. This supports the view that the area formed one administrative 

unit directly under Capua's control. 

The senate often appears in sources concerning Capuan affairs. It seems, 

however, that this council was a local institution, whose members, the Capuan 

aristocracy, lived in the city. Livy, Cicero, and Diodorus Siculus mention the 

existence of an assembly. Other Samnite cities had two administrative bodies, like 

Pompeii, and therefore it is reasonable to conclude that this was the local popular 

assembly. Neither Livy nor Dionysius of Halicarnassus mention any federal council 

at Capua with delegated members from states of the so-called league. 

It is not plausible that following the Samnite occupation, Cumae became part 

of the Capuan state, even for a short period of time. Samnite political institutions 

490 See Section 3.2.2. 

137

were established in the city, but there is no positive evidence between the fourth and 

third centuries that Cumae was subordinated to Capua. A passage from the time of 

the Second Punic war, however, is worthy of some attention. Livy mentions that the 

Cainpani held regular religious festivals in the sanctuary at Hamae, three miles from 

Cumae. 491 The two communities probably celebrated common cults in the sanctuary 

and formed some kind of religious association, but Livy's description of the events 

that follow does not imply political ties between the two. In the course of the 

Hannibalic War Livy says the Capuans invited the senate of Cumae to Hamae for a 

meeting, with the intent of taking them hostage. The Cumaeans, however, informed 

the Romans and the Capuan plans fell through. This passage does not seem to 

suggest that regular meetings of the two communities were held at the sanctuary, and 

even less, that it was a federal council formed by the representatives of the two 

communities. 

The cities and towns of the supposed league seem to have reacted to 

Hannibal's presence in different ways: Capua, Atella and Calatia joined Hannibal, 

while other communities like Puteoli, Acerra, Suessula, Casilinum and Cumae 

remained loyal to the Romans, although we do not know anything about Voltumum 

and Literrum. Capua's relations to Calatia and Atella, are more problematic. In the 

list of communities that revolted from Rome during the Hannibalic Wars, the 

Atellani and the Calatini appear separately from the Campani. 492 Capua surrendered 

first, then Atella and Calatia 493 

It is certainly true that Livy always mentions Capua, 

Atella and Calatia together. Occasionally, he adds the otherwise unattested 

Sabatinum when he refers to their punishment by Rome after the war, but the fact 

491 

Livy 23.35. 

492 Livy 22.61.11: Now these are the peoples that revolted: the Campanians, the Atellani, the 

Calatini, the Hirpini, a part of the Apulians, all the Samnites but the Pentri, all the Bruttii etc. 

493 

Livy 26.26.5. 

138

that the Roman authorities treated them in the same way may have been the result of 

the similarity of their position in the war and their geographical vicinity. 494 One piece 

of evidence, however, suggests that Capua, perhaps temporarily, formed a political 

alliance with its neighbours: the cognomen of Cn. Magius Atellanus suggests that he 

was citizen of Atella. 495 The fact that he could become ineddix tuticus of the 

Campani would imply that Atella at the time of the Hannibalic war belonged to a 

political federation with Capua, while retaining its separate identity. Presumably the 

Romans made it independent in Second Punic War. To conclude, apart from Atella 

and perhaps Calatia and Sabatinum, there is no good evidence for the Capuan league. 

3.6. Appendix: the pagi of Roman Capua 

The office of meddix tuticus/meddix was abolished at Capua in 211 BC. The 

city was not destroyed, but was deprived of its senate, popular assembly and 

magistrates 496 The administration of the city was remodelled by the Romans. Justice 

was dispensed by four officers sent out from Rome every year, the praefecti Capuam 

Cumas, who were elected by the comitia at Rome. 497 How the city was run after 211 

BC does not concern us here, but the emergence of pagi in the territory of 

Capua in 

the Roman period recalls the pagi of Beneventum and invites us to compare briefly 

the two situations. 

494 

Livy 26.33.12; 26.34.6; 26.34.11. 

495 

Livy 24.19.2. 

496 

Livy 26,16,7-8 and 31.29.11. 

497 

Festus 262 L, Linton (1999) 139. 

139

The main source of information for the period after 211 BC is a group of 

twenty-eight inscriptions, often referred to as the `magistri' inscriptions. 498 They 

have been dated to the period between 112 and 71 BC, and presumably reflect the 

administrative system in place some time after 211 BC. The texts mostly record 

building and restoration works executed in the city and territory of Capua. They 

mention boards of magistri, identified by the names of deities, which must 

have been 

linked to local sanctuaries: magistri of Spes, Fides, Fortuna, Venus lovia, Ceres, 

Jupiter Optimus Maximus, Jupiter Compages, Castor and Pollux and Mercurius. It 

has been concluded that these magistrates were the curators of local shrines, who 

superintended the building activities connected to these sanctuaries and put on games 

and festivals related to their deity. 499 An alternative view that the magistri were 

representatives of wider professional associations has been rejected. 50° Scholars have 

also noticed that a great number of duties, which in a municipium or colony fell to 

the ordinary magistrates, were assumed by these boards of magistri in Capua. 

Two inscriptions are particularly relevant here because they mention decisions 

of a pagus. The more widely studied inscription is a decree of the pagus 

Herculaneus. 501 

It records the activities of a board of magistri of Jupiter Compages, 

who were ordered to spend a certain amount of money on the restoration of the 

portico of the local theatre in accordance with a decision of the pagus, at the 

discretion of the magister pagi. The officials were . granted honorary seating in the 

theatre as though they had put on games. The decree is followed by the names of 

twelve members of the board. The other inscription provides us with a list of the 

498 

The twenty-eight inscriptions were gathered and published by Frederiksen (1959) appendix and 

(1984) 281-4. Frederiksen's reference numbers will be used here. 

499 

The idea was put forward by Mommsen in CIL X 367 and still prevails, it was accepted by 

Frederiksen (1959) 85-88 and Pobjoy (1998) 182. 

500 For the debate, see Frederiksen (1959) 85 and 86. 

501 Nr. 17= CIL I2 682 = CIL X 3772 = ILS 6302 = ILLRP 719. 

140

magistri first, and then records that the officials purchased a slave for Juno Gaura by 

the decree of the pagus (pagi scita)502. These two inscriptions have prompted 

scholars to propose that, with the abolition of the central control in 211 BC, the 

Campanian plain reverted to ancient, pre-urban territorial units, the pagi, out of 

which the Capuan state had been formed by 503 

synoikismos. Capogrossi Colonesi 

notes that this reconstruction is based on two preconceptions about the pagus: its 

rural nature, and the belief that there was continuity between the pre-Roman and 

Roman administrative form s. 504 Both suppositions seem to be founded more on the 

authority of Mommsen and Kornemann than on epigraphic or textual evidence. The 

first criticism of Heurgon's scheme came from Frederiksen, who found it hard to 

believe that previous village and tribal communities were revived and entrusted with 

administrative duties. 505 

I have discussed already in the previous section the view 

that pagi were introduced by the Roman administration in the Central Apennines 506 

The term pagus is mentioned only in Latin inscriptions and no ancient source 

provides evidence for its existence at Capua before 211 BC. Furthermore, Pobjoy has 

shown that the cults to which the activities of the magistri of the pagi are related 

were clearly Roman. 07 On the basis of these arguments, I conclude that the pagi of 

Capua, like the pagi attested in the central Apennines, must have been established by 

the Roman authorities. 

502 

Nr. 20 = CIL 12 686 = CIL X 3783 = ILS 6303 = ILLRP 722. 

503 

Mommsen CIL X p. 367 and Heurgon (1942) 115. 

504 Capogrossi Colognesi (2002) 159-70. 

505 Frederiksen (1984) 266-7. 

506 

Section 2.4.1. 

507 

Pobjoy (1998) part IV, 192-5. 

141


Chapter 4. Cumae 

This chapter examines the public institutions of Cumae and its relations to the 

neighbouring cities. Ancient sources tell us that the Campani, the Samnite masters of 

Capua, also took over Cumae, once a powerful Greek colony. The fact that the 

Samnites conquered both cities in a short period of time has led scholars to believe, 

following Sartori, that Cumae was one of the cities which formed part of a 

confederation headed by Samnite Capua. 508 The aim of this chapter is to see if the 

literary, archaeological and epigraphic evidence confirms the view, suggested in 

section 3.5. above, that Cumae was independent from Capua. 

4.2. The history and archaeology of 

Samnite Cumae 

Greek authors wrote abundantly about the public life and international politics of the 

powerful colony of Cumae in the late sixth and fifth centuries BC, but literary 

evidence becomes very scarce after the Samnite occupation of the city, probably 

because Cumae ceased to play such an important role in the Greek world. We 

therefore depend more heavily on archaeological material. 

508 

Sartori (1953) 17. 

142

The power of Cumae, the earliest Greek colony on the mainland of Italy, was 

based on its maritime commerce and the agricultural produce of its hinterland. It had 

a strong fleet and probably also controlled the ports of Dicaearchia and Misenum. 

Clashes with the Etruscans over who controlled the lower Tyrrhenian Sea caused 

economic problems and with the tyranny of Aristodemus Malacus the traditionally 

aristocratic regime of Cumae lapsed into civil strife. Although the city won a second 

naval victory over the Etruscans in 474 BC, this was due more to the help of Hieron 

of Syracuse than to the military strength of 

Cumae. 509 

The power vacuum in the region allowed the conquest of the prosperous cities 

of Campania by Samnites from inland Italy: the general decline of Cumaean power 

culminated in the conquest of the city by the Samnites, from their base at Capua, 

conventionally dated to 421/0 BC. 510 The Samnite occupation must have brought the 

old regime to an abrupt end. Strabo mentions violent acts by the Samnites against the 

Greek inhabitants of the city. 51 Those of the Cumaean leading classes who managed 

to flee the city found shelter at neighbouring Naples, a colony of Cumae, where they 

formed a special citizen community, as we learn from a description of the crisis that 

broke out between Rome and Naples in 327 BC. 512 The Cumean mint, the first in 

Campania, was soon transferred to Naples, and the striking of coins bearing the 

Cumaean ethnic continued there until about 380 BC. 513 Another issue of Cumaean 

coins has been dated to the period between 325 and 300 BC. 514 

509 Hieron of Syracuse, friend of Cumae: Pindar, Pythian 1.71-5 and Diod. Sic. 11.51.1-2. 

510 Livy 4.44.13 and Diod. Sic. 12.76.4 probably took their information from a Greek, or, even 

common source because they agree on the year of the attack. Vell. Pat. 1.4.2. 

511 Strabo 5.4.4. 

512 Dion. Hal. 15.6.4. The Samnites, apart from offering military help in case of Roman attack, also 

promised to recover Cumae and to restore possessions for those who fled to Naples two generations 

earlier. It is difficult to reconcile this passage with the information about the Samnite occupation of 

Cumae in Livy and Diodorus Siculus. Counting two generations back from 327 BC would take us 

back to around 380 BC the earliest. 

513 

Rutter (1979) 96-7. 

514 

Rutter (2001) 67, Nr. 531-536. 

143

It is difficult to know where exactly the border between the lands of Cumae 

and Capua lay after the arrival of the Samnites. It is likely, as Frederiksen suggested, 

that after its foundation Cumae dominated most of the Campanian plain between the 

rivers Sebethus and Clanius. 515 The foundation of Naples in the second half of the 

fifth century BC and the development of Capua must have diminished the extent of 

the Cumaean territory (see maps III and IV). The sanctuary of Hamae, three miles 

from Cumae may have been positioned on the border with Capua, because the 

sanctuary was under their joint control 516 The foundation of Literrum in 194 BC 

also limited the extent of Cumaean territory to the north, where the sand dunes on 

which a forest of scrub trees grew, referred to by Strabo as the silva gallinaria, 

certainly belonged to Capua together with the plain of Licola. Cumae also controlled 

the areas of lakes Avernus, Lucrinus and Fusarus, the hilly lands of Mount Gaurus 

and probably also the Campi Phlegrei, although following the foundation of 

Dicaearchia by refugees from Samos, these lands probably became the object of 

dispute. The port of Misenum and the town of Baiae were under Cumaean control for 

most of the fourth and third centuries BC. 517 

It is not unlikely that these towns were 

also conquered by the Samnites at the same time as Cumae. 

The coastline of Cumae has changed considerably since antiquity. The 

acropolis was probably surrounded by the sea on three sides. The area had plenty of 

water with extensive lagoons and marshlands to the south and to the north of the city, 

and was dotted with lakes. Paget has argued that pre-Samnite Cumae had two 

sheltered harbours to accommodate at least part of its fleet. 518 The port declined after 

the Samnite invasion whether as the result of natural causes, such as the shifting of 

515 

Frederiksen (1984) map H. 

516 

Livy 23.35. See also charter 3.2.4. 

517 

Livy 24.13.6 mentions that Hannibal devastated 

the lands of Cumae as far as the promontory of 

Misenum, which might suggest that the whole peninsula was under Cumaean control. 

144

sand dunes on the shore and the diminishing of springs that fed the lake Fusaro, or 

because the Sairmites were not interested in maintaining a navy and let the harbours 

silt up. 

The arrival of the Samnites is attested by the lack of Greek ceramics in the two 

necropoleis to the north and south of the city in the period between the end of fifth 

and the early fourth centuries BC. 519 The famous Greek temples of the acropolis 

began to decline. Although the temple of Apollo, built following the Cumaean naval 

victory against the Etruscans in the mid-fifth century BC, was rebuilt and provided 

with a staircase during the Samnite period, its blocks of stones were later used in 

building works in the lower city. The temple of Jupiter on the top of the acropolis 

was abandoned from the mid-fourth century BC. 

However, Cumae saw growth in the number of inhabitants and progressive 

urbanization during the fourth and third centuries BC in the city below the 

acropolis. 520 Excavations begun in 1994 have outlined most of the city walls and 

located several gates and the major avenues of the street plan of the lower city. 521 

They confirm that the city did not have a regular street plan in the Greek phase of 

settlement and that a Hippodamian checkerboard plan was probably adopted in the 

Samnite period, as at Pompeii. The Cumaean acropolis was walled within the outer 

walls of the city. The earliest parts of these impressive double curtain walls were 

built towards the end of the sixth century BC. 522 Recent excavations have shown that 

the Samnites repaired and modified the walls and built consecutive towers and 

replaced old ones. Following the abandonment of the acropolis, the area of the 

518 Paget (1968) 152-69. 

519 Gabrici (1913) 716. 

520 D' Agostino-Fatta-Malpede (2005). The study of the urban centre was assigned to the University of 

`Federico IF, the research of the port to the Centre Jean Berard, and the study of the city wall and city 

plan to the Department of Classical and Mediterranean Studies at the University Oriental Institute of 

Naples; McKay (2004) 85-101. 

145

earlier Greek agora, the later forum, became the centre of religious activity and 

public life in the Samnite period. An inscription reveals that the large Doric 

peripteral temple, built during the third century BC at the upper end of the forum, 

was dedicated to Jupiter Flagius. 523 It was turned into the temple of the Capitoline 

triad in Sullan times. The cult of Jupiter Flagius has also been noted at Capua on a 

terracotta stela 524 The porticoed temple on the south side of the forum, built in the 

Augustan period, reveals traces of constructions underneath, identified as public 

buildings dating from the third century BC. 525 

In the period between the second half of the fourth century and the mid-third 

century BC, Cumae became a centre for the production of ceramic wares. Vases 

produced at Cumae imitate late Attic red-figure models in their decoration. These 

vases are extensively found in Cumaean tombs. 526 Warriors dressed in typically 

Samnite armour are frequent motifs on these vases. Similar representations are also 

found in tomb paintings at Capua, Naples and Paestum of the same period. It is 

evident that these ceramics were intended for the use of the local market. 

Cumae hardly ever appears in literary sources after the Samnite conquest. 

When a plague broke out at Rome in 412/1 BC, Livy says that the Romans attempted 

to purchase corn from Campania, but `the Samnites who held Capua and Cumae 

insolently refused to permit envoys to trade with them'. 527 This passage is the only 

possible indication of a relationship between the two cities, but it can 

be interpreted 

as an identical decision taken by two communities inhabited by the same people. 

521 D'Onofrio (2002) 136-42. 

522 Fratta (2002) 31-2. 

523 Johannowsky (1959) 972. McKay (2004) 96 however argues that the temple was built in the period 

between 400 and 380. 

524 ST Cp 25. dedications for Jupiter Flagius or in Latin Fulgurius were found scattered in Italy in the 

imperial period: lupiter Fulgurius Tonans in CIL XI 4172 (Interamna), lupiter Fulgurius Fulmen in IL 

XII 1807 (Vienne). 

525 McKay (2004) 96. 

526 Gabrici (1913) 717. 

146

Cumae probably joined the rebels against Rome during the Latin War. Livy mentions 

that the city received civitas sine suffragio along with Capua, Fundi, Fonniae and 

Suessula in 338 BC. 528 This allowed Cumae to retain its customs, laws and language 

within the Roman state. Sartori argued that the activities of the praefecti, who were 

requested by and granted to Capua in 318 BC, soon extended to Cumae. 529 

1 can find 

no evidence, literary or epigraphic, which supports this view. Cumae remained loyal 

to Rome during the Second Punic War and endured a fierce attack by Hannibal in 

215 BC, which was repulsed by the consul Ti. Sempronius Gracchus. 530 The three 

hundred Capuan cavalrymen, who were serving in Sicily at the time of the Capuan 

revolt from Rome, were pronounced Cumaean citizens to allow them to avoid the 

punishments which the Romans were to inflict on their home city. The political and 

administrative reorganization of Campania after Capua's surrender had deep effects 

on the cities in the region. I have concluded previously that Rome established the 

IIIlviri praefecti Capuam Cumas to dispense law in ten Campanian cities after 211 

BC. 531 This put an end to the autonomous public institutions of Cumae, since Festus 

says that these officers were sent to cities which did not have their own 

magistrates. 532 

Cumae became a bilingual community with the Samnite occupation. 

Epigraphic evidence suggests that the city acquired Oscan political institutions and 

the official language became Oscan, but it certainly retained a substantial number of 

Greek inhabitants. Strabo noted that the religious and legal practices of his own time 

527 

Livy 4.52.6 

528 

Livy 8.14.10. 

529 

Sartori (1953) 166. 

530 

Livy 23.36.5. 

531 

For this argument see the chapter 3.2.3. 

532 Festus p. 262 Lindsay: èt erat quaedam earum r(es) p(ublica), neque tarnen magistratus suos 

habebant. ' 

147

still contained Greek elements. 533 Livy's note that the Cumaeans applied for 

permission to use the Latin language in public life in 180 BC shows that they were 

keen for full integration into the Roman state, which probably occurred later in the 

second century BC. 534 

In conclusion, the Samnite conquest resulted in considerable changes to 

Cumae's economic and political position: the city's previous territory shrank and the 

mint was transferred to Naples; and the harbour and acropolis declined. After a 

decline in the early fourth century, the population increased during the fourth and 

third centuries: the area. below the acropolis became the new political and religious 

centre and the city shows signs of urbanization in the period. Latin and Greek 

sources took little interest in the city and only the most important changes in 

Cumae's political status are mentioned: the grant of citizenship without suffrage in 

338 BC, after which the city retained its laws, customs and the Oscan language until 

211 BC, when praefecti were sent from Rome to dispense justice. Literary sources 

say nothing about the city's own political institutions, but epigraphic evidence 

provides us with some information. 

4.3. Samnite magistrates at Cumae 

We have three stone inscriptions which attest public offices at Cumae: 

ST Cm 4, Pocc 133, SE 48 (1980) 426,7. Made of grey stones in the mosaic 

floor of the podium of the temple of Jupiter Flagius. The inscriptions survived behind 

the cella of the Capitolian triad after the reconstruction of the temple in the Roman 

533 Strabo 5.4.4. 

534 Livy 40.42.13. 

148

period. Although the text is now lost, it has been reconstructed from a plaster cast by 

Sgobbo. It has been dated to the third century BC and is probably the oldest of the 

three administrative inscriptions. The text goes as follows. 

min(is). heii(s). pak(ieis). m(eddis). v. inim m(eddis) x ekik. pavmentdm. 

üpsannüm. dedens 

Minius Heius son of Pacius meddix v, and the meddix x commissioned (plur. ) 

the construction of (this) floor. 

ST Cm 9, Ve 108, Pocc 132, Pi 16, SE 48 (1980) 428,9. Incised on the base of a 

statue, found walled into a pillar in the temple of Apollo on the acropolis of Cumae. 

The stone had apparently been removed from the temple of Jupiter Flagius. Dated to 

the second half of the third century BC. 535 

[-9/10-ni]u(msieis). m(eddis) v. inim. m(eddis) X. 2ekik: se[g]ünüm: lüvei: 

flagiüi pr(u): vereiiad: duneis: dedens 

[ -9/10 ] son of Numisius(? ) m(eddix) v, and the m(eddix) x gave (plur. ) this 

statue as a gift to Jupiter Flagius on behalf of the vereia. 

ST Cm 5, Pocc 134, SE. 48 (1980) 428,8. On the capital of a marble column. The 

column was found in a building, thought to have been part of the public baths and 

gymnasium. The column stood on a pedestal in a rectangular basin lined with 

marble. The inscription may be dated to the end of the third century BC. 536 

ma heiis. de(kieis). m(eddis). v. inim. m(eddis). x ekak. fliteam. emmens. 

Maius Heius son of Decius meddix v, and the meddix x bought (plur. ) this 

1liteam. 

535 

Capaldi (2001) 20-1. 

149

Although Sgobbo's reading of the word before the verb emmens as flitu. uam has 

been rejected, his interpretation of the expression still seems plausible. 37 He related 

the word to the Latin fluo, and suggested that it was the equivalent of the Latin 

labrum, a basin or tub, perhaps referring to the basin in which the column stood. 

Other scholars, however, have made other proposals. 

538 

The verbs dedens and emmens are plural and make it clear that at least two 

magistrates act in these inscriptions, not the same person holding both offices. The 

name of magistrate mv is attested in all inscriptions which implies that this office 

was the more prestigious of the two, probably eponymous. The letter m plausibly 

stands for the common Oscan term meddiss or meddix in Latinized form. 

Several arguments have been put forward for the identification of the office 

meddix v. Prosdocimi argued that it stood for the title of meddfs valaims, or in 

Latinized form meddix optimus and that this is was a local alternative for the title of 

meddix tuticus. 539 Prosdocimi also suggested that the letter `v' could be an 

abbreviation of the Oscan name of Cumae, which we do not know. He compared a 

group of coins with the legend D¬( , DEAF( , DEAEXa(, which must be an ethnic of 

an unknown Campanian' community and which he suggested could relate to 

Cumae. 540 Poccetti, following La Regina, has argued that the office must be 

expanded to meddix vereias, because the vereia is mentioned in the inscription ST 

536 Caputo-Morichi-Paone-Rispoli (1996) 208. 

537 for Sgobbo see Poccetti (1979) 98. 

538 

Prosdocimi (1978) 1067-72 believes that it is related to the Greek word rcAivüeiov. Campanile 

(1979) 29, however, thought that the expression flileam refers to the object placed on the column, but 

it is uncertain what the object was. Poccetti's interpretation also seems plausible. He suggested that we 

should relate the expression f iteam to the Latin plinthus, plinth or base, which often appears in 

Vitruvius: Vitr. 3.5.3,4.3.4,4.7.3 etc. 

539 Prosdocimi (1976) 658 and (1978) 860-1. 

540 Prosdocimi (1978) 861. 

150

Cm 9.541 Prosdocimi's idea of the expansion of meddix v to meddix valaims, in Latin 

meddix optimus, is not convincing, because we do not have any parallel for this. The 

identification of v with the Oscan name of Cumae is also problematic, because we 

do not have any other example of the abbreviation of an ethnic to one 

letter in 

inscriptions. Poccetti's proposal that ineddix v stands for meddix vereks rests on the 

erroneous assumption that the vereia elsewhere had its own meddices. Until further 

evidence becomes available, it must be concluded that we do not know what the 

abbreviation meddix v stands for. 

The second problem is the identification of the office of rneddix x. The letter x 

undeniably refers to the number ten. Scholars disagree on how this number relates to 

the office. These are the main views: Prosdocimi argued that the letter x must be an 

abbreviation of the adjective deke(m)tasis, also connected to the number ten, and 

therefore the office of meddix x is the equivalent of the office of ineddix degetasius 

of Nola. 542 Campanile instead suggested that the letter x referred to a board of ten 

meddices. 

543 Poccetti, agreeing with Campanile that the letter x refers to the number 

of magistrates, suggested that we are dealing with the officials of the vereia as their 

activities can be compared to those of the magistri of cult associations in Campania 

and Delos. 544 The number x also appears in Samnium on a tile stamp, where it 

comes after the title meddix tuticus. 545 

It has been argued that it refers to a decennial 

meddix tuticus. It seems unlikely that this interpretation can apply also in the case of 

the Cumaean inscriptions, because it seems implausible that the only three 

inscriptions which survive from Cumae should all have been set up by three 

different decennial magistrates. The verefa of Capua and Pompeii did not have its 

541 This interpretation was supported by La Regina (1981) 134 and (1989) 309. 

542 See chapter 5.3.1. 

543 Campanile (1979) 30. 

544 Poccetti (1979) 100-1. 

151

own magistrates, but was represented by and was under the control of public 

magistrates. 546 Therefore Poccetti's suggestion that the meddices x were a board of 

ten magistrates of the vereia lacks foundation. The interpretations of Prosdocimi, 

identifying the meddices x with the meddices degetasii, financial magistrates, and 

that of Campanile that the letter x refers to the number of public magistrates, seem to 

be equally possible. The subordination of the office of meddix x to the meddix v is 

suggested by the omission of the name or names of the officers. 

4.4. The vereia 

The third problem is the interpretation of the word vereia. The term appears 

only in Oscan epigraphic evidence and therefore seems an entirely Italic institution. 

The expression is attested five times in full in inscriptions: 

1. ST Cm 9, from Cumae (see above). 

2. ST Cp 32, from Capua (for text see section 3.3). This inscription 

mentions that the iüvilas sacrifices are conditional upon the presence of a 

meddix representing the vereia. 

3. ST Po 3, from Pompeii (for text see section 6.3.4). This inscription 

mentions the construction of a building for the vereia from the money 

left in 

his will by Vibius Atranus son of Vibius. The Pompeian quaestor supervised 

the building according to the order of one of the Pompeian councils. 

4. ST Fr 2, Ve 173, Pi 42, Co 193 and Bu 61, from the territory of the 

Frentani. On a sword shaped bronze plate. 

vereias: lüvkanateis. 2aapas: 

kaias: palanüd. 

545 

ST tSa 24. See section 2.4.2. 

546 

See also sections 3.3 and 6.3.4. 

152

Of the vereis of the Lucanians. Water directed from Pallano. 

5. ST Lu 37, Ve 192, Pocc 151, Pi 4C. Inscription in Greek characters 

on a bronze helmet from an unknown location in Lucania 547 Dated to the 

mid-fourth century BC. 

'-OEpFLaQ 

xapiwavac NETa7 OVTLVao 2mrn JEbLKIaL no-? 

Vereia of Campsa, of Metapontum. During the meddicate of po[? 

The term may have appeared in a handful of other instances as well: 

I. It has been suggested that in the inscriptions ST Cm 4,5 and 9 (cited 

above), the office of mv should be emended to meddix vereks. 

2. Tagliamonte thought that the term verega in an inscription from 

Adrano, Mendolito in Sicily, could refer to the vereia. S48 

Inscribed on a stone 

built into the city-wall of the ancient settlement. It dates from the end of the 

sixth century BC. Morandi 54: 

'iamakaramehpiiaskaagiiesgeped 2teutoveregaiesoekadoara[iead] 

3. ST tLu 9: a tile stamp from Hipponion, on which we find the 

expression DEQExo. The tile stamp must date from before the end of the third 

century BC, because this city received a Latin colony in 192 BC and was 

renamed Vibo Valentia. 

4. STSa 1 A11 and B14: the Agnone tablet includes the phrase diüvei 

verehasiüf. Several interpretations of this god have been put forward, 

Morandi, however, linked him to the vereia. 549 

547 

Previous readings have been modified by Vlad Borrelli (1957) 234-42. See also Parlangeli (1960) 

239-40. 

348 

Tagliamonte (1989) 362 and 368. Morandi (1982) 166-7. 

153

Modern interpretations of the expression vereia can be divided into three main 

groups. The first group emphasizes its military aspects. Bücheler argued that the 

function of the vereia was the physical and military training of the young local 

aristocrats like the Greek ephebea or the Roman iuventus. 550 Other scholars have 

provided archaeological and linguistic support for this thesis. The building into 

which the Pompeian inscription attesting the vereis had been walled is thought to 

have been a gymnasium during the Samnite period. 551 It has been suggested that the 

word derives from the Indo-European root *vero-, `defence' and so `defensive 

body'. 552 The identification of the vereia as a military and educational organization 

for young aristocrats is the generally accepted view. 553 La Regina was the first 

scholar to raise doubts about this thesis. He argued that the helmet bearing the 

inscription ST Lu 37 belonged to a group of Lucanian or Hirpinian mercenaries 

originally from Compsa of the Lucani or the Hirpini, in the service of Metapontum 

at the time of the dedication. 554 Tagliamonte rightly pointed out that, unlike the 

terms ephebeia and iuventus, vereia is not etymologically connected either to a 

specific age group or to the higher classes. 555 Furthermore, it has been suggested that 

the so-called `Palaestra sannitica' of Pompeii was too small for a gymnasium, but 

might have served as the seat of this or another organization. 556 Tagliamonte was 

also right to criticize La Regina's link of the vereia with the irutcic, the cavalry, 

549 

Bu 45: Jupiter Versor, Ve 147: Vergarius. Morandi (1982) 167. 

sso Biicheler in Nissen (1877) 169. Bacheler believed that the word vereia was related to the Umbrian 

veiro, Lat. viro and means à group of men'. 

551 Della Corte (1924) 47-60 strongly claims the identification of the building-complex with a 

gymnasium. The building later appeared in modern works as Gymnasium, Palaestra and Porticus 

Vicinii. 

552 This argument first appeared in Buck (1974, reprint of the 1904 edition) 186 and 240 and was 

supported by Pisani (1964) 63. 

ss This view is supported by Vetter (1954) nr. 173, Frederiksen (1968) 19, Salmon (1967) 94. Morel, 

(1976) 670 suggested that the vereia was founded for the defence of the city-gates, which argument he 

presumably bases on the relation of the term vereia to the word for gate in Oscan, veru. Cristofani 

(1978) 89-90, Frederiksen (1984) 148. 

554 La Regina (1981) 135-7. 

154

ecause it is not known whether the mercenary groups of the Lucanians and the 

Frentani were cavalry troops. 557 The military connotation of the word, however, 

cannot be doubted, because of the etymology of the word and because of the 

inscription on the helmet from Metapontum and the sword-shaped plate from the 

Frentani. Tagliamonte therefore concluded that the vereia was a military institution, 

either public or private. It served its own community and was under public control. 

The second group of interpretations considers the vereia to have been an 

institution of a social kind. 558 Campanile accepted La Regina's view that vereia 

originally meant a group of mercenary soldiers, who might form an autonomous 

political entity under the leadership of their general, as happened at Messina and 

Entella. 559 They settled in cities, lost their military characteristics and became 

predominantly cultural and professional associations. 

The third group takes vereia to denote a city, autonomous community or 

state. First was Mommsen, who thought it was a res publica. 560 Rix suggested that 

the term vereia derives from the proto-Indo-European or proto-Italic stem *werg'- 

rya, which means the àct of enclosing', `the result of enclosing', `something 

enclosed', `to protect', and which could refer to a community enclosed by palisade 

or walls. 561 He noted that a vereia is not attested in states where an okri 

(citadel) is 

attested, and suggests that the Samnites who colonized the cities of Campania used 

vereia to denote a fortified urban settlement. It then came to mean the autonomous 

Samnite community, the state, and thus the office of meddix vereks is identical to 

that of the meddix tuticus. 

555 

Tagliamonte (1989) 363 

556 

De Vos (1982) 72. 

557 

Tagliamonte 371-2. 

558 

Devoto (1967) 222-3 and Prosdocimi (1978) 865 and 69; 

559 

Campanile (1985)13, (1993) 601-11, (1996) 172-3 

560 Mommsen (1850) 169,183,258. 

155

Rix's argument is unconvincing. First, the identification of meddix v with 

meddix vereks is not certain. Second, if the term vereia were normal in Campania, 

why do we have evidence for the office of meddix tuticus in several Campanian 

cities and only in Cumae for the meddix v? If the okri remained subordinate to the 

touta elsewhere, why should the supposedly equivalent term vereia replace touta in 

Campania? 

The precise etymology of the term vereia remains open to interpretation, but 

all linguists agree that it has something to do with defense. The military relations of 

the word are confirmed by the fact that one text was inscribed on a helmet, and 

another on a sword-figured bronze plate. The verefa seems to have been a military 

group, perhaps originally private, which might undertake mercenary service. Armed 

bands of warlords in the early history of Rome may provide a parallel for the Oscan 

vereia such as the sodales of Publius Valerius making an offering to Mars in an 

inscription from Satricum around 500 BC. 562 Coriolanus and the Fabii were noted 

for their large number of armed followers. 563 Cornell notes that in the early Republic 

armed bands might have operated independently from state governments, moved 

freely across state frontiers and may have changed their allegiances frequently. 64 

Groups of mercenaries could also emerge from communities, as in the case of the 

vereia of Campsa, which served at Metapontum. We have two attestations for the 

vereia in the third century BC in Capua and Cumae, and in both cities they appear 

under public control: in Capua a meddix represents the vereis in one of the iüvilas 

inscriptions, at Pompeii the quaestor acts on behalf of the city council in supervising 

building works for the vereia. By that time both Capua and Cumae were allies of 

561 

Rix (2000) 217-8. 

562 

Lintott (1999) 30. 

563 

Dion. Hal. 7.21.3 and 9.15.3. 

564 

Cornell (1995) 144. CAH 7.2.157-8. 

156

Roane and the vereis had been formalized as a public institution, probably with the 

aim of military education of the youth similar to the iuventus and ephebeia. 


The Samnite occupation of Cumae is attested by literary sources and epigraphic 

evidence. Archaeology shows a growth in the city's population during the fourth and 

third centuries, the establishment of a Hippodamian checkerboard plan in the lower 

city below the acropolis, and the rebuilding of the old Greek agora, which became 

the city's new religious and civic centre. 

The literary sources say very little about Cumae's political system. We know 

that in 338 BC the city was granted civitas sine suffragio along with Capua and a 

number of other Campanian cities and retained its own magistrates and language. 

Epigraphic evidence from the third century BC suggests that at least two offices 

existed in the city: the perhaps eponymous ineddix v and the meddix or meddices x. 

Neither of these offices has been found elsewhere in Oscan-speaking 

territories. I 

have concluded that at present it is uncertain what the abbreviation v stands for. Two 

interpretations of the letter x are plausible until further evidence emerges: it might 

refer either to a meddix degetasius like the one known from Nola, or it might denote 

a board of ten ineddices. 

Cumae also provides evidence for the institution of the vereia, which was 

also found in other Oscan-speaking territories. The vereis in its origins may have 

denoted a private military group, like the armed bands in the early history of Rome. 

During and after the third century BC, we have references to a vereia at Capua, 

157

Cumae and Pompeii. These cities, already allied to Rome at the time, exercised state 

control over the vereia, which had probably now become a public educational and 

cultural institution, similar to the Roman iuventus and the Greek ephebefa. 

158


Chapter 5. Nola and Abella 

This chapter deals with the public institutions of Nola and Abella. I examine critically 

the view that there was a confederation in central Campania under the leadership of 

Nola. Sartori in particular has argued for the existence of a league during the period of 

Samnite domination between the end of the fifth century and the Social War. 565 This 

chapter is divided into three parts. First, I study the literary evidence for the relationships 

between the towns of the area. The second section looks at the coins of Nola and Hyrina 

in order to see how they fit into our picture of the relationships between Nola and the 

neighbouring settlements. Finally, in the third and longest section I study the epigraphic 

evidence for the duties, relationships and the spheres of authority of the magistrates of 

Nola and Abella, and how they compare to those of other towns in Campania. 

5.2. Literary sources 

Some ancient sources attribute the foundation of Nola and Abella to the inhabitants of 

Chalcis in Euboia: Silius Italicus, in his description of Marcellus's movements in 

Campania during his campaigns of 216 and 215 BC, adds the adjective 'Chalcidian' to 

565 

Sartori (1953) 17 and 148, n. 6. 

159

the name of the town. 566 Justin, who epitomized the Philippic Histories of Pompeius 

Trogus, asks rhetorically 'are surely not ... the Nolans and Abellans colonies of the 

Chalcidians? '567 The inhabitants of Chalcis in Euboia are thought to have been the 

founders of Cumae and Naples. We may suppose that authors of imperial times were 

happy to attribute Greek founders to settlements in the neighbourhood of important 

Greek cities. It is true that a great number of Ionic cups and black-figured vases have 

been found in Nolan tombs, but they are probably due to the contacts of the town with 

the coastal Greek cities, rather than evidence for a substantial Greek community. 568 

Velleius Paterculus attributes the foundation of Nola to the Etruscans. 569 Polybius also 

mentions that the Etruscans were the first inhabitants of the Phlegraean fields near 

Capua and Nola. 570 Other ancient sources attribute an Etruscan origin to the cities of 

Capua, Nola, Surrentum, Pompeii and Herculaneum. The material provided by the 

Ronga necropolis, one of the necropoleis situated north of Nola, covers most of the 

historical period of the town. 71 The earliest tombs date from the third quarter of the 

seventh century BC. Finds include imported bucchero pottery, typical Etrusco- 

Corinthian ceramic material from the orientalizing period, also found in Latium and 

Etruria, and their local imitations, Italo-geometric vases, numerous fibulae and belts. 

The material culture of this necropolis reveals close affinities with the finds in tombs at 

Capua, and also with the finds at Pontecagnano and Vico Equense of the same period 572 

566 Sil. Ital. 12.161. The dates are deduced from the traditional dating found in Livy, who also describes 

Marcellus' campaigns in Campania and Apulia. 

567 Just. 20.1.13. 

568 Mustilli (1962)182. 

569 Velleius Paterculus 1.7.2: 

570 Polyb. 2.17. 

57 Bonghi Jovino-Donceel (1969). 

572 Frederiksen (1971) 206. 

160

Hecataeus in the late sixth century BC suggests that Nola was an Ausonian town 573 

Several ancient sources imply that most of southern Italy was populated by an Italic 

population of some kind before the arrival of the Etruscans. 574 

The foundation history of Abella is less colourful. Servius says that the first 

inhabitants of the town were Greeks, although the city was founded by the mythical king 

Muranus. 575 All these passages describe the region as ethnically diverse. Our literary 

sources do not record when the Samnite occupation of the two towns occurred, but it 

probably happened in the second part of the fifth century, as was the case with most of 

the Campanian cities. Nola acquired its name from the Samnites, for Nola means `New 

Town' in Oscan. The Ronga necropolis does not reveal an interruption or 

impoverishment of the tombs in the period following the presumed Samnite occupation. 

In historical accounts, Nola first figures in an incident involving Naples on the eve 

of the Second Samnite war. The accounts of Dionysius Halicarnassus and Livy are 

somewhat confused. Dionysius mentions the arrival of Tarentine and Nolan ambassadors 

at Naples in 327 BC. 576 

In this period, the Samnites and Romans were competing to 

secure as much support in Campania as possible. The Tarentine support of the Samnites 

towards the end of the 330s BC allowed the latter to put more pressure on the Volscian 

area and to gain support among the Campanian towns, - probably including Nola. The 

Tarentine and Nolan legates went to Naples to prevent the city from forming an alliance 

with Rome. The atrocities 'committed against the Romans dwelling in the districts of 

Campania and Falerii' by the inhabitants of Palaeopolis culminated in war between 

373 Hecataeus fr. 28 FGrH. Beloch (1890) 389 was puzzled by this passage, because he thought that 

Campania was more likely to have been inhabited by the Etruscans or Greeks in the author's time. 

574 

Aristotle Pol. 1329b 18; Antiochus in Strabo 5.4.3; Livy 8.15.16. Polyb 34.11.7. 

575 

lust. 20.1.13; Serv. 7.790. 

576 Dion. Hal. 15.5.2. 

161

Rome and Naples. 577 One may doubt, however, whether Roman citizens were 

living in 

the ager Campanus at such an early date. Palaeopolis, probably the old town of Naples, 

was mostly inhabited by the Cumaeans who had fled there following the occupation of 

Cumae by the Samnites in the late fifth century BC. 578 Palaeopolis faced military 

reprisals by the Romans. The Samnites installed a garrison at Naples with the 

participation of two thousand soldiers from Nola and four thousand Samnites. The 

Roman consul, L. Cornelius Lentulus, was informed of a levy proclaimed by the 

Samnite magistrates in preparation to, help their ally, Palaeopolis, to meet the Roman 

threat. 579 Livy 'says that reinforcements were on their way to Palaeopolis both from 

Tarentum and from the Samnites. 580 The Samnite alliance, however, did not last very 

long. Naples was internally divided, with the leading classes preferring the Roman 

alliance, and the people preferring the Samnite alliance. The promised Samnite troops 

failed to arrive and the Neapolitans endured a long, exhausting siege. Finally, the pro- 

Roman group prevailed, the Nolans and the Samnites were forced to flee from Naples, 

and the city was handed over to the Roman general Q. Publilius Philo 581 

In these events Nola appears as a leading town of the region, closely allied to the 

highland Samnites. Nola is not mentioned again until its capture by the Roman dictator 

C. Poetelius in 313 BC when it presumably was-made an ally of Rome. 582 Abella is not 

mentioned at all in this period. Certainly it was less important than Nola, but there is no 

reason to interpret its absence in the narrative as evidence for its subordination to Nola. 

We hear about Nola for the first time during the Second Punic War in 216 BC 

when Livy mentions disagreement between the pro-Roman senate and the people 

577 

Livy 8.22.5. 

578 

Livy 8.22.5. 

579 

Livy 8.23.1-4. 

sso 

Livy 8.25.7-9. 

581 

Livy 8.26.3-6. 

162

wanting to join Hannibal, who was already in the region. 583 Similar crises were recorded 

in other Campanian and southern Italian towns such at Capua, Nola, Nuceria, Compsa 

and Croton, with the leading classes defending the Roman alliance and the common 

preferring to join Hannibal. 584 Nola's strategic importance during the Second Punic War 

was due to its location in the heart of Campania. From Nola one could easily reach the 

ports of Naples and Pompeii or follow the communication lines to the inner parts of the 

Italian peninsula. 585 Nola's strategic importance to Rome was further strengthened by 

the fact that, by 216 BC, both Capua in the north and Nuceria in the south were in 

Hannibal's hands. M. Claudius Marcellus, the Roman praetor, whose army was 

stationed at Casilinum, arrived promptly and defeated Hannibal at Nola. 586 Hannibal 

tried again in 215 and in 214 BC, but he suffered only more defeats at the hands of 

Marcellus and eventually gave up the hope of gaining control of the town. 587 

Nola became the base of a strong Roman garrison in the years 216-214 BC. Livy 

says that the proconsul Marcellus, probably from his base at Nola, raided the territories 

of the Samnite Hirpini and Caudini, who joined Hannibal in 215 BC. 588 During his 

campaign in Campania, Hannibal stationed his army at Tifata, above Capua. Cities on 

the Roman side attracted those driven from their homes by Carthaginian attacks: the 

citizens of Nuceria, after their town was sacked by Hannibal's army, took refugee in 

582 

Livy 9.28.6. 

583 Livy 23.14.1 

- 8. The senate is mentioned on other occasions too: Livy 23.14.5,23.16.7,23.39 7. 

and 24.13.8. The Cippus Abellanus of the mid- or late second century BC, studied later, shows that both 

Nola and Abella had councils called senate. 

584 

Livy 23.43.9,23.44.1 and 23.15.7. 

585 Strabo 5,4,8: `Pompeii, on the river Samus -a river which both takes the cargoes inland and sends 

them out to the sea - is the port town of Nola, Nuceria and Acerrae'. Although this passage refers to 

Strabo's own time, commercial relations certainly existed among the Oscan towns of the region well 

before. 

586 

Livy 23.16.16. 

587 

Livy 23.44. - 45. and 24.17.8 

588 

Livy 23.41.13.1-14.2.215 BC. 

163

Nola, Naples and Cumae in 216 BC 589 According to Strabo, Pompeii functioned as a 

port for Nola, Nuceria and Acerrae, but the passage probably refers to his own day. 590 

Nola joined the Italic allies against Rome in the Social War and was 

who, in around 80 BC, established a veteran colony in its territory. 

besieged by Sulla, 

In conclusion, literary sources for the Samnite Wars and the Second Punic War are 

mainly concerned with Nola's relation with Rome. What comes through the literary 

evidence is Nola's unquestionable importance in the region, especially in the Second 

Punic War, when it accommodated a Roman garrison and provided a base for military 

operations against other Campanian settlements under the control of Hannibal. We 

hardly hear about Abella, except for its nuts, but it does not follow that it was because 

the town was subordinated to Nola. 591 Nothing can be gleaned from the sources about 

the extent of the territories of these cities and very little about their political 

organization. 

5.3. Coins 

Coins showing the name of Nola appeared at an early date. Some 170 didrachms survive 

which bear the city's name. 592 They are related through iconographic similarities to the 

more than 360 didrachms, found in scattered hoards in Campania, which bear variations 

of the legend Hyrina. 593 Both ethnics appear in the Oscan script, often mixed with Greek 

589 

Livy 23.15.3 - 6. 

590 

Strabo 5.4. S. 

59' Cato De Agr, 8.2.5; 133.2.4; Celsus De Agr. Fr. 30 line 8. 

592 

Rutter (1979) 60-80 the coins show the legend NQAAI )N 

593 

Legends (left to right) HVPIETES AS; YDINA; YDINA; YPINA; YPINAI; YDINAI; YIDINA; 

YDIANOE; YDNVA; VDNAI; VDINA; VDINAI; (right to left) ANIDY; VNIDY; ANIDY; NIDS; 

ANEDY; ANIPY; ANIDY; DNIDY; ANIDV; ANIDV; DNIDV; 

164

letters. Friedländer's view that Hyrina was the older name of Nola has been rejected, and 

today it is accepted that the location of this town cannot be ascertained. 

594 

Rutter distinguished several phases in the minting of coins of Nola and Hyrina. On 

the obverses of the earlier Hyrina coins, the head of Athena appears wearing a helmet 

and occasionally with an owl. On later coins, a female head appears with a necklace, her 

hair freely flowing out of a polos (head dress) decorated with griffins; she is identified as 

Hera Lakinia. The latest coins bear either the head of Athena or a young female head. 

The earliest obverses of the Nolan coins show the same head of Athena, with helmet and 

owl, while the latest coins from the town show almost exclusively the same young 

female head as the Hyrina coins. All reverses show a man-headed bull, sometimes with 

Victoria flying above to crown him. Rutter argued that the man-headed bull should be 

identified with the river-god Achelous. 595 

The first centre of coin production in Campania was Cumae, beginning in the first 

quarter of the fifth century BC. When the Samnites occupied Cumae, production moved 

to Naples. 596 

There was a general increase in coin production in Campania from the late 

fifth century BC when the coinage of Samnite communities, some of whose names are 

known only from coins, appeared. 

597 Both Greek and Samnite coinages followed the 

iconography and weight-system of Cumae and Naples. Significant similarities of style 

and metal content between the coins of Naples issued from 420 BC and the coins of 

Nola and Hyrina have been recognized. Rutter dated the coinage of Hyrina to the last 

decade of the fifth century BC. 598 The first Nolan coins were struck contemporaneously 

594 

Friedlander (1850) 36. 

595 

Rutter (1969) 24-8. 

596 

Rutter (1979) 96. See section 4.2. 

597 

The ethnics Hyrina, Fenserni, Fistelian are known only from coins, their exact location cannot be 

ascertained. 

598 

Rutter (1969) 72 and 99. 

165

with the late period of the Hyrina coins. 599 The small number of Neapolitan coins 

suggests that in the period between 410 and 385/80 BC the coins of Hyrina and Nola 

dominated the coinage of Campania 600 Rutter also discovered several die-transferences 

among the coins of Nola, Hyrina, Capua, Fistelia, Allifae and those of the Fenserni, 

which prompted him to conclude that the coins of all these communities were struck for 

them in Naples. 01 Neapolitan coinage resumed after the Oscan coinages ceased. 

The quantity of coins bearing the legend Hyrina is surprising, especially when we 

consider the short length of time within which they were issued. The close relationship 

between the issuing of coins and wars has long been recognized. Rutter argued that these 

Oscan coins were expenditure-driven and were minted in order to pay the Campanian 

mercenaries who fought with the Athenians against Syracuse in around 410 BC and later 

remained in Sicily to form part of the Carthage's help to Segesta. 602 Later, the 

603 

Campanians fell out with the Carthaginians and were transferred to Libya. Rutter 

suggested that some of the soldiers probably returned to Campania, and that the coins of 

Hyrina and Nola were issued for these soldiers. They were paid after they returned 

home, which is why the coins were issued somewhat later. If this were right, we would 

have to assume that the `Campani' of these events were Campanians mainly from Nola 

and Hyrina rather than Capuans, and that the troops were paid in silver bullion which 

they, or their states, got Naples to mint for them. The latter assumption is not 

implausible in itself: Naples apparently minted silver coins for Rome in the late fourth 

century BC. 604 The more or less contemporaneous issues of Capua, Fistelia, Allifae and 

599 Rutter (1979) 72-3. 

600 Crawford (1985) 27 suggests that Cumae and Hyrina continued to strike didrachms until and perhaps 

beyond the middle of the fourth century BC. 

601 Rutter (1969) 185 and 207-8 and (1979) 73. 

602 Rutter (1969) 214. 

603 Diod. 13.80.4. 

604 Crawford (1985) 29-30. 

166

the Fensemi may have been minted under similar arrangements. However, the occasions 

of these issues may have been local wars or building projects, unrecorded in our extant 

sources. 

Rutter also compared the minting of coins by Naples for Hyrina and Nola to the 

production of coins within the Achaean league. 605 In the Achaean league, the members 

of the league, rather than minting locally, gave silver to the federal treasury, which 

turned it into federal money. The ethnic of the communities contributing to the federal 

money appeared on the coins. Rutter admitted that the coins of the Achaean league have 

not been thoroughly studied and that the historical background of Campania is different 

from that of Achaea. The hypothesis that Naples functioned as the federal treasury for 

the communities that had coins minted there would imply that all these cities and towns 

belonged to a federation headed by Naples, which is quite implausible. Nola therefore 

appears among a handful of Campanian communities for whom coins were minted in 

Naples in the first quarter of the fourth century BC. The coinage of Nola was produced 

in a short period and was inferior in size to the coinage of Ilyrina. It is therefore 

implausible that Nola issued coins to provide money for a confederation of communities 

that it headed. Nor is it necessarily significant that no coins in the name of Abella are 

known. 

5.4. Epigraphic evidence 

167

5.4.1. Magistrates at Nola and Abella 

In this section I review the public magistrates who appear in the inscriptions of Nola and 

Abella. This leads to the next section where I discuss the Cippus Abellanus, which 

brings together the magistrates of the two towns and gives us an opportunity to study the 

relationship between them. I start with two inscriptions from Nola: 

ST Cm 6, Ve 115, Co 93, Bu 42, Pi 17A. Found in the ruins of a temple. Date unknown. 

n]iumsis heirennis. niumsieis[. ] ka[-? -] 

perkens. gaaviis. perkedn[eis -? -] 

meddiss. degetasids. aragetüjd 

mültasiküd] 

Numerius Herennius Ca[.. ] son of Numerius 

Percennius Gavius son of Percennius [ -? - ] 

meddices degetasii with the money [of the fines. ] 

ST Cm 7, Ve 116, Co 94, Bu 43, Pi 17B, AION L 13 (1991) 242. Vetter suggested that 

the stone on which the inscription appears was a fragment of an altar. Now lost. Exact 

provenance and date unknown. 

paakul. mülükiis. marai(ieis) meddis 

degetasis. aragetüd. mültas(iküd) 

Paculus Mulcius son of Maraeus meddix degetasius with the money of the 

fines. 

605 

Rutter (1979) 99-100. 

168

The two inscriptions are evidence for an office of meddix in Nola qualified by the 

adjective degetasius. The first inscription shows that the office was collegiate with two 

or more current holders. These magistrates are attested dedicating objects paid for with 

money raised from public fines. Whatmough connected the adjective degetasius to the 

Latin decem and translated it into Latin as decentarius. 606 He argued that it was a 

widespread practice in ancient Italy to offer Hercules tithes of crops, animals or booty 

either regularly or on particular occasions. Whatmough suggested that the most 

important duty of the meddix degetasius was the levying of fines for tithes not paid. 

Prosdocimi agreed with Whatmough and suggested that the word degetasius is 

connected to the tithe, but he supposed that it derives from the word dekento/a. 607 He 

concluded that the meddix degetasius was a magistrate in charge of the collection of 

taxes and so was responsible for the public finances of Nola. Campanile, however, 

argued that the Oscan word for the tithe is bcxµac (gen. sing), which appears on an 

inscription from Rossano di Vaglio in Lucania, and did not think it plausible that two 

separate words existed for this tax. 608 La Regina agreed with Prosdocimi about the 

etymology, but also points out that it is a compound of dekenta + -asio and could mean 

'belonging to the group or committee of ten' like the Latin decemviri'. 609 La Regina 

suggested that the adjective had a double meaning: it referred to the collectors of the 

tithe, who were also members of a committee of ten. 

It is generally accepted that the office of meddix degetasius is related to both 

finances and the number ten. The adjective is unlikely to refer to a special duty of the 

officers which needed to be performed once every ten years, such as a census. The 

606 Whatmough (1927) 106-7. 

607 Prosdocimi (1980) 438-45; (1978) 863. 

608 Campanile-Letta (1979) 22. 

609 La Regina (2000) 218. 

169

Romans held censuses every five years, and this was adopted by their allies as is 

indicated by the adjective quinquennalis which later appears in the titles of local 

magistrates in numerous inscriptions from across Italy. 610 So far, no inscription has been 

found with the adjective decennalis. Furthermore the word degetasius has no connection 

to the Oscan word for year, acenei (abl. sing. ). La Regina's comparison of the office of 

meddix degetasius to the decemviri of Rome is not helpful. The decemvirate of 450/1 

was an extraordinary committee, which replaced the regular magistrates of the year and 

was appointed to compile a law code. 61 

1 The decemviri stlitibus iudicandis were a board 

or ten leading citizens responsible for lawsuits, to decide whether a man was free or 

slave. The decemviri sacris faciundis held their position for life and their task was the 

preservation of the Sybilline books. 612 Boards of ten men or decemviri were appointed 

by the senate to carry out specific tasks, but this was not a regularly held office. 613 

I now compare the Nolan magistrates with comparable magistrates in other 

Campanian inscriptions and at Rome. Dedications made from public fines are also 

attested at Pompeii, but the sundial inscription shows that it was a quaestor who 

performed this duty. 614 At Rome the aediles seemed to have exercised a similar 

authority. Numerous examples in Livy show that both plebeian and curule aediles, of 

which there were two pairs, prosecuted offenders on charges of contravening the limits 

on landholding and the use of pasture, a grain merchant for causing corn shortages, and 

610 aediles quinquennales at Tusculum: CIL XIV. 2579 and 2590 (from 186 AD). aediles of Formiae 

consisted of aedilis quinquennalis solus with censorial functions supported by two ordinary aediles of the 

settlement: CIL X. 6015,6111. Praetor (sometimes called duovir) quinquennalis from Lavinium (Latins): 

CIL X. 797; CIL XIV p. 188. Praetor quinquennalis in Capitulum Hernicum: CIL XIV. 2960. 

61 Livy 3.32.6. 

612 Lintott (1999)183-4. 

613 See section 5.4. 

614 ST Po 4, ST Po 8 and the fragmentary ST Po 13? 

170

moneylenders. 

615 The aediles used fines to build sanctuaries such as those of Victoria 

and Faunus (on the island of the Tiber), erect statues of deities or give games in honour 

of gods. 16 The annalistic record is confirmed by one or two inscriptions. 617 At Pompeii 

the quaestor spent the money on a sundial by order of one of the town's councils and 

other inscriptions from Pompeii that mention the quaestor also show him acting under 

the direction of the two assemblies or councils. 618 Even at Rome, where the aediles 

appear to act independently, they must have secured senatorial approval for their 

dedications. The same was probably true at Nola, whose council (senatus) is mentioned 

by Livy and in the Cippus Abellanus. 

I turn now to the recently discovered boundary inscription ST Cm 48, from the territory 

of Nola. The text was first published by Rix; Poccetti's interpretation is forthcoming. It 

probably dates to the second half of the second century BC. 

k(e)r(rins). statiis. k(e)r(rineis) m. d. III 

pz. staiis pz. m. 

d. k 

p(a)k(is). kala[v]iis. p(a)k(ieis) m. d. [-? -] 

v(ibis). afj-4/6-] m. d. III 

tere[mna]ttens 

Cerinus Statius son of Cerinus m. d. III 

Pz Staius son of Pz m. d. k 

615 List based on Rathbone's compilation of sources in Livy: Rathbone (2003) 146, n. 36. Landholding: 7. 

16.9; 10.13.14; pasture: 10.23.13; 10.47.4; 33.42.10; 34.53.4,35.10.11-12; aedilician convictions 

for unspecified offences: Livy 10.33.9; 27.6.19; 30.39.8; 31.50.2; 33.25.3. moneylenders: 7.28.9; 

10.23.11-12; 35.41.9-10; grain merchants: 38.35.5-6. 

616 Sanctuary of Victoria: Livy 10.33.9; sanctuary of Faunus: Livy 33.42.10; statues for deities: Livy 27. 

6.19; 30.39.8; 31.50.2. The Publicii brothers in 241 or 238 BC used money from fines to fund the 

Floralia and the building of clivus Publicus: Ovid Fasti 5.277-294; Varro, Ling. 5.158; Vell. Pat. 1.14.8. 

617 CIL I2 1496 = CIL XIV 3678 from Tibur: M. Scaudius C. f., C. Munatius T. f. aediles aere multatico. 

618 See section 6.2.1.4. 

171

Pacius Calavius son of Pacius m. d. [ -? -] 

Vibius Af []m. d. III 

defined it 

The most important novelty of the text is the appearance of the titles in. d. III and in. d. 

k. It seems reasonable to suggest that m. d. stands for meddix degetasius, already attested 

at Nola twice, but the letter k and the three strokes raise new questions. The verb 

teremnattens, whose Latin equivalent is terminaverunt, appears several times in a 

Campanian context, but nowhere else in the Oscan-speaking territories. 619 The noun 

teremniss (dat. - abl. plur), teremenniü (nom. - acc. plur), on the Cippus Abellanus derives 

from the same root and is to be translated as terminus, `boundary marker'. 620 

In English 

we should render the verb teremnattens as 'they defined the boundaries with marker'. 

The stone has no internal date, but we know that the consul L. Postumius was instructed 

to demarcate the public land from private in 173 BC in the ager Campanus. The 

demarcation of the public land probably was carried out around 165 BC, because we 

know that P. Lentulus, praetor, who was authorized the finish the demarcation of lands 

by buying lands out of private ownership in 165 BC, placed a bronze outline (/brma) of 

public land in the ager Campanus in the Atrium Libertatis 621 It is probable that lands in 

the region were delimited by local communities in the second century BC, of which this 

inscription is a general record. The abolition of Oscan as the official language after the 

Social war provides a terminus ante quem. 

The text gives names of four magistrates, two with the title of m. d. III and one 

with the title m. d. k. The title of the other is lacunose: if we assume two pairs of 

619 The verb appears in two Pompeian inscriptions, ST Po 1 and 2 where the officials defined the extension 

of roads. It also ends an inscription of unknown provenance, ST Cm 47. 

620 

teremniss: ST Cm 1. A14; teremenniü ST Cm 1. A15, B31 

621 

Rathbone (2003) 156. 

172

magistrates, it would be m. d. [k], but it could be also m. d. [III] or something else. For a 

college of four magistrates in two pairs we could compare the quattuorviri of the Roman 

municipal model. 622 

Alternatively, the stone might name a group of commissioners sent out from Nola 

to determine the borders of public or sacred property. The senate at Rome appointed 

commissions of senators for various defined jobs, including land distributions. They 

were often ex-magistrates and of various ranks or even non-magistrates 623 

Three public inscriptions from Cumae, ST Cm 4,5 and 9 attest the office m x. I 

have suggested that interpretations of this title as meddix degetasius or as meddix of a 

board of ten colleagues are both possible. One tile-stamp from Campochiaro attests 

Gaius Papius Mutilus as meddix tuticus x. 624 1 have suggested that the letter x following 

this title implies that Gaius Papius Mutilus was a decennial meddix luticus rather than 

being the member of a board of ten meddices tutici. 625 

It is unlikely that the three strokes 

here refer to membership of a college of three magistrates, because if the fragmentary 

title of Pacius Calavius son of Pacius, was followed by the three strokes, he would be the 

fourth meddix degetasius. The three strokes could either refer to a triennial office or, 

more plausibly, indicate that the meddices degetasii who were holding hold office for 

the third time. 

We also need to consider what the letter k after the office of the second person of 

the four could stand for. It seems certain that the letter belongs to the office rather than 

to the name of the magistrate. It is not likely that the letter k is the abbreviation of the 

place where the officer comes from because in Oscan the names of towns are usually 

622 


623 

Gargola (1995) 60-3. Compare ILS 5946 of 117 BC: the brothers Q. M. Minucius Rufus and Q. 

Minucius Rufus, who were not holding office at the time, were instructed to resolve a border dispute 

between the people of Genua and the Langenses Veiturii. 

624 ST tSa 24: g. papi. mt. m. t. X. For further discussion see the 'Highland Samnites section'. 

173

written out in full. Rather, I think that it was a special addition to the office, standing 

perhaps for censor or quaestor. 

We have another boundary inscription, ST Cm 47, which will not be studied in 

detail here because no office is attested in the inscription, although the names of those 

appearing in the text will be considered in the section 5.5. Similarities with the above 

boundary inscription must be noted: the text ends with the term teremnattens, used 

several times in inscriptions defining the boundaries of public, private and sacred 

property. The inscription attests the names of four individuals, which suggests that it 

might have been a local custom to send out boards of four to demarcate borders of 

properties. 

We also have one relevant inscription from the town of Abella, ST Cm 8, Ve 137, 

Co 96, SE 58 (1992) 355-9.626 

Its date and exact provenance are unknown. 

mais vestir, [ikiis) 

mai(eiis) kv, (aistur) terem[natted] 

Maius Vestiricinus 

son of Maius quaestor defined it. 

This inscription, like ST Cm 48 and 47, may have been a boundary stone. Along with 

the Cippus Abellanus it attests the office of quaestor in Abella. The closest other 

examples of the office are the quaestors of Pompeii and of the lex Osca of Tabula 

Bantina, whose function, on the Roman model, was management of public finances. 627 

As at Pompeii and Rome, the quaestorship at Abella may have been collegial, perhaps a 

625 


626 

Antonini (1992) 355-9. The stone is now lost, but the inscription is known from the publications of 

Passen and Remondini, the latter of whom transferred the stone to the Museum of the Nolan Episcopal 

Seminary, after having found it in Abella. 

174

pair, and primarily concerned with finance. Although it is not specified, the quaestor in 

this inscription, had probably been authorized by the senate to (re)define the borders of a 

property or road. The boundary stone inscription from Nola tells us that the meddices 

degetasii (III and k) defined the extent of something unknown to us. In contrast, at 

Pompeii it was the task of the aediles to delimit and pave a road. 

5.4.2. Cippus Abellanus 

ST Cm. 1, Ve 1, Co. 95, Bu 1, Pi 18. 

Side A 

' maiiüi. vestirikiiüi. mai(eis). siiI(üi) 

prupukid. sverrunei. kvaistu. 

rei abellanüi. inim. maiiüi. 

lüvkiiüi. mai(ieis). pukalatiü 

5 medikei. deketasiiii. nüvla- 

nüi. inim. ligatüis. abe11anjüis] 

inim. ligatüis. nirvlanüis. 

pis. senateis. tanginüd 

suveis. pütürüspid. ligat[üs] 

10 Mans. ekss. kümbened. 

sakaraklüm. herekleis. [ü]p. 

slaagid. püd. ist. inim. teer[üm] 

püd. üp. eisöd. sakaraklüd[. ist]. 

pad. anter. teremniss. ehjtrüis] 

15 

ist. pal. teremennh . mü[inikad] 

tanginiid. prüftü. set. r[ehtüd] 

627 

ST Po 3,4,8,9,10,14, 

175

amnüd. puz. idik. sakara[klüm] 

inim. idik. terüm. müinik[üm] 

miiinikei. terei. fusid. [inim] 

20eiseis. sakarakleis. i[nim] 

tereis. fruktatiuf. fr[ukt] 

iuf müinikü. pütürümjpid] 

[fus]id. avt nüvlanü 

[.... ] herekleis fiisnü 

25 pispid nüvlan[..... ] 

Side B 

---]-ip---z 

[s.... ] 

ist. -[-14/16- 27.32] 

ekkum. [svai pid nüvlanns] 

triibarakavüjm hereset (? )] 

liimitü[m] pe n m. pluf 

herekleis. fisnü. mefi[ii] 

S ist. ehtrad. feihüss. pü[s] 

herekleis. flisnam. amfr- 

et pert. viam. {püsstist} 

pal. ip. ist. püstin slagim 

senateis. suveis. tangi- 

10 nüd. tribarakavüm. li- 

kitud. inim. iük. triba- 

rakkiuf. pam. niüvlanüs 

tribarakattuset. inim 

üittiuf. nüvlanüm. estud 

(? )] 

'5ekkum. svai pid. abellanüs 

tribarakattuset. iük. tri- 

barakkiuf. inim. üittiuf. 

abellanüm. estud. avt. 

176

püst. feihüis. püs fisnam. am- 

20 fret. eisei. terei. nep. abel- 

lanüs. nep. nüvlanüs. pidum 

tribarakat{. ) tins. avt. the- 

savrnm. pied. e(i)sei. terel. ist 

pun. patensins. müinikad. tajn]- 

25gim d. patensins. inim. pid. e[isei] 

thesavrei. pükkapid. ee[stit] 

[a]ittiüm. alttram. alttr[üs] 

[f]errins. - avt. anter. slagim 

[a]bellanam. inim. nüvlanam 

30 [s]üllad. viü. uruvü. ist. pedü X. 

[e]isai. viai. mefiai. teremen- 

[n]iü staiet 

Side A 

Lines 1-10: Maius Vestricius (son) of Maius (grandson? ) of Silius? prupukid 

sverrunei quaestor of Abella and Maius Lucius Puclatus (? ) (son) of Maius, meddix 

deketasius of Nola, and the legates of Abella and the legates of Nola, who were legates 

of either side by the decision of their own (respective) senate, thus agreed: 

Lines 11-16: the sanctuary of Hercules which is by the borderline and the land 

which [is] by that sanctuary, which is inside the external boundary stones, which 

boundary stones had been set up by common decree in a perfect circle628 

Lines 17-22: so that this sanctuary and this common land should be on common 

territory and that this sanctuary and the land should be the common profit of both 

parties. 

628 

For the translation of r[ehtüd] amnüd. see Untermann (2002) under the appropriate entries. 

177

Side B 

Lines 23-26: But the Nolans... the temple of Hercules ... anything the Nolans ... is 

Lines 1-11: Similarly if [any Nolan wishes]629 to build up to the boundary paths, 

where the temple of Hercules is in the middle, outside the walls which surround the 

temple of Hercules as far as the road which is there along the borderline, by the decree 

of either side's own senate let it be allowed to build. 

Lines 11-19: And may that building which the Nolans will have built be for the use 

of the Nolans. Similarly, if any Abelian shall have built (something) may that building 

and (its) use be the Abellans'. 

Lines 19-22: But on the land behind (ie. inside) the walls, which surround the 

temple, neither the Abellans nor the Nolans should build anything. 

Lines 22-26: But when they open the treasury, which is on that land, they should 

open it by common decision. 

Lines 26-28: And what may be in that treasury at whatever time, let each side 

receive that same share. 

630 

Lines 28-32: But all along the Abellan and Nolan borderline there is a road 10 feet 

wide (and) in the middle of this road stand the boundary stones. 

This large inscription was found in the territory of Abella in 1745. It is usually 

dated to the mid- to late second century BC. 631 

It documents an agreement reached by 

629 The second half of the line had been erased, scholars emended the text in the following way: Rix 

(2002): [svaf pfd nüvlanüs] meaning 'if anything the Nolans'; Vetter 1 (1953): [svaf... l 1... ], [si alterui] 'if 

either side'; La Regina (2000) 220: [svaf pfd iüssu ip] 'if something they there'. 

630 Literally in Pulgram (1960) 21: let one side receive the other of the shares [ie. let each side receive a 

share]. 

178

Nola and Abella regarding the borders of the sacred land of the sanctuary of Hercules 

common to the two settlements, and where each community could erect buildings (for 

reconstructions of the sanctuary and its surroundings see map V). Although the Hercules 

sanctuary in question has not yet been identified, two sanctuaries have been found at 

Cimitile (north of Nola) and San Paolo Belsito (south of Nola), which are thought to 

have been built in the fourth or third centuries and probably restructured in the second 

century BC. 632 This text, which envisages new buildings, fits the picture of the second 

century BC as a time of building and restoration at extra-urban sanctuaries in the central 

Apennines. The two communities probably celebrated common cults in the Hercules 

sanctuary. Joint ownership of sanctuaries was widespread in antiquity: for instance the 

temples of Juno Sospita at Lanuvium and the one built by Servius Tullius on the 

Aventine were built for the common use of the Romans and Latins. Similarly, the 

sanctuary at Hiamae was common to Cumae and Capua. 633 

The Cippus Abellanus begins with a list of the civic magistrates who made the 

agreement. Abella was represented by a quaestor, Nola by a meddix deketasius, both 

with other unnamed legates. The quaestor and meddix degetasius may be the only 

legates named because the stonemason could not be bothered to give the list in full, or 

possibly because the other legates were not magistrates in office. They were probably 

the senior members on each side. The name of the quaestor is the same as that of the 

quaestor Maius Vestiricinus son of Maius attested in the boundary inscription, ST Cm 8, 

discussed above. Here his name is followed by `str', which might be an abbreviated 

cognomen, papponymic or perhaps a word linked to the next two words. 634 Between his 

631 

Franchi de Bellis (1988) and Pulgram (1960) 16 date to the mid-2nd BC; La Regina (2000) 214 dates it 

to 120-110 BC. 

632 Albore Livadie-Vecchio (1996) 256. 

633 Livy 23.35.3. See also sections 3.2.4 and 3.5. 

634 Different readings of the possible filiation Ve I str; Cm 1 siil; in La Regina sta; 

179

name and his office (all dative singular) appear another two words, prupukid sverrunei, 

both hapax legomena, which have been interpreted in a number of ways. Prupukid is in 

the ablative singular, sverrunef in the dative singular. Most scholars have related these 

two expressions to the office of quaestor. 635 They suggest a translation of prupukid 

sverrunei as 'superintendent, supervisor by agreement'. La Regina instead suggests that 

the words are two cognomina meaning 'from the house/clan of Sverrunus'. 636 But a 

`clan' identity of this type would be unique, and if it was part of his name, we might 

expect it to appear also on the boundary inscription from Abella. It is possible that the 

`str' was not a papponym or cognomen, but it was linked with the office and thus the 

prupukid sverrunei could be interpreted as `supervisor (of the sanctuary? ) by agreement 

of str( ). 

The name of the rneddix degetasius of Nola is clear, Maius Lucius son of Maius, 

but before we come to his office we must examine the word, pukalatüi, which has also 

caused dispute. It is another hapax legomenon, but several scholars have pointed out that 

the stem of the word, puklo-, meaning filius or son, suggests that it is to do with family 

relations. 637 Poccetti compared it to the Latin patratus, a 'person who has sons, but who 

himself is still a son', but the Latin patratus does not form part of people's names. 

638 La 

635 Pisani (1953) 66. translates prupukid as 'ex praefinito', that is 'from or by appointment', 'prescription'. 

Bottiglioni's (1954) 45 solution is quite similar to that of Pisani, pro pacto', that is 'according to an 

agreement'. Franchi De Bellis (1988) 84-7, again similarly, translates it to Italian as 'in merito al patto', 

'regarding the pact, agreement'. While Ve l suggests that we should understand sverrunei as designatus, 

'designate', agreed with the office. Franchi De Bellis for sverrunei proposes the translation as 

'superintendent', 'supervisor'. Untermann (2002) argues that the expressions prupukid and sverrunei should 

be translated as 'the one who by pre-arrangment was to swear (the oath)'. 

636 La Regina (2000) 217-8 The scholar suggests that the prupukid and sverruneI refers to personal quality 

of some kind. On the one hand, he argues, if the word prupukid had any relation to the office, it would 

follow it on the inscription; on the other hand, according to La Regina, the word is in the ablative case and 

therefore it has no relation to the office. La Regina thus suggests the interpretation of the word prupukid as 

in Latin natione/domo/tribu/signo. The word sverrunei would indicate the tribe, house or clan of 

Suerronus (maybe an inherited cognomen), where the individual came from, agreed with both the name 

and the office. Thus the name of the Abellan quaestor would be Maius Vestiricinus son of Maius Suerrus 

Vandson Staius. 

Vetter (1953) 10-1. 

638 

Poccetti (1986-9) 145-70. 

180

Regina translates the word as afiliatus in the sense of adoptatus. There is one possible 

Roman example, involving a Papirius from Picenum, but there the word adoptatus 

appears as a second patronymic and does not seem to be a standard way of expressing 

adoption. 639 

Possibly, however, pukalatüi is a cognomen, Puclatus, or a papponymic. 

The inscriptions from Nola studied in the previous section show the ineddix 

degetasius making dedications from public fines and defining public land. The guaestor 

of Abella is also attested demarcating public space in the town. This is also the role of 

these magistrates in the Cippus Abellanus, although as members or commissions of 

unknown size. The notion that the meddix degetasius of Nola and the quaestor of Abella 

performed similar duties has raised some problems. Camporeale concluded that if they 

carried out the same tasks, they must have been of the same rank, which does not 

necessarily follow. 64° At Rome, and hence in the Roman-influenced law of Bantia, the 

quaestor was a junior magistrate. 641 The position was also similar in Pompeii. On the 

other hand, at Iguvinum the Umbrian word kvestur is a late adoption of the title of the 

quaestor, which simply replaced the eponymous office of uhtur following 

Romanization, and so must have denoted the leading office of the state. 642 Franchi de 

Bellis also mentioned the quaestor of Supinum as a possible parallel for a quaestor as 

the supreme magistrate of a community. 643 When other Italic peoples adopted the 

Roman title of quaestor, they did not necessarily use it to denote a magistrate of 

comparably junior rank. 

Although the view that the ineddices degetasii of Nola and the quaestor of Abella 

were both the supreme magistrates of their respective communities has been accepted by 

639 

La Regina mentions CIL IX 5523: L. Papiri C. f. Lem. Adoptati f. from Firmum Picenum, near the 

river Tenna. 

640 

Camporeale (1957) 36,52 

64'STLu1. 

64Z 

Camporeale (1957) 54-6. 

181

a number of scholars, I do not believe that we can come to a firm conclusion on the basis 

of the available epigraphic evidence. 644 When the evidence is so scarce, we cannot be 

sure that there were no other magistrates in these towns. 

The Cippus Abellanus mentions the senates of Nola and Abella twice: first, 

because each appointed a commission of `legates' to settle the disputed issues about the 

common sanctuary (side A line 8), and second, because each senate would have to 

authorize any new building at the sanctuary (side B line 9). 

The words lfgatüs (nom. plur. ) and ligatüfs (dat/abl. plur. ) are unique to the 

Cippus, for they appear in no other Oscan text. Clearly the word is adopted from the 

Latin legatus. 645 We have other derivations from the same stem (lex, leg-), in the Lex 

Osca Bantina, namely, ligud (abl. sing) and ligis (dat-abl plur. ) meaning `law', and in the 

Agnone Tablet, Liganakdikef, the name of a divinity. Legates in Rome were appointed 

by the senate or a magistrate to carry out a particular task. Commissions of ten legati 

(decemviri) were frequently appointed by the senate from the third century BC on to 

resolve particular issues: in 204 BC they appointed a delegation to investigate a 

complaint by the Locrians; 646 in 196 BC ten delegates were sent to assist T. Quinctius 

Flaminius in drawing up peace terms for Greek states. 7 Delegations normally consisted 

of senators of different ranks, and sometimes included one or more magistrates in office. 

The Nolan and Abellan commissions use the Latin term legati and they were also 

appointed by the senates. These delegations may have consisted of ten men each, but 

considering that they were much smaller towns, perhaps only four members as in ST Cm 

48 and ST Cm 47. 

643 


644 

Sartori (1953) 149-51; Campanile in Campanile-Letta (1979) 23; Mazzarino (1992) 246. 

645 

Camporeale (1956) 61 and Untermann (2000) under ligatüis. 

646 

Livy 29.16.6. 

647 

Pol. 1.63.1. Livy 33.24.7 and 34.57.1. 

182

5.5. Elite families 

This section considers what the literary and epigraphic evidence tell us about the 

composition of the elite at Nola. In the accounts of the Samnite wars, some members of 

the Nolan leading classes appear by name, Herius Pettius, Herennius Bassius and L. 

Bantius. 648 A bearer of the name Pettius, Lucius Pettius, appeared as meddix on two 

iüvilas inscriptions on stone in Capua, and it has been suggested that they were of 

Etruscan origin. 649 A bearer of the name Bassius also appears in the boundary inscription 

ST Cm 47, as Minatus Bassius son of Minatus. In the same inscription the praenomen 

twice appears as gentilicium: Vibius Minatus son of Vibius and Ovius Minatus son of 

Ovius. The gens of the fourth person in the inscription, Percennius Mamus son of 

Maraeus, does not appear elsewhere, although Percennius is attested as praenomen in 

other Oscan-speaking 

territories. 650 

The second boundary inscription, ST Cm 48, provides us with three gens names: 

Statius, Staius and Calavius. The gens names Statius and Staius are widespread among 

the Oscan-speaking communities both in Campania and the Central Apennines. The 

gens Calavia is attested elsewhere in inscriptions: Stenius Calavius son of Trebius, 

occurs on a curse tablet from Cumae, while Stenius Calavius son of Gavius, is attested to 

have donated a gold ring to the goddess Angitiae (? ) in Aesernia. 651 The Calavii of 

Capua already mentioned in detail in the previous section 652 

648 Herennius Bassius: Livy 23.43.9 and 23.44.1. Herius Pettius Livy 23.43.9. L. Bantius: 23.15.7. 

649 ST Cp 29 and 30. See sections 3.3 and 3.4. 

650 

Salonries (1987) 75. 

651 

ST Cm 13; ST Sa 22. 

652 

Livy 9.7.2; 9.26.7; 23.2.2; 23.8.2-8; 26.27.2. See also section 3.4. 

183

Out of the three gens names of the Nolan meddices degetasii of inscriptions ST 

Cm 6 and 7 only the gens Gavia is attested in other Oscan-speaking communities: it 

appears in the Punta della Campanella inscription, on a bronze curse tablet from Capua 

and painted on a fragment of an amphora found in Fagifulae. 653 The gens Herennia 

appears only once, in Pompeii, whereas the gens Mulcia is 654 

unattested elsewhere. 

The names of magistrates in the Cippus Abellanus are also suggestive. The gens 

Vestiricina appears in both Abellan inscriptions and the same man is attested in two 

inscriptions out of three. 655 

It may be sheer chance, or perhaps because his family was 

careful to preserve its inscriptions. 

In conclusion, a substantial part of the genies attested at Nola appear elsewhere in 

Campania and Samnium, which confirms the picture of a regional elite suggested on the 

basis of Capuan inscriptions. 


The extant literary accounts of the Samnite Wars and the Second Punic War, 

concentrate on the role of Nola. Very little is said about Abella, but it does not follow 

that it was subordinate to Nola. Nola was among several Campanian communities which 

had Naples mint coins for them. The facts that the Nolan coinage was produced for a 

short period and was inferior in size to the coinage of Hyrina makes it implausible that 

Nola issued coins to provide money for a confederation of communities that it headed. It 

653 

ST Cm 2, Cp 36, Sa 44. 

654 ST Po 41, ma(mercus) herenni IIII n(erü). 

655 ST Cm 3 and Cm 8. 

184

is more plausible that the coins were minted for the payment of troops or building 

programmes within the town. 

In inscriptions, Nola appears to have had a pair of meddices degetasii, Abella one 

or more quaestor. The Nolan magistrates are recorded dedicating buildings paid for with 

money from public fines, and defining the extent of public or sacred land. The quaestor 

of Abella also appears demarcating public land. Although the functions of the quaestor 

of Abella and meddices degetasii appear to have been similar, what we know about these 

offices is by no means the whole picture. 

The fact that quaestors appear both in Abella and Pompeii does not mean that their 

functions were identical. It has been suggested that the appearance of quaestors in these 

towns is a sign of progressive Romanization or of their interest in integration into the 

Roman state. 656 The office of meddix degetasius may have been an older Oscan title for 

an office which also had financial functions. The same or similar tasks may have been 

carried out by magistrates with different titles in different communities: the meddices 

degetasii of Nola, the quaestores of Pompeii and the aediles of Rome were all 

responsible for the levying of fines and for making dedications from these fines. Both 

the meddices degetasii and the quaestor of Abella were involved in the definition of 

public lands, whereas at Pompeii aediles are attested demarcating roads. This 

phenomenon of giving different names to the same or similar offices is also known from 

Greece, where the names of the magistrates differed from city to city. Contrary to ideas 

of an overarching Italic constitution, it seems that the specification and titolature of 

offices in Italic states was often a question of local preference. 

The Cippus Abellanus reveals that both Nola and Abella had their own councils, a 

senate, which instructed or gave advice to the magistrates and legates of these two 

185

towns. Literary sources mention disagreement between the senate of Nola and the 

commons, which may imply that Nola had a senate and a popular assembly. 

In the Cippus Abellanus, Nola and Abella appear as independent communities 

with their own councils and magistrates. The sanctuary of Hercules was common and 

the two towns probably celebrated common cults there. I would conclude therefore that 

there is no good evidence in the literary sources, coins or inscriptions to suggest 

that Abella belonged to a confederation under the leadership of Nola. 

656 

Camporeale (1957) 36,52,99; Franchi de Bellis (1988) 87-90 

186


Chapter 6. Pompeii and Nuceria 

The view that the cities of the Sarno valley and plain, Herculaneum, Pompeii, Stabiae and 

Surrenturn formed a confederation under the leadership of Nuceria Alfaterna was put 

forward by Beloch in 1877.657 He also suggested, for the first time, that the meddix 

tuticus was the magistrate of the federation, whereas a meddix without the qualifying 

adjective was simply a local magistrate. 658 His arguments regarding the public institutions 

of the confederation have been rejected, but the idea of the federation is still dominant in 

modern historical writing. 659 The archaeological and epigraphic evidence from the region 

have increased since Beloch's time and models have been produced for leagues and 

confederations in antiquity, so that we can think about them in a more structured way. 

Beloch, building on the notion that the region of the river Sarnus was inhabited by 

people of common origins prior to the Roman occupation, suggested that this population 

formed a political entity which he called the 'Nucerian Confederation'. Beloch's study is 

articulated within the framework of late nineteenth-century historical writing, which 

viewed ethnic groups as static, with fixed natural boundaries and primarily based on 

common descent. Nineteenth-century nationalism promoted the idea that ethnic borders 

were identical with political boundaries, and therefore tended to treat ethnic 

communities as states. Beloch based his argument on the following fundamental points. 

657 

Beloch (1877) 285-98. 

658 

Beloch (1877) 295. 

187

1. He argued that the expression r6 Twv NovKEeivcov i OvoS in Polybius should be 

interpreted in a political sense, as a state organisation rather than an ethnographical 

situation 660 2. The gens Sittia, who appear frequently in inscriptions in Roman Africa, 

held important offices in several towns of the supposed 'league', but were not important 

elsewhere in Italy. 3. Livy mentions that a Roman fleet disembarked in the port of 

Pompeii and that the soldiers proceeded to lay waste to the ager Nucerinus in 310 

BC. 661 Beloch suggested that this passage proves that Pompeii formed part of the ager 

Nucerinus at . 

that time. 662 4. Livy says that Rome made a foedus with Nuceria in 307 

BC, and Beloch argued that because the passage does not mention Pompeii, Surrentum, 

Stabiae or Herculaneum, the foedus applied to all the settlements, which, therefore, were 

part of an organisation headed by Nuceria. 663 5. Only Nuceria produced coins in this 

region in the Samnite period, from which Beloch concluded that the coastal settlements 

were economically dependent on Nuceria. 6. In Campania only Nuceria, Pompeii, 

Herculaneum and Surrentum were attributed to the Menenia voting tribe after the Social 

War. 7. The Nucerian P. Sittius, member of the gens Sittia, founded three colonies in the 

territory of Cirta in north Africa supposedly on the analogy of the Nucerian League: the 

capital was Cirta, the three colonies were dependent on it, and they were named after 

the patron gods of three of the members of the Nucerian Confederation. 

Over a century after Beloch's article, Senatore questioned the existence of the 

Nucerian confederation. 664 On the basis of a re-evaluation of the literary sources and 

numismatic data and examination of recent epigraphic evidence from the region, he 

659 Sartori (1953) 154-5, Salmon (1982) 12, Frederiksen (1984) 141. 

660 Beloch (1877) 290. 

661 Livy 9.38.2-3. 

662 Beloch (1877) 289. 

663 Beloch (1877) 290. 

664 Senatore (2001) 185-265. 

188

ejects most of the basic points of Beloch's thesis. This section examines the evidence 

for the existence of the Nucerian League. While Senatore's article questions only the 

basic points of Beloch's thesis, I place more emphasis on what ancient sources tell us 

about the relation of towns in the region and the topics of leadership and public 

institutions in the settlements. The chapter first deals with the relevant literary evidence, 

which is divided into two sub-sections: the identity of the Alfaterni, and the political 

history of the region. The chapter then discusses epigraphic and numismatic evidence 

according to the place of provenance or relevance: first I concentrate on Pompeii, which 

yields the largest amount of inscriptions in the region, then I proceed to study the 

epigraphic evidence discovered at Herculaneum and Punta della Campanella, and I 

finally look at the numismatic evidence for Nuceria Alfaterna and the supposed 

confederation of Cirta. 

6.2. Literary evidence 

6.2.1. Who were the Alfaterni? 

Beloch argued that a passage in Servius, the occurrence of several members of the gens 

Sittia in the epigraphic evidence and the fact that the inhabitants of the region spoke the 

same language, Oscan, all point to the common origins of the inhabitants of the 

region. 665 Adhering to the lines of traditional historical writing of his time, he 

665 

Serv. ad Aen. 7.738: `Conon in eo libro, quern de Italia scripsit, quosdam Pelasgos aliosque ex 

Peloponneso convenas ad eum locum Italiae venisse dicit, cui nullum antea nomen fuerit, et flumini quern 

incolerent, Sarro nomen inposuisse ex appellatione patrii fluminis, et se Sarrastras appellasse. Hi inter 

multa oppida Nuceriam condiderunt. ' 

189

investigated whether this ethnic relation corresponded to common political institutions 

in the area. Senatore rightly points out that Beloch did not consider several important 

aspects when writing about the ethnic conditions of the region 666 First, in ancient 

sources, the name of the leading town Nuceria is sometimes qualified by the adjective 

Alfaterna, and appears on coins as nuvkrinurn alafaternum. This adjective helps us to 

distinguish the town from two other Nucerias, Nuceria Camellaria and Nuceria 

Favoniensis, both situated in Umbria. 667 Perhaps the situations of Suessa Aurunca, 

Teanum Sidicinum and Teanum Apulum were similar. But in these cases the adjectives 

Auruncus, Sidicinus and Apulus are clearly ethnics: Suessa Aurunca was a settlement in 

the territory of the Aurunci, there was a Teanum among the Sidicini and another among 

the Apuli. On this analogy, Salmon referred to the Alfaternans in the same way as to the 

Aurunci or Sidicini, as if they were an ethnic community, and so did Pallottino and 

Sartori . 668 But is it correct to speak about the Alfaterni as an ethnic community? And if 

so, were the Alfaterni Samnites? Or does the adjective appear to refer to a pre-Samnite 

period in the history of the town? 

Our first passage comes from the mid-fourth century BC. Pseudo-Scylax, also 

known as Scylax of Caryanda, mentions that the coastal region between the Campani 

and Lucani was occupied by the Samnites. 669 The problem of what this vast and 

somewhat hazy ethnic meant for Greek and Roman authors has been thoroughly 

discussed by Dench. 670 She examines how the use of the ethnic 'Samnite' varied through 

time and according to the political and historical milieu in which the author was situated. 

616 Senatore (2001) 201. 

667 Devoto (1931) 106-7 also suggests that Nuceria was also Nuceriola too, for which we have epigraphic 

evidence on the road from Beneventum to Aeclanum, in the territory of the Hirpini. 

668 Salmon (1967) 212; Sartori (1953) 154; Pallottino (1981) 92; 

669 Ps. Skyl Per. 11; Strabo 5.4.8. inserts the Samnites in the list of those who held Herculaneum and 

Pompeii, after the Osci, Tyrrheni and Pelasgi. 

670 Dench (1995). 

190

The Greek authors of the fourth century BC tended to use the word in a very broad sense 

to denote the indigenous peoples of southern Italy, as opposed to the inhabitants of the 

Greek colonies. The Campani, Lucani and Bruttii are treated in literature separately from 

the Samnites from an early date. However, Greek sources of the fourth century BC 

rarely and imprecisely distinguish the tribes and ethnic communities emerging from the 

great mass of the southern regions of Italy. 

The second part of the passage from Pseudo-Scylax speaks about the Samnites 

inhabiting the land stretching between the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic seas 

. 671 The passage 

is interesting, because it says that the Samnites were divided into five language groups 

or glossal: Aa't QvLoi, OrTtxo% KQapov¬s, BoQEOVTivoL and IIwviccTiriS. 

This passage has generated much debate among historians. The identification of the 

007TLKOL 

with the Opici and the fl¬u c 2t¬is with the Picentes is plausible. The word 

AaTtQVLOL has been emended to AartQvtot, that is the Alfaterni. But Salmon's 

suggestion that we should identify the KQaµövcc with the Carracini and the 

BoQEOVTivoL 

with the Frentani does not seem very convincing. rz 

Dench concludes that the ethnic name of Opici/Opsci or Osci was invented by 

Greek authors to reconstruct the prehistory of a group of Italic peoples living in the 

neighbourhood of Greek colonies. 73 The name appears from the fourth century BC 

onwards in Greek texts and, without doubt, reflects the Greeks' increasing interest in 

their neighbours. They may have been the aboriginal inhabitants of the region, although 

there is a confusion in our sources as to who those were exactly. The Opici are first 

671 

Pseudo-Scylax, Per 15. Mrtä bi I67tvyac är

mentioned by Thucydides, who says that they drove out the Sicels from mainland 

Italy. 674 Other ancient sources say that they inhabited the central Apennines before the 

Samnites and most of Campania before the arrival of the Etruscans. 675 Sources 

occasionally identify them with the Ausones. As regards the origins of the tribe of the 

Picentes, Strabo and Pliny the Elder mention that they were led out by the Sabines in a 

Sacred Spring. Dench argues that most of the Sacred Spring myths go back to expressing 

ethnic identity in the fifth and fourth centuries BC. Exactly when the Picentes arrived at 

what became their tribal territory on the Adriatic coast cannot be established with 

certainty, but it must have happened before the fifth century BC. 

We need to consider why Pseudo-Scylax used the word glossa to describe 

divisions among the Samnites. His work is traditionally dated to the mid-fourth century 

BC. Its main purpose was to construct a map of the Greek colonies on the coasts of Italy 

and to provide Greek travellers, probably merchants, with useful information about the 

nature of the inhabitants and distances between towns on the coast. In another passage 

Pseudo-Scylax reveals that he obtained his information about the region from the Greek 

colonies, not from the Samnites themselves. Ile identified territories by their inhabitants, 

who spoke different dialects of the same language. This is the kind of information that 

the Greeks living in coastal cities could have given to sailors enquiring about the nature 

of the inhabitants of the inner parts. It is possible, however, that these dialectic 

differences also reflected tribal divisions. 

It would be interesting to look at the vocabulary used by fourth-century BC Greek 

authors to describe political institutions and ethnic divisions of tribes which had nothing 

in common politically or culturally with the Greeks at that time. The mention of the 

673 

Dench (1995) 53 

674 

Thyc. 6.4.5 

192

AattpvLoL (perhaps Alfaterni) among the Opici and two other ethnic groups 

which are unknown to us makes it very difficult to establish the historical value of this 

passage. The Picentes could have formed an ethnic community on the Adriatic by the 

mid-fourth century and could therefore have been a reality of the author's time. But we 

need to remind ourselves that the name Alfaterni is an emendation in the passage and 

that it does not constitute strong evidence for the existence of such an ethnic community. 

Nevertheless, the two passages in Pseudo-Scylax reveal two important pieces of 

information: first, the population living to the south of the Campani and to the north of 

the Lucani on the coast was referred to by the Greeks as Samnite; and second, by the 

mid-fourth century BC, internal divisions in this great ethnic conglomeration of the 

`Samnites' were becoming more apparent to the Greeks who were their immediate 

neighbours. 

By the time of the Samnite Wars, the adjective Alfaterna had become an organic 

part of the name of Nuceria according to Livy and Diodorus Siculus. Diodorus noted 

that 'the inhabitants of Nuceria, which is called Alfaterna, yielding to the persuasion of 

certain persons, abandoned their friendship with Rome and made an alliance with the 

Samnites' 676 Livy recounts under 308 BC: 'The consuls cast lots for the commands, 

Etruria falling to Decius- and Samnium to Fabius. The latter marched -against Nuceria 

Alfaterna, and rejecting that city's overtures of peace because its people had declined it 

when it was offered them, laid siege to the place and forced it to surrender'. 677 Diodorus 

Siculus describes how Nuceria Alfaterna entered the Samnite Wars, forming an alliance 

with other, already fighting, Samnite communities, while Livy's passage refers to how 

675 

Aristotle Pol. 1329b 19; Strabo 5.3.6; 5.4.3. 

676 

Diod. Sic. 19.65.7. 

677 

Livy 9.41.2-3. 

193

the wars ended with the town being forced to surrender by the Roman commander 

Quintus Fabius Maximus. 

It is conventionally accepted that the arrival of the Samnites at Capua occurred in 

the 430s-420s BC. Archaeological evidence suggests that Nuceria existed already in the 

sixth century BC, with a material culture that has been described as 'Etruscan'. It is clear 

from passages in Livy and Diodorus that by the time of the Samnite wars Nuceria was 

inhabited and dominated by the Samnites, and it is plausible that the town was occupied 

at the same time as the cities of north Campania towards the end of the fifth century. 

Even if it is possible that Alfaterna derived from the ethnic of a group of Samnites 

who lived in the region of Nuceria, our literary evidence from the fourth century BC 

does not confirm such a suggestion. Diodorus Siculus does not speak about the Alfaterni 

who lived at Nuceria, but about the Nucerini who were called Alfaterni and who were 

the inhabitants of a single town. It is also clear from Livy's passage that Quintus Fabius 

besieged only the town of Nuceria Alfaterna. Furthermore, neither Greek nor Latin 

authors speak about Pompeii Alfatemi or Herculaneum Alfaternum. 

Pliny, in the third book of his Natural History, draws up lists of towns and 

colonies in the regions instituted by Augustus. Two passages mention the Alfaterni by 

name. The first lists the Alfaterni among those communities which had disappeared from 

the territory of the Aequicoli in the fourth region. 678 Thomsen suggested that parts of 

Pliny's lists, namely those which contained the communities in alphabetical order, went 

back to those published by Augustus. 67' However, it seems doubtful that Pliny, quoting 

lists from the last quarter of the first BC, was speaking about the tribal movements of the 

fifth to early fourth centuries BC, considering that the so-called Alfaterni had to be at 

678 

Pliny NH 3.108: 'in hoc situ ex Aequicolis interiere Comini, Tadiates, Caedici, Alfaterni' 

679 

Thomsen (1947) 60-1. 

194

Nuceria by the time of the Samnite Wars. When Pliny mentions the Comini, Tadiates or 

Caedici he refers to inhabitants of settlements, so when he refers to the Alfaterni he must 

mean the inhabitants of a town of Alfaterna in the territory of the Aequicoli, who clearly 

do not have anything to do with the town of Nuceria in the Augustan first region. 

Pliny divides his lists of settlements into two parts, listing the coastal communities 

separately from inland ones. It is interesting that the ager Nucerinus is listed among the 

coastal communities, for Nuceria itself was nine miles from the sea. 680 Pliny the Elder is 

probably describing the situation after the Social War. 681 

We encounter the Alfaterni for the second time in the list of settlements in the 

inland parts of the first region. 682 The passage reads 'the Alfatemi - those that take their 

surname from the Latin territory, and from the Hernican, and from the Labican'. Here 

again the Alfaterni have no connection to Nuceria. This passage has been interpreted in a 

number of ways. Thomsen suggested that Pliny drew his coastal lists from two separate 

lists, those of Varro and Augustus. 683 Varro had Nuceria in his list, Augustus Nucerini 

Alfaterni. Thinking that he was dealing with two different settlements, he cancelled 

Nuceria from Augustus' list but retained Alfaterna. Later Pliny inserted the name 

Alfaterni in his list of communities in the internal part of the fourth region. The problem 

with this interpretation, as Senatore points out, is how to interpret the second half of the 

passage: 'those that take their surname from the Latin territory, and from the Hernican, 

680 Plin. NH 3.62.4: 'On the coast stands Naples, itself also a colony of the Chalcidians, named 

Parthenope from the tomb of one of the Sirens, Herculaneum, Pompeii with the Mount Vesuvius in view 

not far off and watered by the river Sarno, the Nucerian territory and nine miles from the sea Nocera 

itself. ' 

681 

App. B. C. 1.42. tells us that Papius Mutilus, the Samnite general occupied Stabiae during the Social 

War, while Nuceria remained loyal to Rome. Pliny NH. 3.70., however, mentions that Stabiae was 

destroyed by Sulla during the wars in reprisal for its support of the insurgents. Stabiae may have lost its 

independence and its land were made part of the ager Nucerinus, which thus extended as far as the sea. 

682 Plin. NH 3.63. 

693 Thomsen (1947) 61. 

195

and from the Labican' 684 Beloch noticed that in several manuscripts the verb 

cognominantur is missing. He suggested that we should cancel the conjunction 'et' and 

insert Nucerini after the Alfaterni. The scholar also tried to identify the three 

communities, the Latinienses, the Labici and the Hernici. I agree with Senatore's 

objections to Beloch's argument, that this addition disturbs the strict alphabetical order 

of the list. 

In my opinion there is a further problem with Beloch's interpretation. Pliny clearly 

says ex agro Latino, using the adjective Latinus, therefore we should look for the 

settlement of the Latini and not Latinienses, which seems as problematic as the 

identification of the settlement of the Hernici. The only settlement which can 

be' firmly 

identified is that of the Labicani. 685 Senatore argues that Pliny's passage should be 

understood as Alfaterni Latini, Alfaterni Hernici and Alfaterni Labicani. 686 Logically, 

the text has to refer to three different settlements called Alfaterna, one in the territory of 

the Latins, another in that of the Ilernici, and the third in the territory of Labicum. But 

no settlements with such names are known in the territory of any of these peoples. He 

concludes that previous interpretations are insufficient to explain the problems arising 

from the text, and due to inherent uncertainties in the text, it does not provide us with 

valid information about problems concerned with Nuceria and the interpretation of the 

adjective Alfaterna. 

In conclusion, the Periplus of Pseudo-Skylax suggests that the territory stretching 

from the Tyrrhenian sea to the Adriatic was occupied by the Samnites, who were 

ethnically distinct from the Greeks inhabiting the coasts of southern Italy. In the list of 

the five glossai of the Samnites, 'Laternioi' has been emended to Alfaterni, but this is not 

694 

Senatore (2001) 204. 

685 

Cic. Paradoxa Stoicorum 23.4; 50.6. 

196

very strong evidence for the existence of a tribe. The two passages about the Samnite 

Wars in the second part of the fourth century BC show that the adjective Alfaterna, 

whether an ethnic or not, was a designation of the town of Nuceria. These two passages 

refer to events relevant only to the town, not to a larger community. Coins with the 

legend nuvkrinurn alafaternum (see in section 6.6.2) also support the idea that the 

adjective qualifies only the name of the town. In the passages from Pliny the Alfatemi 

are inhabitants of a town which 

has disappeared from the fourth region and they are not 

connected to the city of Nuceria in the first region. I therefore conclude that the ancient 

sources do not show that a tribe called the Alfaterni existed in the region of the river 

Samus. It is possible that the adjective Alfaterna originally derived from an ethnic 

denoting a larger group, and perhaps there had been some group in Latium called the 

Alfaterni of whom some had settled at Nuceria, but the Alfaterni, unlike the Sidicini, 

Aurunci or Apuli, were no longer an identifiable group by the fourth century. 

6.2.2. Political history of the region 

In this part, I focus on the historically attested relations between the towns in the area. 

The passage in which Diodorus Siculus mentions that the Nucerians abandoned the 

Roman alliance in 316 BC and joined the Samnites has been already cited. 687 Historians 

have tried to understand why the Nucerians 'deserted' the Romans. 688 I believe that the 

circumstances adequately explain this decision. Six years after the Roman defeat at the 

Caudine Forks, this was the most successful period for the Samnites. The Romans were 

686 Senatore (2001) 206. 

687 Diod. Sic. 19.65.7. 

197

fighting on several fronts, in Apulia, at Luceria and in the valley of the Liris. In 318, the 

Volscian inhabitants of Satricum revolted and a substantial Roman army was sent out to 

fight them. In 316 BC, the Campani and Aurunci began to rebel against Rome and a 

Roman settlement, Ardea, was devastated by the Samnites. 689 Soon the Samnites 

attacked Sora, resulting in the transfer of Roman legions from Samnium and Apulia to 

this town. 690 Nola was already on the Samnite side. 691 It seems natural that Nuceria 

chose to form an alliance with the Samnites, since the Samnite alliance seemed more 

favourable under the circumstances than the Roman one. What is important to note, 

though, is that when Diodorus says of b 'd v NovKEQIav Tjv 

A? 4aTtpvav 

xaAovµEvrly oixovvTES he seems to be referring to the inhabitants of one single town, 

Nuceria. Perhaps Nuceria was specifically mentioned because the other nearby towns of 

Herculaneum, Pompeii, Stabiae and Surrentum were neutral or allied to Rome. 

The next, often cited passage, is from Livy under 310 BC: 'At about this time a 

Roman fleet, commanded by Publius Cornelius, whom the senate had placed in charge 

of the coast, sailed for Campania and put into Pompeii. From there the sailors and 

rowers set out to pillage the territory of Nuceria. Having quickly ravaged the nearest 

fields, from which they might have returned in safety to their ships, they were lured on, 

as often happens, by the love of booty, and going too far abroad aroused the enemy. 

While they roamed through the fields, nobody interfered with them, though they might 

have been utterly annihilated; but as they came trooping back, without a thought of 

danger, the country-folk overtook them not far from the ships, stripped them of their 

688 

Senatore (2001) 220-2. Beloch (1890) 241. 

689 

Diod. Sic. 19.76.1. 

690 

Livy 9.23.1 

691 

Salmon (1985) 243. 

198

plunder, and even slew a part of them; those who escaped the massacre were driven, a 

disordered rabble, to their ships'. 692 

Beloch argued that Pompeii must have formed part of the supposed Nucerian 

league if the Roman fleet disembarked there to lay waste the territory of Nuceria. 

Neither Senatore nor Zevi are convinced by Beloch's argument on the grounds that if 

Pompeii had been subordinate to Nuceria it would have opposed the Romans. 693 In my 

view all these scholars infer too much from Livy's abbreviated and unclear account of a 

minor operation. It was probably a small raiding party of Roman soldiers on ships 

provided by Greek allies. 694 To attack Nucerian territory, they had to land at Pompeii, 

the nearest port. However, the territory which they plundered and farmers who resisted 

them may have been Pompeian. The passage proved nothing about the relations between 

Pompeii and Nuceria.. 

The attack of Fabius Maximus Rullianus on Nuceria is traditionally dated to 308 

BC. 695 Again, the passage concerns only Nuceria and does not mention other 

communities in the region. After 307 BC Nuceria became an ally of Rome and remained 

so until the end of the Social War. In his account of the Second Punic War, Livy says 

that Hannibal attempted to turn Nuceria to his side without any success. 

696 Eventually, 

Nuceria was made to surrender through starvation. Its inhabitants left and dispersed to 

Naples and Nola, the bases of Roman garrisons in Campania during the Hannibalic wars. 

Thirty senators, apparently the city council, tried to enter Capua but were refused 

692 Livy 9.38.2-3. 

693 Zevi (1994) 11. Senatore (2001) 222-5. 

694 Thiel (1954) 11 argued that Rome did not have a fleet at the time of the attack and that Nuceria must 

have been attacked by a small duumviral squadron, set up in the previous year 

695 Livy 9.41.2-3: "The consuls cast lots for the commands, Etruria falling to Decius and Samnium to 

Fabius. The latter marched against Nuceria Alfaterna, and rejecting that city's overtures of peace because 

its people had declined it when it was offered them, laid siege to the place and forced it to surrender'. 

696 

Livy 23.15.1-5. 

199

admission, so they made their way to Cumae. 697 Nuceria was burnt and looted according 

to Silius Italicus and Valerius Maximus, who mentions the execution of some Nucerians 

by suffocation in the vapour of the public baths. 698 

Polybius, describing Hannibal's invasion of Campania in the Second Punic War, 

includes a short passage about the inhabitants of the Bay of Naples: 'On the coast lie 

Sinuessa, Cyme and Dicaearchea and, following on, Naples and finally Nuceria. In the 

interior we find on the north Cales and Teanum, and to the east and south Caudium and 

Nola, while in the very middle of the plain lies Capua, once the wealthiest of the 

cities'. 699 Polybius lists the urban communities of Campania in two groups, coastal and 

inland. Both lists are selective and the choice of towns is not easy to explain. The list of 

the coastal towns begins with Sinuessa, in the ager Falernus. However, the ager 

Falernus had another, strategically more important port, Minturnae, founded by the 

Romans in the same year as Sinuessa, 295 BC. The list omits Volturnum, Literrum and 

Misenum. It is therefore no surprise that two minor harbours, Herculaneum and Pompeii, 

are left out of the list of coastal towns. The inland list is even less complete. Polybius 

omits many important and well-known Campanian towns, such as Calatia, Suessula, 

Atella, Acerrae and Abella. The mention of Caudium is also puzzling for it did not 

belong to Campania. 70° The only possible explanation for the inland list is that Polybius 

only included towns situated on roads. The via Latina was built in 127 BC, but the route 

was already in use from the sixth century BC. It crossed the Liris valley, went through 

Venafrum, Teanum Sidicinum, Cales and Volturnum to Casilinum where it merged with 

697 

Livy 23.15.6. 

698 

Sil. It. Pun. 12.423-5; Val. Max. Mem. 9.6 ext. 2. Senatore cites Pomeroy's study, who suggested that 

the baths, equipped to allow to suffocate people were built at the beginning of the Ist century BC at the 

earliest. See Senatore (2001) 229. 

699 Polybius 3.91.4. 

70° Several manuscripts also mention the Daunii, instead of Caudii, but we do not know about any 

settlement with this name in Campania, so that the text has been emended to Caudium. 

200

the via Appia. The most important town on the via Appia was Capua. An extension of 

the via Appia, the via Annia (incorrectly called via Popillia) was built from Capua to 

Rhegium, through Nola, Nuceria, Nares Lucanae and so on. The only question is why 

Polybius preferred to include Nuceria in his list of coastal towns rather than of inland 

towns, in which he was later followed by the elder Pliny (see above). 

The fact that Nuceria is listed among the coastal cities was explained by Beloch by 

his arguments that Nuceria exercised leadership over the communities of the coast. 

Senatore examines Polybius' use of the word F6voS. 701 In Polybius this term appears 

almost fifty times in relation to the Achaean League. He also uses a number of other 

tenns to refer to the League, such as QvQujµa, xotvöv, m FirtoAt-reia, TroAiTEvµa 

and xotvöv rroAiTcvVa. Senatore argues that none of these is used when speaking 

about the region of the Sarno, so that the expression r6 Twv NovxtQivwv i=9voS only 

has ethnographic value without any political connotations. Scholars of Greek history 

now agree that the term ýOvoc in different contexts can be understood both as'league' or 

'an ethnic unit without any political meaning'. 702 Beloch and Senatore choose a different 

interpretation to accommodate Polybius' passage into their argument, which warns us 

how difficult it can be to interpret a term used to describe realities different from the 

Greek political system. Hall pointed out that the meaning of the term EOvo; is much 

wider than that of an 'ethnic group' and that it can be applied to populations of various 

size from the inhabitants of a polls to the population of a larger territory, but that it can 

also simply mean 'tribe'. 703 It is important to note that Polybius seldom uses the 

expression EOvoc in an Italian context. When he refers to communities organized in a 

701 

Senatore (2001) 208-10. 

702 

Bearzot (1994); Sordi (1994); Larsen (1968). 

201

loose federation of settlements he uses the ethnic, for example in the case of the Bruttii. 

Apart from the Nucerians the only people to whom he applies the term (twice) is the 

Celtic tribe of the Insubres in the Po valley. Admittedly, after the Kupaloi, 

Ouxa1aQXZTat and NcartoAIrat Polybius calls them NovxEpivwv EOvos instead of 

NouJEQIvoL, but he may have wanted to use a variation to close the sentence. It is also 

possible that Polybius thought of the inhabitants of the Sarno valley as a bunch of 

barbarians, not worthy of individual mention, in contrast with the inhabitants of the 

Greek colonies. This division of Campania also appears in Strabo and Ptolemy, who 

consider Cumae and Naples Campanian, but Herculaneum and Pompeii Samnite. 704 The 

question of why Nuceria is listed among the coastal towns, when the via Annia ran 

through it remains elusive, although, compared to Capua, for instance, it was coastal. 

In his description of the Bay of Naples, Strabo mentions Naples, the Heracleian 

Fortress (i. e. Herculaneum) and then Pompeii. 'Pompaia past which flows the River 

Samus, was once held by the Osci; then by the Tyrrheni and the Pelasgi; after that, by 

the Samnites but they too were ejected from the place'. 705 He then continues: 'Pompaia, 

on the River Sarnus -a river which both takes the cargoes inland and sends them out to 

the sea - is the port town of Nola, Nuceria and Acerra'. 

Pliny the Elder mentions Nuceria three times, two of which I have already 

discussed. The third mention comes in a list of the communities of the Bay: 'On the 

coast stands Naples, itself also a colony of the Chalcidians, named Parthenope from the 

tombs of one of the Sirens, Herculaneum, Pompeii with Mount Vesuvius in view not far 

off and watered by the river Sarno, the Nucerian territory and nine miles from the sea 

703 

Hall (1997) 34. 

704 Strabo 5.4.4; Ptolemy 3.173. 

705 Strabo 5.4.8. 

202

Nocera itself, and Sorrento with the promontory of Minerva that once was the abode of 

the Sirens'. 706 This passage is another list of coastal towns. As already pointed out, it 

refers to the period of the late Republic to early Principate and cannot be used for 

reconstructing relations among the communities in the Samnite period. 

What all the previous passages suggest is that Nuceria was an important town of 

the region, considered to be coastal, which was in alliance with the highland Samnites 

during the Samnite Wars. After having been defeated by the Romans, it became an ally 

and remained so until the Social War. During the Second Punic War the town entered 

history for its strong resistance to the Carthaginians. Beloch's view that the lack of 

mention of the other communities in the region implies their political subordination to 

Nuceria is an argumentum ex silentio and does not seem well founded in view of the 

literary evidence. 

6.3. Political institutions at Pompeii 

6.3.1. Introduction 

The central tenet of Beloch's arguments about the magistrates of the Italic states is that 

the meddix tuticus was a federal magistrate. 

707 Beloch based his argument on evidence 

mainly from Pompeii and Capua. He noted that there were local officers, such as the 

aediles and the magistrates with civic adjectives, for example, in Pompeii, the meddix 

706 

Pliny NH. 3.62-3. 

707 

Beloch (1879) 11. 

203

Pompeianus and guaestor Pompeianus. 708 Beloch's view that the meddix tuticus was a 

federal magistrate has since been criticised by many scholars. The aim of this section is 

to re-evaluate the evidence for the public offices attested at Pompeii in inscriptions, and 

to investigate whether any of them could have had more than a local competence. 

One of the basic problems of dealing with the Oscan inscriptions of Pompeii is that 

most of them have been removed from their original context. Sometimes this happened 

in antiquity following the foundation of the Sullan colony when some stones with Oscan 

inscriptions on them were reused as building material. Inscriptions found in private 

houses are particularly good examples of this, which can be seen as an attempt by a 

member of a family to preserve the inscriptions set up by an ancestor or as antiquarian 

curiosity. In modern times, the majority of Oscan inscriptions found during the 

eighteenth century were taken to the Archaeological Museum of Naples without their 

place of origin being satisfactorily recorded. Once the town was excavated, many 

painted inscriptions faded from the walls due to contact with daylight and weathering. 

There are several inscriptions that Zvetaieff and Mommsen could read but which had 

already disappeared by the time Conway undertook his work. 

Because of the lack of historical and certain archaeological contexts it is difficult 

to date the Pompeian inscriptions. Campania came under Samnite rule in the second half 

of the fifth century BC. It seems reasonable to suppose that around that time Oscan- 

speaking inhabitants also settled in the southern parts of the Bay of Naples. As we have 

seen, Livy refers to Pompeii for the first time in 310 BC. It is plausible that by this 

period the political structure of the settlement was Samnite, although there is no literary 

evidence. After 89 BC the official language became Latin. In 80 BC, the Samnite 

administration was abolished with the foundation of the Colonia Cornelia Veneria 

708 

Beloch (1877) 295. 

204

Pompeianorum. Oscan inscriptions of Pompeii potentially date from a period of over 

300 years, although most of the inscriptions are probably from a late date. We have 

archaeological contexts for most of them, but in cases of public inscriptions found in 

private houses, the location cannot help us establish the time when the inscription was 

originally set up. Most of the inscriptions are broadly dated to the second century BC, 

when a large part of the city's public buildings were reconstructed and numerous private 

houses built. 

Conway created a system of dating the inscriptions of Pompeii. He divided the 

Oscan inscriptions into three chronological groups 'according to the degree of finish with 

which they are written, and the forms of f and d, whose loops are open in earlier and 

closed in later inscriptions'. 709 This system, however, needs to be handled with extreme 

care. 710 

In this section I follow that a dating based on the archaeological contexts wherever 

available: 

Dating Refence number Archaeological 

reference 

Office 

second part of third ST Po 15 Antonini (1983) 204. aedilis 

century BC Caratelli (1979) 454 

ST Po 16 Carratelli (1979) 473 aedilis 

ST Po 4 quaestor 

709 

Conway (1897) 56. 

710 Rix reconstructed the ST Po 2 road-maker inscription out of two, Ve 9 and 10 (= Conway 40 and 41). 

Conway attributed inscription 40 to the second chronological group, but not 41, since that fragment does 

not contain the f not d letters which are his criteria of dating. ST Po 91 has the same as ST Po 5 and 6 

therefore must have been made around the same time. 

205

late third, early ST Po 1 Caratelli (1979) 454. meddix pompeianus, 

second century BC Capaldi (2001) 26. aedilis 

ST Po 2 aediles 

beginning of second ST Po 11 La Rocca, de Vos, aedilis 

century BC Coarelli (1976) 264. 

first half of second ST Po 5 Capaldi (2001) 26. meddix tuticus 

century BC 

ST Po 6 meddix tuticus 

ST Po 8 Capaldi (2001) 27. quaestor 

middle of second ST Po 14 Lo Cascio (1986) 12. quaestor 

century BC 

second century BC ST Po17 Waele (2001) 323 meddix tuticus 



ST Po 10 quaestor 

206

Rix divided the Oscan inscriptions of Pompeii into four groups by type. The first 

consists of inscriptions engraved in stone, and includes road-building inscriptions, 

foundation and dedication inscriptions and the so-called mensa ponderaria (ST Po 1- 

19). The second contains fragmentary stone and wall inscriptions, names of gods, graffiti 

and alphabets: ST Po 20-33, ST Po 40-103. The third consists of painted inscriptions on 

walls: the six eftuns inscriptions (ST Po 34-9, see map nr. 1-6) and the electoral 

programmata (ST Po 40-50). The fourth comprises the tile stamps (tPo 1-43). 

6.3.2. Meddices 

The inscriptions of Pompeii provide us with a number of references to ineddices. The 

title meddix tuticus, meddix pompeianus and ineddix by itself are attested. 

A staighforward inscribed attestation of the ineddix tuticus is ST Po 7, Ve 15, Co 

47, Pi ad 12E, SE 45 (1977) 326 (see map VI). Found on a travertine block of the 

epistyle of the round Doric temple in the Triangular Forum. It is now dated to the second 

century BC. 7" 

ni(umsis). trebiis. tr(ebieis). med(dis). tüv(tiks). Zaamanaffed 

Numerius Trebius son of Trebius meddix tuticus commissioned (this temple). 

Two inscriptions probably attest the same meddix tuticus. First, ST Po 5, Ve 13, Co 44, 

Bu 7, Pi 12 B, SE 45 (1977) 326. Found in the Street of the Merchants. 

207

v(iibis). püpidiis. v(iibieis). med(dis). tüv(tiks) 2passtata. ekak. üpsan(nam). 

3deded. isidu. prdfatt(e)d 

Vibius Pupidius son of Vibius meddix tuticus commissioned the construction of 

this colonnade. He himself approved it. 

The colonnade has been tentatively identified as the tufa portico on the southern side of 

the Forum of Pompeii. On this basis, the text is usually dated to the first half of the 

second century BC. Note that a Latin inscription records the building of the colonnade 

round the other side the forum by another member of the same clan, Vibius Popidius Ep. 

f. q, (see in section 6.3.6) 712 

Second, ST Po 6, Ve 14, Co 45, SE 61 (1995) 357. The inscription was found re- 

used in the inner arch of the Nolan gate near the keystone. The original object of the 

dedication is unknown. Because this text probably refers to the same person as the 

previous one, it is also dated to the first half of the second century BC. 

v(iibis). püpidiis. v(iibieis). 2med(dis). tüv(tiks) 

3aamanaffed 4isidu 5prüfatted 

Vibius Pupidius son of Vibius meddix tuticus commissioned. He 

approved it. 

The same name also occurs in a painted inscription on a fragment of a wine-amphora, 

ST Po 91, Ve 71, Nsc 1929,476. The fragment is now lost and the excavator did not 

give any indication of the type and date of the amphora. 

v(iib-). püpid(i-). v(iibieis). m(e)d(d-) 

(When? ) Vibius Pupidius son of Vibius (was) meddix. 

7" De Waele (2001) 323. 

712 CIL X 794. 

208

Presumably the dipinto was meant to date the year when the product, wine or oil, was 

put into the amphora. Similar usage of the eponymous magistrate's name on amphorae is 

well known from some parts of the Greek world. 713 Assuming the dipinto was local, it 

indicates that Pompeii had a single, annual eponymous chief magistrate. 714 The offices 

attested in Pompeii are meddix tuticus and also meddix Pompeianus (see below). 15 

Since a man of this name is attested as meddix tuticus, this may well be another 

reference to him, which simply omits the adjective as unnecessary in the context, 

although it could be a relative who held the same office. Although the abbreviation m d, 

if it is not an error for m t, meddix tuticus, or m p, meddix pompeianus, is unique for 

m(e)d(dikiai), ìn the meddicate of, locative of time, as proposed by Vetter and Rix on 

the analogy of inscriptions from Capua or for m(e)d(dix) in the nominative or ablative, 

as on the tile-stamps of the Pentri, no other interpretation is plausible. As Sartori argued, 

the meddix here is probably the meddix tuticus. 716 Furthermore, if md stands for 

m(e)d(dikiai), in the locative case, the adjective tuticus adjective had to be omitted, 

because 

the locative in Latin cannot have an adjective. 

In the tile-stamps of Pompeii (ST tPo 1-43) 35 different names can be 

distinguished, most with praenoinen and nomen gentilicium, several also with 

filiation. 717 

It is an open question as to whose names are recorded on the stamps. One 

possibility is that they are workshop owners, as in later Roman practice, but it is unlikely 

that there were over 35 different workshops producing tiles in Pompeii. Another 

713 Grace (1953) 116-28. 

714 It is unlikely that md means names meddix of d(... ), another town, because town names are not 

unually abbreviated in Oscan, and the man is probably Pompeiian. 

715 The title of meddiz degetasius, attested at Nola in sections 5.4.1 and 5.4.2, is not known in Pompeii. 

716 Sartori (1953) 21. 

717 ST tPo 13: 1. titti. 1; ST tPo 32-35: ev. he. kai, ev he. kai; ev he kai; mr. k. 1; For the complete list of 

names occurring in the tile-stamps see 6.3.7. 

209

possibility is that they are the owners of the houses, where the tiles were used, which is 

equally unconvincing. Comparison with the tile-stamps of the Pentri suggests that the 

names could be those of the meddices tutici of Pompeii, used to date production. 18 

However, no title appears on the Pompeian stamps. 

A meddix Pompeianus is attested in ST Po 1, an inscription which records that two 

aediles were authorized by the meddix Pompeianus to delimit a street. 719 The office 

seems to be single and superior to that of the aediles. His name does not appear in the 

inscription, because he is not the dedicator of the stone. As at Capua, where meddix 

kapuans seems to have been the alternative designation for the Capuan nzeddix tuticus, 

the title meddiz pompeianus was probably an alternative designation for the meddix 

tuticus for Pompeii. 

6.3.3. Aediles 

We have six Oscan inscriptions mentioning aediles from Pompeii. The title does not 

appear in any other town in pre-Roman Campania. The office appears in inscriptions as 

aidil, aidil or aidilis (nom. pl. ). The aedilis inscriptions of Pompeii can be divided into 

two groups. The first group is formed by two inscriptions in which pairs of aediles 

delimit and pave streets. In the second group the aediles are recorded as donors and 

dedicators. This group is made up of three inscriptions, one of which documents a pair 

of aediles, the rest single ones. 

71$ For list of names see section 2.4.2. 

719 See map nr. 13.1 will deal with the inscription in detail when I come to the aediles 

210

The longest Oscan inscription mentioning a pair of aediles, ST Po 1, Ve 8, Co 39, 

Bu 3 Pi 10, SE 45 (1977) 324 (see map VI), was found close to the Stabian Gate in 

1851, and records the marking out and construction of two streets. The inscription must 

have been placed somewhere in the vicinity of the oldest city-gate, close to the roads 

mentioned by the inscription. It is dated to the late third-early second century BC. 

m. siuttiis. m. n. püntiis. m[? ]. 2aidilis. ekak. viam. teremna 3[t]tens. ant. 

hunttram. 720 stafii4anam. viu. teremnatust. per(ekais). 5X. iussu. via. pümpaiiana. 

ter 6emnattens. perek(ais). III. ant. kai7la iüveis. meeilikiieis. ekass. vi8ass. ini. via. 

iüviia. ini. dekkvia9rim. medikeis. pümpaiianeis 1°serevkid. imaden. uupsens. 

iu''su. aidilis. prüfattens. 

M. Sittius son of M, Numisius Pontius son of M., aediles, laid out this road up to 

the lower Stabian bridge. The street is laid out to the width of 10 measuring rods. 

The same (magistrates) laid out the Pompeian street to the width of 3 measuring 

rods up to the building of Jupiter Meilichios. They built these streets and the 

Jupiter and the Dekkviaris under the authority of the meddix of Pompeii and they 

paved it (? ). The same aediles approved this. 

There are some words in the text whose meanings are not clear (such as kaila, 

dekkviarirn, iniaden), but it seems certain that the work of the aediles was supervised by 

the meddix Pompeianus. The aediles' responsibility also included the checking of the 

completion of the road works. 

The other road building inscription, ST Po 2, Ve 9+10, Co 40+1, SE 45 (1977) 

324-6, SE 47 (1979) 223-8, SE 49 (1981) 331-3, was reconstructed by Rix out of two 

720 Gulino has found archaeological and topographical basis for the reading of hunttram. stafii 4anam as 

puntram staffs 4anam meaning Stabian bridge in Gulino (1986) 394. The idea comes from Vetter (1953) 

48. 

211

fragmentary inscriptions, Ve 9 and Ve 10 (see map VI). 72' The similarities of the stones 

had already been noted by Conway. 722 It is usually dated to the first half of the second 

century BC. 

p. matijis] p. ni(umsis). marjaiis] 2aidilif s v]iam sar[inam] 3teremnattens[inim 

fi]4rji]mens[. ] viu. patjit. per(ekais. III] 

P. Matius son of P. Numisius Maraius son of P. aediles laid out the Sarina street 

and paved it. The road is 3 measuring rods wide. 

Two eituns-inscriptions, ST Po 34 and ST 35 also attest the veru sarinu, that is Porta 

Sarina in Latin, on the basis of which it is identified with today's Porta Ercolano. 723 

It 

seems plausible that the via Sarina was one of the streets in the vicinity of the gate, and 

can be identified with today's via Consolare. The end of the aediles inscription is 

missing, but Rix suggested that the last line of the inscription documented either the 

width or the length defined by poles (perekais) as in ST Po 1. 

The inscriptions of the second group come from sanctuaries. A suburban temple 

dedicated to Dionysus, in modem via S. Abbondio, south-east of Pompeii, provides us 

with two aediles inscriptions. ST Po 15, Pocc. 108, Antonini (1983) 205-7,6 is made of 

small stones and forms part of the mosaic pavement at the entrance of the temple. The 

inscription just gives the names of the two magistrates: 0. Epidius son of 0. and Tr. 

Mezius son of Tr. aediles. These magistrates had presumably dedicated the pavement or 

as at Schiavi d'Abruzzo, the whole temple, in the second half of the third century BC. 

The other inscription, in fact two inscriptions, comes from the sides of an altar belonging 

721 Rix (1979) 223-8. 

722 Conway (1897) 59. 

723 Vetter (1953) 55. 

212

to the sanctuary, ST Po 16, Pocc. 107, Antonini (1983) 202-3,5 and attests a single 

aedilis. The inscriptions date from the second part of the third century BC. 724 

'n(a)r(a(hi)s). atiniis. mr. aidil. suvad. eitiuvad 

vm(a)r(a(hi)s). atiniis. mr. aidil. suvad. eitiuvad 

Maraeus Atinius son of Maraeus aedilis (built this altar) at his own expense. 

Maraeus Atinius son of Maraeus aedilis (built this altar) at his own expense. 

The inscriptions emphasise that the altar was set up with the magistrates' own money. 

Another single aedilis is attested in ST Po 11, Ve 20, Co 53, Bu 12, SE 45 (1977) 327-8 

which was inscribed on a travertine base, found in the House of the Faun (8.6.12, see 

map VI), probably not its original location. The inscription is usually dated to the first 

half of the second century BC. 

v(iibis). sadiriis. v(iibieis). aidil 

Vibius Sadrius son of Vibus aedilis 

It is certain that the aedilis, V. Sadrius son of V, was the dedicator of the object set up 

on the base, probably a statue of a deity. 

Another fragment of an inscription, ST Po 32, on a stone altar preserves the letters 

ai]dil[, and may represent another aedile. 

ST Po1 shows that the office of the aedile was a Pompeian one, because the 

aediles are under the authority of the meddix Pompeianus, who is undoubtedly a local 

officer. In the public road-building inscriptions they appear as a pair, but as private 

donators they act singly. Probably, comparing them to Rome, there were two annually 

elected aediles. The role of the aediles at Rome in the Republic was to keep the streets, 

market places and temples clean, and to ensure that Rome received her wheat and water 

724 Canratelli (1979) 473. The dating of the inscriptions is guided by the dates of the construction of the 

temple. 

213

supply uninterrupted and to give games; this all involved private expenditure. 

Occasionally, they appear as magistrates prosecuting offenders against a wide range of 

laws and public regulations. 725 Although the attested responsibility of the Pompeian 

aediles is limited by the inscriptions at our disposal to the public repair of streets, this 

suggests that their functions were similar to those of the aediles of Rome, from whom 

the title had been borrowed. 

6.3.4. Quaestores 

Six stone inscriptions attest the office of the quaestor in Pompeii. Five fragments record 

single officers dealing with different kinds of financial transactions and one inscription 

proves that the office was collegial. We also have evidence for the existence of a 

quaestor Pompeianus. The texts use the spellings kvaizstur and kvaisstur. 

First, ST Po 8, Ve 16, Co 48, Bu 10, Pi 12C, SE 45 (1977) 326-7 found re-used in 

the House of Cornelius Rufus (Strada dell'Abbondanza, 8.4, see map VI) 

m(ina)z. avdiis. kli. 2dekis. seppii s. üpf(alleis). 3kvaizstur. upsens726 

Minatius Audius son of Cle (... ). Decius Seppius son of Offellus quaestores built 

this). 

It is not clear whether kvaizstur is a plural noun, but the verb upsens is plural. So the two 

men built something together. Probably, although we cannot be sure, both were 

quaestor. 

725 

Lintott (1999) 129-33. 

726 M(ina)tus Audius Cle. filius, D. Seppius Off. filius questores fecerunt 

214

The least fragmentary quaestor inscription is ST Po 3, Ve 11, Pi 11, Co 42, Bu 4, 

SE 45 (1977) 326. (8.7 29, see map VI). It was found in the so-called Palaestra 

Sannitica between the Temple of Isis and the Forum Triangolare. The nicely engraved 

letters show the characteristics of the latest phase of the Oscan alphabet, according to 

Conway. 727 

v(iibis). aadirans. v(iibieis) eitiuvam. paam 2vereiiai. pümpaiianai. tristaa 3mentud. 

deded. eisak. eitiuvad 4v(iibis). viinikiis. mr. kvaisstur. pump 5aiians. triibüm. 

ekak. kümben 6nieis. tanginud. üpsannum 7deded. isiduin. prüfatted 

The money, which Vibius Atranus son of Vibius gave in his will for the youth of 

Pompeii, with this money Vibius Vinicius son of Maraeus, quaestor of Pompeii, 

commissioned the construction of this building by the decree of the council. He 

himself approved it. 

The building in which the inscription was set up, the Curia of Isis, was described by 

Nissen as a gymnasium 728 De Vos, however, points out that the building was too small 

for such a purpose. 729 It was probably the seat of the Pompeian vereia, an organization 

well known from Cumae. 730 The fact that the quaestor is involved shows that it was 

public money which had been willed to the vereia. It is important to note that the office 

of the quaestor is qualified by the adjective pompeianus. . 

The next four inscriptions also mention single quaestors. The first, ST Po 4, Ve 

12, Co 43, Bu 5, SE 45 (1977) 326 (7.1, see map VI), was found in the Stabian Baths 

beneath the sundial. The name of the officer, Maraeus Atinius son of Maraeus, also 

727 

Conway (1897) 60. 

728 

Nissen (1877) 158. Also Della Corte (1924) 47-60. 

729 

De Vos (1982) 72. 

730 See section 3.5. 

215

appears on the altar found in temple of Dionysus at Sant'Abbondio. Thus, the altar and 

the sundial inscriptions date from the same period, the second half of the third century 

BC. 731 

m(a)r(a(hi)s). atiniis. mr[. ] kvaisstur. eitiuvad 2mnltasikad[. 

] kümbennieis. 

tangi(nud) 3aamanaffed 

Maraeus Atinius son of Maraeus, quaestor, commissioned (this sundial) with 

money raised from fines, by the decree of the council. 

We have already seen inscriptions dedicated by magistrates of Nola, the meddices 

degetasii, with money raised from fines in section 5.4.1. It has also been noted that at 

Rome the aediles seemed to have performed a similar function. 

The second inscription is ST Po 14, Ve 18, Co 52, Bu 6, Pi 12F, SE 45 (1977) 327. 

(7.7, see map VI). It is part of the mosaic pavement of the cella of the temple of Apollo 

in the Forum of the town, which was laid in the middle of second century BC. 732 

ü. kamp[aniis. - kv]aisstur. kiimbennieis [t]a[nginu]d appellunieis. eitiuv[ad. 

pavmentü. Ups]annü. aaman[affjed 

Ovius Camp[anius son of ? ], quaestor, by the decree of the council with the money 

of Apollo commissioned the building of (the pavement). 

The quaestor is attested here because he handles public money, perhaps from fines, 

dedicated to Apollo. 733 

731 Carratelli (1979) 473. 

732 Lo Cascio (1986) 12. 

733 

Parallels in Latin: CIL I2 680, CIL 11 569. 

216

The last two quaestor inscriptions are rather fragmentary: ST Po 10, Ve 19, Co 49, 

Pi 12D, SE 45 (1977) 327. ST Po 10. Found in the Street of Mercurius. It is usually 

dated to the second century BC. 

[--11--k]vaisstur 2[kümbennieis. t]anginud 3[--6-- üpsann]ü. deded 4[eituvad. 

--- 

]rekhad 5[isisdu. prüf]atted 

[ --11--] quaestor, by the decree [of the council] commissioned the construction of 

[this ?]... [He himself) approved (this). 

The last quaestor-inscription is ST Po 9 Ve 17, Co 50, Pi 12 E, SE 45 (1977) 327 (see 

map VI). Found in two pieces re-used in the House of the Faun, rebuilt in the middle of 

the second century 

BC 734 

[--. s]puriis. ma 2[k]vaisstur 3[kü]mparakineis 4[ta]ngin(ud). aamanaffed 

[ ... ] Spurius son of Maraeus, quaestor, (by) the decree of the council, 

commissioned (this). 

Both inscriptions attest quaestors dedicating public works with the sanction of a council. 

The title of quaestor was adapted from Rome, but functions seem more like 

Roman aediles, which might even suggest that the office of aedile and that of the 

quaestor was the same in Pompeii. With the approval of a local council they carried out 

works on public buildings with money collected, presumably by them, from fines and 

other sources (such as a will). Probably they formed a pair, but they often acted 

independently. 

734 

Ling (2005) 46. 

217

6.3.5. Other institutions 

It is also important to look at the functions of the councils of Pompeii, the kümbennieis 

(gen. sing. ) and [kü]mparakineis (gen. sing). 735 The first council is attested three times 

in inscriptions, the second only once, although it is important to note that the beginning 

of the word has been emended and it is not entirely certain that it begins with kü-. 736 The 

function of these councils in inscriptions is to authorise the spending of public money on 

building projects in Pompeii: the kümbennieis commissioned the construction of a house 

for the vereiia, the making of a sundial for the Thermae Stabianae and the pavement of 

the temple of Apollo. 737 Single quaestors, where we have relatively complete 

inscriptions, usually appear with the mention of one or the other council, with one 

exception (ST Po 8). 

Devoto argued that kümbennieis (gen. sing. ) was a kind of popular assembly, 

where òne goes' and would thus be rendered in Latin as conventus. 

738 Sartori pointed 

out etymological similarities with the comono of the Bantia Tablets and the kumne of the 

Iguvine Tablets. 739 Devoto further argues that künzparakineis was a board to which 

people were àsked' to go, since it is etymologically related to the same root from which 

Latin posco and precor derive and, according to Devoto, it probably meant the senate. 

Salmon strongly opposed this idea, suggesting that both words, kümbennieis and 

735 1 am concerned only with the relationship of the councils to the magistrates of Pompeii here, rather than 

the etymology or the duties of the boards. 

736 I do not count those attempts to reconstruct the texts, where a part of the stone is missing and the 

scholars tried to guess the number of the letters. For example in ST Po 10 Rix inserts kümbennieis, 

whereas Vetter prefers kümparakineis; for the extremely fragmentary ST Po 13 see Rix's reconstruction. 

737 

In ST Po 9 we are not told what the council ordered the quaestor to commission. We do not have exact 

archaeological records where the inscription was found exactly, which might have given us some 

information about the officer commissioned. 

738 

Devoto (1931) 222. 

739 

Sartori (1953) 71; ST Lu 1; ST Um 1 lb. 41. 

218

"hnparakinefs, referred to the same council. 740 His opinion has been rejected by most 

scholars. The presence of two councils, a popular assembly and a senate, is a common 

feature of the constitutions of Italiote Greek cities. It is also plausible that this 

arrangement featured in most Oscan-speaking communities of Campania. In Pompeii, 

we have references to two distinct councils. Although at Rome the senate was in control 

of finances, it is not certain that at Pompeii the same division of functions existed. I 

agree with Campanile that we cannot know which term in Pompeii referred to the senate 

and which to a general assembly. 741 

We also have evidence for the existence of a vereia at Pompeii. 742 For a list of 

vereia known in Campania and other parts of southern Italy and their possible function 

see section 4.5. It is probable that this originally military and private form of 

organization had become a civic cultural and educational institution at Pompeii by the 

second century BC. 

One other feature of communal organization in Samnite Pompeii is the poorly- 

understood eituns. The word occurs in five Oscan dipinti and is probably to be restored 

in a sixth. Since the mid-nineteenth century the meaning and the purpose of these 

inscriptions have been the subject of numerous debates. It is now the generally accepted 

view that these dipintf were painted during the Social War and recorded arrangements 

for the defence of the town in case of attack. It is difficult to translate these inscriptions 

because the meanings of three words, fundamental to the understanding of the texts, are 

debated: amvianud (abl. sing), eituns and faam(m)a(n)t. To start with, I leave the 

problematic words untranslated. 

740 

Sartori (1953) 71; Salmon (1967). 92-3. 

741 

Campanile (1979) 25. 

742 The institution appears in the inscription ST Po 3. It was studied under the section 6.3.4 because of the 

appearance of that magistrate in the text. 

219

1. ST Po 34, Ve 23, Co 60, Bu 14, Pi 13A, Morelli (1875)743, Zvetaieff (1878) 80. (6.2. 

4, see map VI). Painted on the pillar of the Casa di Sallustio, close to the corner of vico 

di Narcisso leading from the via Consolare on the north-west wall of the town. 

eksuk. amvianud. eituns 2anter. tiurri. XII. inf. ver(u) 3sarinu. puf faamat 

4m(a)r(a(hi)s). aadiriis. v(iibieis) 

From this amvianud eituns (proceed) between Tower XII and the Sarno Gate 

where Maraeus Atranus son of Vibiusfaamat. 

2. ST Po 35, Ve 24, Co 61, Bu 15, Pi 13A, Fiorelli (1875)744, Zvetaieff (1878) 81, SE 45 

(1977) 331. (6.6.3, see map VI). On a tufa pillar of the Casa di Pansa, at the corner of 

Vico della Fullonica, which leads from the Strada delle Terme to the north-western wall. 

eksuk. amviannud. eit(uns) 2anter. tiurri. XII. ini. 3ver(u) sarinu. puf 4faamat. 

m(a)r(a(hi)s). aadiriis. v(iibieis) 

From this amvianud eituns (proceed) between Tower XII and the Sarinu Gate 

where Maraeus Atranus son of Vibius faamat. 

3. ST Po 36, Ve 25, Co 63, Bu 17, Pi 13C, Fiorelli (1875)745, Zvetaieff (1878) 82. (7.7. 

19, see map VI). On the corner of the Casa del Fauno, at the corner of the Vico delle 

Terme and the Vico dei Soprastanti. 

eksuk. amv[i]anud. 2eituns. antejr. tr]iib 3ma. kastrikiieis. ini. 4mr. spuriieis 

l(üvkieis). 5puf faamat 6v. sehsimbriis. l(üvkieis) 

743 

Pappalardo (2001) 49. 

744 


745 


220

From this arvianud eltuns (proceed) between the house(? 

) of Ma(mercus) 

Castricius and Maraeus Spurius son of Lucius where Vibius Sexembrius (? ) son 

of Lucius faamat. 

4. ST Po 37, Ve 26, Co 62, Bu 16, Pi 13B, Zvetaieff (1878) 83, Sogliano NSc (1897) 

465. (6.12.1, see map VI). On the south-western corner pillar of the Casa del Fauno. 

ek[s]uk. amvianudf. ]eitu[ns] 2[anter. tiurr]i. X. ini XI. puf 3[faama]t. t(rebis). 

fisanis[. ] ü 

From this amvianud eituns (proceed) between Tower X and XI where Trebius 

Fisanius son of 

Ovius (? )faamat. 

5. ST 38, Ve 27. Sogliano, NSc (1897) 465. Bu 18, Pi 13D, SE 45 (1977) 331. (8.6.19, 

see map VI). In the Via dell'Abbondanza. 

eksuk. amviannud 2eftuns. amp(er)t. tribud 3tiiv(tikad). amp(er)t. menere(vas) 4 [- 

?- 5-? 

-] 

From this amvianud eituns (proceed) between the public house and the [temple ?] 

of Minerva. 

6. ST 39, Ve 28, Pi 13E, della Corte Nsc (1916) 155-8. Ribezzo (1922) 328-, Buck 

(1922) 111-8, delta Corte RIGI 6 (1923) 828. Vetter (1927) 2, SE 45 (1977) 331-5, 

Sakai (1992) 1-13. (3.4.2, see map VI). On the facade of the `House of Moralist' on the 

Via dell'Abbondanza. 

eksuk. amvi[an(u)d --- eituns -(-)] 2set puz. haf]iantir. tr. t]iiv 3ini. viu. mef(iru) 

[. ant. tiurr]is 4nertrak. ve[ru. urublan]u Spiis. sent. ei, [seik. nert]rak 6veru. 

221

urubla[nu. ant. tiu]rri. 7mefira. faa{m}mant. 81(üvkis). püpid(iis). 1(üvkieis). 

m(a)r(a(hi)s). puril(liis). mr 

From this amvi[anud eituns ] are so that [ the public house ?] and the Mi[dway 

(? ) and the tower]s be defended, which are to the left of the Ga[te Urublan]u. 

[From that place to the le]ft of the Urbulanu gate to the Mefira tower 

faamant Lucius Popidius son of Lucius (and) Maraeus Purellius son of 

Maraeus. 

All these eituns dipinti follow the same structure. 746 They begin with the expression 

eksuk amvianud, followed by the word eituns and a location usually defined by turri 

(tower) or veru (gate), then the only verb faam(m)at (or -ant), and at the end a personal 

name or names. The inscriptions were crudely painted in red lettering directly onto 

walls, whether brick or stone. Some were later covered with stucco when the buildings 

were redecorated, which helped to preserve them. The palaeographic similarities of the 

dipinti suggest that they were painted by the same hand. They were painted in prominent 

locations and set high above the ground (higher than the electoral inscriptions). 

Mommsen and Conway argued that the dipinti were advertisements of some kind, 

while Campanile put forward the idea that they were electoral notices datable to the first 

century AD. 747 Conway believed that the eftuns dipinti date from the first century AD 

because their preservation is so good. These views were superseded by the arguments 

for interpreting the dipinti in the context of defending the town during the Social War. 

746 

Prosdocimi (1978) 875. 

747 For Mommsen and Conway see Conway (1897) 70; Campanile (1996) 375. 

222

Pompeii appears in Appian's list of Italic peoples who revolted from Rome during 

the Social War. 748 The troops of Sulla began to lay siege to the town in April 89 BC, 

which probably surrendered in the autumn of the same year. 749 Sulla punished the 

community for revolting by establishing a Roman colony, the Colonia Cornelia Veneria 

Pompeianorum, under the leadership of his nephew, P. Cornelius Sulla. These historical 

events have influenced the dating of the inscriptions. It is certain that the establishment 

of the colony resulted in the introduction of Latin as the official language in Pompeii. 

The year 80 BC is therefore the tenninus ante quem. It has been suggested that 

inscriptions were painted on the eve of the, siege of 89 BC, because this is the only 

significant military event of the period we know about. However, the period from the 

Social War down to the establishment of the Roman colony was very insecure in the 

whole of Italy, as Mouritsen notes. 750 

The inscriptions therefore could have been painted 

at any time between 90 and 80 BC. The fact that they were painted indicates that they 

were intended to last only for a short period of time, so we might expect them to relate to 

the last military threat faced by Oscan-speaking Pompeii. 

I turn now to the problem of translation of the expressions amvianud (abl. sing), 

eituns and faam(m)a(n)t. Most scholars take eituns in a military context. Nissen 

interpreted it as itus or iter, `way', and argued that the dipinti were set up for allied 

soldiers to help them to find their way to their posts, perhaps among barricades. 751 This 

view was rejected both by Ribezzo and Buck. 752 Buck believed that e{tuns should be 

rendered in Latin as eunto, an imperative, meaning `they must proceed'. 753 Later Buck 

modified his view and suggested that eftuns relates to a verbal noun, *eit or *ei-to, 

748 

App. B. Civ. 1.39 and 50. 

749 Oros. 5.18.22-3, Ve11. Pat. 2.16.2. 

750 Mouritsen (1988) 85. 

751 

Nissen (1877) 498-9. 

752 

Ribezzo (1917) 55-63; Buck (1922) 111-8. 

223

meaning `goings'. He supposed that it became a technical term for `mobilization', and 

was followed by an indication of the tower or the gate to tell the citizens where they had 

to mobilize. 754 Vetter instead suggested that eftuns refers to the soldiers themselves and 

translated eituns as evocati, 'called up'. 755 He argued that the dipinti assign certain parts 

of the city walls to citizens liable for military service in every quarter of the town in the 

case of emergency. 56 Pisani followed Vetter's view, although he translated eftuns as 

exploratores, soldiers chosen to patrol part of the city wall. 757 Prosdocimi countered that 

the meaning `soldiers' is too far removed from the supposed root *eito- `to go'. 758 He 

prefers to derive eituns from *eid, a stem for words to do with òath' and interprets 

eituns as soldiers who have taken an oath on enrolment, iurati in Latin. 

Nissen's idea that the eituns dipinti helped allied soldiers to reach their stations is 

not at all plausible. First, they do not provide clear directions for outsiders: for example, 

ST 36 and 37, painted on corner pillars, do not indicate which way the soldier had to go. 

Conversely, ST 34 was unnecessary because the city wall was visible from the location 

of the inscription anyway. Therefore, it is more likely that the inscriptions were painted 

for the citizens of Pompeii. Whichever of the etymological interpretations of Buck, 

Vetter, Pisani or Prosdocimi is correct, they all agree that the word refers to those 

Pompeian citizens liable for military service, so the simplest solution is to take eituns to 

mean à group of soldiers'. 

The word amvianud (abl. sing. ) has also caused debate. It has been suggested that 

it is a loanword from the Greek äµoobov, which has a range of meanings, including 

753 

Buck(1904)242. 

754 

Buck (1922) 113 and 118 

ns Vetter (1953) 54-7. 

756 Vetter (1927) 5. Vetter spotted that in ST Po 39 the word eituns was followed by set (sunt), which 

suggests that it must be a noun. 

757 

Pisani (1953) 13 A, B, C, D, E. 

224

street or quarter. 759 In his edition of 1904, Buck followed Nissen's view about the 

purpose of the eituns inscriptions and translated the word amvianud as circuitu, `(in this) 

way around or detour'. Later Buck accepted that the Greek word äp4obov is usually 

rendered in Latin as vices, as Nissen had translated it, and suggested that ainvianud 

denoted an administrative unit, a quarter or ward, that provided soldiers for the defence 

of the city 760 The eftuns inscriptions would then be similar to a Greek inscription from 

Smyrna, which instructs to the male inhabitants of each city quarter where they had to 

assemble, and also gives the name of the officer in charge of the contingent. 761 

It seems 

clear that the word arnvianud should be understood as `quarter' of the city or ward. 

The last controversial word is the verb, faamat or fam(m)ant, which, with the 

exception of the sixth fragmentary inscription, is preceded by the adverb puf, or ubi in 

Latin. Nissen translated it as ubi tendit, `where leads, goes', that is the fiter, the road that 

took the allied soldiers to their posts. Subsequently, the word was thought to be an action 

taken by the person or persons named at the end of the inscriptions. This makes sense, 

since in all inscriptions where one person appears the verb is in the singular, while in ST 

39, where two persons are cited, it is in the plural. Ideas differ as to how to translate the 

verb. Buck's translation, ubi habita(n)t, suggests that the person appearing in the text, 

perhaps the leader of the contingent of the vicus, lived there, but this is unlikely because 

the inhabitants of the quarter probably knew that the person lived there, and it is difficult 

to believe that the leaders lived evenly distributed across the town, close to the towers. 

Vetter translated puf faam(m)a(n)t as (nomina) cita(n)t, and reckoned that it is related to 

758 

Prosdocimi (1978) 876-7. 

759 

Buck (1922) 111-8. 

760 

Nissen (1877) 497-9 and 542. Buck (1922). 

761 

Nissen (1877) 502. 

225

the Latin noun fama, with the meaning of to take a `roll call'. It is possible that a 

respectable man was appointed in every ward to muster and lead its contingent. 

However, the word famatted appears in an inscription from the territory of the Hirpini, 

where it has been translated as 'iussil', and so Pisani suggested that the word puf 

faam(m)a(n)t means ùbi imperat', `where X is in command'. 762 This interpretation 

makes good practical sense, has a parallel in the Smyrna inscription and is, in my view, 

the most probable. 

In addition to the Smyrna inscription there is literary evidence for similar 

arrangements. Nissen drew attention to the treatise of Aineias Tacticus, a Greek military 

writer of the middle of the fourth century BC. 763 Aineias suggests that a citizen 

community should assign men of each tribe of the city capable of military service the 

task of proceeding to a section of the wall and mounting guard over it, and to appoint a 

competent man in each street to be 764 

street-commander. These street commanders 

should muster their men and lead them to the assembly points, the nearest agora or 

theatre. Although there are differences in detail from what the elf uns dipinti suggest 

happened in Pompeii, the practice is essentially the same. 

The nomina gentilicia of the officers in command suggest that they were members 

of illustrious Pompeian families. Maraeus Atranus son of Vibius, mentioned in two 

eftuns dipinti, ST Po 34 and ST Po 35, must be a relative of Vibius Atranus son of 

Vibius, who left a substantial sum of money in his will for the Pompeian vereia. 765 ST 

Po 39 names Lucius Popidius son of Lucius, member of the famous gens Popidia, 

762 ST Hi 1, and Sgobbo in Notizie degli Scavi ser. 6 (1930) 409-10. 

763 Niseen (1877) on the towers of Pompeii p. 490-510. 

764 Ain. Tac. 3.4. 

765 


226

attested in both Oscan and Latin inscriptions. They certainly formed an important part of 

the public life of the town. 

6.3.6. The time of transition 

The last group of evidence in Oscan for the political structures of Pompeii comprises 

eleven painted inscriptions in Oscan which appear to be electoral notices. 766 

1. ST Po 40, Ve 29, Co. 67, Zvetaieff (1878) 86, tab. XVI. 4, SE 45 (1977) 336. On a 

tufa pillar in the Strada della Fontana and Abbondanza near the Forum. 

mr. perk {eJen[-? ] 21111. 

nerü. d-h[ 3] labiku niels 41111 

seis. Aphinis 5altinüm 

M(a)r(aeus) Percennius quattuorvir 

... IV (? ) of the Afini (? ) 

2. ST Po 41, Ve 30, Co 64, Zvetaieff (1878) 84, XVI. 2, SE 45 (1977) 336. On the fourth 

pillar from the comer in the Strada dei Teatri. 

ma. herenni / IIII. n. d. e. n. 

d. 66 

Mamercus Herennius IIII vir ... 

3. ST Po 42, Ve 30a, Co 68, Zvetaieff (1878) 88 tab. XVI. 6. 

p. kiipiis 

P (acius? ) Cipius 

227

4. ST Po 43, Ve 30b, Co 71, Zvetaieff (1878) 93. XVII. 3. On a tufa pillar of 7.4.5. 

p. afillis 

P(acius? ) Afillius 

5. ST Po 44, Ve 30c, Co 76, Zvetaieff (1878) 101. 

1. veat[-? -] pisu 

Lucius Viat ... Piso 

6. ST Po 45, Ve 30d, Co 65, Zvetaieff (1878) 89, tab XVI. 7. On the fifth pillar from the 

corner on the Strada dei Teatri. 

1. üpi1Jiü]m / niel ---[-? -] 

Lucius Opellius / ... 

7. ST Po 46, Ve 30e, Co 69, Zvetaieff (1878) 90, tab. XVI, 8. On a tufa pillar or a house 

in 7.4. 

1. üv[. I]III n(er i) /idn e-[-]erk 

Lucius Ovius quattuorvir ... 

8. ST Po 47, Ve 30f(a), Co 72 bis, Zvetaieff (1878) 94, tab. XVII, 4, SE 45 (1977) 336. 

On a tufa pillar of 7.9.58-59. 

arüt. ni 

Arruntius (? ). Ni (? ) 

766 

ST40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50. 

228

9. ST Po 48, Ve 30(b), SE 45 (1977) 336, 

d. pügin 

Decius (? ) Pugin(? ) 

10. ST Po 49, Ve 30g, Co 66, Zvetaieff (1878) 85, tab. XVI. 3. On the corner pillar on 

the facade in the Strada della Fontana 

piküfn-[-? 

11. ST Po 50, Ve 30h, Zvetaieff (1878) 99, Conway (1897) 75, SE 45 (1977) 336. In the 

Strada Fontana, from the Strada dell'Abbondanza, nr. 15 

IIII. n(erü) 

Quattuorvir 

The dating and interpretation of these electoral inscriptions have been a matter of debate. 

Four texts contain references to the Ililner, the Oscan equivalent of the Roman 

quattuorvir. 767 

This office does not appear in stone inscriptions from the Samnite period 

of Pompeii, but is characteristic of the earlier Roman municipal and colonial 

constitutions. This has led many to believe that they were set up after the Roman 

conquest of the town in 89 BC. It has been pointed out that because 

they were written in 

Oscan, they could not have been painted after the establishment of the Roman colony in 

80 BC, when Oscan ceased to be the official language of the town. However, one could 

argue that Oscan continued to be spoken in Pompeii well into the first century BC, and 

767 ST Po 40 (twice), 41,46 and 50. 

229

since the programmata were not notices put up by officials, it is just possible that the 

inscriptions date from the time of the early colony. 

The period between the Roman occupation and the establishment of the colony is 

the most controversial and the most extensively discussed in the history of the town. 

Historical research has focused on questions of the constitution and the administrative 

institutions. It has been argued that the appearance of the quattuorvirate both in Oscan 

electoral inscriptions and Latin inscriptions on stone suggests that after the occupation of 

the town, Pompeii became a municipium. Rudolph thought that Pompeii was granted 

Roman citizenship by Cinna in 87 BC or at least at some point between 89 and 80 BC 768 

Mouritsen has pointed out that none of the Latin electoral inscriptions mention the 

quattuorvirate, which he explains by the fact that it was not by then an office in itself 

but a collective term for the duoviri and aediles 769 The names of several candidates in 

the programmata antiquissima appear to be Oscan, which would raise the question of 

why some appealed to the voters in Latin and others in Oscan. Mouritsen argued that 

they were probably not part of the same electoral campaign. He concluded that the 

candidates in the Oscan electoral inscriptions were running for the quattuorviral 

magistracy, established after the Social War and that they were painted in the 

transitional period, that is 89-80 BC, while the Latin programmata antiquissima formed 

part of electoral campaigns held in the early colony, from 80 BC onwards, after Pompeii 

received a regular colonial constitution with duoviri and two aediles, who formed the 

college of quattuorviri. 770 

A study of the administrative institutions of Oscan Pompeii must also include 

several pieces of evidence in Latin. The body of Latin electoral inscriptions from 

768 

Rudolph (1935) 151 - 52 

769 Mouritsen (1988) 72 and 85. 

230

Pompeii divides into two groups: the progranunata antiguissima, consisting of around 

150 painted inscriptions, and the recentiora, amounting to around 2500 inscriptions. It 

has been argued that the oldest electoral inscriptions date from the years 80-30 BC and 

have survived due to exceptional circumstances. The programmata recentiora are dated 

to the years AD 50-79. 

Pompeii preserves a number of honorific inscriptions in stone (tituli) and several 

programmata antiquissima that can tell us about the transition from the Samnite 

administration to that of Rome. The first step in the study of the inscriptions is the 

establishment of their dates. Mouritsen has meticulously studied the means and methods 

that can be used to date Pompeian inscriptions. 77 ' His system of dating seems the most 

reliable and will be followed here. According to his reconstruction, the following 

honorific inscriptions can be dated to the early phase of the Roman occupation: CIL I 

1634,1636, and CIL X 794,800,819,829,844,852,937,938,956,997, and also 

perhaps 1075. The names of the magistrates recorded in CIL X 800,819,829,844,852, 

and 937 and 938 also appear in the prograrnmata, obviously competing for the office. 

Therefore some of the programmala and the inscriptions must be almost contemporary. 

One of the most debated honorific inscriptions of the early period of the Roman 

town is CIL X 794.772 It comes from the forum. 

V. Popidius / Ep(idi) f. q/ porticus / faciendas coeravi 

Vibius Popidius son of Epidius q saw to the building of the portico. 

The letter q following the name of the magistrate has generated much discussion 

regarding the date of the inscription. It has been suggested that it stood for quattuorvir, 

770 Mouritsen (1988) 86. 

771 Mouritsen (1988) 70-89. 

231

quinquennalis or quaestor. Mommsen dated it to the Samnite administration, Onorato to 

the transitional period, and Degrassi to the early colony, but none of these interpretations 

is convincing. 773 A viable dating needs to accommodate several facts, as noted by 

Mouritsen: the inscription is in Latin, contains the letter q, the magistrate was a member 

of an illustrious Pompeiian gens, archaeological evidence suggests that the portico is 

later than 100 BC and the inscription is similar to other early Latin inscriptions from 

Pompeii. 774 Mouritsen's argument that the letter q stands for the office of quaestor is the 

most likely. 775 Nevertheless, this inscription does not suggest that the quaestorship 

continued to exist in Roman Pompeii: Mouritsen argued that the portico was begun 

before the Roman conquest but finished afterwards, which explains why was the 

inscription is in Latin. This text therefore attests that V. Popidius son of Epidius held the 

quaestorship at the time of the dedication of the building. This probably happened 

between 100 and 80 BC, which suggests that the office of the quaestor could have 

continued into the transitional period of the town. 

A handful of electoral inscriptions in Latin also contain the letter q. 776 Three 

inscriptions, all belonging to the programmata antiquissima, mention Q. Caecilius. The 

fourth, which belong to the more recent inscriptions from Pompeii, mentions C. 

Laecanius Successus. Mommsen's argument that the letter q stands for the quaestorship 

and that the text should be dated to the transitional period has been discarded. Castren 

and Lo Cascio suggested that it stood for quattuorvir, but this view does not convince in 

the light of the previously mentioned argument that the term quattuorvir was a collective 

772 = 12 1627 = ILS 5538 = ILLRP 640 

773 CIL X p. 96; Onorato (1951) 116-40; Degrassi (1967) 145-8. 

774 Mouritsen (1988) 72-3. 

ns Mouritsen (1988) 72-4. 

776 CIL IV 29,30,36 and 7014 

232

term for the aediles and duoviri. 777 Mouritsen argued that the letter should be interpreted 

as quinquennalis, an office that was held every five years. This would also explain why 

it occurs so rarely in Latin inscriptions. 

To return to the argument about the constitutional standing of Pompeii in the 

transitional period of the town, Castren described the status of Pompeii between 89 and 

80 BC as interregnum. 778 His theory was based on a number of programmata 

antiquissima inscriptions in which the abbreviation inter appears, but the word itself is 

never complete and so is open to interpretation. Several scholars have rejected Castren's 

view: Mouritsen pointed out that the word inter appears only in relation to C. Popidius, 

and argued that it was a reference to the extraordinary position of interrex, which would 

probably have been filled through appointment by the local ordo rather than by popular 

election. 779 

Onorato suggested that the municipium formed by the native inhabitants of the 

town, continued to co-exist with the colony for some time, creating à double 

community' at Pompeii, each with its own administrative institutions. Onorato's 

argument was partly based on the distinction between the Pompeiani and the coloni, 

which appears in a passage in Cicero. 780 In this passage, Cicero mentions that his client, 

P. Sulla, was accused of exploiting a quarrel between the Pompeiani and the coloni in 

order to gain power over the community to make them join Catiline's plot. Onorato 

argued that Pompeiani refers to the old inhabitants of the town who formed the 

municipium while coloni refers to the colonists of Sulla. Several historians have rejected 

Onorato's view by pointing out that the dissensio among the coloni and the Pompeiani 

"' Castr6n (1951) 51. 

778 Castren (1975) 51-2,60,122,174. 

779 Mouritsen (1988) 74-5. 

780 Cic. Pro Sulla 21.60-2. 

233

makes sense only if they were voting together in the same community, thus showing that 

there was no question of two separate communities with separate citizenships. 81 

Building on the conclusions of Mouritsen and Jongman, Lo Cascio argued that the 

Ciceronian passage does not suggest that the òld Pompeians' were deprived of the right 

to vote. On the contrary, they enjoyed the same political rights as the new inhabitants of 

the town, the colonists, but the òld Pompeians', superior in number, were penalised by 

being divided into a smaller number of electoral districts in comparison to those of the 

colonists. 782 Some of the voting districts of the inner parts of the town were named after 

the city gates, for the names of some of the candidates in the electoral inscriptions were 

qualified by the adjectives Urbulaneses, Salinienses, Campanienses and Forenses, 

which must refer to their voting tribes. 783 Zevi has examined the decorative elements of 

Pompeii and concludes that the inner parts of the town do not show signs of 

renovation. 84 This suggests that the same inhabitants continued to live there even after 

the establishment of the colony. In the suburban area, especially along the via dei 

Sepolcri, houses decorated according to the second Pompeian style have been excavated. 

It is likely that these areas, along with considerable parts of the ager Pompeianus, were 

allotted to the colonists. 

Names of several Oscan candidates appear in the programmala antiquissima: L. 

Gavius, M. Herennius, Q. Herennius, C. Occius, L. Olius, L. Paccius, C. Popidius, C. 

Uulius, T. Vibius, and they are definitely of Oscan origin. 785 

It is possible that the same 

man, Mamercus Herennius, appears both in an Oscan electoral inscription ST Po 41 and 

in CIL IV 48. This confirms the conclusion of Lo Cascio and Zevi that there was one 

781 

Degrassi (1962) 105; Gabba (1973) 605, 

782 

Lo Cascio (1996) 111-23. 

783 Lo Cascio (1996) 120. 

784 Zevi (1996) 125-38. 

783 

For list of candidates of the programmata antiquissima see Mouritsen (1988) 83-4. 

234

citizen body after the establishment of the colony at Pompeii, and that the òld 

Pompeians' did indeed take part in the political life of the colony and that they were not 

separated into a municipium with its own administration. 

6.3.7. Elite families 

This section looks at the composition of the political elite in Pompeii to examine its 

breadth or narrowness. Names in administrative inscriptions of Pompeii usually consist 

of three parts, praenomen, nomen gentilicium and filiation. 786 Some genies appear in 

several Pompeian inscriptions. Out of the few inscriptions that mention the meddix 

tuticus, Vibius Popidius son of Vibius features in two of them and also in a dipinto on an 

amphora fragment, because the middle of the second century BC was a particularly 

prosperous period of the town, with much rebuilding and it had become fashionable to 

set up inscriptions. The gens Pupidia is represented on a stone inscription from the 

House of Pupidius Priscus and the eituns inscriptions and continued to play an important 

role in the public life of the town after the Social War as numerous Latin inscriptions 

attest. 787 The gens Atrana also occurs both in the administrative inscriptions and the 

eftuns inscriptions. Vibius Atranus son of Vibius is recorded because he left money to 

the Pompeian vereiia in his will, so he must have been from one of the wealthy families 

786 Two inscriptions, ST Po 2 and ST Po 14, are fragmentary and the second half of the names is missing 

probably with filiation, the tile stamps usually, however, with the few exceptions mentioned previously, 

give only the praenomina and nomina gentilicia 

87 ST Po 12 and 39. 

235

of the town. Maraeus Atranus son of Vibius appears in two eiluns inscriptions, ST 34 

and 35. Maraeus Atinius son of Maraeus appears twice, as aedilis and quaestor. 788 

The tile stamps, ST tPo 1-43, provide us with a large and completely different 

group of names from those of the dedicatory and eftuns inscriptions. It has been 

suggested that these names are those of meddices tutici of Pompeii. 

Table 1: Gentes of the tile-stamps in Pompeii: 

Oscan names 

Latin equivalent 

v. vaaviis (ST tPo 1) Vavius (? ) 

m. aallasis (ST tPo 2) 

ü: üviis (ST tPo 3) Ovius 

ga sillii (ST tPo 4) Sillius 

gn. hegi[? (ST tPo 5) Hegius (? ) 

ni. lare (ST tPo 6) Lars (? ) 

ni. püpie (ST tPo 7) Pupidius (? ) 

ni. pupie (ST tPo 8) Pupidius (? ) 

ni. püpie m (ST tPo 9) Pupidius (? ) 

ni. veela (ST tPo 10) 

ani. veela bf, (ST tPo 11) 

am. g. lass, m. g. lass (ST tPo 12) 

1. titti. I (ST tPo 13) Tittius 

ü. nüv. --- (ST tPo 14) Nolanus (? ) 

788 This fact suggests that the two inscriptions, the ST Po 4 and 16, were engraved with not much 

difference of time one between the other. 

236

p. aiia [-] (ST tPo 15) 

v. blan (ST tPo 16) 

v. bla (ST tPo 17) 

step. kai (ST tPo 18) 

dek. tre. (ST tPo 19) Trebius (? ) 

pü. tre. (ST tPo 20) Trebius (? ) 

st. kal (ST tPo 21) 

v. ist (ST tPo 22) 

ni rar. (ST tPo 23) 

1. lik. (ST tPo 24) 

1.1i (ST tPo 25) 

?] pask. pak (ST tPo 26) 

mr. n[ (ST tPo 27) 

pr. t (ST tPo 28) 

k pi (ST tPo 29) 

ü. ev (ST tPo 30) 

ü. üh. (ST tPo 31) Uhtavius = Octavius (? ) 

ev. he. kai (ST tPo 32) Heius (? ) 

ev he. kai (ST tPo 33) Heius (? ) 

ev he kai (ST tPo 34) Heius (? ) 

mr. k. 1. (ST tPo 35) 

d. B. pu. d (ST tPo 36) 

1. m, n. b (ST tPo 37) 

pk. pp (ST tPo 41) 

237

Numerous nomina gentilicia of magistrates are exclusive to Pompeii. These are: 

Atinius, Audius, Epidius, Matius, Mezius, Seppius, Sittius, Spurius, Vicinius and most 

of the genies shown in the tile stamps. Some, however, appear also in other Oscan- 

speaking territories. A member of the gens Sairia, Trebius Satrius son of Trebius, is 

attested as ineddix tuticus of the Pentri. 789 Members of the gens Pontia were scattered 

over a wide territory: we find them in Sicily, in the territory of the Paeligni, in Samnium 

and at Saticula in Campania 790 A curse tablet at Crimisa in Lucania attests a Pupidius 791 

The gens name of one of the quaestors, Campanus, in the inscription ST Po 14, suggest 

that his family migrated from Capua. 

A curious phenomenon is that several names attested as praenomina in other 

Samnite areas appear in Pompeii as nomina gentilicia. One example is the gens name 

Seppius, attested in a Pompeiian painted inscription, ST Po 59.792 Sepis and Sepieis 

occur as praenomina at Capua in the iuvilas inscriptions. 93 Similarly, the gens name 

Spurius of the eituns inscriptions (ST Po 36), also attested in the fragmentary ST Po 9, 

turns up as a praenomen at Capua and Rome. 794 We have examples in Pompeii for the 

use of Trebius as praenomen and gentilicium. 795 

The variety of families that held the office of meddix tulicus clearly shows that the 

magistracies of the town were not dominated by a small group of genies and that they 

were probably elected. 

789 

See section 2.5. 

790 

rropntotFS in Messina: Me 1,2,3; ponties in Sulmo of the Paeligni: ST Pg 5; pompt(iis) in Samnium 

see section 2.5; puntieis at Saticula: ST Cm 28. 

791 ST Lu 44: patop ntorrrb[Lop]. 

792 ST Po 8, quaestor. 

79; ST Cp 27: Sepis Helevis; ST Cp 28: Sepieis Heleviieis. 

794 ST Cp 29: affiliation; Cp 30: praenomen. 

238

6.4. Herculaneum 

The only evidence for Samnite-period magistrates at Herculaneum comes from two 

inscriptions carved into a marble altar. The first and shorter text is situated in the centre 

on the top of the altar, where the sacrifice would have taken place. The longer 

inscription is on the side of the altar, probably facing the public. The altar was found in 

the so-called Hercules temple near the theatre of Herculaneum. 796 The altar was 

dedicated to Venus Erycina, whose cult is known from the temples on Mount Eryx in 

western Sicily, between Drepanum and Egesta. 797 

ST Cm 10, Ve 107, Co 87, Bu 41, SE 59 (1993) 322. 

aherentatels 

süm 

bl(üvkis). slabiis. 1(üvkieis). aukil. meddiss. tüvtiks. herentatei. herukinai. prüffed 

I am of Venus 

Lucius Slabius Acilius son of Lucius meddix tuticus set (me, the altar) up for 

Venus Erycina798 

The nomen gentilicium of the meddix tuticus, Slabius, is not attested anywhere else in 

the Oscan-speaking world. He also has a cognomen, Acilius, which suggests a late date 

for the inscription. 799 

795 

Praenomen: ST Po 15; gentilicium: ST tPo 19. 

796 

The temple was given this name by archaeologists because of the small Hercules statues found in the 

sacred area and therefore it is not necessarily a temple of Hercules 

797 

The cult was introduced to Rome in the late third century BC, see Beard, North and Price (1998) 79-80 

and 83. 

798 

Campanile (1995) 358-62 argues the word prüffed is not synonymous to prüffatted, but it is to be 

translated as 'to offer', 'to donate'. 

239

6.5. Meddices of Minerva 

A unique inscription has been found on the eastern side of the promontory of the 

peninsula of Surrentum called the Punta della Campanella. The text is inscribed on the 

rock beside the stairs leading up from a landing stage to the plateau. The promontory 

was an important cult place for Athena or Minerva and it was frequented from at least 

the sixth century BC. The shrine is thought to be of Greek origin, but came under 

Samnite supervision with the occupation of Campania some time after the middle of the 

fifth century BC. Russo has dated the inscription to the first half of the second century 

BC. 80° 

ST Cm 2, MAL Misc. 3.5.189-204. 

m. gaaviis m. 1(Avkis). pitakiis. m. 21(üvkis). appüllis. ma. meddiks. menereviius 

3esskazsiüm. ekük. üpsannum 4dedens. iusüm. prüfattens 

Maius Gavius son of Maius, Lucius Pitacius son of Maius, Lucius Appuleus son of 

Maraeus, meddices of Minerva, commissioned the building of this landing stage. 

They themselves approved it. 

This is the first, and so far unique, case of the title of meddix qualified by the name of a 

deity. It is also the first attestation of a college of the three meddices. Russo, the first 

editor of the inscription, suggested that the meddices were leading magistrates of three 

towns of the supposed Nucerian League, Nuceria (Maius Gaavius), Surrentum (Lucius 

799 

Sironen notes the S2KEAAO 

/ Oiac Aos / OxuAAoS names turn up several times among the Lucanian 

students of Pythagoras799. He suggests the names in Greek take their origin from Oscan and would come 

from the Latin'oculus', eye. Sironen (1991) 133-8 

800 Russo (1990) 197. 

240

Pitacius) and Pompeii (Lucius Appuleius). 801 De Caro drew attention to votive statues 

representing Athena from the area of the sanctuary. 802 Statues made from the same 

mould were also found in the sanctuary of Privati near Stabiae. Similar statues turned up 

in the area of the Triangular Forum, one of the oldest areas of Pompeii. The name of 

Minerva, associated with the temple of the Triangular Forum, also appears in one eftuns 

inscription. 803 De Caro suggested that there existed a network of Athena/Minerva 

temples at Pompeii, Privati and Punta della Campanella, 'which coincides with a 

concrete political reality', in other words, that the cult of Minerva was the official cult of 

the supposed Nucerian league. 804 

The arguments of Russo and De Caro are based on the notion of the existence of 

the Nucerian League. Russo's interpretation of the three meddices as the magistrates of 

Nuceria, Pompeii and Surrentum raises the question of why the other two settlements, 

Herculaneum and Stabiae, did not have representatives. Also, Russo's onomastic 

arguments for linking a particular magistrate with a particular town do not seem well 

founded. De Caro's suggestion that the Athena/Minerva sanctuaries were the main cult 

of the Nucerian League ignores the numerous Hercules sanctuaries in the region (in 

Pompeii, outside Pompeii to the north, and, of course, Herculaneum) which show the 

importance of that cult in the region. Furthermore, Russo admits that most types of the 

votive terracottas discovered in the sanctuary of Punta della Campanella, particularly 

those that represent female heads wearing headdresses 

and standing mothers, are found 

widely in other Campanian locations, such as Cumae, Nola, Capua and the sanctuaries 

801 

Russo (1990) 198-9. 

802 

De Caro (1992a) 173-8. The standing statues of Athena wear a long chiton belted around the waist. The 

goddess holds a shield resting on the ground with her left hand, and an offering pot in her right. She wears 

a helmet of Phrygian type. 

803STPo38. 

804 De Caro (1992a) 175, my translation. 

241

of Mefitis and Privati of Stabiae, which date from the fourth century BC, so are not 

specific to the area of Nuceria and Pompeii. 

The shrine was an extra-urban sanctuary and was probably maintained by the 

community of nearby Surrentum. I therefore accept Lejeune's argument, according to 

which the meddices Minervii were public officers of Surrentum responsible solely for 

the administration of the shrine. 805 Poccetti added another possible interpretation: the 

title could also denote officers of a cult association named after a god (like the magistri 

Mercuriales on Delos, but this seems less likely). 806 The office of the meddix of Minerva 

is also important because it may suggest the view that by the first half of the second 

century BC, the meddix became a general term for any magistracy or important public 

office. The names of the officers follow the usual pattern of Italic names, praenomen, 

nomen gentilicium, and filiation, but two of them have rather unusual nomina gentilicia. 

The gens name Pitacius certainly comes from Greek, perhaps Pyttax or Pitakios 807 

Campanile proved that the nomen gentilicium 'Appulliis' is the Oscan equivalent of the 

Latin nomen gentilicium of 'Appuleius'. The gens name Gavius was very common 

among all the Samnite peoples. There is no reason to attribute them to a city other than 

Surrentum. 

805 

Lejeune (1990) 262. 

806 

poccetti (1992) 194. 

242

6.6. Nuceria 

6.6.1. Bronze coins with the legend irnOii 

Beloch argued from the lack of issues of coinage by the towns of Pompeii, Surrentum, 

Herculaneum and Stabiae that the coins struck by Nuceria Alfaterna served as the 

coinage for a confederation. Recently found coins, however, reveal two phases of coin 

issues by non-Greek communities in the Bay of Naples prior to the Social War. The first 

issue consists of bronze coins bearing the letters 1m e. The common feature of the 

second issue is that the legend nuvkrinum alafaternum appears on their obverses. Beloch 

considered only the second issue to be Oscan. He believed that the coins with the irnOii 

legends were related to the Etruscan town of Arinthe and were used in the ager 

Picentinus. 808 The aim of this and the next section is to examine whether these two 

phases of coinage can support the idea of some kind of political federation in the valley 

of Sarno between the second half of the fourth century and the Social War. 

Almost a hundred coins with the legend irnOif are known: ST nCm la-b, Ve 200 

A 11, Co Note XVIII. These coins, presumably issued by the same mint, are one of a 

pair of groups whose common feature is the head of a young man, possibly Apollo, 

crowned with laurel on the obverse. In the first group, a bull with a human head is 

depicted on the reverse. The legend frn6if appears on coins only with the bull. On the 

other type, a mussel surrounded by three dolphins appears on the reverse, with no 

legend. 

807 

Campanile (1992) 215. 

808 

Beloch (1879) 10. 

243

Most of the coins with the legend are so damaged that they are only partially 

readable. 809 The legend appears either as Im Oii or irnOr. It runs from the left to the right 

and it is in a mixture of scripts. It has been classified as early Oscan: the letter D could 

be Oscan as well as the letter N; the letter i which begins and ends the word 

is ligatured 

into the letter D at the beginning of the legend. 810 The letter 0 does not exist in the 

Oscan alphabet and is thought to be a borrowing from the Etruscan or Greek alphabet. 

Many of the irnOii and mussel coins were found in necropoleis, tombs or 

sanctuaries around the Bay of Naples, although the provenance of only a third is known. 

Specimens have been found at Ponticelli, Caivano, Pompeii, Stabiae, Nuceria, 

Pontecagnano (ager Picentinus), Montecorvino Rovella (ager Picentinus) and Sorrento, 

but the largest number turned up in Punta della Campanella, in the area of the shrine. 81 

The coins are almost always accompanied by Neapolitan coins, which were the most 

commonly used in the region. Since the dating of Neapolitan issues is fairly certain, they 

help to date the irnOii coins to the period between 340 and 320 BC. 812 

As regards identification of the legend and the location of the mint, there are two 

main views: Fiorelli, Beloch and Devoto thought that the coins were Etruscan. 813 

Fiorelli 

suggested that the legend referred to the Irno, the river that flows into the sea south of 

Salerno. He also argued that a city with the same name existed in the region, which he 

identified with the Etruscan site of Fratte di Salerno. These arguments were rejected by 

Zancani Montuoro, who proved that Irno is a medieval name. 814 Avellino instead 

809 

Russo (1990) 246-7. 

810 

It is possible that we are dealing with the earliest appearance of the letter or the date, set at 300 BC, 

must be lowered. 

all Stazio (1990) 269-70. 

812 Libero Mangieri (1994) 22. 

813 Beloch (1979) 10; for Morelli see Stazio (1990) 270; Devoto (1967) 123. 

814 Zancani Montuoro (1949) 61-8. 

244

suggested that the legend should be ex, panded to sIReNTI and identified with 

Surrentum. 815 In Stazio's view the fact that the greatest number of the coins was found in 

the sanctuary of Punta della Campanella supports this idea. In my opinion, however, it is 

quite implausible that the first letter of the name of the town was omitted. We have to 

conclude that the coins were struck by a yet unknown community in the Bay of Naples 

and nothing suggests that it was related to the region of the river Sarno. The coins may 

have been minted at Naples: the pair of Apollo and the human-headed bull is typical of 

that city and they use the Neapolitan weight standard. 

816 

Why the im 

nOii coins were minted is also disputed. Libero Mangieri argued that, 

because they were made of bronze and most of them were found in the pensinsula of 

Sorrento, dominated by the Athena sanctuary of Punta della Campanella, they were 

intended for the use of the sanctuary or in a funerary context, as obols. 817 Several 

Campanian communities produced coins for brief periods during the fourth century 

BC. 818 As in other cases, the coins were presumably minted for the payment of soldiers 

by one of the Samnite communities in Campania, perhaps in the wars between Rome 

and the Samnites. The coins show that Nuceria was not the only Samnite community in 

the Sarno area to mint coins. 

$15 

For Avellino's views see Stazio (1990) 268. 

816 

Stazio (1990) 267-8. 

817 Libero Mangieri (1994) 22. Stazio (1990) 272 agrees with this idea. 

818 See charter 5.3. 

245

6.6.2. Silver and bronze coins from Nuceria Alfaterna 

Among the coins found in the southern part of the bay of Naples, nine types form a 

special group. They bear the legend nuvkrinum alafaternum with some variations. As 

previously mentioned, Beloch interpreted these coins as federal coins, which served as 

common money for all the towns of his supposed Nucerian League. 

1. "nuvkrinum alafaternum `-arasnei-/ amsnei819 (silver) 

2. 

`nuvkirinum valafjater]num820 

(silver) 

3. nuvrikum alaften[um]821 (silver) 

4. nuvrikum alavfnum822 (silver) 

5. nuvkrinum ala(3aternum823 (bronze) 

6. nuvkrium alafaternum `regvinum ravalanum824 (bronze) 

7. nuvkrinum alafaternum825 (bronze) 

8. nüvkrinum alafaternüm826 (bronze) 

9. nüvkrinüm alafaternum827 (bronze) 

The weight of the Nucerian silver coins follows that of the Neapolitan coinage in the 

first half of the third century BC. On the obverse of all the didrachms we have the head 

of a young man with long hair and a ram's horn. The reverse of the coins depicts a naked 

young man, perhaps one of the Dioscuri, holding a horse by its harness and leaning on a- 

javelin. Most of the bronze coins bear the head of a young man on the obverse and a dog 

819 ST nCm 3c, Co 144, Bu 76. 

620 ST nCm 3g. 

821 ST nCm 3h. 

822 ST nCm 3i. 

823 ST nCm 3a, Co 144, Bu 76. 

824 ST nCm 3b 

825 ST nCm 3d 

826 ST nCm 3e. 

827 ST nCm 3f. 

246

feeding on the reverse. Some of the bronze coins bear a head of a young man with long 

hair tied with a band on the obverse, and on the reverse the Dioscuri galloping. Another 

type shows an Apollo head crowned with laurel on the obverse and a feeding dog on the 

reverse. Cantilena suggests on the basis of the similarities of type and weight with the 

Neapolitan coinage that the minting of the Nucerian coinage may have begun towards 

the mid-third century BC. 828 

The head of the young man has been the subject of numerous interpretations. He 

has traditionally been thought to be a personification of the god of the river Sarno. 829 

Some have identified him with the Nucerian hero called Epidius, son of Epidius 

Nuncionis (the Nucerian? ). Suetonius recounts that this hero fell into the river, emerged 

with horns and later was numbered among the gods. 830 However, Cantilena doubts that 

an author from the imperial period would refer to a legend depicted on coins from the 

middle of the third century BC. 831 She also rejects the idea of the young man being the 

personification of the river-god. She notes that the gods of rivers usually have straight 

horns like those of a bull, rather than twisted horns like those of a ram. In her opinion 

the young man should be interpreted as Apollo Kameios, the god of the Doric people, 

well known in the Peloponnese, and protector of armies and those who explore new 

territories. Virgil and Servius mention an ancient population, the Sarrhastes. 832 Servius 

says that they came from the Peloponnese and that they were the first inhabitants of the 

Sarno region, gave their name to the river and founded Nuceria. In my opinion 

Cantilena's doubts are unnecessary and the best view is that he is a local deity, whose 

828 

Cantilena (1994) 10. 

829 


930 Suet. De claris rhetoribus 4. 

831 Cantilena (1994) 11. 

832 

Virgil 7.738, Servius Ad Aen. 7.738. 

247

story, recorded in local traditions, survived to the early empire and was known to 

Suetonius. 

There is no doubt that the coins were minted by Naples for Nuceria Alfaterna 

because the name of the community appears in the genitive plural. The legends with the 

name of the issuing community usually appear around the head of the young man on the 

coins. The silver type no. 2 is the only case where the we find nuvkirinum on one side 

and alaf[ater]num on the other. The direction of the legend is from the right to the left. 

The letters are Oscan, with the exception of the type no. 5 where Greek ß is used. In the 

cases of the type no. 3 and 4 the letters are mixed up and the name of the city appears as 

nuvirkum. 

Interpretation of the legends on the reverse of the types no. I and 6 has caused 

some debate. The word -arasnei-/arnsnei- on the coin no. I has been expanded as 

(S)arasne(is), (S)arnsne(is) or (S)arnine(r). Cantilena excludes the third expansion. 833 

It 

is generally believed that this denotes the Sarrasthes (see above) and thus is an ethnic 

name. 834 Cantilena challenges this idea and suggests that the -ei ending is either locative 

or genitive singular and refers to the name of a river. 835 The legend of the coin would 

mean: `(coin) of the Nuceria Alfaternians, (those who live) in the region of the (S)arno' 

or `(those) of the region of the (S)arno'. But, again, the omission of the first letter is very 

unlikely. Rutter instead suggests that the legend is derived from a personal name, 

Arasne. 836 However the first case of Italic coins with a general's name, 

833 


834 

De Caro (1992) 87 argued that the Sauastes constituted the common ethnic of the confederation. 

G. Papius 

D'Agostino (1982) 42 went as far as to suggest that the coins document the survival of this ethnic tribe, 

which provided the Nucerian league with a political core. 

835 


836 

Rutter (2001) 72. 

248

Mutilus, comes from the Social War, so this is equally unlikely. Perhaps arasne was the 

name of a vereia. 

The legend on the reverse of type no. 6, regvinum ravalanum, is in the genitive 

plural, similar to nuvkrinum alafaternum, which suggests that it is an ethnic name. 

Unfortunately, we know nothing about it. Cantilena suggests a link to Egvini, the Oscan 

name of the Dioscuri, who are often associated with the cavalry. 837 

It is possible that it is 

the name of a group of cavalry, a type of vereia. 

Although the coins of Nuceria Alfaterna used the Neapolitan weight standard, they 

do not share the iconographic type of Apollo and the bull which was widespread in the 

area of Naples, northern Campania, southern Latium and parts of Samnium. 838 Their 

images instead recall the iconography of the coins of Tarentum. This may be seen as an 

attempt to create a distance between the coinage of the rest of Campania, which was 

influenced by Rome, and instead to create a link to the Greek world of Southern Italy. 

There is no instrinsic reason to suppose that these coins were minted for a community 

larger than Nuceria Alfaterna itself, probably to pay its own soldiers. 

6.6.3. The Confederation of Cirta 

Two points of Beloch's thesis relate to the gens Sittia. Firstly, because numerous 

members of this gens are attested in Latin funerary inscriptions in the coastal towns of 

the Nuceria region, Beloch argued that this gens played an important role in the political 

life of the towns under the leadership of Nuceria. Conversely, outside the borders of the 

837 


838 


249

supposed confederation the members of this family seem to have been freedmen of no 

political importance. 839 The common origins of an elite seem to be a weak argument for 

the political organization of the supposed Nucerian League. It is true that the number of 

the members of the gens Sittia was high in the coastal towns of the southern part of the 

Neapolitan bay, and Teutsch has collected more Sittii in Pompeii. 840 However, numerous 

members of this gens appear also at Rome, Ostia and Terracina, not of inferior status. 41 

Furthermore, all the inscriptions Beloch cited presumably date from the first and second 

centuries AD, that is from the period when the supposed League must 

have been 

dissolved for at least two centuries. Oscan gentilicia are often found in more than one 

political community. 842 The prominence of the Sittii in several towns of southern 

Campania does not imply that those towns formed a federation. 

The second argument in which Beloch mentions the gens Sittia is that of the so- 

called confederation of Cirta. The Nucerian P. Sittius, an entrepreneur and leader of a 

mercenary contingent he had collected in Spain and Italy, received part of the territory of 

Massinissa from Caesar for his services to him, divided among his soldiers. 843 Beloch 

argued that Sittius founded colonies and drew up a constitution for the region similar to 

the arrangements of the Nucerian league, his homeland: the capital of the League was 

the Colonia Julia Juvenalis Honoris et Virtutis Cirta. Three colonies were subordinate to 

Cirta: Colonia Veneria Rusicade, Colonia Sarnensis Mileu and Colonia Minervia 

Chullu. 844 These colonies were known as the IIII Coloniae Cirtenses. Beloch claimed 

that the colonies were named after the patron deities of the three leading cities of the 

Nucerian confederation, that is Pompeii, Nuceria and Surrentum. He also suggested that 

839 

Beloch (1877) 286-9. 

840 

Teutsch (1962) 65. 

841 

Teutsch (1962) 65. 

842 

See sections 2.5,3.4 and 5.5. 

843 

App. Bell. Civ. 4.54. 

250

the confederation of Cirta was led by its duoviri, while tresviri praefecti lure dicundo 

were sent out to the subordinate colonies. 

Heurgon's article followed Beloch. 845 He suggested that P. Sittius brought the 

federal arrangement of the region from Nuceria and `founded a 

New Campania' in 

Africa. According to Heurgon, the so-called confederation of Cirta was governed by 

tresviri 1111 coloniarum and aediles 1111 

coloniarum, and the three colonies were under 

praefecti iure dicundo. The common council of the federation was formed by the 

decuriones 1111 coloniarum. Heurgon then reversed the argument to suggest that at 

Nuceria the federal meddix tuticus and two aediles had formed a college of tresviri, 

whereas the meddices and quaestores were local magistrates. This reconstruction 

certainly cannot stand. Senatore points out that Heurgon's comparison of the tresviri of 

Cirta with those of Latin communities is not correct, because the tresviri aediles of 

Arpinum, Fundi and Formiae were civic magistrates and not part of a federal 

structure. 846 More fundamentally, Laffi has thrown serious doubt on Beloch's and 

Heurgon's reconstruction of the political structures of the Cirtan colonies and the date of 

their implementation. 847 

Certainly the names of the Cirtan colonies relate to the Sarno valley and they had a 

large number of colonists from the area of Nuceria. However, their political structure 

remains uncertain, and even if Beloch and Heurgon were partly right, we must accept 

Senatore's view that there is no evidence of imitation of previous local Oscan political 

644 

Beloch (1877) 295-6; Beloch (1879) 241. 

645 

Heurgon (1957) 7-24. 

846 

Senatore (2001) 232-8. 

847 

Appian. B. C. 4.54. Laffi (1966) 135-147. The foundation date of the colony is also supported by 

Keppie (1983) 83 

251

structures. 848 The known institutions of the Cirtan colonies have adequate Roman 

models. 


Roman and Greek sources for the region do not support the view of a confederation 

under the leadership of Nuceria Alfatema. The adjective Alfaterna was not used as an 

ethnic to denote the population of the supposed confederation. It may have originally 

been an ethnic, but in literary sources and on coins it qualified only the name of the town 

of Nuceria. Furthermore, our literary evidence relates only to the city of Nuceria and not 

to a larger political organization. Beloch's suggestion that the lack of reference to other 

towns in the region implies their subordination to Nuceria does not seem to be well 

founded. 

Nuceria's leading economic role in the region as provider of coins for the 

members of the confederation has also been rejected: the coins with the legend irnOii 

may be cited as evidence that there could have been another community in the region to 

produce coins. Nothing suggests that the coins showing the name 

Nuceria Alfaterna 

were minted for the use of more than a single city, perhaps to pay its own soldiers. 

Beloch's claim that the members of the gens Sittia were of higher rank only within 

the supposed confederation has been rejected. Furthermore, it has been also doubted, on 

chronological and institutional grounds, that the confederation of Cirta imitated political 

848 Senatore (2001) 237 rightly points out that there is a large chronological gap between the foundation of 

the colony of Cirta and the reorganization of the region under the leadership of the tresviri. The foundation 

of the colonies cannot be related to Sittius and therefore the constitution of the towns cannot be connected 

to Nuceria. 

252

institutions from the Sarno region. The arrangements of Cirta were probably based on 

Roman models and cannot be used to argue for a confederation organization in the 

region of the river Sarno. 

Of the members of the supposed Nucerian league, Pompeii provides us with the 

largest amount of epigraphic evidence for the Samnite period. We have attestations of a 

meddix tuticus, meddix and meddix pompeianus. The dipinto on the fragment of an 

amphora suggest that the office of meddix was used for dating, which suggests that it 

was annual, eponymous and probably identical with the office of meddix tuticus. It has 

been argued that the ethnic does not make a difference to the title, which makes it 

probable that the office of meddix Pompeiianus was identical to that of meddix luticus. 

Thus it follows that the office of meddix tuticus was a local one at Pompeii and not a 

federal. We also have evidence for lower rank officers at Pompeii: pairs of aediles and 

guaestores are attested. They both appear to have been local magistrates. From what we 

can know about the functions of the aediles, it seems that they had similar 

responsibilities to the aediles of Rome, whence the name of the office derives. The 

quaestors saw to the collection of public money, often from fines, and its spending on 

building programmes according to the advice of the councils. This makes their function 

similar to those of the meddices degetasii of Nola and the aediles at Rome. We also have 

evidence for the existence of two councils at Pompeii, the kümbenniefs (gen. sing. ) and 

[kü]mparakineis (gen. sing. ). On the analogy of other Campanian and southern Italian 

Greek cities it is probable that one of them was the senate and the other the general 

assembly, but that is all we can infer from the names. Both councils were involved in 

dealing with public money which in Rome was normally the function of the senate. A 

study of the gees names of the meddices tutici and other magistrates suggests that in the 

Samnite period the magistracies were not restricted to a small number of families, and 

253

they were probably filled by election. We also have evidence for a vereia at 

Pompeii. It 

seems that by the middle of the second century BC this organization had become a civic 

educational institution. 

Herculaneum has also yielded evidence for a meddix tuticus, who, similarly to 

Pompeii, was a local civic officer. The study of meddices tutici, aediles and quaestors in 

the region show that they were all local and not federal magistrates. 

The meddices Minervii, however, were probably public officers from Surrentum, 

responsible solely for the maintenance of the extra-urban sanctuary. This office also 

suggests that the term meddix became a general term for any magistracy or public office. 

I conclude therefore that there is no good literary, epigraphic or numismatic' 

evidence to suggest that the towns of Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabiae and Surrentum 

were subordinate to Nuceria Alfaterna. They were independent civic communities 

between the fourth and the first centuries BC. The only possible piece of evidence for 

closer relations between them is their allocation to the same voting tribe, the Menenia, 

after the Social War, but that could have been for purely geographical reasons. 

254

7.1. Problems and aims of the thesis 

Chapter 7. Conclusions 

The thesis studied the Samnite political institutions in two geographical regions, the 

central Apennines and Campania, between the fifth and first centuries BC on the basis of 

literary, archaeological, epigraphic and numismatic evidence. The thesis focused on the 

supposed existence of a long-lived Samnite league with the participation of 

four Samnite 

tribes in the central Apennines and the existence of confederations under the leadership 

of Capua, Nola and Nuceria in Campania. 

7.2. Institutions 

The study of the touta, a supposed political unit, is fundamental for the understanding of 

the Samnite political institutions. The touta in the fifth century BC was probably the 

equivalent of the nomen, a self-conscious ethnic group with a common name, language 

and sentiment, similarly to the nomen Latinum, nomen Etruscum and nomen Hernicum, 

as the inscriptions from Penna Sant'Andrea imply. Later references to the Marrucini, 

Umbri and the city of Messina in Sicily suggest that the word touta was used to denote 

an urban entity with its citadel (arx). The study of the touta in Samnium and Campania 

is, however, hindered by the lack of direct references, since we have evidence for the 

touta in these two regions only through the qualifying adjective of the meddix tuticus 

255

title. My investigation has led to the view, like that of La Regina, that the Pentri of the 

central Apennines formed one touta in the period from which our epigraphic evidence 

dates, the third and second centuries BC. A touta in Campania probably denoted an 

urban community with its civic territory. It is not plausible that the subdivisions of a 

touta were the pagi and I have suggested instead that the local units of a touta may have 

been urban or pre-urban settlements, some possibly within hill-forts (Monte Vairano, 

Curino). 

The office of the meddix tuticus was single, eponymous and annual in all regions. 

Among the highland Samnites, a meddix tuticus was the leader of the federal state of the 

Pentri. In Campania, a meddix tuticus was the leader of a city-state, as the title of meddix 

tuticus Campanus suggests, the political leader of the city of Capua. We also have 

attestations of the title in Pompeii and Herculaneum. If the names appearing on tile 

stamps at Pompeii are those of the names of the meddices tutici of that town, it may be 

argued that the office was open to a wide selection of citizens and was probably elective. 

The plain title meddix probably stood for the office of meddix tuticus, in those 

places where the meddix luticus acted as a civic magistrate. This is argued in the cases of 

meddix campanus and meddix pompeianus. In contrast, among the Pentri it may have 

been a local magistrate as the meddix of Fagifulae suggests. The title is sometimes 

qualified by adjectives which may express particular functions. Among the functions of 

the meddix degetasius of Nola was the demarcation of public land and the collection of 

public money from fines. The meddix Minervius was probably the superintendent of the 

sanctuary of Minerva at Punta della Campanella. The functions of meddix v and meddix 

x are unknown. 

256

The names of lower rank titles in both regions - censors, aediles and quaestors - 

suggest that they were of Roman origin. The title of censor is attested in an 

inscription in 

the territory of the Pentri and in a second inscription found at Capua in which the 

cognomen Censorinus is used (Trebius Virrius Censorinus). The functions of these 

magistrates are not known, but it is possible that they were associated with the 

assessment of the fiscal and military obligations, like the Roman censors. The title of 

aedilis is attested in inscriptions found in the territory of the Pentri and at Pompeii. At 

Pompeii, the inscriptions indicate that they had responsibilities for delimiting and paving 

roads, functions similar to those of the aedilis at Rome. Among the Pentri their functions 

are not known. The quaestors appear only in Campania, at Abella and Pompeii. At 

Abella, like the meddices degetasii of nearby Nola, they are attested as delimiting public 

land. At Pompeii, the quaestors were responsible for the collection of fines, a function 

which was associated with the aediles at Rome. We obviously do not have a complete 

picture of these titles among the highland Samnites and in Campania, but what emerges 

is that the magistrates of different titles at different places had functions that were 

remarkably similar. Thus the denomination of an office was probably result of local 

preference and the functions of offices were not fixed but directed by local needs. This 

makes it impossible to create common models explaining the functions of magistracies; 

these must be studied locally. 

In the Greco-Roman world, the general pattern of government was based on the 

tripartite system of assemblies, a council and magistrates. At different states we can 

observe the variations of these common features. At Rome, we find assemblies and a 

senate, whose membership after Sulla was restricted to those who held administrative 

posts. It was reserved for the wealthy, and it was for life. The power of magistrates was 

257

emarkably wider than in the Greek world. The constitutions of the Greek cities on the 

Italian mainland, which grew out of diverse historical backgrounds, varied according to 

the constitution of their founding mother cities, but also altered with time and according 

to local needs. In some of the Greek city-states, the members of the council, which was 

called either (3ovAr or ovv£hQtov, were elected from a restricted number of candidates 

and the membership was not for life, as at Rome. A number of Southern Italian 

communities are known to have re-named their local councils as senates with the 

progression of Romanization, but they mostly retained their constitutions and 

magistrates until the Social War, and in some Greek cities, even after the war. In the 

central Apennines, we have evidence for possibly two councils, as attestations of legü 

and senatus, both from Schiavi d'Abruzzo, suggest. Similarly, evidence for two bodies 

emerged at Pompeii which could issue orders, the kümbennieis (gen. sing. ) and 

[küJmparakineis (gen. sing) were attested in inscriptions. One of the two councils may 

have been a popular assembly, the other a council. At Capua, Livy mentions, perhaps on 

the Roman model, that a local senate and a popular assembly existed in the city. The 

Cippus Abellanus tells us that Nola and Abella had one senate each and literary sources 

suggest that Nola may have had a popular assembly too. The constitutions of Samnite 

states therefore fit well in the general tripartite political system of the Greco-Roman 

world. 

The other piece of evidence for communal organization among the Samnites is 

the attestations of vereia at Capua, Cumae and Pompeii. The vereia may have originally 

been a private war band but by the third and second centuries BC it became a civic 

institution for state military training. 

258

Studies of Samnite genies in Samnium and Campania show the movement of 

elite groups between the two regions. The investigation has also revealed that a number 

of genres were attested in leading roles at different locations, such as the Staii, Statii, 

Calavii, Magii and Satrii. 

7.3. Political institutions of Samnium and Campania 

In the second chapter, I argued that the literary accounts, coins and the triumphal fasti 

suggest that the Samnite tribes and urban communities formed loose temporary alliances 

to wage wars and promote common religious cults. Defeat in the Samnite wars resulted 

in the breaking up of military alliances and the birth of individual Samnite states. The 

chapter focuses on the political institutions of the Pentri tribe, the best researched 

territory which has yielded the largest amount of epigraphic and archaeological 

evidence. Until further evidence emerges, the model of La Regina has been accepted as 

the most plausible. This model suggests that the Pentri formed a federal state between 

the fourth and first centuries BC. I have, however, pointed out that the model allows 

little possibility for constitutional developments as result of the foundation of the colony 

at Aesemia. The changes in the settlement system, the growth of rural settlements and 

slow urbanization in the second century BC may also have contributed to the 

modification of the political system in the period between the fourth and the first 

centuries BC. New epigraphic data may shed more light on the relations between the 

hill-forts, settlement system and the political institutions to allow us to compare similar 

relations in the territories of the Lucani and Marsi. 

259

In chapters three to six, I have suggested that there are indications that in 

Campania there were no long-term political federations. The terms Campanus and 

Alfaternus were not used to denote members of confederations, but inhabitants of civic 

communities. The magistracies meddix tuticus, aedilis and guaestor were local, civic 

officials rather than federal magistrates. Coinages showing the legends Capua, Nola and 

Nuceria Alfaterna were issued for the use of civic communities and not to serve as 

federal currency. I have concluded therefore that there is no good evidence for the 

existence of the supposed Campanian hegemony, apart from perhaps Atella, Calatia and 

Sabatinum. Cumae was independent from Capua. Nola and Abella were independent 

civic communities between the fourth and -first centuries BC. Similarly, Pompeii, 

Herculaneum, Stabiae and Surrentum seem to have been separate civic communities. It 

is, however, plausible that communities in Campania formed religious and perhaps 

short-term military alliances, as the cults celebrated by Cumae and Capua at Hamae 

suggest. 

260

Bibliography 

Afzelius, A., 'Samnium', Die Römische Eroberung Italiens (Copenhagen, 1942) 86- 

91. 

Aigner Foresti, A., `La lega etrusca', Federazioni efederalismo nell'Europa antica. 

Alle radici della casa comune europea (Milan, 1994) 327-350. 

Alessio, G., `Capua e 1'etnico Campani', La Campaniafra il VI e il III secolo a. C. 

(Florence, 1992) 149-54. 

Alföldy, A., Early Rome and the Latins (Ann Harbor, 1965). 

Altheim, F., Terra Mater (Giessen, 1931). 

Ambrosetti, G., `Testimonianze preaugustee da Sepino Altilia', Archeologia Classica 

10 (1958) 14-21. 

D'Ambrosio, De Caro S., Ùn contributo all'urbanistica e all'architettura di Pompei 

in eta ellenistica. I saggi nella casa VII, IV, 62', Instituto universitario 

orientale di Napoli, annali del Seminario di studi del mondo, Section of 

Archaeology and Ancient History 11 (1989) 173-215. 

Ampolo, C., `Boschi sacri e culti federali: l'esempio del Lazio', AA. VV Les Bois 

sacres (Naples, 1993) 159-167. 

Ampolo, C., `Demarato. Osservazioni sulla mobilitä sociale arcaica', Dialoghi di 

Archeologia 9-10 (1976-7) 333-45. 

Ampolo, C., `Ricerche sulla lega Latina. II. La dedica di Egregius Baebius (Cato fr. 

58 Peter)', Parola del Passato 38 (1983) 321-6. 

Antonini, R., Àvella', Studi Etruschi 58 (1992) 332-4,355-59. 

261

Antonini, R., `Campani', Studi Etruschi 49 (1981) 306-10. 

Antonini, R. - Miniero, P., 'Campania. Stabia', Studi Etruschi 53 (1985) 256-58. 

Antonini, R., `Campania', Studi Etruschi 53 (1985) 262-80. 

Antonini, R., `Campania', Studi Etruschi 55 (1987) 359-61. 

Antonini, R., `Campania', Studi Etruschi 58 (1992) 336-9,359-68. 

Antonini, R., ' Eituns a Pompei. Un frammento di DNA italico', in F. Senatore (ed. ) 

Pompei, Capri e la penisola Sorrentina (Capri, 2004) 273-323. 

Antonini, R., Ìnventario del materiale esposto nell'Antiquarium di Pompeii' 

Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabiae (1983) 202-7. 

Antonini, R., Ìscrizione del foro (? ) di Abella', La tavola di Agnone nel contesto 

italico (Florence, 1996) 157-168. 

Antonini, R, Ìscrizioni osche pompeiane', Studi Etruschi 45 (1977) 317-40. 

Antonini, R., `Notizie di iscrizioni osche inedite', Studi Etruschi 45 (1977) 340-44. 

Antonini, R., `Pompei', Studi Etruschi 46 (1978) 458-9. 

Antonini, R., `Teanum Sidicinum', Studi Etruschi 46 (1978) 459-63. 

Arena, R., `Pompei', Popoli e Civiltä dell'Italia Antica (Rome, 1978) 867-9. 

Arthur, P., Romans in Northern Campania (London, 1991). 

Barker, G., 'The archaeology of a Samnite settlement in Molise', Antiquity 51(1977) 

20-4. 

Barker, G., Landscape and Society: Prehistoric Central Italy (London, New York, 

1981). 

Bartholomae, Ch., 'Zum Cippus Abellanus', Indogermanische Forschungen 6 (1896). 

Bearzot, C., 'Un'ideologia del federalismo nel pensiero politico greco', Foresti L. A., 

(ed. ) Federazioni efederalismo nell'Europa antica (Milan, 1994) 161-80. 

262

Beloch, K. J., Campanien: Topographie, Geschichte und Leben der Umgebung 

Neapels im Alterthum (Berlin, 1879). 

Beloch, K. J., Der italische Bund unter Roms Hegemonie, Leipzig (1880). 

Beloch, K. J., `Sulla confederazione nocerina', Archivio storico per leprovine 

napoletane 11 (1877) 285-98. 

Beloch, K. J., Römische Geschichte bis zum Beginn der punischen Krieg (Berlin and 

Leipzig, 1926). 

Benassai, R., `S. Prisco. `La necropoli capuana di IV e III a. C', Carla archeologica 

e ricerche in Campania (Rome, 2004) 73-229. 

Benassai, R., `La pittura dei campani e dei sanniti'. Serie Atlante Tematico di 

Topografia Antica, Supplemento IX (Rome, 2001). 

Bernardi, A., 'I cives sine suffragio"', Athenaeum 16 (1938) 239-277. 

Bernardi, A., Nomen Latinum (Pavia, 1973). 

Bevilacqua, G., `Bolli anforari rodii dal centro sannitico di Monte Vairano', Tituli 2, 

Miscellanea (1980) 21-34. 

Bodei Giglioni, G., 'Pecunia Fanatica', Rivista storica italiana 89 (1977) 33-76. 

Bon, S. E. - Jones, R., Sequence and Space in Pompeii (Exeter, 1997). 

Bonfante, G., Ìl nome di Capua', La Campania fra il VI and i1 III secolo a. C. 

(Florence, 1992) 91-3. 

Bonfante, P., Storia del diritto romano, vols. 1-2. (Milan, 1958). 

Bonghi Jovino, M., `Capua: il santuario del fondo Patturelli', Colonna G. (ed. ), 

Santuari d'Etruria (Firenze, Milan, 1985) 121-6. 

Bonghi Jovino, `Commento ad una tomba dipinta di Nola', Klearchos 7 (1965) 7-19. 

Bonghi Jovino, M., La necropoli di Nola preromana (Napoli, 1969). 

263

Bonghi Jovino, M., La necopolipreromana di Vico Equense (Cava dei Tirreni, 

1982). 

Bottiglioni, G., Manuale dei dialetti italici (Bologna, 1954). 

Bradley, G., 'Iguvines, Umbrians and Romans: Ethnic Identity in Central Italy', 

Cornell, T., Lomas, K., (ed. ) Gender and Ethnicity in Ancient Italy (London, 

1997). 

Bradley, G., 'The Iuvanum survey project', P. Attema et al (ed. ) Papers in Italian 

Archaeology 6 (2005) 1024-9. 

Briquel, D., Les Pelasges en Italie (Rome, 1984). 

Briquel, D., `L'image des Calavii de Capoue', D. Briquel-J. -P. Thuilliers (ed), Les 

censeur et les Samnites : Sur The Live, livre IX (Paris, 2001) 117-135. 

Briquel, D., `La tradizione storiografica sulla dodecapoli etrusca', La lega etrusca 

dalla dodecapoli ai quindecim populi (Pisa-Rome, 2001) 9-18. 

Brun J-P., and al., Àlla ricerca del porto di Cuma. Relazione preliminare sugli scavi 

del Centre Jean Berard', Annali di archeologia e storia antica (New series) 7 

(2000) 131-157. 

Brunt, P. A., Italian Manpower (Oxford, 1971). 

Buck, C. D., A Grammar of Oscan and Umbrian (Hildesheim, New York, 1974). 

Buck, C. D., `Greek a[mfodon, Oscan amvianud, and the Oscan eituns-inscriptions', 

Classical Philology 17 (1922) 111-8. 

Buck, R. J., `The Via Herculia', Papers of the British School at Rome 39 (1971) 66- 

87. 

Burnett, A., `The coinage of the Social War', Coins of Macedonia and Rome. Essays 

in honour of C. Hersh (London, 1998) 165-72. 

264

Caiazza, D., `Nascita sviluppo e decadimento dei centri fortificati', R. Papi (ed. ) 

Insediamenti fortificati in area centro-italica 

(Pescara, 1995) 27-34. 

Caiazza, D., ÌI territorio alifano in eta sannitica', 11 

territorio alifano: archeologia, 

arte e scoria (S. Angelo d'Alife, 1990) 25-74. 

Camodeca, G., Ì pagi di Nola', E. Lo Cascio e A. Storchi Marino, Modalitä 

insediative e structure agrarie nell'Italia meridionale in eta romana (Bari, 

2001) 413-435. 

Camodeca, G., Ì Q. Postumii, Magistrati Pompeiani, in un'iscrizione incompresa: 

CIL X 8138 (Stabiae)', Annali di Archaeologia e Storia Antica, New series 7 

(2000), 187-97. 

Campanile, E., Àppunti sulla diffusione òrizzontale' delle grandi famiglie 

sannitiche in eta anteriore alla guerra sociale', Athaeneum 72 (1994) 557-67. 

Campanile, E., Bilinguismo e biculturalismo nel mondo antico 

(Rome, 1988). 

Campanile, E., 'L'iscrizione Vetter 196 e una ipotesi sulla genesi del medicato 

duplice a Messina', Athaeneum 83 (1995) 463-7. 

Campanile, E., `Le iscrizioni osche di Pompeii attribuite al periodo 

della Guerra 

sociale', L. Breglia Pulci Doria (ed. ) L'incidenaa dell'antico 2. (Naples, 

1996) 361-377. 

Campanile, E., Lingua e cultura 

degli Oschi (Pisa, 1985). 

Campanile, E., `Note di linguistica osca', Instituto universitario orientale di Napoli, 

annali del Seminario di studi del mondo classico, Linguistic section 14 

(1992) 207-21. 

Campanile, E., `Note sulle compagnie di ventura osche', Athaeneum 81 (1993) 601- 

11. 

265

Campanile, E., `Note sulla defixio di Marcellina (Lucania)', Studi Etruschi 58 (1992) 

371-7. 

Campanile, E., `Per la semantica di osco meddis', Del Tutto Palma, L., La Tavola di 

Agnone nel contesto italico (Florence, 1996) 169-75. 

Campanile, E., `Per I'interpretazione di Osco prüffed', Studi Etruschi 61(1995), 

358-362. 

Campanile, E., 'Questioni metodologiche nell'analisi dei testi oschi', Lingua e cultura 

degli Oschi (Pisa, 1985). 

Campanile, E., Rapporti linguistici e culturali tra ipopoli deli 'Italia antica (Pisa, 

1981). 

Campanile, E. - Letta, C., Studi sulle magistrature indigene e municipali in area 

italica (Pisa, 179). 

Camporeale, G., Gli Eiruschi (Torino, 2000). 

Camporeale, G., `La terminologia magistraturale nelle lingue osco-umbre', AM 

Colombaria 21 (1957) 31-108. 

Cantinlena, R., Ì Sarrasti e le monete di Nuceria Alfaterna', Breglia Pulci Doria, L., 

(ed. ), L'incidenza dell'Antico. Studi in memoria di Eitore Lepore 2 (Naples, 

1996) 319-24. 

Cantilena, R., `L'economia monetale nel Sannio Pentro tra IV eI secolo a. C. ', De 

Benedittis, G., (ed. ) Romanus an Italicus (Campobasso, 1996) 59-73. 

Cantilena, R., `La moneta tra Campani e Sanniti nel IV e III secolo a. C. ', Studi 

sull'Italia dei Sanniti (Milan, 2000) 82-89. 

Cantilena, R., 'La monetazione', Napoli antica (Naples, 1985). 

Cantilena, R., `La monetazione di Nuceria Alfaterna', Nuceria Alfaterna e il suo 

266

territorio II (Nocera Inferiore, 1994) 9-21. 

Cantilena, R., Monete della Campania antica (Naples, 1998). 

Capaldi, C., 'Oscan Pompeii', Borriello, M., Giove, T., (ed) The Epigraphic 

Collection of the National Archaeologic Museum of Naples (Naples, 2001) 

25-7. 

Capini, S., Àrcheologia del territorio e insediamenti abitativi nei Pentri: alcune 

osservazioni', Studi sull'Italia dei Sanniti (Milan, 2000) 255-63. 

Capini, S., 'Castelromano', Conoscenze 1 (1984a) 194-5. 

Capini, S., 'Ii santuario di Ercole a Campochiaro', Samnium (Rome, 1991) 115-9. 

Capini, S., 'Campochiaro', Culture adriatiche antiche di Abruzzo e di Molise (Rome, 

1978) 440. 

Capini, S., 'Campochiaro', Studi Etruschi 53 (1985) 245-55. 

Capini, S., 'II santuario di Pietrabbondante', Samnium (Rome, 1991a) 113-4. 

Capini, S., 'Castelromano', Studi Etruschi 52 (1984) 449-50. 

Capini, S., Pietrabbondante, Enciclopedia dell'Arte Antica Supplement 2. (1996) 

371-5. 

Capogrossi Colognesi, L., Persistenza e innovazione nelle structure territoriali 

deli'Italia romana (Naples, 2002). 

Carpineto, A., `De aquarum ductibus vel fontibus inscriptiones italico senmone quae 

extant', Rheinisches Museum für Philologie 113 (1970) 262-4. 

Caputo P., Morichi R., Paone R., Rispoli P., Cuma e il suo parco archeologico (Rome, 

1996). 

Castren, P., Ordo populusque Pompeianus: polity and society in Roman Pompeii 

(Rome, 1975). 

267

Cebeillac-Gervasoni M., 'Italia: Regio 1', Colloquio internazionale AIEGL su epigrafia e 

ordine senalorio 

II(Rome, 1982) 59-99. 

Cebeillac-Gervasoni M., (ed), Les elites municipales de Italie peninsulaire des 

Gracques ä Neron (Naples, 1996). 

Cerchiai, L., I Campani (Milan, 1995). 

Cerchiai, L., ÌI processo di strutturazione del politico: I Campani', Instituto 

universitario orientale di Napoli, annali del Seminario di studi del mondo 

classico, Historical section 9 (1987) 41-54. 

Chiavia, C., Programmala: manifesti elettorali nella colonia romana di Pompei 

(Turin, 2002). 

Chouquer, G., et al, Structures agraries en Italie centro-meridionale (Rome, 1987). 

Cianfarani, V., Franchi Dell'Orto, L., La Regina, A., Culture adriatiche antiche di 

Abruzzo e di Molise (Rome, 1978). 

Cianfarani, V., `Touts Marouca', Studi in onore di Aristide Calderini e Roberto 

Paribeni (Milan, 1956) 311-327. 

Cinquantaquattro, T., Àbella, un insediamento della mesogaia campana; note di 

topografia', Annali di Archeologia e Storia Antica (New series) 7 (2000) 61- 

87. 

Coarelli, F. - La Regina, A., Abruzzo-Molise. (Rome-Bari, 1990). 

Coarelli, F., 'Colonizzazione romana e viabilitä', Dialogbi di Archeologia 3.6.2 (1988) 

35-48. 

Coarelli, F., 'I culti sannitici nel Lazio meridionale', Comunitä indigene eproblemi 

della Romanizzazione ne117talia centro-meridionale (IV-III sec. av. C. ), 

(Brussels, Rome, 1991) 177-95. 

268

Coarelli, F., Ìl sepolcro degli Scipioni', Dialogbi diArcheologia 6 (1972) 36-105. 

Coarelli, F., Ìl santuario del Fondo Patturelli', Incidenza dell'antico (Naples, 1995) 

371-387. 

Coarelli, F., `Pompei: il foro, le elezioni, le circoscrizioni elettorali', Annali di 

Archeologia e Storia Antica (New series) 7 (2000) 87-115. 

Coarelli, F., 'Templi e santuari dell'Italia antica', Templi dell'Italia antica (Milan, 

1980) 7-150. 

Colonna, G., 'Le iscrizioni di Nocera e il popolamento pre- e protosannitico della 

valle del Salerno', Nuceria Alfaterna e il suo territorio, 1, (1994) 85-96. 

Colonna, G., `Nuceria Alfaterna', Studi Etruschi 42 (1974) 379-85. 

Colonna, G., `Pallanum, una cittä dei Frentani', Archeologia Classica 7 (1955) 164- 

78. 

Colonna, G., 'Saepinum', Archeologia Classica 14 (1962) 80-107. 

Colonna, G., `Testa di candelabro da Monte Pallano', Archeologia Classica 8 (1956) 

212-4. 

Colonna G. (ed. ), Santuari d'Etruria (Firenze, Milan, 1985). 

Conway, R. S., The Italic Dialects (Cambridge, 1897). 

Conta Haller, G., Ricerche su alcuni centri fortificati in opera poligonale in area 

campano sannitica (Napoli, 1978). 

Cooley, A. E., `The survival of Oscan in Roman Pompeii', Cooley A., (ed. ) 

Becoming Roman, Writing Latin? (Rhode Island, 2002) 77-86. 

Cornell, T. J., The Beginnings of Rome (Routledge, London, 1995). 

Cornell, T. J. `Notes on the sources for Campanian history in the fifth century BC', 

Museum Helveticum 31 (1974) 193-208. 

269

Crawford, M. H., Coinage and money under the Roman Republic: Italy and the 

Mediterranean economy (London, 1985). 

Crawford, M. H, `The coinage of the age of Sulla', Numismatic Chronicle (1964) 

141-58. 

Crawford, M. H, `Provenances, 

attributions, and chronology of some early Italian 

coinages', Coin Hoards 9 (2002) 269-74. 

Crawford, M. H., Roman Statutes, vols. I-Il (London, 1996). 

Crawford, M. H., `Coinages of Campania', Review of N. K. Rutter, Campanian 

coinages 475-380 BC, Classical Review 33 (1983) 107-8. 

Crawford, M. H., Roman Republican Coinage (London, 1974). 

Cristofani, M., `Societä e istituzioni nell'Italia preromana', Popoli e Civiltä 

dell'Italia Antica 7 (Rome, 1978) 51-112. 

Cristofani, M., `Luoghi di culto dell'ager Campanus', I culti 

antica (Rome, 1998) 169-73. 

Curti, E., Dench, E., Patterson, J., `The Archaeology of Central and 

della Campania 

Southern Roman 

Italy: Recent Trends and Approaches', Journal of Roman Studies, 86 (1996), 

170-189. 

D'Agostino, B., 'L'etruscitä campana. Problemi di metodo' Instituto universitario 

orientale di Napoli, annali del Seminario di studi del mondo classico, 

Linguistic section 4 (1982) 37-45. 

D'Agostino, B., `Nocera Superiore (Nuceria Alfaterna)', Enciclopedia deli 'Arte 

Antica, Suppl. 1970 (1973) 547-8. 

D'Agostino, B., `Greci, Campani e Sanniti: cittä e campagna nella regione 

Campana', La Campaniafra il VI e il III secolo a. 

C. (Florence, 1992). 

270

D'Agostino, B., Fatta, F., Malpede, V., Cuma : le fortificazioni. 1, Lo scavo 1994-2002 

(Naples, 2005). 

Daverio Rocchi, G., Cittä-stato e stati federali della Grecia classics (Milan, 1993). 

D'Agostino, B., D'Andrea A. (ed), Cuma. Nuove forme di intervento per lo studio 

del silo antico 

(Naples, 2002). 

D'Agostino, B., Ìl mondo periferico dells Magna Grecia, La Campania', Popoli e 

civiltä dell'Italia antica (Rome, 1978) 179-215. 

Daverio Rocchi, G., Cittä-stato e stati federali della Greci classica (Milan, 1993). 

D'Avino, R., 'Sulla morfologia di osco prupukid', Ricerche linguistiche 6 (1974) 247- 

56. 

De Benedittis, G., `Larinum e la Daunia settentrional e', Athenaeum 65 (1987) 516- 

521. 

De Benedittis, G., `L'oppidum di Monte Vairano ovvero Aquilonia', Sannio, Pentri e 

Frentani dal VI all sec. a. C. (Rome, 1980) 321-57. 

De Benedittis, G., 'Anfore greche nel 

Sannio', Samnium (Rome, 1991b) 140. 

De Benedittis, G., Bovianum, Aesernia, Monte Vairano: considerazioni 

sull'evoluzione dell'insediamento nel Sannio Pentro', Jones II., (ed. ) 

Samnium: Settlement and cultural change (Rhode Island, 2004) 23-33. 

De Benedittis, G., 'L'abitato di Monte Vairano', Samnium (Rome, 1991a) 127-30. 

De Benedittis, G., (ed. ), Monte Vairano. La casa di EN' (Campobasso, 1987). 

De Benedittis, G., 'Monte Vairano', La Romanisation du Samnium aux He et Her 

siecles av. J. -C. 

(Naples 1991) 47-55. 

De Benedittis, G., 'Monte Vairano: Tratturi Economia e Viabilitä', Giornate 

internazionali di studio sulla transumanza (Torino, 1990) 107-28. 

271

De Benedittis, G., 'Sannio (CB): piana di Boiano', Studi Etruschi 46 (1978) 409-20. 

De Caro, S., Appunti sull'Atena della Punta della Campanella, Instituto universitario 


Section of Archeology and Ancient History 7 14 (1992a) 173-8. 

De Caro, S., Campania, Studi Etruschi 63 (1999) 456-61. 

De Caro, S., `La cittä sannitica. Urbanistica e architettura', in F. Zevi (ed. ) Pompei 

(Naples, 1991) 23-46. 

De Caro, S., Boriello, M., (cd. ), La Magna Grecia nelle collezioni del Museo 

Archeologico di Napoli (Electa Napoli, 1996). 

De Caro, S., To sviluppo urbanistico di Pompei', Atli e Memorie della Societä 

Magna Grecia, terza serie I, 1992 (Rome, 1992) 67-90. 

De Caro, S., `Nuove indagini sulle fortificazioni di Pompei', Instituto universitario 


Section of Archeology and Ancient History 7 (1985) 75-114,173-215 

De Caro, S., Saggi nell'area del tempio di Apollo (Naples, 1986). 

De Franciscis, A., Templum Dianae Tfatinae (Caserta, 1965). 

Degrassi, A., `Duoviri aedilicia potestate, duoviri aedilies, aediles duoviri', in Scritti 

vari di antichitä 

(Rome, 1962) 179-85. 

Degrassi, A., Fasti Capitolini (Turin, 1954). 

Degrassi, A., (ed) `Fasti Consulares et Triumphales', Inscriptiones Italicae Vol 

XIIUI (Rome, 1947). 

Degrassi, A., `Quattuorviri in colonie romane e in muncipi retti 

vari di antichitä I (Rome, 1962) 99-179. 

da duoviri', Scritti 

Degrassi, A., `La questura di Pompeii', in Scritti vari di antichitä (Rome, 1967) 99- 

272

177. 

Della Corte, M., `Pompeii', Notizie degli Scavi (1916) 155-8. 

Dench, E., From Barbarians to New Men (Oxford, 1995). 

Dench, E., `Sacred Springs to the Social War: myth of origins and questions of 

identity in the Central Appennines', Gender and Ethnicity in Ancient Italy 

(London, 1997) 43-51. 

De Simone, C., `Sudpiceno Safino-/Lat. Sabino-: il nome dei Sabini', Instituto 

universitario orientale di Napoli, annali del Seminario di studi del mondo 

classico, Section ofArcheology and Ancient History 14 (1992) 223-39. 

Devoto, G., Gli antichi Italici (Florence, 1967, third edition of 1931). 

De Waele, J. A. K. E., Ì1 foro triangolare: monumenti e funzione', De Waele, J. A. 

K. E., (ed), Il tempio dorico del Foro triangolare di Pompeii (Rome, 2001) 

315-32. 

Dewitt, N. W. `The eituns inscriptions at Pompeii', Classical Philology 1 (1906) 414 

-5. 

D' Henry, G. 'La Romanizzazione di Sannio', La Romanisation du Samnium aux lie 

et Her siecles av. J. -C. 

(Naples 1991) 9-19. 

D'Henry, G., Ùna tomba a Nocera della seconda meta del quinto secolo: problemi di 

inquadramento', Instituto universitario orientale di Napoli, annali del Seminario di 

studi del mondo classico, Section of Archeology and Ancient History 3, 

(1981) 81-87. 

Di Iorio, A., L apporto della civiltä magnogreca in area sannitica (Rome, 1997). 

Di Iorio, A., (ed. ), Per la conoscenza dell'antico Sannio (Rome, 1993). 

Di Iorio, A., Sulla datazione del teatro di Bovianum Vetus (Rome, 1993). 

273

Di Niro, A., `Cercemaggiore-Gildone: 

La casa, le tombe e il sacello', Samnium 

(Rome, 1991) 121-6. 

Di Niro, A., I culto di Ercole tra i Sanniti Pentri e Frentani (Pietro Laveglia, 1977). 

Di Niro, A., Ìnsediamenti di epoca sannitica nel territorio circostante la valle del 

torrente Tappino', Papers of the British School at Rome 61 (1993) 7-49. 

Elia, 0., Òsservazioni sull'urbanistica di Pompei', Studi sulla cittä antica (Bologna, 

1970) 181-90. 

Esposito, E., Vager Nucerinus: note storiche e topogtafiche, ' Rendiconti 

Accademici ed Archeologici di Napoli (1984) 221-41. 

Esposito, E., `La valle del Sarno: use del territorio e viabilitä', Nuceria Alfaterna e il 

suo territorio I (Nuceria Inferiore, 1994) 111-120. 

Fabricotti, M., I Sanniti di Abruzzo e Molise, (Chieti, 1984). 

Faustoferri, A., Lloyd, J., `Monte Pallano: a Samnite Fortified Centre and its 

Hinterland', Journal of Roman Archaeology 11 (1998) 5-22. 

Fracchia, H., `Western Lucania, Southern Samnium and Northern Apulia: settlement 

and cultural changes, fifth-thirds centuries', H. Jones (ed. ) Samnium: 

Settlement and Cultural Change (Rhode Island, 2004) 69-83. 

Franchi De Bellis, A., `Capua', Studi Etruschi 42 (1974) 374-7. 

Franchi De Bellis, A., `Capua Sannita', Popoli e civiltä dell' Italia antica 6 (Rome, 

1978), 845-852. 

Franchi De Bellis, A., Ìl cippo abellano: il santuario di Ercole', Italicf in Magna 

Grecia. Lingua, insedia, nenti e strutture (Venosa, 1990) 93-7. 

Franchi De Bellis, A., 11 cippo abellano (Urbino, 1988). 

Franchi De Bellis, A., 'Intorno al cippo abellano', Impegno e Dialogo 7 (1991) 189- 

274

217. 

Franchi De Bellis, A., Le iovile capuane 

(Florence, 1981). 

Franciosi, G., `La Iimitatio nell'ager campanus'. La romanizzazione della Campania 

antica 

1(Naples, 2002) 1-19. 

Fratta, F., Malpede, V., Del Vertue, L., Ùltimi dati sulle mura settentrionali di 

Cuma', Annali di Archeologia e Storia Antica, New series 7 (2000) 117-31. 

Frederiksen, M. W. Campania (Rome, 1984). 

Frederiksen, M. W. `Campanian cavalry: a Question of Origins', Dialoghi di 

Archeologia 2 (1968) 3-32. 

Frederiksen, M. W. `Republican Capua: a social and economic study', Papers of the 

British School at Rome 27 (1959) 80-125. 

Frederiksen, M. W. 'Changes in the Patterns of Settlement', Hellenismus in 

Mittelitalien (Göttingen, 1976) 341-55. 

Frederiksen, M. W., `Le "gentes" romane e la conquista dell'Italia', Storia della 

Societä lialiana, vol. 1 Dalla Preistoria alla espansione di Roma (Milan, 

1981) 333-76. 

Frederiksen, M. W., Review of Bonghi Jovino, M., and Donceel, R., La necropoli di 

Nola preromana, Journal of Hellenic Studies 91 (1971) 206. 

Fresa, M. P., - Fresa, A., Nuceria Alfaterna in Campania (Naples, 1974). 

Friedländer, J., Die osckischen Münzen (Leipzig, 1850). 

Franklin, J., Pompeii: the electoral programmata campaigns and politics, a. C. 71- 

79. (Rome, 1980). 

Gabba, E., Appiano e la scoria delle guerre civili (Florence, 1956). 

Gabba, E., `La storia dei Sanniti', Clio 5 (1969) 5-16. 

275

Gabba, E., L'Italia romana (Como, 1994) 211-21. 

Gabba, E., Pasquinucci, M., Strutture agrarie e allevamento transumante nell'Italia 

preromana (III-1 sec) 

(Pisa, 1979). 

Gabba, E., Review of Conta Haller, `Ricerche su alcuni centri fortificati in opera 

poligonale in area Campano-Sannitica', Athaeneum 57 (1979) 171-2. 

Gabba, E., Ùrbanizzazione e rinnovamenti urbanistici nell'Italia centro-meridionale 

del I. sec. a. C. ', Studi Classici e Orientali 21 (1972) 73-112. 

Gabrici, E., `Cuma', Monumenti A ntichi 23 (1913) 

Gaggiotti, M., 'La fase ellenistica di Sepino', La Romanisation du Samnium aux Ile et 

Her siecles av. J. -C. 

(Nalpes 1991) 35-45. 

Gaggiotti, M., 'Le iscrizioni della basilica di Saepinum ei rectores della provincia 

del Samnium', Athenaeum 56 (1978) 146 -169. 

Gargola, D. J. , Lands, Laws & Gods (Chapel Hill and London, 1995). 

Gargiulo, P., `Tav. XXXI', Franciosi, G., (ed. ) Ager Campanus (Naples, 2002). 

Garofalo, L., 'La competenza giudiziaria dei'quaestores' e Pomp D. 1,2,2,16 e 23', 

Studia e documenta historiae et iuris 51 (1985) 409-423. 

Garofalo, F. P., `Sui meddices', Rendiconti della Classe di Scienze morali, storiche e 

filologiche dell'Accademia Lincei, fifth series, vol. 12 (1903) 61-79. 

Giacomelli, G., `Questioni sintattiche ed interpretative nei testi delle iuvilas', Studi 

Etruschi, 28 (1959), 157-166. 

Giliberti, L., Nuceria Alfaterna nelle origini e nelle denominazioni storiche (Naples, 

1931) 

Grace, V., Èponyms named on Rhodian amphora stamps', Hesperia 22 (1953) 116- 

28. 

276

Gabba, E., Esercizio e societä nella tarda Reppublica romana 

(Florence, 1973). 

Gabba, E., `Nuove reflessioni sulla storia dei Sanniti', Gabba E. (ed), Italia Romana, 

Biblioteca di Athenaeum 25 (1994) 223-30. 

Greco, E., 'Nei golfo di Napoli: tra Sirene, Sirenusse e Athena', Istituto universitario 

orientale di Napoli, annali del seminario di studi nel mondo classico, Section 

of Archaeology and Ancient History 14 (1992) 161-72. 

Guadagno, G., Vager Falernus in eta romans', Scoria economia ed architettura 

nell'ager 

Falernus (Minturno, 1987) 17-59. 

Guadagno, G., `Pagi e vici della Campania' A. Calbi, A. Donati, G. Poma 

L'Epigrafia del villaggio (Bologna, 1993) 407-44. 

Guadagno, G., `Sui centri fortificati preromani nell'altro casertano', Archivio slorico 

di Terra del Lavoro 6 (1978-9) 261-79. 

Gualtieri, M., `Between Samnites and Lucanians: New archaeological and 

Epigraphic Evidence for Settlement Organization', Jones, II., (ed. ) Samnium: 

Settlement and cultural change (Rhode Island, 2004) 35-50. 

Gualtieri, M., `Fortifications and settlement organization: an example from pre- 

Roman Italy', World Archaeology 19 (1987) 30-46. 

Gualtieri, M., 'Una lex osca da Roccagloriosa: il contesto storico-archeologico', 

Ostraka 9 (2000) 247-53. 

Gulino, R. M. Òscan per., perek., and pünttram (? hnnttram): the Pompeian 

roadmakers' tablet once again', American Journal of Philology, 107 (1986) 

394-7. 

Guzzo, P. G., Àlla ricerca della Pompei sannitica', Studi sull'Italia dei Sanniti 

(Rome, 2000) 107-18. 

277

Guzzo, P. G. 'L'identitä contradittoria', L. Moscati Castelnuovo (ed. ) Identitä e Prassi 

Storica nel Mediterraneo Greco (Milan, 2002) 137-58. 

Guzzo, P. G., `La Campania sannitica', Popoli e civiltä dell'Italia antica 8 (Rome, 

1986), 348-356. 

Guzzo, P. G., Review of Rainini, `Capracotta', Ostraka 6 (1997) 466-8. 

Hall, J. M., Ethnic Identity in Greek Antiquity (Cambridge, 1997). 

Harvey, P. B., jr. Review of Cerchiai, I Campani, Athenaeum 86 (1998) 569-75. 

Hatzfeld, J., Les Trafiquants Italiens dans 1'Orient Hellenique (New York, 1975- 

reprint of the edition of Paris, 1919). 

Head, B. V., Historia Nummorum (Oxford, 1913). 

Herring, E. - Lomas K., (ed. ), The Emergence of State Identities (London, 2000). 

Heurgon, J., Etude sur les Inscriptions Osques de Capoue dices 

Iz vilas (Paris, 

1942a). 

Heurgon, J., `La lettre de Ciceron ä P. Sittius', Latomus 9 (1950) 369-77. 

Hieurgon, J., `Les origines campaniennes de la Confederation cirteenne', Lybica 5 

(1957). 7-24. 

Heurgon, J., Recherches 

sur l'Histoire, la Religion e la Civilisation de Capoue 

Preromaine des origines ä la deuxieme guerre punique (Paris, 1942). 

Hodges, R., Mitchell, J., San Vincenzo at Volturno. The Archaeology, Art and 

Territory of an Early Medieval Monastery (Oxford, 1985). 

Holloway, R. R., Satrianum: Archaeological investigations (Providence, Brown 

University Press, 1970). 

Hopkins, K., Death and Renewal (Cambridge, 1983). 

Ilan, V., Gli Italici nelle structure militari romane (Milan, 1974). 

278

D'Isanto, G., Capua romana (Rome, 1993). 

Izzo, D., `Campania', Studi Etruschi 60 (1995) 302-5. 

Izzo, D., `Campania. Teano', Studi Etruschi 60 (1995) 306. 

Jaczynowska, M, `Le caratteristische delle associazioni della gioventü romana 

(collegia iuvenum)', Ani dell'Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere edArti 134 

(1976) 359-81. 

Janssen, H., Oscan and Umbrian inscriptions (Leiden, 1949). 

Johannowsky, W., Capua antica (Naples, 1989). 

Johannowsky, W., `Considerazioni sull'architettura militare del II sec. a. C. nei centri 

della Lega Nucerina', Nuceria Alfaterna e il suo territorio 1 (1994) 123-35. 

Johannowsky, W., `Contributi alla topografia della Campania antica', Accademia di 

Archeologia Lettere e Belle Arti 26 (1951) 83-147. 

Johannowsky, W., `La Campania', Dialogbi di Archeologia 4-5 (1970-71) 461-71. 

Johannowsky, W., `La situazione in Campania', Paul Zanker (ed) Hellenismus in 

Mittelitalien (Göttingen, 1976) 267-99. 

Johannowsky, W., `L'urbanizzazione nella valle del Sarno', Nuceria Alfaterna e il 

suo territorio 1 (1994) 103-9. 

Johannowsky, W., `Materiali di eta arcaica dalla Campania', Monumenti antichi 

della Magna Grecia 4 (Naples, 1983). 

Johannowsky, W., `Nuovi rinvenimenti a Nuceria Alfatema', AA. VV. La regione 

sotterrata dal Vesuvio: studi aprospettive (Naples, 1982) 835-62. 

Jones, Ii., (ed. ) Samnium, Settlement and Cultural Change (Providence, Rhode 

Island, 2004). 

Jongman, W., The Economy and Society of Pompeii (Amsterdam, 1988). 

279

Joseph, B. D., 'Oscan slaagi-', Glotta 60 (1982) 112-115. 

Kent, R. G., 'Oscan deketasio', Language 3 (1927) 187. 

Keppie, L. J. F., Colonisation and Veteran Settlement in Italy, 47-14 B. C. (London, 

1983). 

Klein, J., Fasti consulares. A Caesaris nece usque ad imperium Diocletiani (Leipzig, 

1881) 

Laffi, U., `Problemi dell'organizzazione paganico-vicanico nelle aree abruzzesi e 

molisane', Athaeneum 52 (1974) 336-9. 

Laffi, U., `Sull'organizzazione amministrativa dell'Italia dopo )a guerra sociale', 

Akten des VI Internationalen Kongresses für Griechische und Lateinsiche 

Epigraphik (München, 1972) 37-53. 

Laird, G. A., `The Oscan and Umbrian Pumperias', Classical Philology 1 (1906) 

329-338. 

Lapenna, S., Ìl santuario italico in area sabellica', Communitb indigene e problemi 

della romanizzazione nell'Italia centro-meridionale IV-111 

sec. a. 

1991) 147-55. 

Lapenna, S., `L'area sacra dei templi, Il tempio maggiore, Schiavi d'Abruzzo', 

"Verso la cima del monte" (Sulmona, 2001) 31-73. 

C. (Rome, 

La Regina, A., Àbitanti indigeni in area sabellica', Communitä indigene e problemi 

della romanizzazione nell'Italia centro-meridionale IV-III sec. a. C. (Rome, 

1991) 147-55. 

La Regina, A., Àppunti su entitä etniche e strutture istituzionali nel Sannio antico', 

Istituto universitario orientale di Napoli, annali del seminario di studi nel 

mondo classico, Section ofArcheology and Ancient History 3 (1981) 129-37. 

280

La Regina, A., Àspetti istituzionali nel mondo sannitico', Sannio (1984) 17-25. 

La Regina, A., `Centri fortificati preromani nei territory sabellici dell'Italia Centrale 

adriatica', Posebna Izdania 24 (1975) 271-82. 

La Regina, A., `Contributo dell'archeologia alla storia sociale: Territtori sabellici e 

sannitici' Dialoghi di Archeologia 4-5 (1970-71) 443-459. 

La Regina, A., T. Papius C. f. Mutilus Imp. ', Samnium (Rome, 1991) 149-152. 

La Regina, A., `Dalle guerre sannitiche alla romanizzazione', Sannio. I Pentri e 

Frentani dal VI all sec. a. 

C. (Isernia, 1980) 29-42. 

La Regina, A., Ì Sanniti', Italia Omnium Terrarum Parens (Milano, 1989) 301-432. 

La Regina, A., Ì1 Sannio', Hellenismus in Mittelitalien (Göttingen, 1976) 219-255. 

La Regina, A., 'Sannio: Pietrabbondante', Studi Etruschi 44 (1976) 283-4. 

La Regina, A., Ì1 trattato tra Abella e Nola per 1'uso comune del santuario di Ercole 

e di un fondo adiacente', AA. VV. Studi sull'Italia dei Sanniti (Milan, 2000) 

214-31. 

La Regina, A., `Le iscrizioni osche di Pietrabbondante 

e la questione di Bovianum 

Vetus', Rheninishes Museuin für Philologie 109 (1966) 260-286. 

La Regina, A., `L'elogio di Scipione Barbato', Dialoghi di Archeologia 2 (1968) 

173-190. 

La Regina, A., `Note sulla formazione dei centri urbani in area sabellica', Studi sulla 

cittä antica (Bologna, 1970) 191-207 

La Regina, A., `Stazio Sannita', Parola del Passato 30 (1975) 163-9. 

La Regina, A., 'Il trattato tra Abella e Nola per l'uso comune del santuario di Ercole e 

di un fondo adiacente', Studi sull'Italia dei Sannili (Rome, 2000) 214-222. 

La Rocca, E., Angelillo, D., Nola dalle origini al medioevo 

(Nola, 1971). 

281

Larsen, J. A. 0, Greek Federal States (Oxford, 1968). 

Larsen, J. A. 0, Representative Government in Greek and Roman History (Berkeley 

and Los Angeles, 1955). 

Lazzeroni, R., `Contatti di lingue e di culture nell'Italia antica: elementi greci nei 

dialetti italici', Studi e Saggi linguistici 12 (Supplement for L'Italia dialettale 

35) (1972) 271-316. 

Lejeune, M., L'anthroponymie osque (Paris, 1976). 

Lejeune, M., 'Note sur l'inscription osque de la Campanella', Accademia Nazionale 

dei Lincei. Monumenti Antichi, Serie Miscellanea 3,5.52 of the general 

series (Rome, 1990) 261-3. 

Lejeune, M., `Notes de linguistique italique: XXXI. Sur l'aspect federal su sanctuaire 

samnite de Calcatello', Revue des etudes latines 50 (1972) 94-111. 

Lepore, E., `Gli Ausoni e il piü antico popolamento della Campania : leggende delle 

origini, tradizioni antiche e realtä culturali', Archivio Storico di Terra del 

Lavoro 5 (1977) 81-108. 

Lepore, E., `La tradizione antica sul mondo osco e la formazione storica delle entitä 

regionali in Italia meridionale', Campanile E., (ed. ), Lingua e cultura degli 

Oschi (Pisa, 1985) 55-65. 

Lepore, E., Origini e structure della Campania antica (Bologna, 1989). 

Letta, C., `Dail' òppidum' at `nomen': I diversi livelli dell'aggregazione net mondo 

osco-umbro', Federazioni efederalismo nell'Europa antics. Alle radici della 

casa comune europea. (Milan, 1994) 387-405 

Letta, C., Ì santuari rurali nell'Italia centro-Appenninica: valori relogiosi e funzione 

aggregativa', Melanges de l'Ecole Frangaise de Rome (Antiquite) 104 (1992) 

282

109-124. 

Letta, C., Àspetti della romanizzazione in area marsa: il centro di Amplero', in 

Comunitä indigene e problemi della romanizzazione nell'Italia centro- 

meriodionale (1991) 157-75. 

Letta, C., Epigrafia dei Marsi (1975). 

Letta, C., 'Una nuova coppia di questori epinimi (qestur) da Supinum', Athenaeum 57 

(1979) 404-410. 

Letta, C., Review of Ìnsediamenti fortificati in area centro-italica', Athenaeum 85 

(1997) 309-13. 

Letta, C., Òppida, vici e pagi in area Marsa. L'infuenza dell'ambiente naturale sulla 

continuitä delle forma d'insediamento', M. Sordi (ed), Geografia e 

Storiografia nel mondo classico (1988) 217-33. 

Letta, C., `Recensione a E. Dench', Kilo 81,1 (1999) 250-2. 

Libero Mangieri, G., `Problemi di circolazione monetaria a Nuceria Alfatema 

dall'etä classica a quella imperiale', Nuceria Alfaterna e il suo territorio 2 

(1994) 21-33. 

Ling, R., Pompeii. History, Life and 

Afterlife (Stroud, 2005). 

Ling, R., À stranger in town: finding the way in an ancient city', Greece and Rome 

36/ 2 (1990) 204-14. 

Lintott, A., Violence in Republican Rome (Oxford, 1968). 

Linton, A., The Constitution of the Roman Republic (Oxford, 1999). 

Lloyd, J. A., Christie, N., Lock, G., `From the mountain to the plain: Landscape 

evolution in the Abruzzo, An interim report on the Sangro Valley project'. 

Publications of the British School at Rome 65 (1997) 2-57. 

283

Lloyd, J. A. Rathbone, D. W. À Classical Landscape in Molise', Conoscenze 1 

(Campobasso, 1984) 216-9. 

Lo Cascio, E., `Pompeii dalla cittä alla colonia sillana: le vicende istituzionali' 

Cebeillac-Gervasoni, M., (ed. ) Les elites municipales de Italie peninsulaire 

des Gracques a Neron (Naples, Rome, 1996) 111-123. 

Lo Casio, E., Saggi nell'area del tempio di Apollo a Pompei (Napoli, 1986). 

Lomas, K., `Cities, states and ethnic identity in southeast Italy', The Emergence of 

State Identities in Italy (London, 2000) 79-90. 

Lomas, K., Ronne and the Western Greeks 350 BC- AD 200 (London and New York, 

1993). 

Lombardi, P., Ùn cratere `di famiglia' in una tomba cumana', Annali di Archeologia 

e Scoria Antica (New series) 7 (2000) 157-63. 

Maggiani, A., 'Magistrature cittadine, magistrature federali', La lega etrusca dalla 

dodecapoli ai quindecim populi (Pisa, Rome, 2001) 37-48. 

Maiuri, A., Alla ricerca di Pompei preromana (Naples, 1973). 

Maiuri, A., Ercolaneo: i nuovi scavi (1927-58) (Rome, 1958). 

Maiuri, A., 'Nola', Passeggiate Campane (Florence, 1957). 

Maiuri, A., The Phlegraean Fields. From Virgil's tomb to the grotto of the Cumaean 

Sybil (Rome, 1958). 

Maiuri, A., `Pompei', Notizie degli scavi (1944/45) 130-59. 

Maiuri, A., `Pompei', Notizie degli scavi (1950) 116-36. 

Maiuri, A., `Pompei e Nocera', Rendiconti dell'accademia di archeologia, letter e 

belle arti 33 (1958) 35-40 

Maiuri, A., `Studi e ricerche sulla fortificazione di Pompei. Iscrizioni osche', 

284

Memorie della classe di Scienze morali e storiche deli'Accademia dei Lincei 

33 (1929) 114-275. 

Maiuri, A., `Teano. Stela sepolcrale con iscrizione osca', Notizie degli scavi (1913) 

408. 

Marchese, M. P. 'Contatti graeco-sannitici: i bolli con indicazione eponima', Studi 

Etruschi 65-68 (2002). 251-60. 

Mariani, L., 'Aufdena', Monument! antichi 10 (1901) 226-643. 

Mariani, L., Àufidena', Notizie degli Scavi (1902) 516-8. 

Marinetti, A., `La lingua dei prischi Sanniti', Cumae, Conferenze del Premio E. T. 

Salmon (Campobasso, 

2000) 87-103. 

Marinetti, A., Le iscrizioni sudpicene (Florence, 1985) 

Manzo, A., Wager campanus. Dalla deditio di Capua alla redazione dells forma agri 

campani di Publio Cornelio Lentulo', G. Franciosi (ed. ) La Romanizzazione 

della Campania antica 1, (Naples, 2002) 125-52. 

Matini, M., Mosaici antichf in Italia. Pavimenti di signino repubblicani (Rome, 

1971). 

Matteini Chiari, M., (ed. ) Saepinum: museo documentario dell'Altilia 

(Campobasso, 1982). 

Mattingly, H., `The Romano-Campanian 

coinage: An Old Problem from a New 

Angle', Journal of the Warburg Institute I. 3 (1938) 197-203. 

Mattiocco, E., Centri fortificati preromani nella conca di Suhnona (Chieti, 1981). 

Mattiocco, E., Ì centri fortificati nel contesto delle culture pastorali', Centri 

fortificati preromani nel territorio dei Peligni (Sulmona, 1981 a) 131-145. 

Mattiocco, E., Centri fortificati veslini (Teramo, 1986). 

285

Mau, A., `Die oskischen Wegweiserinschriften in Pompeji', Mittheilungen des 

Kaiserlich Deutschen Archaeologischen Instituts, Roemische Abteilung 14 

(1899) 105-13. 

Mazzarino, S., Dalla monarchia allo stato repubblicano: ricerche di storia romana 

arcaica (Milan, 1992, reprint of the first edition of 1945). 

McKay, A. G., Cumae and the Phlegrean Fields (Ontario, 1972). 

McKay, A. G., 'Samnites at Cumae', Jones, H., (ed. ) Samnium, Settlement and Cultural 

Change (Providence, Rhode Island, 2004) 85-101. 

Meiggs, R., The Athenian Empire (Oxford, 1972). 

Mele, A., ÌI Pitagorismo e le popolazioni anelleniche d'Italia', Annalf del Seminario 

di studi del mondo classico, Historical section 3 (1981) 61-96. 

Mele, A., Maturazionepolitica nel mondo italico, Atti del Convegno, Naples. (in 

print). 

Miniero, P., `Stabiae - Indagini, rinvenimenti e ricerche nell'ager stabianus', Rivista 

di Studi Pompeiani 1 (1987) 177-88. 

Mommsen, T., Geschichte des römischen Münzwesens (Berlin, 1956, reprint of 

1860) 

Monaco, L., `Centuriazioni e gestione delle acque', La Romanizzazione della 

Campania antica (Naples, 2002) 87-123. 

Morandi, A., Ìscrizione Sabina arcaica dal territorio di Cures', Studi Etruschi 51 

(1983) 595-608. 

Morel, J. -P., `Le sanctuaire de Vastogirardi (Molise) et les influences hellenistiques 

en Italie centrale', Hellenismus in Mittelitalien 1 (1976) 255-66. 

Morel, J-P., `Sur quelques aspects de la jeunesse ä Rome', Melanges offerts ä 

286

Jacques Heurgon, L'Italie preromaine et la Rome republicaine vol 2 (Rome, 

1976) 663-83. 

Mouritsen, H., Èlections, magistrates and municipal elite: studies in Pompeian 

epigraphy', Analecta Insituti Danici, Supplementum 15 (Coppenhangen, 

1988). 

Mouritsen, H., Italian Unification, A Study in Ancient and Modern Historiography, 

BICS Supplement 70 (Institute of Classical Studies, University of London, 

1998). 

Murolo, N., 'Le saline herculeae di Pompeii. Produzione del sale e culto di Ercole 

nella Campania antics'. Studi sulla Campania Preromana (Rome, 1995) 105- 

22. 

Musti, D., `Per una valutazione delle fonti classiche sulla storia della Campania tra il 

VI e il III secolo', La Campaniafra il V1 e il III secolo a. 

31-46. 

C. (Florence, 1992) 

Müller, C., -Hasenohr, C., (eds) Les Italiens dans le monde Grec (Athens, 2002). 

Nazari, 0., 1 dialetti italici (Milan, 1900). 

Mustilli, D., 'La documentazione archeologica in Campania', Greci e Italici in 

Magna Grecia (Napoli, 1962) 163-94. 

Nissen, H., Pompeji (Berlin, 1871). 

Nissen, H., Pompeianische Studien zur Städtekunde des Altertums (Leipzig, 1877). 

Oakley, S. P., The Hill forts of the Samnites (Oxford, 1995). 

Onorato, G. 0., `La sistemazionione stradale del quartiere del Foro triangolare di 

Pompei', Rendiconti della Reale Accademia dei Lincei: Classe di scienze 

morali, storiche efilologiche 8- 6 (1951) 250-264. 

287

Onorato, G. 0., `Pompei municipium e colonia romana', Rendiconti dell'Accademia 

di Archaeologia di Napoli 26 (1951) 115-56. 

Paget, R. F, `The ancient ports of Cumae', Journal of Roman Studies 58 (1968) 152- 

69. 

Pais, E., `Per la storia antichissima della Valle del Sarno', Rendiconti della Classe di 

Scienze morali storiche efilologiche dell'Accademia dei Lincei 17 (1908) 

459-482. 

Pallottino, M., Genii e culture dell'Italia preromana (1981). 

Pallottino, M., Scoria della Prima Italia (Milan, 1984). 

Pallottino, M., `Sulla lettura e sul contenuto della grande iscrizione di Capua', Saggi 

di Antichitä (Rome, 1979) 589-625. 

Pappalardo, U., La descrizione di Pompei per Giuseppe Fiorelli (1875), (Naples, 

2001). 

Pareti, L., `La riunione politica degli etruschi ei suoi riflessi storici e archeologici', 

Studi minori di scoria antica I (Rome, 1958) 283-294. 

Parlangeli, 0., Studi messapici (Milan, 1960). 

Patterson, J., `The Upper Volturno Valley in Roman Times', R. Hodges, J. Mitchell 

(eds. ) San Vincenzo al Volturno (Oxford, 1985) 213-26. 

Patterson, J., À city called Samnium? ', Hodges, R., Mitchell, J., (eds. ) San Vincenzo 

al Volturno (Oxford, 1985a) 185-99 

Patterson, J., Sanniti, Liguri, Romani (Circello, 1988). 

Patterson, J., `Settlement, City and Elite in Samnium and Lycia', Rich J., Wallace- 

Hadrill, A., (ed) City and Country in the Ancient World (London, 1991) 147- 

168. 

288

Pellegrino, A., `Monte Pallano (Chieti): note sul Centro in eta preromana e romana', 

Miscellanea Greca e Romana 7 (1980) 349-365. 

Perretti, A., 11 Periplo di Scilace (Pisa, 1979). 

Pesando, F., Ùn tempio della Magna Mater sull'acropoli 

Archeologia e Scoria Antica (New series) 7 (2000) 163-181. 

Pisani, V., Le lingue deli'Italia anlica oltre il latino (Torino, 1953). 

di Cuma? ', Annali di 

Pobjoy, M., 'The decree of the pagus herculaneus and the romanisation of'Oscan' 

Capua', Arclos 32 (1998) 175-95. 

Pobjoy, M., Rome and Capua from Republic to Empire (Oxford, D. Phil thesis). 

Poccetti, P., 'Due derivati da termini di parentela nell'Italia antica: osco pukalatui, lat. 

patratus', Quaderni di Linguistica e Filologia dell'Universitä di Macerata 4 

(1986-9) 145-70. 

Poccetti, P., `Note linguistiche sull'iscrizione di Punta della Campanella', Annali del 

Seminario di studi del 'Hondo classico, Linguistics section (1992) 183-99. 

Poccetti, P., Nuovi documenti italici: a complemento del Manuale di E. Vetter (Pisa, 

1979). 

Poccetti, P., `Riflessi di strutture di fortificazioni nell'epigrafia italica tra il II ed il I 

secolo a. C. ' Athenaeum 66 (1988) 303-28. 

Poccetti, P., Ùna struttura familiare arcaica nella Capua Sannita', Rendiconti Acc. 

Nap. 56 981) 75-82. 

Prosdocimi, A. L., Iscrizione da Punta della Campanella. Accademia Nazionale dei 

Lincei. Monumenti Antichi, Serie Miscellanea 3,5.52 of the general series 

(Rome, 1990) 263-6. 

Prosdocimi, A. L., Il lessico istitutzionale italico. Tra liguistica e storia, La cultura 

289

italica, Atli del convegno della Societä Italiana di glottologia (Pisa, 1978a) 

29-74. 

Prosdocimi, A. L., `Note su Ìtalico' e `Sannita', Campania VI-111 sec. a. C. 

(Florence, 1992) 119-48. 

Prosdocimi, A. L., `Notes', Magna Grecia nell'etä Romana (Naples, 1976) 657-8. 

Prosdocimi, A. L., `L'Osco', Popoli e civiltä dell' Italia antica, Lingue e dialetti, vol. 

6, (Rome, 1978) 825-912. 

Prosdocimi, A. L., 'Questura italica e questura romana', Atti dell'Istituto veneto di 

scienze, fettere ed arti 152 (1983-4) 169-90. 

Prosdocimi, A. L., `Recenzione di Poccetti', Studi Etruschi 48 (1980) 605-23. 

Prosdocimi, A. L., 'Le religioni degli Italici', in A. Carmine (ed. ) Italia Omnium 

Terrarum Parens (Milan, 1989) 477-545. 

Prosdocimi, A. L., `Sui grecismi nell'osco', Scritti in onore di G. Bonfante (Brescia, 

1975) 781-96. 

Prosdocimi, A. L., `Studi sull'Italico', Studi Etruschi 49 (1980) 187-249. 

Pugliese Carratelli, G., (ed. ) Storia e Civiltä della Campania, I (L'Evo Antico) 

(Naples, 1992). 

Pugliese Carratelli, G., `Commento storico', Accademia Nazionale del Lincei. 

Monumenti Antichi, Serie Miscellanea 3,5.52 of the general series (Rome, 

1990) 275-9. 

Pugliese Carratelli, G., `Sanniti, Lucani, Bretti e Italioti dal secolo IV a. C. ', Le genii 

non greche di Magna Grecia (Naples, 1972) 37-54. 

Pulgram, E., 'The Oscan Cippus Abellanus: A New Interpretation', The American 

Journal of Philology, 81 (1960) 16-29. 

290

Quilici, L. - Gigli, S., Carta" archeologica e ricerche in Campania (Rome, 2004). 

Rainini, I., Capracotta: L abitato sannitico di Fonte del Romito (Rome, 1996). 

Rainini, I., `Modelli, forme e strutture insediative del mondo sannitico', Studi 

sull'Italia dei Sanniti (Rome, 2000) 238-55. 

Rathbone, D. W., `The Control and Exploitation of Ager Publicus in Italy under the 

Roman Republic', Jean-Jacques Aubert (ed. ) Tdches publiques et enterprise 

privee dans le monde romain (Neuchatel, 2003) 135-78. 

Ribezzo, F., `La nuova èituns' di Pompei', Rivista indo-greco-italica difilologia lingua 

anlica 1 (1917) 55-63. 

Rix, H., `Capua', Studi Etruschi 61 (1996) 352-357. 

Rix, H., Òsk. üpsannam-uupsens unf Zugehöriges', Sprachen und Schriften des 

antiken Mitteleerraums, Festschrift für Jürgen Untermann zum 65 

Geburtstag (Innsbruck, 1993) 329-48. 

Rix, H., Òskisch vereiia- ä la Mommsen', Gering und doch von Herzen (Wiesbaden, 

1999) 237-257. 

Rix, H., `Ricomposizione di un'iscrizione osca di Pompei', Studi Etruschi 47 (1979) 

223-8. 

Rix, H., Sabellische Texte: die Texte des Oskischen, Umbrischen and 

Südpikenischen (Heildelberg, 2002). 

Rix, Ii., , Tribe', , stato', cittA' e insediamento' nelle lingue italiche', Archivio 

Glottologico Italiano, 85fasc. 2. (2000) 196-231. 

La Rocca, E., de Vos, M. and A, Coarelli, F., (ed) Guida archeologica di Pompei 

(Mondadori, 1976). 

Romito, M., `Le necropoli di Nuceria nelle raccolte dei Musei della Provincia di 

291

Salerno', Nuceria Alfaterna e il suo territorio 1 (1994) 209-29. 

Rosenberg, A., Der Staadt der alten Italiker (Berlin, 1913). 

Russo, M., `Punta della Campanella. Epigrafe rupestre osca e reperti vari dall' 

Athenaion', Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei. Monumenti Antichi, Serie 

Miscellanea 3,5.52 of the general series (Rome, 1990) 189-257. 

Russo, M., `Materiali arcaici e tardo-arcaici dalla stipe dell'Athenaion di Punta della 

Campanella', Annali del Seminario di studi del mondo classico, History 

section 14 (1992) 201-19. 

Russo, M., Ìl territorio tra Stabia e Punta della Campanella nell'antichitä', Pompei, 

il Sarno e la Penisola Sorrentina (Pompei, 1998) 23-99. 

Rutter, N. K., Campanian Coinages 475-380 (Edinburgh, 1979). 

Rutter, N. K., `Campanian chronology in the fifth century BC', Classical Quartely 

21(1971) 55-61. 

Rutter, N. K., The early coinage ofNeapolis Campaniae and its relationship to the 

coinage of Hyria and Nola, PhD thesis (1969). 

Rutter, N. K., Greek Coinages of Southern Italy and Sicily (London, 1997). 

Rutter, N. K. (ed. ), Hisioria Nummorum (London, 2001). 

Sacchi, 0., `Limiti geografici, cenni di storia ed organizzazione dell'ager campanus 

fino alla dedizione del 211 a. C. ', La Romanizzazione della Campania antica 1 

(Naples, 2002) 19-87. 

Sakai, S., We 28 reconsidered', Opuscula Pompeian 2 (1992) 1-13. 

Salmon, E. T., 'Colonial Foundations during the Second Samnite War', Classical 

Philology 58 n. 4 (1963) 235-238. 

Salmon, E. T., Samnium and the Samnites (Cambridge, 1967). 

292

Salmon, E. T., `The Cause of the Social War', Phoenix 5,16 (1962) 107-19. 

Salmon, E. T., `Notes on the Social War', American Philological Association, 

Transactions and Proceedings 89 (1958) 159-84. 

Salmon, E. T., `The Resumption of Hostilities after the Caudine Forks', Transactions 

and Proceedings of the American Philological Association 87 (1956), 98-108. 

Salomies, 0., Die römischen Vornamen (Helsinki, 1987). 

Sarno, M. F., Ìl territorio caudino', Studi sull'Italia del Sanniti (Milan, 2000) 56-68. 

Sartori, F., Problemi di scoria costituzionale italiota (Rome, 1953). 

Sartori, F., `Costituzioni italiote, italiche, etrusche', Studi Clasice 10 (1968) 29-50. 

Särström, M., A Study in the Coinage of the Mamertines (Lund, 1940). 

Scotto da Freca, F., 'Avella', Studi Etruschi 62 (1996) 360. 

Scotto da Freca, F., `Campania. Incerti situs', Studi Etruschi 59 (1994) 320. 

Scotto da Freca, F., `Campania. Avella', Studi Etruschi 62 (1996) 360. 

Scotto da Freca, F., 'Ercolano', Studi Etruschi 59 (1993) 322-3. 

Scotto da Freca, F., `Pompei', Studi Etruschi 60 (1995) 306-8. 

Scuderi, R., `Significato politico delle magistrature nelle cittä italiche del I sec. a. 

C. ', Athaeneum 67 (1989) 117-138. 

Senatore, F., `La lega nucerina', F. Senatore (ed. ), Pompei tra Sorrento e Sarno 

(Rome, 2001) 185-265. 

Senatore, F., La lega sannitica (Pompeii, 2006). 

Senatore, F., `Stabiae: storia dell'insediamento', in A. Ferrara- D. Camardo, Stabiae 

dai Borbone alle ultime scoperte (Castellammare di Stabia, 2000) 23-3. 

Sgobbo, I., `Regione IV (Samnium), Mirabella Eclano', Notizie degli Scavi, serie 6 

(1930) 400-11. 

293

Sgobbo, I., `Gli Etruschi in Pompei alla luce di un nuovo documento', Rendiconti 

dell 'Accademia di Archaeologia, Lettere e Belle Arti delle Societd Nazionale 

di Napoli 31 (1956) 37-76. 

Sgobbo, I., `Ricerche topografiche sull'antica Compsa', Notiaie degli Scavi (1938) 97- 

103. 

Sherwin-White, A. N., The Roman Citizenship (Oxford, 1973). 

Sironen, T., 'Note onomastiche osco-lucane', Arcros 25 (1991) 133-8. 

Sironen, T., Ùna rilettura e un'integrazione di due epigrafi osche di Ercolano', 

Arclos 23 (1989) 185-194 

Skutsch, 0., The Annals of Q. Ennius (Oxford, 1986). 

Sogliano, A., `La necropoli preromana di Pompei', Memorie Reale Accademia 

Archeologia, Lettere di Napoli 2 (1911) 209- 

Sogliano, A., Pompei nel suo sviluppo storico. Pompeipreromana (Rome, 1937). 

Sordi, M., 'I1 federalismo greco nell'etä classica', Foresti, L. A. (ed. ) Federazioni e 

federalismo nell'Europa antica (Milan, 1994) 3-22. 

Sordi, M., Ìl giuramento della legio linteata' e la Guerra sociale', Sordi, M., (ed. ) I 

canali della propaganda nel mondo antico (Milan, 1976) 160-8. 

Sordi, M., (ed. ), Conoscenze 

etniche e rapporti di convivenza nell antichitä (Milan, 

1979). 

Spadea, R., (ed. ), La Campania antica dal Pleistocene all' eta romana (Naples, 

1998). 

Stazio, A., 'Monete e la leggenda Irnthi', Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei. 

Monumenti Antichi, Serie Miscellanea 3,5.52 of the general series (Rome, 

1990) 267-72. 

294

Stazio, A., `Monetazione delle `poleis' greche e monetazione degli èthne' indigeni, 

Pugliese-Carratelli, G., Magna Grecia vol 2. (Milan, 1987) 151-72. 

Stazio, A., `La Monetazione', G. Pugliese-Carratelli, Storia e civiltä della Campania. 

L'Evo antico (Naples, 1991) 359-393. 

Strazzulla, M. J., Ìl santuario sannitico di Pietrabbondante', Documenli di antichitä 

italiche e romane I (Molise, 1973). 

Sydenham, E. A., The Coinage of the Roman Republic (London, 1952). 

Tagliamonte, G., Àlcune considerazioni sull'istituto italico della vereia', Parola del 

Passato 44 (1989) 181-95. 

Tagliamonte, G., 1 figli di Marie (Rome, 1994). 

Tagliamonte, G., I mercenari italici, Studi sull'Italia dei Sanniti (Rome, 2000) 202-7. 

Tagliamonte, G., I sanniti, irpini, pentri, carracini, frentani (Milan, 1996). 

Tagliamonte, G., Òrdinamenti politici e istituzioni nel Sannio preromano', Curnae. 

Conferenze del premio E. T. Salmon (Campobasso, 

2000) 57-83. 

Taylor, L. R., The Voting Districts of the Roman Republic (Rome, 1960). 

Terzani, C., `La colonia latina di Aesernia', Samnium (Rome, 1991) 111-2. 

Terzani, C., 'Isemia', Studi Etruschi 52 (1984) 450. 

Terzani, C. - Matteini Chiari, M., Isernia La necropoli romana in localiti Quadratella 

(Rome, 1997). 

Teutsch, Das Städtwesen in Nordafrika (Berlin, 1962). 

Thiel, J. H., A History of Roman Sea power before the Second Punic War 

(Amsterdam, 1954). 

Tibiletti, E., `Considerazioni sulle popolazioni dell'Italia preromana', Popoli e civilä 

dell'Italia antica 7 (1978) 15-51. 

295

Thomsen, R., The Italic Regions from Augustus to the Lombard Invasion 

(Coppenhagen, 1947). 

Tocco, G., `Frammento di legge in lingua osca su tavola bronzea', Studi sull'Italia 

dei Sanniti (2000) 224-9. 

Torelli, M., 'Nuovo testo da Trebula Mutuesca', Colloquio internaaionaleAIEGL su 

epigrafia e ordine senalorio, vol. 1 (Rome, 1982) 511-2. 

Untermann, J., Der Wortschatz des Cippus Abellannus und der Tabula Bantina. 

Studien zur Stellung und Geschichte des Oskisch-umbrischen, I Band, 

Untersuchungen, 

II Band, Etymologisches Glossar (Tübingen, 1954). 

Untermann, T., Wörterbuch des Osckisch-Umbrischen (Heidelberg, 2000). 

Van Wonterghem, F., 'II culto di Ercole e ]a pastorizia nell'Italia centrale', in ed. E. 

Petrocelli, La civiltä della transumanza (Isernia, 1999) 413-28. 

Vecchio L., -Pontrandolfo, A., `Nocera Superiore', Bibliografia topografica della 

colonizzazione greca in Italia e nella isole tirreniche (1993) 349-59. 

Vetter, E., Handbuch der Italischen Dialekte (Heidelberg, 1953). 

Vetter, E., 'Italische Sprachen', Glotta 15 (1927) 1-13. 

Vlad Borelli, L., 'Elmo con iscrizione in caratteri greci del Museo Poldi Pezzoli', 

Archeologica Classica 9 (1957) 234-42. 

Wachter, R., Altlateinische Inschriften (Bern, 1987) 301-24. 

Wallace, R. E., The Sabellian languages (PhD thesis) (Ohio State University, 1984). 

Watmough, M. T., Studies in the Etruscan Loanwords in Latin (Florence, 1997). 

Watmough, M. T., The suffix -tor-: agent-noun formation in Latin and the other 

Italic languages, Glotta 73 (1995-6) 80-115. 

Weinstock, S., 'Zur oskischen Magistratur', Klio 24 (1931) 235-46. 

296

Weinstock, S., `Meddix', RE, 15,1 (1931), 26-29. 

Wilson, A. J. N., Emigration from Italy in the Republican Age of Rome (Manchester, 

1966). 

Wiseman, T. P., New Men in the Roman Senate 139 BC-AD 14 (Oxford, 1971). 

Whatmough, J., Oscan deketasio- `*decentarius', Language 3 (1927) 105-8. 

Zancani Montuoro, P., ÌI flume Lirino', Parola del Passato 4 (1949) 61-8. 

Zancani Montuoro, P., `Monete antiche della Campania', Accademia Nazionale dei 

Lincei. Monumenti Antichi, Serie Miscellanea 3,5.52 of the general series 

(Rome, 1990) 272-4. 

Zevi, F., `Nota introduttiva: storia e tutela del territorio pompeiano', De Caro, S., La 

villa rustica in localitä Villa Regina a Boscoreale (Rome, 1994) 5-13. 

Zevi (ed), F., Pompei 79: raccolta di studi peril decimo centenario dell'eruzione 

vesuviana 

(Naples, 1984) 

Zevi, F., `Pompei della cittä sannitica alla colonia sillana: per un'interpretazione 

archeologici', M. Cebeillac-Gervasoni (ed. ) Les elites municipales de halle 

peninsulaire des Gracques ä Neron (Naples, Rome, 1996) 124-138. 

Zevi, F., Ùrbanistica i Pompei', AA. VV. La regione sotterrata dal Vesuvio. Studi e 

prospeltive (Napoli, 1982) 353-65. 

Zotta, M., Sulla magistratura osca e romana (Naples, 1932). 

Zvetaieff, J., Sylloge inscriptionum Oscarum ad archetyporum et librorumfidem 

(Petropoli, 1878). 

dei dati 

297

Maps 

298

s 

N 

0 

LEGEND 

P6221111 

Vel fr" 

At Treturn Aquila-Foggia 

Is " " Cos turelle -Men too* gee 

Cs " " fent-Andres-BIferns 

Di " " Celene. 09114 

Ii t" " Lucore"Cestel d1 Sangre 

º" " Nacesserell"Condele 

Lt" " Aºeletn. 111(erne 

litTretturelle Ururl"ierrecepriele 

Hz " " t'esceloncione"$prendesine 

Mt " " Sprondesine 

6*Ireccle Corºile"Centecelle 

KI " " Certlle"Metese 

.r 

v 

Z=° 

"" 

sf"yiDrordlpb. 

f C"ýivlll 

`"' 

e. 

-Castel 

wn 

a. ý , 

del Giudice 

J 

Triý"nts 

LlK" 

"d. Mal ,. 

ndo " yara"p0 ý" 

hýr"11" 

M4 

Tore d yNnor 

aPd") nni" spy" 

INrn 

" 

e MoccRio O° d"ne 

ýirotin4 Toro 

Guests 

Comack roo. 

rnpeb"ssd 

M. r"n" 

ýerovills 

f iev 

tý"$o 0 

C"mpsdip 

- P-ri 

C"A '4 MPAN 

+S 

7 

, fie 

"1.151 

Gildon" 

4 

~*Tý" 

I 

L"rlw" ý"' 

M"dt"rle 

d"1 iº"wt"r. 

D 

4 

ýis 0 

V 

V 

w 

Map I 

299

zr 

Cl `>iyo 

N"i 

Q"_; 

Zö................ 

m 

de 

4o 

ý.. 

. "f " 

" 

'fit 

: ±"'" 

2 

+4/ 

ce 

L 

W "m , 

. 

O 

7" 

{ 

'Z J 

ai 

%a 

F. 

a 

6" 

Co 

ýý 

:wrö 

S": " + 

'" 4. "o ý 'ä d 6 

y e 

E: 

"ä 

O V" 

[t 

,ý"S 

dZ oý 

__dJ 

"" `.: ý., ý"" 

ýt". ý'... 

. ýý 

EÖ 

0 

u 

"Z 

ý"" 

w 

" 

"" 

Map II 

" 

300

.., 

ý: ý 

ýýý. trG 

175 

6ý d6Qýajv 

f. 7 

`, ` .. 

1, 

si 

s 

ý, ACIVIIl 

41 

W 

Z 

Map III 

1 

h 

e 

" 

V 

1N 

301 

E 

Y 

O 

0 

"`7 

gä 

a 6 

3

1r 

ý, 

'ýý 

1. 

ýý}: 

ýýý ýi 

lý 

.;.. 

_ iýý 

ý 

(. ýý ru3 

ý 

I1Jýpý 

41 

ý6ä! 

ýý 

BýoV 

GYM ; Ply 

rk '0" 

r 

t3 

Map IV 

I. ' 

. 

" 

V 

302 

1N 

E 

Y 

2 

0 

IL 6< 

6

i 

Pulgram (1960) 20. 

.ý 

XO1. A C 

I 

to 

.. a 

:5 

i' 

il 

a ! fund ' temple " 

b tefla past teT6o ' land in. 1Ae wail' 

p fefh6a 'wall' 

4 ilati- " township boundary 

" tercmeauid ' (utcrnel) boundaries' 

t talk= MaInIkdm " emnmou toad' 

9 via ' Path ' 


4 

C 

sv 

Pv3 

= 

C 

ABr, I. A 

A. sakankluin a. füsrni Is teremennitS 

B. slagim bs thesavr xn x- pedtl x (tetemennlü) 

C. teenSm 2. Wmitum 

A+C . area santuariala 3: fclhuss 

4. via uruvä 

Map V 

303

A 

ö 

0 

a 

a 

v 

a 

t 0 

a 

0 

N 

t 

O 

CL 

n° 

0 

I, 

N 

m 

Eý r 

0 

d OrNCO '9tU) 

ca OD 0) rrrrýr 

ErN co -w Lo co ti 

11 II II II 11 11 II II 

m II II U 11 11 11 II r .* LO CD ýp pý 

N 0) V Vý CO 0) TT CO CO) to CO MM 

r0 000000000000000 

CL n. a 0. CL a IL IL aIL CL IL CL EL CL 

C) V 

Öý o°ýo 

.g 

o 

a ui 

.- 

\0 

O 

O 

z 

5 

15 

0) 

ýýýý- 

zý 

" 

Arl 

i 

A 

r 0 

Map V 

Map VI 

304

Submitted for award of PhD September 2006. - King's College London

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?