Suessula

Suessula

Location	Province of Naples,Italy
Region	Campania
Coordinates	40°59′23.47″N14°23′53.41″E
Type	Settlement

Suessulawas an ancient city ofCampania,southernItaly,situated in the interior of the peninsula, near the frontier withSamnium,betweenCapuaandNola,and about 7 km northeast ofAcerrae,Suessula is now a vanished city and the archeological site belongs to the city ofAcerra,and not toSan Felice a Cancelloas reported in some sources.

History

Ancient

Suessula is repeatedly mentioned during thewarsbetweenRomansandSamnites,as well as in theSecond Punic WaragainstHannibal.Thus in theFirst Samnite War(343 BC) it was the scene of a decisive victory byMarcus Valerius Corvusover the Samnites, who had gathered together the remains of their army which had been previously defeated atMount Gaurus(Livyvii. 37). In the followingCampanian Warthe Suessulani followed the fortunes of the citizens of Capua, and shared the same fate, so that at the close of the contest, in 338 BC, they must have obtained the status ofcivitas,but without the right of suffrage (Id.viii. 14).

In the Second Punic War the city played a considerable part, though apparently more from its position than its own importance. Suessula was on the line of theVia Popillia,which was here intersected by a road which ran fromNeapolisthrough Acerrae, and on to theVia Appia,which it reached just west of the Caudine pass. The line of hills which rises from the level plain of Campania immediately above Suessula, and forms a kind of prolongation of the ridge of Mount Tifata, was a station almost as convenient as that mountain itself, and in 216 BCE, it was occupied byM. Claudius Marcelluswith the view of protectingNola,and watching the operations of Hannibal against that city (Liv. xxiii. 14, 17). From this time the Romans seem to have kept up a permanent camp there for some years, which was known as theCastra Claudiana,from the name of Marcellus who had first established it, and which is continually alluded to during the operations of the subsequent campaigns (Liv. xxiil. 31, xxiv. 46, 47, xxv. 7, 22, xxvi. 9).

After this period, Suessula fades into obscurity. It continued to be a municipal town of Campania, though apparently one of a secondary class; and inscriptions attest its municipal rank under theRoman Empire.It had received a body of veterans as colonists underSulla,but did not attain the colonial rank (Strabov. p. 249;Plin.iii. 5. s. 9; Orell.Inscr.129, 130, 2333;Lib. Col.p. 237). TheTabula Peutingerianaplaces it on a line of road from Capua to Nola, at the distance of 9 miles from each of those cities (Tab. Peut).

Middle Ages and modern

Suessula was anepiscopal seein the first ages ofChristianity,until at least the 10th century. It was for a time the chief town of a smallLombard Leagueprincipality.It was several times plundered by theSaracens,and at last abandoned by the inhabitants in consequence ofmalaria.Theruinsof the town lie within the Bosco d'Acerra, a picturesqueforest,about 7 km south ofMaddaloni,and an adjacent castle is still calledTorre di Sessola.They were more conspicuous in the 19th century than they now are, but traces of thetheatermay still be seen, and debris of other buildings.Oscantombswereexcavatedthere between 1878 and 1886, and important finds ofvasesandbronzeshave been made. The dead were generally buried within slabs oftuffarranged to form a kind ofsarcophagus.Inscriptions, as well as capitals of columns and other architectural fragments, have been found there (Francesco Maria Pratilli,Via Appia,iii. 3. p. 347; Romanelli, vol. iii. p. 590).

References

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Smith, William,ed. (1854–1857). "Suessula".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography.London: John Murray.
• This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Suessula".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 21.