Beneventum
Part of The Encyclopedia of Southern Italy.
Beneventum: (mod. Benevento). A town in ancient Samnite Hirpini. It was situated on the Appian Way, at the junction of the river valleys of the Sabatus and Calor. Prior to its occupation by the Romans it was called Maleventum but, because this name closely resembled the Latin word for “bad air”, it was changed to the more positive Beneventum (= good air). An early tradition claimed that the city was founded by the Homeric Greek hero Diomedes after his return from the Trojan War. In 274 BC, the Romans under Curius defeated Pyrrhus nearby. It was captured from the Hirpini by the Romans during the Samnites wars and, in 271 or 268 BC, became a Roman colony called Beneventum. Later, Augustus planted a new colony here, giving the place the name of Colonia Julia Concordia Augusta Felix. Sitting on the Via Appia, the town flourished under the early empire. The emperor Trajan chose Beneventum as the site for his famous triumphal arch in AD 114. It was the birthplace of the grammarian Arbelius.