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NEAPOLIS (Ancient city) CAMPANIA
Now Napoli (Naples); a city of Campania in Italy on the western
slope of Mount Vesuvius and the river Sebethus (Maddalena). It was founded about
B.C. 1056 by Aeolian Chalcidians of Cumae, on the site of an ancient place called
Parthenope (Parthenope), after the Siren of that name. Hence we find the town
called Parthenope by Vergil and Ovid. The year of the foundation of Neapolis is
not recorded. It was perhaps called the "New City," because regarded
simply as a new quarter of the neighbouring city of Cumae. When the town is first
mentioned in Roman history it consisted of two parts, divided from each other
by a wall, and called respectively Palaeopolis and Neapolis. This division probably
arose after the capture of Cumae by the Samnites, (about B.C. 300.) when a large
number of the Cumaeans took refuge in the city they had founded, whereupon the
old quarter was called Palaeopolis, and the new quarter, built to accommodate
the new inhabitants, was named Neapolis. There has been a dispute respecting the
site of these two quarters; but it is probable that Palaeopolis was situated on
the west side near the harbour, and Neapolis on the east side near the river Sebethus.
In B.C. 327 the town was taken by the Samnites, and in 290 it passed into the
hands of the Romans, who allowed it, however, to retain its Greek constitution.
At a later period it became a municipium, and finally a Roman colony. Under the
Romans the two quarters of the city were united, and the name of Palaeopolis disappeared.
It continued to be a prosperous and flourishing place till the time of the Empire;
and its beautiful scenery and the luxurious life of its Greek population made
it a favourite residence with many of the Romans. In the reign of Titus the city
was destroyed by an earthquake, but was rebuilt by this emperor in the Roman style.
The modern city of Naples does not stand on exactly the same
site as Neapolis. The ancient city extended farther east than the modern city,
since the former was situated on the Sebethus, whereas the latter does not reach
so far as the Fiume della Maddalena; but the modern city, on the other hand, extends
farther north and west than the ancient one, since the island of Megaris, on which
the Castel del Ovo now stands, was situated in ancient times between Pausilypum
and Neapolis. In the neighbourhood of Neapolis there were warm baths, the celebrated
villa of Lucullus, and the Villa Pausilypi or Pausilypum, bequeathed by Vedius
Pollio to Augustus, and which has given its name to the celebrated grotto of Posilippo
between Naples and Pozzuoli, at the entrance of which what is called the tomb
of Vergil is still shown. Augustus frequently visited the city, and Tiberius,
Claudius, Nero, Titus, and Hadrian favoured it in many ways. In 536 it was taken
by Belisarius, and in 543 by the Goths under Totila. Naples is a city of much
interest to archaeologists, both because of its proximity to Pompeii and Herculaneum,
and because of its remarkable collection of ancient works of art and industry
preserved in the Museo Nazionale.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Now Napoli (Naples); a city of Campania in Italy on the western slope of Mount Vesuvius and the river Sebethus (Maddalena). It was founded about B.C. 1056 by Aeolian Chalcidians of Cumae, on the site of an ancient place called Parthenope (Parthenope), after the Siren of that name. Hence we find the town called Parthenope by Vergil and Ovid. The year of the foundation of Neapolis is not recorded. It was perhaps called the "New City," because regarded simply as a new quarter of the neighbouring city of Cumae. When the town is first mentioned in Roman history it consisted of two parts, divided from each other by a wall, and called respectively Palaeopolis and Neapolis. This division probably arose after the capture of Cumae by the Samnites, when a large number of the Cumaeans took refuge in the city they had founded, whereupon the old quarter was called Palaeopolis, and the new quarter, built to accommodate the new inhabitants, was named Neapolis. There has been a dispute respecting the site of these two quarters; but it is probable that Palaeopolis was situated on the west side near the harbour, and Neapolis on the east side near the river Sebethus. In B.C. 327 the town was taken by the Samnites, and in 290 it passed into the hands of the Romans, who allowed it, however, to retain its Greek constitution. At a later period it became a municipium, and finally a Roman colony. Under the Romans the two quarters of the city were united, and the name of Palaeopolis disappeared. It continued to be a prosperous and flourishing place till the time of the Empire; and its beautiful scenery and the luxurious life of its Greek population made it a favourite residence with many of the Romans. In the reign of Titus the city was destroyed by an earthquake, but was rebuilt by this emperor in the Roman style. The modern city of Naples does not stand on exactly the same site as Neapolis. The ancient city extended farther east than the modern city, since the former was situated on the Sebethus, whereas the latter does not reach so far as the Fiume della Maddalena; but the modern city, on the other hand, extends farther north and west than the ancient one, since the island of Megaris, on which the Castel del Ovo now stands, was situated in ancient times between Pausilypum and Neapolis. In the neighbourhood of Neapolis there were warm baths, the celebrated villa of Lucullus, and the Villa Pausilypi or Pausilypum, bequeathed by Vedius Pollio to Augustus, and which has given its name to the celebrated grotto of Posilippo between Naples and Pozzuoli, at the entrance of which what is called the tomb of Vergil is still shown. Augustus frequently visited the city, and Tiberius, Claudius, Nero, Titus, and Hadrian favoured it in many ways. In 536 it was taken by Belisarius, and in 543 by the Goths under Totila. Naples is a city of much interest to archaeologists, both because of its proximity to Pompeii and Herculaneum, and because of its remarkable collection of ancient works of art and industry preserved in the Museo Nazionale.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
On the W coast of Italy some 241 km SE of Rome, the city stands overlooking
the Tyrrhenian sea in the N part of the Gulf of Naples. To the E lies the silhouette
of Mt. Vesuvius, and to the W stretches a fertile area known to the ancients as
the Phlegraean Fields because of the mineral springs, sulphur mines, and small
craters it contains. To the SW is the Posillipo (the ancient Mons Pausilypos),
a large hill which ends in a promontory and separates the Gulf of Naples from
the Gulf of Pozzuoli.
Neapolis was founded ca. 650 B.C. from Cumae. Ancient tradition records
that it had originally been named after the siren Parthenope, who had been washed
ashore on the site after failing to capture Odysseus (Sil. Pun. 12.33-36). The
early city, which was called Palae(o)polis, developed in the SW along the modern
harbor area and included Pizzofalcone and Megaris (the Castel dell'Ovo), a small
island in the harbor. Megaris itself may have been the site of a still older Rhodian
trading colony (Strab. 14.2.10). Owing to the influx of Campanian immigrants,
the town began to develop to the NE along a Hippodamian grid plan. This new extension
was called Neapolis, while Palae(o)polis became a suburb. Incited to a war with
Rome by the Greek elements, the city was captured in 326 B.C. by the proconsul
Quintus Publilius Philo (Liv. 8.22.9), and the suburb ceased to exist. Neapolis
then became a favored ally of the Romans; it repulsed Pyrrhos, contributed naval
support during the First Punic War, and withstood the attacks of Hannibal. Even
though it suffered the loss of its fleet and a massacre of its inhabitants in
82 B.C. during the Civil War (App. BCiv. 1.89), it became a flourishing municipium
and enjoyed the favors of the Julio-Claudian emperors. Subsequently it was damaged
by the eruption of Vesuvius in A.D. 79.
Remains of both the Greek and the Roman cities are scarce since the
modern town has been built on top. Stretches of the Greek city walls have been
found in various locations, and it has been possible to reconstruct the entire
ring of fortifications. In the N the walls stretch from S. Maria di Constantinopoli
to SS. Apostoli. Some blocks were found when the Ospedale degli Incurabili at
the Piazza Cavour was demolished. On the E they run along the course of the Via
Carbonara, by the Castel Capuano, and down the Via Maddalena to the church of
S. Agostino alla Zecca. In the area of the former convent of the Maddalena have
come to light the remains of a tower measuring 10.8 m on each face with traces
of rebuilding associated with the siege by Belisarius in A.D. 536. In the S they
go from S. Agostino, by the University, and finally reach S. Maria la Nuova. Under
the Corso Umberto I, in the stretch between the Via Seggio del Popolo and the
Via Pietro Colletta, large portions have appeared, dating from the 5th c. B.C.
to the Hellenistic period. On the W side, sections were uncovered at the Piazza
Bellini. Outside the ring of fortifications, in the vicinity of the Via S. Giacomo,
a wall, constructed in blocks of tufa, has been discovered. It dates to the 6th
c. B.C. and probably belongs to the older city of Palae(o)polis.
It is also possible to reconstruct some of the street system of Neapolis,
since it is likely that many modern streets run over their ancient counterparts.
Three main E x W decumani can be distinguished: the Via S. Biagio dei Librai,
the Via Tribunali, and the Via Anticaglia. These were crossed at right angles
by about 20 narrower N x S cardines having an average width of 4 m and forming
some 100 house blocks. A stretch of one of these cardines has been located under
the church of San Lorenzo Maggiore. In the Via del Duomo have been found the foundations
of a small sacred edifice dating to the 5th c. B.C. and rebuilt completely in
the 1st c. of our era. Parts of Greek houses have been uncovered on the Via del
Duomo and on the Via Nib in the W part of the town. Graves of the Greek period
are scattered throughout the city. In the region of Pizzofalcone on the Via Nicotera,
part of a necropolis, belonging to the original city of Palae(o)polis, has come
to light with pottery dating from the 7th and 6th c. B.C. A second early cemetery
lay in the spot now occupied by the Piazza Capuana.
Evidence for the Roman buildings of Neapolis is more abundant. The
church of S. Paolo Maggiore contains building materials from an earlier temple,
identified by means of an inscription as sacred to the Dioscuri and of the time
of Tiberius, but standing on the site of an older sanctuary. The temple itself
was Corinthian hexastyle. Its front faced S and looked over the decumanus maximus
(Via Tribunali). On the Via Anticaglia, between the Via S. Paolo and the Vico
Giganti, are the remains of a theater, dating to the early empire. The cavea faces
S towards the harbor and has a diameter of some 102 m. Beneath the level of the
Early Christian basilica under San Lorenzo Maggiore have been uncovered the foundations
of a large public building of the 1st c. A.D., perhaps the aerarium of the city.
In various locations there are remnants of baths. Roman houses appear at the NE
end of the Corso Umberto I, near the section of wall found there, and in the Via
del Duomo. The cryptoporticus of a villa belonging to the 1st c. A.D. has emerged
in the vicinity of the Via S. Giacomo. The Castel dell'Ovo can be identified with
the site of Lucullus' villa and famous fish ponds (Plin. HN 9.170).
The most direct route from Neapolis to Puteoli (modern Pozzuoli) was
along a coast road named the Via Puteolana. This road passed through the Posillipo
hills by means of a tunnel, the Crypta Neapolitana, located in the region of Mergellina.
The crypta, built by Augustus' architect Cocceius but many times restored and
remodeled, now measures 700 m in length. A second ancient tunnel, now called the
Grotta di Seiano, was built at the extreme tip of the Posillipo promontory. It
led from the villa of Vedius Pollio (later given to Augustus) to the Puteoli road
and is a little larger than the crypta. On the Posillipo itself are the remains
of a small Augustan odeum once connected with a private villa, perhaps Pollio's.
Near the entrance to the crypta is a sepulcher identified by some as the tomb
of Virgil, which according to Donatus (Vita Virg. 36) was located before the second
milestone on the Via Puteolana. Others argue that the present tomb is too far
away and that the second milestone, calculated from the Porta Puteolana, would
lie on the modern Riviera di Chiaia; furthermore, they assert that the present
tomb resembles a family columbarium rather than a poet's sepulcher. The grave,
belonging to the Augustan period, is in the form of a columbarium, built in the
opus caementicium technique. It is circular and stands on a square podium; inside
are ten niches (loculi) for cinerary urns.
The Museo Archeologico Nazionale in Naples off the Piazza Cavour is
one of the finest in Italy and contains extensive collections of mosaics, paintings,
and sculpture.
W.D.E. Coulson, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
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