CAMPANIA, a territorial division of Italy. The modern district (II. below) is of much greater extent than that known by the name in ancient times.
I. Campani was the Roman name for inhabitants first of the town of Capua and its district and then for inhabitants of the Campanian plain. The name is pre-Roman and appears with Oscan terminations on coins of the early 4th (or late 5th) century B.C. struck for or by the Samnite conquerors of Campania, whom the name properly denotes, a branch of the great Sabelline stock (see SABINI). We know from Strabo and others that the Sam nites deprived the Etruscans of the mastery of Campania in the last quarter of the 5th century. Cumae was taken by them in 428 or 421, Nola about the same time, and the Samnite language they spoke, henceforward known as Oscan, spread over all Cam pania except the Greek cities, though Etruscans remained here and there for at least another century. The mountain warriors took over many Etruscan customs; the haughtiness and luxury of the men of Capua was proverbial at Rome. This town became the ally of Rome in 338 B.C. By the end of the 4th century Campania was completely Roman politically. Certain towns with their territories (Neapolis, Nola, Abella, Nuceria) were nominally independent in alliance with Rome. These towns were faithful to Rome throughout the Hannibalic war. But Capua and the towns dependent on it revolted; after its capture in 211 Capua was utterly destroyed. See R. S. Conway, Italic Dialects (1897) ; J. Beloch, Campanien (2nd ed. Breslau 189o).
The name Campania, first formed by Greeks from Campani, was not in common use until the middle of the 1st century A.D. Polybius and Diodorus avoid it entirely. Varro and Livy use it sparingly, preferring Campanus ager. Polybius (2nd century B.C.) uses the phrase na irehta re, Kara Kairvsv to express the district bounded on the north by the mountains of the Aurunci, on the east by the Apennines of Samnium, on the south by the spur of these mountains which ends in the peninsula of Sorrento, and on the south and west by the sea, and this is what Campania meant to Pliny and Ptolemy. The geographers of the time of Augustus (in whose division of Italy Campania, with Latium, formed the first region) carried the north boundary of Campania as far south as Sinuessa, and even the river Volturnus, while farther inland the modern village of San Pietro in Fine preserves the memory of the north-east boundary which ran between Venafrum and Cas inum. On the east the valley of Volturnus and the foot-hills of the Apennines as far as Abellinum formed the boundary ; this town is sometimes reckoned as belonging to Campania, some times to Samnium. The south boundary remained unchanged. From the time of Diocletian onwards the name Campania was extended much farther north, and included the whole of Latium. This district was governed by a corrector, who about A.D. 333 re ceived the title of consularis. It is for this reason that the district round Rome still bears the name of Campagna di Roma. Cam pania, consisting mainly of a very fertile plain with hills on the north, east and south, and the sea on the south and west, is traversed by two great rivers, the Liris (mod. Garigliano, 105 m. long) and Volturnus (mod. Volturno, 94 m. long) divided by the Mons Massicus, which comes right down to the sea at Sinuessa. The plain at the mouth of the former is comparatively small, while that traversed by the Volturnus is the main plain of Campania. Both of these rivers rise in the central Apennines, and only smaller streams, such as the Sarnus (mod. Sarno) which waters the fertile plain south-east of Vesuvius, Sebethus, Savo, belong entirely to Campania.
The road system of Campania was extremely well developed and touched all the important towns ; it is now followed by rail ways. The most important road centre of Campania was Capua, at the east edge of the plain. At Casilinum, 3 m. to the north west, was the only bridge over the Volturnus until the construc tion of the Via Domitiana; and here met the Via Appia, passing through Minturnae, Sinuessa and Pons Campanus (where it crossed the Savo) and the Via Latina which ran through Teanum, Sidicinum and Cales. At Calatia, 6 m. south-east of Capua, the Via Appia began to turn east and to approach the mountains on its way to Beneventum, while the Via Popilia went straight on to Nola (whence a road ran to Abella and Abellinum) and thence to Nuceria Alfaterna and the south, terminating at Regium. From Capua itself a road ran north to Vicus Dianae, Caiatia and Telesia, while to the south the so-called Via Campana (there is no ancient warrant for the name) led to Puteoli, with a branch to Cumae, Baiae and Misenum : there was also connection between Cumae, Puteoli and Neapolis, and another road to Atella and Neapolis. Neapolis could also be reached by a branch from the Via Popilia at Suessula, which passed through Acerrae. From Suessula, too, there was a short cut to the Via Appia before it actually entered the mountains. Domitian further improved the communications of this district with Rome, by the construction of the Via Domi tiana, which diverged from the Via Appia at Sinuessa, and fol lowed the low sandy coast ; it crossed the river Volturnus at Volturnum, near its mouth, by a bridge, which must have been a considerable undertaking, and then ran, still along the shore, past Liternum to Cumae and thence to Puteoli. Here it fell into the existing roads to Neapolis, the older Via Antiniana over the hills, at the back, and the newer, dating from the time of Agrippa, through the tunnel of Pausilypon and along the coast. The mileage in both cases was reckoned from Puteoli. Beyond Naples a road led along the coast through Herculaneum to Pompeii, where there was a branch for Stabiae and Surrentum, and thence to Nuceria, where it joined the Via Popilia. From Nuceria, which was an im portant road centre, a direct road ran to Stabiae, while from Salernum, I I m. farther south-east but outside the limits of Campania proper, a road ran due north to Abellinum and thence to Aeclanum or Beneventum. Teanum was another important centre : it lay at the point where the Via Latina was crossed at right angles by a road leaving the Via Appia at Minturnae, and passing through Suessa Aurunca, while east of Teanum it ran on to Allifae, and there fell into the road from Venafrum to Telesia. Five miles north of Teanum a road branched off to Venafrum from the straight course of the Via Latina, and rejoined it near Ad Flexum (San Pietro in Fine). It is, indeed, probable that the original road made the detour by Venafrum, in order to give a direct communication between Rome and the interior of Samnium (inasmuch as roads ran from Venafrum to Aesernia and to Telesia by way of Allifae), but it is difficult to believe that the short cut through Rufrae (San Felice a Ruvo) was not used in ancient times. The 4th and 3rd century coins of Telesia, Allifae and Aesernia are all of the Campanian type.
Puteoli, the chief ancient harbour, was most important in the 2nd—I st century B.C. The harbours constructed by Augustus by connecting the Lacus Avernus and Lacus Lucrinus with the sea, and that at Misenum (the latter the station of one of the chief divisions of the Roman navy, the other fleet being stationed at Ravenna), were mainly naval. Naples also had a considerable trade, but was less important than Puteoli.
The fertility of the Campanian plain was famous in ancient as in modern times; the best portion was the Campi Laborini or Leborini (called Phlegraei by the Greeks and Terra di Lavoro in modern times) between the roads from Capua to Puteoli and Cumae. The loose black volcanic earth (terra pulla) was easier to work than the stiffer Roman soil, and gave three or four crops a year. The spelt, wheat and millet are especially mentioned, as also fruit and vegetables ; and the roses supplied the perfume factories of Capua. The wines of the Mons Massicus and of the Ager Falernus (the flat ground to the east and south-east of it) were the most sought after, though other districts also produced good wine; but the olive was better suited to the slopes than to the plain, though that of Venafrum was good. The Oscan lan guage remained in use in the south of Campania (Pompeii, Nola, Nuceria) at all events until the Social War, but at some date soon after that Latin became general, except in Neapolis, where Greek was the official language during the whole of the imperial period.
II. Campania in the modern sense includes a considerably larger area than the ancient name, inasmuch as to the comyartimento of Campania belong the four provinces of Benevento, Naples, Avel lino and Salerno, that of Caserta having been absorbed partly by Naples and partly by Rome. It is bounded on the north by the provinces of Frosinone and Rome (Lazio), Aquila (Abruzzi) and Campobasso (Molise), on the north-east by that of Foggia (Apulia), on the east by that of Potenza (Basilicata) and on the south and west by the Tyrrhenian Sea. The area is 5,364 square miles. It thus includes the whole of ancient Campania, a con siderable portion of Samnium (with a part of the main chain of the Apennines) and of Lucania, while towards Lazio the boundary is now as it was in ancient times, consisting thus of a mountain ous district, the greater part of which lies on the Mediterranean side of the watershed, with the extraordinarily fertile and popu lous Campanian plain between the mountains and the sea. The low sandy coast, with its lagoons, begins at the mouth of the Liris, and continues (interrupted only by the Monte Massico, which reaches the sea at Mondragone) past the mouth of the Volturno (where important schemes of drainage and reclamation are in progress, extending to Licola) as far as the volcanic dis trict (no longer active) with its several extinct craters to the west of Naples, which forms the north-west extremity of the Bay of Naples. In consequence of the volcanic character of the district there are several important mineral springs which are used medicinally, especially at Pozzuoli, Castellammare di Stabia, and on the island of Ischia.
Pozzuoli (anc. Puteoli) the most important harbour of Italy in the I st century B.C., is now of small consequence; while Naples is one of the most important harbours of modern Italy, and the cotton-spinning and weaving industry has taken firm root, as also the perfume industry. Beyond it, Torre del Greco and Torre Annunziata, at the foot of Vesuvius, are active trading ports for smaller vessels. Castellammare di Stabia, on the west coast of the gulf, has a large naval shipbuilding yard. Beyond Castellam mare the promontory of Sorrento, ending in the Punta della Campanella (from which Capri is 3 m. south-west) forms the south-west extremity of the gulf. The highest point of this mountain ridge, which is connected with the main Apennine chain, is the Monte S. Angelo (4735 ft.). It extends as far east as Salerno, where the coast plain of the Sele begins. The south-east extremity of the Gulf of Salerno is formed by another mountain group, culminating in the Monte Cervati (6,229 ft.) ; and on the east side of this is the Gulf of Policastro, where the province of Salerno, and with it Campania, borders on the province of Po tenza. The population (I 93I) is Naples is the chief railway centre : the new main line from Rome runs by Formia and along the coast to Villa Literno, where it turns inland to Aversa, with a branch to Pozzuoli; while the older line runs from Rome through Roccasecca (whence there is a branch via Sora to Avezzano, on the railway from Rome to Castellammare Adriatico), Caianello (junction for Isernia, on the line between Sulmona and Campobasso or Benevento), Sparanise (branch to Formia and Gaeta) and Caserta to Naples. From Caserta, indeed, there are two independent lines to Naples, while a main line runs to Benevento and Foggia across the Apennines. From Benevento railways run north to Vinchiaturo (for Isernia or Campobasso) and south to Avellino. From Cancello, a station on one of the two lines from Caserta to Naples, a branch runs to Torre Annunziata, and another to Avellino. Naples, besides the two lines to Caserta (and thence either to Rome or Benevento), has local lines to Pozzuoli and Torregaveta (for Ischia) and two lines to Sarno, one via Ottaiano, the other via Pompeii, which together make up the circum-Vesuvian electric line and are in connection with the railway to the top of Vesuvius. The main line for southern Italy passes through Torre Annunziata (branch for Castellammare di Stabia and Gragnano), Nocera (branch for Codola), Salerno (branch for Mercato San Severino) and Bat tipaglia. Here it divides, one line going east-south-east to Sicig nano (branch to Lagonegro), Potenza and Metaponto (for Taranto and Brindisi or the line along the east coast of Calabria to Reggio), the other going south-south-east along the west coast of Calabria to Reggio. Industrial activity is mainly concentrated in Naples, Pozzuoli and the towns between Naples and Castellammare di Stabia (including the latter) on the east shore of the Bay of Naples.