The city of Pozzuoli in the province of Naples, southern Italy,
on the gulf of the same name, was founded by the Cumæans, whose
port it became, under the name of Dicæarchia. It was used by the
Carthaginians in the Second Punic War. The Romans took
possession of it, fortified it, and gave it the name of Puteoli.
Hannibal sought in vain to take this place, which became a Roman
colony in 194 B.C. and was thereafter the most important port of
Italy, enjoying exceptional municipal liberties. The harbour was
set off from the sea by a line of pilasters supporting a long
arcade, which was restored later by Antonius Pius. Caligula
connected the ports of Pozzuoli and of Baiæ with a pontoon
bridge. In the third century Pozzuoli fell into decadence. In
410, it was besieged and sacked by Alaric, in 545 by Totila, and
in 715 by Grimoaldo II, Duke of Benevento, who, however, did not
succeed in taking it from its Byzantine masters; in the tenth
century, it was several times the object of Saracen incursions.
In 1014 Pozzuoli