(C APUANA ). The city of Capua is situated in the province of
Caserta, Southern Italy. Of Etruscan foundation, it was formerly
known as Volturnum and was capital of Campania Felix . About 424
B.C. it was captured by the Samnites and in 343 B.C. implored
Roman help against its conquerors. During the Second Punic War,
after Hannibal's victory at Cannae (216 B.C.), he and his army
were voluntarily received by Capua, where the Carthaginians
became demoralized by luxurious living. The city was recaptured
by the Romans (211 B.C.), its inhabitants were killed or
enslaved, and the territory declared common land ( ager publicus
). Julius Caesar made Capua a Roman colony under the name Julia
Felix . In A.D. 456 the Vandals under Genseric sacked the city.
During the Gothic war Capua suffered greatly, and similarly a
little later from the Lombards. About 840 it was burned to the
ground by the Saracens, after which it was rebuilt, but at some
distance from the former site, where, however, another city was
built and called