Pozzuoli
City and comune of the Metropolitan City of Naples, in the Italian region of Campania
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Key Takeaways
- Pozzuoli ( Italian: [potˈtswɔːli] ; Neapolitan: Pozzule [pətˈtsuːlə] ; Latin: Puteoli ) is a city and comune (municipality) of the Metropolitan City of Naples, in the Italian region of Campania.
- History Antiquity Pozzuoli began as the Greek colony of Dicaearchia (Greek: Δικαιαρχία ) founded in about 531 BC in Magna Graecia with the consent of nearby Cumae when refugees from Samos escaped from the tyranny of Polycrates.
- It enjoyed considerable political and commercial autonomy favoured by the excellent position of its port with the Campanian hinterland.
- During the Second Punic War (218–201 BC), Rome recognised the strategic importance of the port of Puteoli and reinforced the defences and introduced a garrison to protect the town from Hannibal, who failed to capture it in 215.
- The Roman conquest of the east and the need for a port to trade made it the Mediterranean port of Rome, even though it was 150 miles away.
Pozzuoli (Italian: [potˈtswɔːli]; Neapolitan: Pozzule [pətˈtsuːlə]; Latin: Puteoli) is a city and comune (municipality) of the Metropolitan City of Naples, in the Italian region of Campania. It is the main city of the Phlegrean Peninsula.
History
Antiquity
Pozzuoli began as the Greek colony of Dicaearchia (Greek: Δικαιαρχία) founded in about 531 BC in Magna Graecia with the consent of nearby Cumae when refugees from Samos escaped from the tyranny of Polycrates.
The Samnites occupied Dicaearchia in 421 BC after conquering Cumae and may have changed its name to Fistelia. It enjoyed considerable political and commercial autonomy favoured by the excellent position of its port with the Campanian hinterland. The Roman occupation of Campania after the end of the 1st Samnite War from 341 BC marked the start of the Romanisation of the Greek-Samnite city.
During the Second Punic War (218–201 BC), Rome recognised the strategic importance of the port of Puteoli and reinforced the defences and introduced a garrison to protect the town from Hannibal, who failed to capture it in 215. They made it a Roman colony from 195 BC. The Roman conquest of the east and the need for a port to trade made it the Mediterranean port of Rome, even though it was 150 miles away. It took the name Puteoli whose roots are in the Latin puteus (well or cistern). An alternative etymology of Puteoli derives from the Latin puteo (to stink), referring to the sulfuric fumes in the area, most notably from Solfatara.
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