HANNIBAL (2nd Punic War)

"Hannibal ante portas! – Hannibal at the gates! (Cicero)" By the mid-3rd century BCE, most of Campania was under Roman dominion. Capua, the principal city of Campania, was nearly as significant as Rome and Carthage at the onset of the Second Punic War. The city was capable of providing 30,000 infantry and 4,000 cavalry.

Capua remained loyal to Rome until the catastrophic defeat at Cannae (August 2, 216 BCE). Following this, after its unsuccessful demand to have one of the consuls consistently chosen from its ranks, Capua switched allegiance to Hannibal, who made the city his winter quarters.

In 211 BCE, Rome laid siege to and captured Capua. The city’s aristocracy was massacred, its territory confiscated, and its municipal organization dismantled.