История Неаполя: от древности до современности

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The history of Naples is long and varied, dating to Greek settlements established in the Naples area in the 2nd millennium BC. During the end of the Greek Dark Ages a larger mainland colony – initially known as Parthenope – developed on the Pizzofalcone hill in the 8th century BC, and was refounded as Neapolis in the 6th century BC: it held an important role in Magna Graecia. The Greek culture of Naples was important to later Roman society. When the city became part of the Roman Republic in the central province of the Empire, it was a major cultural centre. It served as the capital of the Duchy of Naples (661–1139), of the Kingdom of Sicily, of the Kingdom of Naples (1282–1816) and finally of the Two Sicilies until the unification of Italy in 1861. The city has seen the rise and fall of several civilisations and cultures, each of which has left traces in its art and architecture, and during the Renaissance and the Enlightenment was a major centre of culture. It was also a capital of the Baroque, beginning with the artist Caravaggio's career in the 17th century, and the artistic revolution he inspired. During the Neapolitan War, the city rebelled against the Bourbon monarchs, spurring the early push towards Italian unification. Today, Naples is part of the Italian Republic, the third largest municipality (central area) by population after Rome and Milan, and has the second or third largest metropolitan area of Italy.

The earliest traces of human habitation date back to the Middle Neolithic period, as evidenced by traces of the Serra d'Alto culture found near the Santa Maria degli Angeli a Pizzofalcone basilica. Traces dating back to the Chalcolithic and Early/Middle Bronze Age were also found in the same area.

The city of Parthenope was founded by Cumae, the earliest Greek city on mainland Italy, at the end of the 8th century BC. Parthenope was named after the siren in Greek mythology, said to have washed ashore at Megaride, having thrown herself into the sea after she failed to bewitch Ulysses with her song. The settlement was built on the Pizzofalcone promontory allowing control of sea traffic in the area. Little archaeology for Parthenope has come to light, but a necropolis of the 7th century BC was discovered in via Nicotera. A ceramics waste dump dated to the Archaic Age was discovered in via Chiatamone where it had slid from the hill of Pizzofalcone. A tuff wall of the 6th c. BC was found in via S. Giacomo, near the town hall, which was a part of the port and may have had both boundary and defensive purposes. When the colony began to be more frequented due to the abundance and amenity of the places, the Cumaens, worried that their city would be abandoned, decided to «destroy» it.

Neapolis (New City) was founded by the Cumaen aristocracy expelled by the tyrant Aristodemus after the victory of Aricia in 507 BC. The oligarchs decided to establish Neapolis as a "second Cumae", similar to the city from which they came; for example, the continuation of cults such as that of Demeter and the faithful resumption of the organisation in phrenias confirm this. This chronology is confirmed by archaeological finds. The original center of Parthenope on the Pizzofalcone hill was simply called Palaipolis (Latin: Palaepolis ), the "old city", and survived as a second peripheral pole of Neapolis. The new city complex was designed on a rectangular grid of streets. It was built on a plateau sloping from north to south which allowed space for a new city. Swamps made routes to the hinterland difficult and prevented its possession of extensive agricultural lands (ager) that most of Campania benefitted from, and made Neapolis focus on the sea and trade for its livelihood. The city eventually became one of the foremost cities of Magna Graecia and long retained its Greek culture even after defeat by the Romans. Neapolis had an acropolis (area of Sant'Aniello in Caponapoli), agora (area of Piazza San Gaetano ) and necropolis (various examples remain, the most famous of which is the necropolis of Castel Capuano). It also eventually had strong walls (5th century), an odeon, a theatre and the temple of the city's patron gods, the Dioscuri.

Neapolis was soon able to replace Cumae in maritime trade and to take control of the stretch of sea from the Cumaean gulf to the Neapolitan gulf. Its commercial success was made possible thanks to the decline of the tyranny of the Deinomenids in Syracuse (466 BC) and the abandonment of Pithecusae (Ischia) by the Syracusan garrison, due to a violent earthquake (or more likely a volcanic eruption of Mount Epomeo). The immediate occupation of Ischia by Neapolis indicates the tensions between the city and the Syracusans. The Athenians soon created a network of commercial relations in the Tyrrhenian sea. Their interest in Campania, but also in Sicily and the Adriatic, was due to the need for foodstuffs especially cereals to satisfy the needs of an increasing population. The results of the Attic presence in the city were numerous: the great development in the port area and even closer ties with centres located in flat areas suitable for the cultivation of wheat (Alifae, Capua, Nola, Cumae, Dicearchia). One obstacle stood between Athens and the thriving Campanian market: the Syracusan attempts to dominate the Tyrrhenian Sea even after the end of tyrants. In 413 BC the Athenian expedition against Syracuse in the Peloponnesian War ended in disaster and together with the plague, which substantially undermined the economy of Attica, relations between Neapolis and Athens underwent an attenuation.

At the end of the 5th century BC the political and social equilibrium of Neapolis was severely threatened by the Samnites, an Oscan speaking tribe expanding towards the more fertile plains. In 423 BC Capua, the great Etruscan stronghold granary, was conquered by the Samnites and the original Oscan speaking citizens were given more freedom. In 421 BC Cumae also had to capitulate after a heavy and bloody siege. Many of its fleeing inhabitants found refuge within the walls of Neapolis who thus paid their debt of gratitude to the founders. Neapolis managed to safeguard its own safety and political sovereignty by admitting the Oscan elites to the main public offices of the city. However, due to this behaviour, Neapolis profoundly damaged its relations with Cumae. In the second half of the 4th century, during the First Samnite War, Neapolis made an alliance with the Samnites against Rome, which had already taken Capua. In 327 the Second Samnite War resulted from tensions which arose from Roman actions in Campania and partly from actions by Neapolis. Although Livy's history may be biased, he said that Neapolis attacked Romans who lived in Campania and, after Rome's request for redress was rebuffed, it declared war and the two consular armies headed for Campania. In 326, after having devastated the Ager Campanus, the Roman army led by the consul Publilius Philo marched on the city and besieged it. In the meantime, about four thousand Samnites and Nolan soldiers had arrived to defend Neapolis. The Romans set up camp between the old and new cities and after a year long siege, betrayal by the Greek citizens led surrender to the Romans. However, Rome left the city with wide autonomy and allowed its customs, its language and its traditions of Greek origin to survive, preferring rather to make a sort of solidarity pact and thus creating what was called foedus Neapolitanum with particular attention to its already strong and important maritime role.