t of the consularis Campaniae and its chief town, though Ausonius puts it behind Mediolanum (Milan) and Aquileia in his ordo nobilium urbium.
Middle Ages
Under Constantine we hear of the foundation of a Christian church in Capua. In 456 it was taken and destroyed by the Vandals under Gaiseric, but must have been soon rebuilt.
During the Gothic War Capua suffered greatly. When the Lombards invaded Italy in the second half of the 6th century, Capua was ravaged; later, it was included in the Duchy of Benevento, and ruled by an official styled gastald.
In 839, the prince of Benevento, Sicard, was assassinated by Radelchis I of Benevento, who took over the throne. Sicard's brother Siconulf was proclaimed independent prince in Salerno and the gastald of Capua declared himself independent.
In 841, the ancient Capua was burned to the ground by a band of Saracens paid by Radelchis, with only the church of Santa Maria Maggiore (founded about 497) remaining. A new city was built in 856, but at some distance from the former site, where another town later appeared under the name of Santa Maria Capua Vetere ("Capua the Old").
Prince Atenulf I conquered Benevento in 900 and united the principalities until 981, when Pandulf Ironhead separated in his will for his children. Capua eclipsed Benevento thereafter and became the chief rival of Salerno. Under Pandulf IV, the principality brought in the aid of the Normans and, for a while had the loyalty of Rainulf Drengot, until the latter abandoned him to aid the deposed Sergius IV of Naples take back his city, annexed by Pandulf in 1027.
Upon Pandulf's death, Capua fell to his weaker sons and, in 1058, the city itself fell in a siege to Rainulf's nephew Richard I, who took the title Prince of Aversa. For seven years (1091–1098), Richard II was exiled from his city, but with the aid of his relatives, he retook the city after a siege in 1098. His dynasty lived on as princes of
