Zafrel After 8pm.....Live For Love

Naples in the Ancient Era and in Late Antiquity

Pictures of Naples, pls check here
Everything in Naples--the buildings, museums and even the language spoken by the natives--bear traces of all the periods in its history, from its Greek birth until the present day.

The first settlers in the future Naples were Greek sailors from Rhodos who founded the merchant colony called Parthenope on tiny Megaride island and the neighbouring Pizzofalcone hill. Parthenope was named after the siren in Greek mythology said to have washed ashore at Megaride after throwing herself into the sea when she failed to bewitch Ulysses with her song. The island is the site of the more modern Castel dell'Ovo, "Egg Castle").

Around the 5th century BC, the area was occupied by inhabitants of the Greek colony of Cuma, who displaced the original inhabitants to the east where they founded Neapolis (meaning "New City" in the Greek language). The original Parthenope came to be called, simply, "old city"--Palaepolis. The two separate cities grew into a single unit in the third century, BC. Neapolis had a powerful line of walls, in front of which the Carthaginian invader Hannibal had to retreat when the city was allied with the Romans. Other features were an odeon and a theatre, plus the temple of Castor and Pollux, the Dioscures, the city's gods. Although conquered by the Romans in the 4th century BC, Naples long retained its Greek culture. (It is significant that modern Neapolitans may still refer to themselves as "Parthenopeans".)

In the Roman era the city was a flourishing centre of Hellenistic culture that attracted Romans wanting to perfect their knowledge of Greek culture. The pleasant climate made it a renowned pleasure resort, as recounted by Virgil and manifested by the number of luxurious villas that dotted the coast from the Gulf of Pozzuoli to the Sorrentine peninsula. The famous district of Posillipo takes is name from the ruins of Villa Pausilypon, meaning, in Greek, is "a pause or respite from worry". Romans connected the city to the rest of Italy with their famous roads, excavated galleries to link Naples to Pozzuoli, enlarged the port, and added public baths and aqueducts for the wellbeing of yjr proplr. This improved greatly the quality of life in Naples. The city was also celebrated for its many feasts and spectacles.

According to legend St. Peter and St. Paul themselves were in the city to preach. Christians had a prominent role in the late years of the Roman Empire. The subterranean areas of Naples include notable catacombs, especially in the northern part of the city. The first paleo-Christian basilicas were built next to the entrances of the catacombs The greatly popular patron of the city, San Gennaro (St. Januarius), was decapitated here in 305 AD, and since the 5th century he is commemorated by the basilica of San_Gennaro_extra_Moenia. The Cathedral of Naples, as well, is dedicated to the patron saint.

It was in Naples, in Lucullus' villa in what is now Castel dell'Ovo, that Romulus Augustus, the last Emperor of the Western Roman Empire, was imprisoned after being deposed in 476. Naples suffered much during the Gothic Wars between Ostrogoths and Byzantines in the sixth century: in 542 it fell to the troops of Totila but not much later became Greek once again. When the Lombards invaded and conquered much of Italy in the following years, Naples remained loyal to the Byzantines.

For more details, you can read at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Naples

posted by Love Is Love @ 12:27 AM