AMALFI (short) HISTORY

di Lina Fusco

The Greek geographer Strabone  in the I century B.C. states that the coast from Sorrento to Paestum was completely uninhabited, with the exception of Etruscan Marcina, the present day Vietri sul Mare.

 The origin of the name Amalfi is uncertain; here are two  assumptions:

In the I century A.D. found  on a tomb in Benevento  is the mention of “gens Amarfia”,  this could be the proof of an existing Roman family owning a villa on the Coast. Other remains, such as columns and capitals were found in various buildings and are the proof that the first inhabitants were  rich Roman families, who spent some leisure time on the Coast: ”Villa Romana” in Minori is the best  preserved building of the time.

Between the IV and the V century, many Romans left Rome because of the barbarian invasions, one of their first sailing directions was Constantinopole, but they ship wrecked somewhere between Palinuro and Pisciotta, where they founded  Melphes. It wasn’t long before they had to look for a more secure environment and move to the Monti Lattari. Scala was their first settlement. They named  Amalfi (in latin: a  Melphi) one of the towns they founded.

In 596 Pope Gregarious Magnus appointed PIMENIO as first Bishop of Civitas Amalfitana. More than a town, it was a fortress, because the Lombard from Benevento threatened the siege, as Amalfi was part of the Duchy of Naples. In 785  Arechi II sacked some of the villages on the coast. In 839 after the fights with Sicardo, Duke of Benevento, Amalfi declared its independence and became an autonomous republic. The Maritime Republic  of Amalfi was soon to become an important maritime commercial centre, trading with the whole of the Italian peninsula, North Africa, the Middle East and the Byzantine Empire. The Republic bought spices, precious stones, carpets and fabrics from the Arabs and sold them throughout Italy…….

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