Aeculanum

Aeculanum was an ancient city of the Samnite Hirpini, situated in the middle Calore valley at the intersection of the Via Appia and the Via Herdonitana, roughly 22 kilometers southeast of Beneventum. In 89 BC the Roman general Sulla captured it during the Social War and incorporated it as a municipium; it was later elevated to the status of colonia Aelia Augusta under imperial rule. In late antiquity the city became an episcopal see, most famously associated with Julian of Eclanum, a 5th-century theologian and outspoken opponent of Augustine of Hippo. The archaeological site near modern Mirabella Eclano in the province of Avellino preserves street grids, the outlines of thermal baths, and stretches of the city wall — a layered record of Samnite, Roman, and early Christian occupation.