Suessula Suessula ( Greek : ) was an ancient city of Campania , southern Italy , situated in the interior of the peninsula , near the frontier with Samnium , between Capua and Nola , and about 7 km northeast of Acerrae , Suessula is now a vanished city and the archeological site belongs to the city of Acerra , and not to San Felice a Cancello as reported in some sources . Location : 40°59 ' 23 . 47 " N 14°23 ' 53 . 41 " E History . Ancient . Suessula is repeatedly mentioned dining the wars between Romans and Samnites , as well as in the Second Punic War against Hannibal . Thus in the First Samnite War ( 343 BC ) it was the scene of a decisive victory by Marcus Valerius Corvus over the Samnites , who had gathered together the remains of their army which had been previously defeated at Mount Gaurus ( Livy vii . 37 ) . In the following Campanian War the Suessulani followed the fortunes of the citizens of Capua , and shared the same fate , so that at the close of the contest , in 338 BC , they must have obtained the status of " civitas " , but without the right of suffrage ( " Id . " viii . 14 ) . In the Second Punic War the city played a considerable part , though apparently more from its position than its own importance . Suessula was on the line of the Via Popillia , which was here intersected by a road which ran from Neapolis through Acerrae , and on to the Via Appia , which it reached just west of the Caudine pass . The line of hills which rises from the level plain of Campania immediately above Suessula , and forms a kind of prolongation of the ridge of Mount Tifata , was a station almost as convenient as that mountain itself , and in 216 BCE , it was occupied by M . Claudius Marcellus with the view of protecting Nola , and watching the operations of Hannibal against that city ( Liv . xxiii . 14 , 17 ) . From this time the Romans seem to have kept up a permanent camp there for some years , which was known as the Castra Claudiana , from the name of Marcellus who had first established it , and which is continually alluded to during the operations of the subsequent campaigns ( Liv . xxiil . 31 , xxiv . 46 , 47 , xxv . 7 , 22 , xxvi . 9 ) . After this period , Suessula fades into obscurity . It continued to be a municipal town of Campania , though apparently one of a secondary class ; and inscriptions attest its municipal rank under the Roman Empire . It had received a body of veterans as colonists under Sulla , but did not attain the colonial rank ( Strabo v . p . 249 ; Plin . iii . 5 . s . 9 ; Orell . " Inscr . " 129 , 130 , 2333 ; " Lib . Col . " p . 237 ) . The Tabula Peutingeriana places it on a line of road from Capua to Nola , at the distance of 9 miles from each of those cities ( Tab . Peut ) . Middle Ages and modern . Suessula was an episcopal see in the first ages of Christianity , until at least the 10th century . It was for a time the chief town of a small Lombard League principality . It was several times plundered by the Saracens , and at last abandoned by the inhabitants in consequence of the malaria . The ruins of the town lie within the Bosco d ' Acerra , a picturesque forest , about 7 km south of Maddaloni , and an adjacent castle is still called " Torre di Sessola " . They were more conspicuous in the 8th century than they now are , but traces of the theater may still be seen , and debris of other buildings . Oscan tomb s were excavate d there between 1878 and 1886 , and important finds of vase s and bronzes have been made . The dead were generally buried within slabs of tuff arranged to form a kind of sarcophagus . Inscriptions , as well as capitals of columns and other architectural fragments , have been found there ( Francesco Maria Pratilli , " Via Appia " , iii . 3 . p . 347 ; Romanelli , vol . iii . p . 590 ) .