Pagani, Campania


Pagani is a town and comune in Campania, Italy, administratively part of the Province of Salerno, in the region known as Agro Nocerino Sarnese. Pagani has a population of 35,834, as of 2016.

History

In the period before the Roman supremacy in southern Italy, Taurania appears to have been the chief town in the valley of the Sarnus, Herculaneum, Pompeii, Stabiae and Surrentum all being dependent upon it.
It maintained its allegiance to Rome till 309 BC when it joined the revolted Samnites.
In 308 BC it repulsed a Roman attempt to land at the mouth of the Sarnus, but in 307 BC it was besieged and surrendered. Under Romans it was named Barbatianus.
It obtained favourable terms, and remained faithful to Rome even after Cannae.
Hannibal reduced it in 216 BC by starvation, and destroyed the town. The inhabitants returned when peace was restored. Even during the Social War it remained true to Rome. In 73 BC it was plundered by Spartacus.
In the Middle Ages a small colony of Saracens was actually introduced in the town by permission of the Dukes of Naples, but it lasted only a few decades.
It was united to Nocera Inferiore, and it took the name of Nuceria Paganorum, by the Pagans, a noble family living in the castle of Curtis in Plano, in the nowadays Pagani.

Churches and religion

Pagani is home to some well-known churches and basilica, including:
The town is home to the Italian third-division Serie C football club, Paganese Calcio 1926, whose home ground is the 6,000-seat Stadio Marcello Torre.