Le antichità di Benevento fra identità pubblica e tradizione antiquaria
In: Studi e Ricerche del Parco Archeologico di Pompei: 43, 2020
DOI: 10.48255/1194
During the eighteenth century the small enclave of the Pontifical Deputation of Benevento entered into political conflict with the Kingdom of Naples, but developed historical interests stimulated by a group of ecclesiastics linked to the need to justify the political separation from the Kingdom and the union with Rome, in sign of an ideal continuity between the Samnites, the Lombards and the Papal Government. The cohesion of this group of scholars, close to the Church and mostly coming from families related to one another, produced a peculiar phenomenon: the transmission of research and work notebooks between the different generations, which constantly took them up again to update and adapt them, transforming them into a sort of collective work carried out for a century and a half. These include the secretary Orazio de Pompei, the doctor Giuseppe Pacca, the archbishop Francesco Pacca, the canon Giovanni De Vita, the governor Stefano Borgia and the marquis Giovan Battista Pedicini, an antiquarian figure and collector ignored until now.