Cales

Cales was an ancient Aurunci city in northern Campania, on the Via Latina at modern Calvi Risorta. Archaeological evidence reveals Iron Age proto-urban settlement with contacts extending to Etruscan and Magna Grecian cultures. Conquered by Rome in 335 BC under Marcus Valerius Corvus, it became a Latin colony of 2,500 citizens and a key military stronghold controlling routes between Latium and Samnium. Cales gained fame for its black-glazed pottery (vasi caleni), exported across the Mediterranean from c. 250 to 180 BC. Substantial Roman remains survive, including a theater, amphitheater, and thermal complex at Arco d'Orlando.