The Oscan language remained in use in the south of Campania (Pompeii, Nola, Nuceria) at all events until the Social War, but at some date soon after that Latin became general, except in Neapolis, where Greek was the official language during the whole of the imperial period.
See J. Beloch, Campanien (2nd ed., Breslau, 1890); Conway, Italic Dialects, pp. 51-57; Ch. Hulsen in Pauly-Wissowa, Realencyklopadie, iii. (Stuttgart, 1899), 1434.
II. Campania in the modern sense includes a considerably larger area than the ancient name, inasmuch as to the compartimento of Campania belong the five provinces of Caserta, Benevento, Naples, Avellino and Salerno.
It is bounded on the north by the provinces of Rome, Aquila (Abruzzi) and Campobasso (Molise), on the north-east by that of Foggia (Apulia), on the east by that of Potenza (Basilicata) and on the south and west by the Tyrrhenian Sea. The area is 6289 sq. m. It thus includes the whole of the ancient Campania, a considerable portion of Samnium (with a part of the main chain of the Apennines) and of Lucania, and some of Latium adjectum, consisting thus of a mountainous district, the greater part of which lies on the Mediterranean side of the watershed, with the extraordinarily fertile and populous Campanian plain (Terra di Lavoro, with 473 inhabitants to the square mile) between the mountains and the sea. The principal rivers are the Garigliano or Liri (anc. Liris), which rises in the Abruzzi (105 m. in length); the Volturno (94 m. in length), with its tributary the Calore; the Sarno, which rises near Sarno and waters the fertile plain south-east of Vesuvius; and the Sele, whose main tributary is the Tanagro, which is in turn largely fed by another Calore. The headwaters of the Sele have been tapped for the great aqueduct for the Apulian provinces.
The coast-line begins a little east of Terracina at the lake of Fondi with a low-lying, marshy district (the ancient Ager Caecubus), renowned for its wine (see [Fondi]). The mountains (of the ancient Aurunci) then come down to the sea, and on the east side of the extreme promontory to the south-east is the port of Gaeta, a strongly fortified naval station. The east side of the Gulf of Gaeta is occupied by the marshes at the mouth of the Liri, and the low sandy coast, with its unhealthy lagoons, continues (interrupted only by the Monte Massico, which reaches the sea at Mondragone) past the mouth of the Volturno, as far as the volcanic district (no longer active) with its several extinct craters (now small lakes, the Lacus Avernus, &c.) to the west of Naples, which forms the north-west extremity of the Bay of Naples. Here the scenery completely changes: the Bay of Naples, indeed, is one of the most beautiful in the world. The island of Procida lies 2½ m. south-west of the Capo Miseno, and 3 m. south-west of Procida is that of Ischia. In consequence of the volcanic character of the district there are several important mineral springs which are used medicinally, especially at Pozzuoli, Castellammare di Stabia, and on the island of Ischia.
Pozzuoli (anc. Puteoli), the most important harbour of Italy in the 1st century b.c., is now mainly noticeable for the large armour-plate and gun works of Messrs Armstrong, and for the volcanic earth (pozzolana) which forms so important an element in concrete and cement, and is largely quarried near Rome also. Naples, on the other hand, is one of the most important harbours of modern Italy. Beyond it, Torre del Greco and Torre Annunziata at the foot of Vesuvius, are active trading ports for smaller vessels, especially in connexion with macaroni, which is manufactured extensively by all the towns along the bay. Castellammare di Stabia, on the west coast of the gulf, has a large naval shipbuilding yard and an important harbour. Beyond Castellammare the promontory of Sorrento, ending in the Punta della Campanella (from which Capri is 3 m. south-west) forms the south-west extremity of the gulf. The highest point of this mountain ridge, which is connected with the main Apennine chain, is the Monte S. Angelo (4735 ft.). It extends as far east as Salerno, where the coast plain of the Sele begins. As in the low marshy ground at the mouths of the Liri and Volturno, malaria is very prevalent. The south-east extremity of the Gulf of Salerno is formed by another mountain group, culminating in the Monte Cervati (6229 ft.); and on the east side of this is the Gulf of Policastro, where the province of Salerno, and with it Campania, borders, on the province of Potenza.
The population of Campania was 3,080,503 in 1901; that of the province of Caserta was 705,412, with a total of 187 communes, the chief towns being Caserta (32,709), Sta Maria Capua Vetere (21,825), Maddaloni (20,682), Sessa Aurunca (21,844); that of the province of Benevento was 256,504, with 73 communes, the only important town being Benevento itself (24,647); that of the province of Naples 1,151,834, with 69 communes, the most important towns being Naples (563,540), Torre del Greco (33,299), Castellammare di Stabia (32,841), Torre Annunziata (28,143), Pozzuoli (22,907); that of the province of Avellino (Principato Ulteriore in the days of the Neapolitan kingdom) 402,425, with 128 communes, the chief towns being Avellino (23,760) and Ariano di Puglia (17,650); that of the province of Salerno (Principato Citeriore) 564,328, with 158 communes, the chief towns being Salerno (42,727), Cava dei Tirreni (23,681), Nocera Inferiore (19,796). Naples is the chief railway centre: a main line runs from Rome through Roccasecca (whence there is a branch via Sora to Avezzano, on the railway from Rome to Castellammare Adriatico), Caianello (junction for Isernia, on the line between Sulmona and Campobasso or Benevento), Sparanise (branch to Formia and Gaeta) and Caserta to Naples. From Caserta, indeed, there are two independent lines to Naples, while a main line runs to Benevento and Foggia across the Apennines. From Benevento railways run north to Vinchiaturo (for Isernia or Campobasso) and south to Avellino. From Cancello, a station on one of the two lines from Caserta to Naples, branches run to Torre Annunziata, and to Nola, Codola, Mercato, San Severino and Avellino. Naples, besides the two lines to Caserta (and thence either to Rome or Benevento), has local lines to Pozzuoli and Torregaveta (for Ischia) and two lines to Sarno, one via Ottaiano, the other via Pompeii, which together make up the circum-Vesuvian electric line, and were in connexion with the railway to the top of Vesuvius until its destruction in April 1906. The main line for southern Italy passes through Torre Annunziata (branch for Castellammare di Stabia and Gragnano), Nocera (branch for Codola), Salerno (branch for Mercato San Severino), and Battipaglia. Here it divides, one line going east-south-east to Sicignano (branch to Lagonegro), Potenza and Metaponto (for Taranto and Brindisi or the line along the east coast of Calabria to Reggio), the other going south-south-east along the west coast of Calabria to Reggio.
Industrial activity is mainly concentrated in Naples, Pozzuoli and the towns between Naples and Castellammare di Stabia (including the latter) on the north-east shores of the Bay of Naples. The native peasant industries are (besides agriculture, for which see [Italy]) the manufacture of pottery and weaving with small hand-looms, both of which are being swept away by the introduction of machinery; but a government school of textiles has been established at Naples for the encouragement of the trade.
(T. As.)