army under Gaius Pontius encamped there just before their great victory over the Romans in the nearby mountain pass called the Caudine Forks (Livy 9.2), whose exact location is disputed. A few years later, the Samnites used Caudium as a place from which to watch the Campanians (Liv. 9.27).

Caudium is not mentioned during the Second Punic War, but the Caudini are repeatedly mentioned. Niebuhr supposed that the city was