The history of Benevento is connected to the victory of the Romans against Phyrrus, king of Epirus, defeated in 414 B.C. in the area of Maleventum ( bad event), the name of which was changed by the Romans to Beneventum (good event), to remember their victorious military campaign.

Benevento holds precious monuments of the Roman era like the Trajan’s Arch, one of the best preserved in the world, under which the Trajan Street, an extension of the Appia way, passed joining Rom to Brindisi. The decorative panels of the Arch, built between 114 and 117 A.D., are richly sculptured and testify to remember the victorious campaigns of the Emperor Trajan, under whom the Roman Empire reached its greatest extension.

The Appia Way crosses the Sabato river passing over the Leproso Bridge, a five arches bridge, which still keeps its ancient structure.

Certainly noteworthy is the Roman Theatre, built by Adrian and enlarged by Caracalla between the 200 and the 210 A.D.

The Romanic church of Saint Sofia, built in the VIII century by the Longobards, is a unique example of middle-age architecture including its cloister, rich with symbolic decorations.

The Fortress of the Rectors should be mentioned: it was built in 1321 by the Anjou, modelled after the one of Avignon.

The Samnite Museum of Benevento keeps pre-Roman and Roman finds and various Egyptian statues collected by Domitian.