Pando the Rapacious ( it, Pandone il Rapace; died 862 or 863) was the second son of

Landulf I of Capua Landulf I (c. 795 – 843), called the Old, was the first gastald of Capua of his illustrious family, which would rule Capua until 1058. According to the ''Cronaca della dinastia di Capua'', he ruled in Old Capua for twenty five years and four mo ...

and brother of Lando I. When his father died (843), Lando succeeded to the countship, but Pando and their younger brother Landulf were associated as co-rulers (with no real power). In fact, he went to

Salerno Salerno (, , ; nap, label= Salernitano, Saliernë, ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' in Campania (southwestern Italy) and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after ...

, where he became a '' marepaphias'' (or ''marepahissatum''/''marepahis'', a Byzantine function). On Lando's death, his son, Lando II succeeded him, but Pando deposed him in 861 and sent him to govern

Caiazzo Caiazzo (also Cajazzo) (Campanian: ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta (Campania) in Italy. It is located on the right bank of the Volturnus, some northeast of Capua. History The ancient Caiatia was already in the hands of the ...

. In that same year, Pando took the countship of Capua for himself and declared Capua free and independent from Salerno. He did not reign for long, however, and his reign was spent mostly in war for his usurped throne; wars in which he was "rapacious". He destroyed the city of

Caserta Caserta () is the capital of the province of Caserta in the Campania region of Italy. It is an important agricultural, commercial, and industrial ''comune'' and city. Caserta is located on the edge of the Campanian plain at the foot of the Camp ...

(c.863) and captured his nephew Landenulf (Lando II's brother) and forty other ''primarii'' (leading men) of the city. He then built a large, defensive tower around which modern Caserta was built. That tower is now included in the Palazzo della Prefettura, once seat of the counts of Caserta and, later, a royal residence. Pando died in battle and was succeeded by his son Pandenulf, who was deposed, while his younger son Landenulf became bishop of Capua in 879. Pandenulf later became the first of a line of counts of Caserta.

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References

Erchempert Erchempert ( la, Erchempertus) was a Benedictine monk of the Abbey of Monte Cassino in Italy in the final quarter of the ninth century. He chronicled a history of the Lombard Principality of Benevento, in the '' Langobardia Minor'', giving an espec ...

''Historia Langabardorvm Beneventarnorvm''
at

The Latin Library The Latin Library is a website that collects public domain Latin texts. It is run by William L. Carey, adjunct professor of Latin and Roman Law at George Mason University. The texts have been drawn from different sources, are not intended for rese ...

.
Caserta: History, art and culture.
* 860s deaths Pando Lombard warriors Military personnel killed in action 9th-century rulers in Europe 9th-century Lombard people Year of birth unknown {{europe-noble-stub