Gregory III (died March 870), eldest son of

Sergius I of Naples Sergius I (died 864) was the first duke of Naples of his dynasty, often dubbed the "Sergi," which ruled over Naples for almost three centuries from his accession in 840 until the death of his namesake Sergius VII in 1137. Sergius was originally t ...

and Drusa, was the

duke of Naples The Dukes of Naples were the military commanders of the ''ducatus Neapolitanus'', a Byzantine outpost in Italy, one of the few remaining after the conquest of the Lombards. In 661, Emperor Constans II, highly interested in south Italian affairs (h ...

as co-regent with his father from 850 and as successor to his father from his father's death in 864 to his own some six years later. He was recorded as a man of learning, fluent in both

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

and

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

. During his tenure, his brothers played a significant role.

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caes ...

was his admiral,

Athanasius Athanasius I of Alexandria, ; cop, ⲡⲓⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ ⲁⲑⲁⲛⲁⲥⲓⲟⲩ ⲡⲓⲁⲡⲟⲥⲧⲟⲗⲓⲕⲟⲥ or Ⲡⲁⲡⲁ ⲁⲑⲁⲛⲁⲥⲓⲟⲩ ⲁ̅; (c. 296–298 – 2 May 373), also called Athanasius the Great, ...

was bishop of the city, and Stephen was

bishop of Sorrento The Italian Catholic Archdiocese of Sorrento-Castellammare di Stabia ( la, Archidioecesis Surrentina-Castri Maris o Stabiensis) in Campania, has existed in its current form since 1986. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Naples, having lost i ...

. Sergius, their father, allied with Landulf, the

gastald A gastald (Latin ''gastaldus'' or ''castaldus''; Italian ''gastaldo'' or ''guastaldo'') was a Lombard official in charge of some portion of the royal demesne (a gastaldate, ''gastaldia'' or ''castaldia'') with civil, martial, and judicial powers. ...

Suessola Suessula (Greek: ) was an ancient city of Campania, southern Italy, situated in the interior of the peninsula, near the frontier with Samnium, between Capua and Nola, and about 7 km northeast of Acerrae, Suessula is now a vanished city and t ...

and Sessa There are two places called Sessa in

Campania Campania (, also , , , ) is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islands and the i ...

, namely Sessa Aurunca and

Sessa Cilento Sessa Cilento (from Greek ''Σύεσσα'' - ''Syessa'') is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-western Italy. Geography Sessa Cilento is located in Cilento and in its National Park. borders with the m ...

. The former is considerably the larger of the two (15 times the population), has a history dating back to pre-Roman times. and is the seat of a bishopric; it seems the more likely place. and son of Lando I,

Count of Capua This is a list of the rulers of the Principality of Capua. Lombard rulers of Capua Gastalds and counts The gastalds (or counts) of Capua were vassals of the princes of Benevento until the early 840s, when Gastald Landulf began to clamour for the ...

. In 859, Gregory received the Byzantine title of ''

magister militum (Latin for "master of soldiers", plural ) was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine the Great. The term referred to the senior military officer (equivalent to a war theatre commander, ...

''. In May that year, a massive joint expedition of

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 ...

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, and

Amalfi Amalfi (, , ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno, in the region of Campania, Italy, on the Gulf of Salerno. It lies at the mouth of a deep ravine, at the foot of Monte Cerreto (1,315 metres, 4,314 feet), surrounded by dramatic c ...

marched on

Capua Capua ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, in the region of Campania, southern Italy, situated north of Naples, on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain. History Ancient era The name of Capua comes from the Etrusc ...

, led by Caesar and Gregory, and their brother-in-law of Suessola. Lando I was in a paralysis at that time and his son Lando II took up arms to defend the city. He defeated the forces sent against them, numbering some 7,000, at the bridge of Teodemondo over the

Volturno The Volturno (ancient Latin name Volturnus, from ''volvere'', to roll) is a river in south-central Italy. Geography It rises in the Abruzzese central Apennines of Samnium near Castel San Vincenzo (province of Isernia, Molise) and flows southeas ...

. Caesar was captured with 800 soldiers and led back to Capua in a triumph.

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 ...

places the battle on 8 May, the day of

Michael the Archangel Michael (; he, מִיכָאֵל, lit=Who is like El od, translit=Mīḵāʾēl; el, Μιχαήλ, translit=Mikhaḗl; la, Michahel; ar, ميخائيل ، مِيكَالَ ، ميكائيل, translit=Mīkāʾīl, Mīkāl, Mīkhāʾīl), also ...

, whose cult was popular among the Lombards. It is therefore significant to Erchempert (a Lombard) that the Lombard Lando should defeat a largely Greek army on such a day. Sergius, before dying, bade his son to follow the counsel of his brother the bishop, who was a ''familiaris'' of the

Emperor Louis II Louis II (825 – 12 August 875), sometimes called the Younger, was the king of Italy and emperor of the Carolingian Empire from 844, co-ruling with his father Lothair I until 855, after which he ruled alone. Louis's usual title was ''impera ...

and a papal legate with connections in the Roman ''curia''. In 866, Gregory personally accompanied Louis against Capua, Salerno, and Amalfi. In the spring of 867, however, he commended himself and his duchy to the

Byzantine emperor This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as le ...

Basil I Basil I, called the Macedonian ( el, Βασίλειος ὁ Μακεδών, ''Basíleios ō Makedṓn'', 811 – 29 August 886), was a Byzantine Emperor who reigned from 867 to 886. Born a lowly peasant in the theme of Macedonia, he rose in the ...

and began minting Byzantine coins with Basil's effigy again. Gregory fell seriously ill in January 870 and left the government to his son Sergius II, who was succeeded by his other son, Athanasius II. He died in March.

Notes

Sources

''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 ...

. *Caravale, Mario (ed). ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani: LXIII Labroca – Laterza''.

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, 2004. *Caravale, Mario (ed). ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani: LIX Graziando – Grossi Gondi''.

, 2002. 870 deaths 9th-century dukes of Naples Year of birth unknown {{Italy-noble-stub