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The history of Amalfi is shrouded in legend. There are many myths surrounding the origins of the city but all the varying stories have one common thread – the involvement of the Romans as central players in the dramas. This is confirmed by the finding of archaeological remains of the Imperial epoch including the nymphaeum of a villa that was probably built in the times of the Emperor Tiberius. The word “Amalfi” itself is, without any doubt, of Latin origin and according to the most popular legend comes from the word “Melfi” that was a seaside village in the Lucano district abandoned by Roman refugees in the 4th century AD. On the other hand, it may stem from the Roman surname Amarfia from the 1st century AD.
Following Germanic invasions during the 5th century, many Romans fled from the towns in Campania that were being overrun by the Barbarians to seek shelter in the Lattari Mountains. Within a short time, these new residents had breathed life into what was a small village and transformed it into a city that had already had a bishop since 596 AD.
Amalfi and its coastline were the property of the Neapolitan Romanesque-Byzantine duchy that seceded the territory in 839 thus giving life to a new independent republic. To protect its maritime interests from attack by the Benevenuto Longobards, the Amalfi republic was first governed by Counts that were elected each year, then by prefects and finally by Dukes that transformed it into a sort of Ducal Monarchy.
From the 8th century onwards, the Amalfitanis settled in main Mediterranean ports forming colonies made up of houses, shops, factories, churches, monasteries and hospitals that were run according to Amalfitan regulations. Amalfi’s role in Mediaeval Mediterranean politics was that of mediator between diametrically opposed civilisations including Arabic, Byzantine and the Western Romanesque-Germanic schools of thought.
Amalfi business affairs formed part of a triangle that involved Italy, the Arabian North Africa and the Byzantine Empire. Amalfi ships carried wood to the North African coastal Arabian cities and sold their cargoes for gold. The second leg of the triangle took them to Syrian-Palestinian coasts where they bought spices, gem stones, fine cloths and gold objects that they then sold all over Italy by sailing as far as Ravenna and from there up the Po as far as Pavia. Amalfi lost its independence in 1131 when it became part of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily but its prosperity and importance as a maritime power did not wane. It was the later effects of new sea-going activities by the powerful cities of Pisa and Genoa that put an end to Amalfi’s once unassailable position.
The true reasons for the economic crisis that struck Amalfi in the mediaeval period lie in the 20-year War of Vespro between the Angevines and the Aragonese for the domination of Southern Italy.
During the entire mediaeval age, Amalfi possessed a powerful fleet of ships made up of mercantile and naval vessels. For the construction of war ships, Amalfi relied on the walled shipyard of which remain today only two pathways flanked by ten pillars. This is the only surviving example of a mediaeval shipyard at least in Southern Italy. The hulls for fighting galleons were laid here and were fitted with 120 oars. Mercantile ships that were generally used for shallow water coastal trading, were built on the shores. The harbour and shipbuilding facilities were sunk following an undersea landslide and this was the coup de grace for both the merchant and naval fleets that were already waning.
Apart from the shipyard and its seafaring history, Amalfi also gave us a book of maritime regulations known as the Tabula de Amalpha and the compass was also allegedly invented here. It is by now accepted that the Amalfitans invented the magnetic compass and were responsible for its widespread use in the Mediterranean by the mid 8th century.

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