AMALFI, a town of Italy, in the Principato Citeriore, situated at the entrance of a deep ravine on the north side of the Gulf of Salerno. It was founded, according to the common account, under Constantine the Great, and was one of the first cities to recover from the irruption of the barbarians into Italy. During the 10th and 11th centuries it was an independent republic of great commercial importance, with a trade which extended to Egypt and the east, and a population of 50,000. Its code of maritime laws (Tabula Amalfitana) is said to have regulated commerce at one time throughout the whole of Italy, but the truth of this statement appears to be extremely questionable. In 1135 Amalfi was plundered by the Pisans, who are said to have then discovered and carried off the far-famed manuscript of the Pandects of Justinian, which is now in the Laurentian library at Florence. Soon after this the town passed under the dominion of Naples, and from that time rapidly declined. In 1343 a terrible storm buried a large part of the town under the sea, and at the present day it is a mere wreck of its former greatness. It has only about 6500 inhabitants, whose chief employments are fishing and the manufacture of macaroni, silk, and paper. It is βtill the seat of an archbishop, and contains an ancient cathedral dedicated to St Andrew. Flavio Gioja, to whom the invention of the mariner’s compass has been ascribed, and Masaniello were born at Amalfi.