After the First Punic War, it became a Roman municipium with the name of Allifae - the ruins of which extend to the nearby modern comune of Sant'Angelo d'Alife.

Peter Aliphas, a Norman knight who later sided with emperor Alexios I Komnenos and participated in the First Crusade, might have come from this town.

[5] In 1132, the Norman Count Ranulf (one of the most outstanding military leaders of medieval Italy) began the construction of Alife Cathedral.

This, of course, caused increasing strife with the central power of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily (created by Roger II in 1130).

In 1135, the city was occupied by Sicilian troops; but, two years later, Count Ranulf had his vengeance, obtaining the title of Duke.