He studied in Cosenza, showing an uncommon ability to learn, and at the Federico II University of Naples, graduating in law.

[1][3] In 1845 he entered the judiciary, and held the position of public prosecutor in one of the most difficult moments of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and began to progress rapidly in a judicial career.

In February 1862 he moved to Turin as a member of the Commission for Legislative Studies that was working n the integration of Neapolitan and Piedmontese law.

[3] In 1878, accepting the invitation of Cardinal Guglielmo Sanfelice d'Acquavella, metropolitan archbishop of Naples, he was for a short period a municipal councilor of the city.

On 21 June 1881, on the proposal of Giuseppe Zanardelli, he was appointed senator of the Kingdom by King Umberto I.