In the period before the Roman supremacy in southern Italy, the whole territory was known as Nuceria, the chief town in the Sarnus valley – Herculaneum, Pompeii, Stabiae and Surrentum all being dependent upon it, according to many archaeologists.

The House of Pagano [it], an ancient noble family of local lords living in the castle of Cortimpiano [it] (Latin: Curtis in Plano), in the territory of Pagani, apparently took this surname from the Saracen pagans who previously inhabited the area.

[6] Two more recent writers say that the theory is supported by a letter that Hugues wrote from Palestine in 1103, in which he talked of writing to my father in Nocera to tell him of the death of his cousin Alessandro.

[7][8] The citadel of Nuceria, located where the future Nocera Inferiore would rise, was besieged by Roger II of Sicily in the battle in 1132.

After its reconstruction, the birth of the modern Nocera began with many hamlets and villages which gradually expanded and became small towns.

In the 15th century the town name was changed to Nuceria Paganorum (Italian: Nocera dei Pagani, lit.