The etymology of the name "Paupisi" is not very clear. In this case both Professor Floridante Bizzarro and Maestro Nicolino Polcino, illustrious and very revealing personalities in the history of the country, have skillfully ventured into this not simple research with interesting and dissimilar results at the same time; an alternative research, which, therefore, has no claim to careful historical investigation, has led to the following considerations: it seems certain that in contrada San Pietro La Difesa were once Roman tombs, whose location today (assuming that they still exist) remains unknown.
Master Nicolino Polcino, in his book "Paupisi del mio cuore" refers to a thirteenth century papal bull that mentions the country as "Papisii", offering as a possible solution to this puzzle, some connection with the gens Papia of ancient Rome. Exploiting this same root, research has been carried out among some texts on the history of Rome, and we have come across a Lucius Papirius Crassus, dictator since 339 B.C. It could be argued that the name Papirius appears untied from "Papisii". However, two interesting corollaries would support this view. First, Cicero narrates ,referring to this character, that "primus Papisius est vocari desitus", that is that before it was called Papisius, so there had been a "anagraphic" variation of the nomen. In the secundis, it seems that he had distinguished himself in the military campaigns against the Samnites. Two clues that certainly do not make an incontrovertible proof, but that, at least, represent a decent starting point.
Telese, on the other hand, takes its name from Caio Ponzio Telesino, another important leader, Paupisi could also derive his name from Papirius/Papisius Roman dictator. The stories of tombs and finds from Roman times in the Contrada San Pietro could conceal a possible outpost or camp founded by this illustrious dictator. For Professor Bizzarro, the name is derived from the union of Pagus (country in Latin) and pisus (adjective that would mean "hanging", given the nature of the hilly territory, at the foot of the mountain of S.Mennato). However, there is no trace in the Latin grammar of the adjective pisus , therefore even such approaches, are the result of theories and conjectures.
The first document mentioning a Paupisi farmhouse is a notarial deed dated 1262 of which we are interested in: "...the abbot Donato da Caczano (perhaps Cacciano) to repair the damage caused to the Abbey of S. Maria della Grotta by a fire borrowed from Riccardo Marzone 5 ounces of gold and 15 months. The deed was signed in PAUPISI on 8 November 1262 by the notary Giorgio d'Airola di Tocco..." Considering that in 1308 the tithes were regularly paid to the Diocese of Benevento and taken note of the note of 1262, it is logical to think that the Casale di Paupisi must have been consistent for some centuries. According to the slow demographic increases of the time, the original population could be traced back to the year 1000 with a number of souls between 150-200. Paupisi was a Casale of Torrecuso until 1748, when the municipality became independent. In 1892 the municipality of Ponte was annexed to Paupisi, which gained autonomy in 1913.
