Brindisi

Brindisi (Greek: Brentèsion or Vrindhision; Latin: Brundisium; Messapian: Brention) is an ancient city in the Apulia region of Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, off the coast of the Adriatic Sea. There are several traditions concerning its founders; one of them claims that it was founded by the legendary hero Diomedes. Brindisi was an Ancient Greek settlement predating the Roman expansion. The Latin name Brundisium comes from the Gr... more

Brindisi (Greek: Brentèsion or Vrindhision; Latin: Brundisium; Messapian: Brention) is an ancient city in the Apulia region of Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, off the coast of the Adriatic Sea. There are several traditions concerning its founders; one of them claims that it was founded by the legendary hero Diomedes. Brindisi was an Ancient Greek settlement predating the Roman expansion. The Latin name Brundisium comes from the Greek Brentesion meaning "deer's head", which refers to the shape of the natural harbor]]. In 267 BCE (245 BCE, according to other sources) it was conquered by the Romans. After the Punic Wars it became a major center of Roman naval power and maritime trade. In the Social War it received Roman citizenship, and was made a free port by Sulla. It suffered, however, from a siege conducted by Caesar in 49 BCE (Bell. Civ. i.) and was again attacked in 42 and 40 BCE. The poet Pacuvius was born here about 220 BCE, and here the famous poet Virgil died in... less