Listed 15 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for wider area of: "BARI Town ITALY" .
CANNAE (Ancient city) PUGLIA
Cannae. A small village of Apulia, situated about five miles from Canusium, towards the sea, and at no great distance from the Aufidus. It was celebrated for the defeat of the Romans by Hannibal. Polybius tells us that, as a town, it was destroyed the year before the battle was fought, which took place on May 21st, B.C. 216. The citadel, however, was preserved, and the circumstance of its occupation by Hannibal seems to have been regarded by the Romans of sufficient importance to cause them considerable uneasiness and annoyance. It commanded, indeed, all the adjacent country, and was their principal southern depot of stores and provisions. The Greek writers, especially Polybius, generally use the name in the singular, Kanna.
The decisive victory at Cannae was owing to three combined causes: the excellent arrangements of Hannibal, the superiority of the Numidian horse, and the skilful man?uvre of Hasdrubal in opposing only the light-armed cavalry against that of the Romans, while he employed the heavy horse, divided into small parties, in repeated attacks on different parts of the Roman rear. The Roman army contained 80,000 infantry and 6000 cavalry, the Carthaginians 40,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry. Hannibal drew up his forces in the form of a convex crescent, having his centre thrown forward before the wings. He commanded the centre in person, and here he had purposely stationed his worst troops; the best were posted at the extremities of each wing, which would enable them to act with decisive advantage as bodies of reserve, they being, in fact, the rear of the other forces. Hasdrubal commanded the left wing, Hanno the right. On the Roman side, want of union between the two consuls, and want of spirit among the men, afforded a sure omen of the fortune of the day. Aemilius commanded the right, Varro the left wing; the proconsuls, Regulus and Servius, who had been consuls the preceding year, had command of the centre. What Hannibal foresaw took place. The charge of the Romans, and their immense superiority in numbers, at length broke his centre, which, giving way inward, his army now assumed the shape of a concave crescent. The Romans, in the ardour of pursuit, were carried so far as to be completely surrounded. Both flanks were assailed by the veterans of Hannibal, who were armed in the Roman manner; at the same time the cavalry of the Carthaginians attacked their rear, and the broken centre, rallying, attacked them in front. The consequence was that they were nearly all cut to pieces. The two proconsuls, together with Aemilius the consul, were slain. Varro escaped with seventy horse to Venusia. The Romans lost on the field of battle 70,000 men; and 10,000 who had not been present in the fight were made prisoners. The Carthaginian loss amounted to 5500 infantry and 200 cavalry. Such is the account of Polybius, whose statement of the fight is much clearer and more satisfactory than that of Livy. Hannibal has been censured for not marching immediately to Rome after the battle, in which city all was consternation. But an explanation of his conduct may be found under the article Hannibal.
CANOSA DI PUGLIA (Town) PUGLIA
Canusium (Kanusion). The modern Canosa. An important town in Apulia, on the Aufidus, founded, according to tradition, by Diomedes. It was, at all events, a Greek colony, and both Greek and Oscan were spoken there in the time of Horace. It was celebrated for its mules and its woollen manufactures, but had only a deficient supply of water. Many beautiful Greek vases have been discovered here, as well as coins and other remains. Livy states that the fugitives of the Roman army after the defeat at Cannae (q.v.) were generously received here, and treated with much kindness by Busa, a wealthy lady of the city. (See Livy, xxii. 52)
BARI (Town) ITALY
A city of the Peuceti of Roman times. There are virtually no remains
of the Roman city. However the port was recognized as the most important in the
area as early as 180 B.C. (Livy 40.18; Strab. 5.283). As a Roman municipium the
city was enrolled in the tribus Claudia (Tac. Ann. 16.9). An important highway
junction at the crossroads of the Via Traiana and the coast road, Ban was established
as a diocese under Bishop Gervasius (A.D. 347). The 12th-13th c. Norman castle
in Citta Vecchia has been supposed to rest on the ancient Greek acropolis. in
the Museum of Archaeology in the Palazzo dell'Ateneo the archaic and Classical
eras are represented by Apulian polychrome impasto pottery from Canosa and Ruvesta
and Attic black- and red-figure pottery; bronze arms and mirrors; cameos, gems,
earrings, and fibulae; and glass and gold objects, extending down to Roman times.
D. C. Scavone, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
CANNAE (Ancient city) PUGLIA
Cannae Apulia, Italy. A Roman city 8 km NE of Canosa on the right bank of the
Ofanto (ancient Aufidus) on a hill, traditionally called Monte di Canne. In its
environs have been discovered Neolithic and Bronze Age sherds, a menhir (to the
S on the road to Canusium, mod. Canosa), and Iron Age and archaic Apulian burials,
the latter furnished with Daunian geometric ware of the 6th-5th c. B.C. An antiquarium
houses these remains and also a documentation of the battle of the second Punic
war for which the city is best known, in which Hannibal's Carthaginians defeated
a larger Roman army in a classic double envelopment. On the right bank of the
Ofanto, generally thought to be the battle site, an immense necropolis of 23,000
sq. m was found in 1937 but has proved to be mediaeval.
A representative portion of the Roman town, including part of the
wall, has also been excavated. The character of the shops, columns, and inscriptions
along an uncovered ancient street indicate that the city may have served as an
emporium for more prosperous Canusium through the time of Julian
D.C. Scanone, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Dec 2005 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
KANISION (Ancient city) PUGLIA
One of the most important cities of ancient Apulia, located on the
right bank of the Ofanto (Aufidus) river ca. 24 km from its mouth, at the boundary
between Peucezia and Daunia. Its port on the Ofanto, perhaps navigable at that
time in its lower reaches, is recorded by Strabo (6.3.9). According to legend
the city was founded by Diomedes and named for his hunting dogs (Strab. loc.cit.;
Hor. Sat. 1.5.92; Schol. Dan. Aen. 11.246). Its Greek origin seems to be confirmed
by recent archaeological finds, as well as by the minting of coins with the legend
in Greek, which was still spoken in the Augustan age. Horace (Sat. 1.10.30) says
"Canusini more bilinguis." The economic prosperity of the city, principally
based on the production and sale of wool, is mentioned by Pliny (HN 8.190) and
other ancient authors. In 318 B.C. Canusium was occupied by the Roman Consul L.
Plautius, thus falling under the domination of Rome but conserving its right to
coin money (Livy 9.26). During the second Punic war the city, remaining faithful
to the Romans, took in the survivors of the rout of Cannae (Livy 22.52-54; ValMax.
4.8.2; Polyb. 3.107). Canusium fought against Rome in the social war, together
with Venosa. It took within its walls the Samnite general Trebazio, defeated in
89 B.C. on the Ofanto by the Roman praetor C. Cosconius (App. BCiv. 1.42, 54,
84). Canusium became a Roman municipium (CIL IX, 342, 343), and was ascribed to
the tribus Oufentina (CIL IX, 336, 339, 340, 415). Under Antoninus Pius a colony
was established there which was called Colonia Aurelia Augusta Pia Canusia (CIL
IX, 344). In this period the city was enlarged by Herodes Atticus, who provided
it with an aqueduct (Philostr. VS 2.1.5).
Recently, in the course of agricultural work, a settlement of the
Neolithic Age was discovered and a necropolis with cremation burials from the
Bronze Age in the zone to the NW of the modern town in the sections called Pozzillo
and Toppicelli. In these areas there have also been found the remains of an indigenous
habitation site from the 7th-6th c. B.C., as well as archaic vases of Greek provenience.
There are indications of the city of the Hellenistic and Roman times in a number
of places in the modern city, from which come marble columns, capitals, entablatures,
and inscriptions that are recognizable in many churches in the city. Some have
been collected and placed in the municipal building. Recent excavations have brought
to light the ruins of fortifications and of a Roman road near the Early Christian
baptistery. Also recently noted are the remains of a late Hellenistic temple under
the basilica of S. Leucio and of a Roman temple in Via Imbriani. A statue of Jove,
which came from the latter, is in the museum at Taranto. The remains of a Roman
bath building are preserved in a courtyard in Via Lamarmora, while the ruins of
the mediaeval castle incorporate part of the city wall and several towers of the
ancient acropolis. At the edge of the city in the direction of Cerignola, along
the course of the Via Traiana, is a Roman arch of brick, called Porta Romana or
Porta Varrone. It is perhaps one of the many funerary monuments in the area. Among
them is the so-called Torre Casieri, quadrangular in plan and built of stone blocks
and brick, with a barrel-vaulted cella containing two niches for cinerary urns.
There is also a mausoleum of the Augustan age with a square base, which had perhaps
a circular superstructure like that of the famous tomb of Cecilia Metella on the
Via Appia at Rome. There is also the so-called Monumento Bagnoli, an interesting
mausoleum of the 2d c. A.D.
A Roman bridge spans the Ofanto; its arches were rebuilt in the mediaeval
period. From the hypogea at Canosa, especially those from the 4th-3d c. B.C.,
came rich fittings including red-figure Apulian vases, characteristic plastic
polychromed vases, and precious goldwork that may now be seen in the museums of
Naples, Taranto, and Bad.
F. G. Lo Porto, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
KELIA (Ancient city) PUGLIA
Strabo (6.282) places this city between Egnatia and Canusium, and
Ptolemy (3.1.73) lists it among the cities of Peucetia. The Peutinger Table confirms
the testimony of Strabo and locates it ca. 14 km from Butuntum on the Via Traiana,
a distance corresponding to the position of modern Ceglie del Campo, 8 km S of
Bari, where there are the ruins of the city walls. Coins with the legend Kailinon
are attributed to the city. A Latin inscription indicates that Caelia was ascribed
to the tribus Claudia (CIL VI, 2382b, 33); another records an Augustalis (CIL
IX, 6197). Ager Caelinus also appears in the Libri Coloniarum. Archaeological
finds from the site are in the museums at Bari and Taranto.
F. G. Lo Porto, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
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