Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 1.djvu/464

 410 BnUNDUSIUlL (DoDit. Fit. Fi'r^il.) At ■ liter period TantDs hu left ni an uiimBled pictanof themoDnifulBpectucle, when AKrippini Unded here nith the tatifi of lier biubuid Gormuiicas. (Tiio. ^rm. iii. 1.) Under the empre wb heur com[au*tiTelj little nf Brnndu- Bium, though it ia certiiia thit it ratained iU former importance, asd continn«d to be the pmnt of de- parture aad arri™!, both for wdinarj traTelleni and for armia on their waj between Italy and the Eait. (Capt. M. AmL 9, 97; Spartian. Sa. IS.) The penod at which the Apjnan Way was omtiniied Ibither, and nodsnl practicable for carriageB ia uncertain: hnt the direct road from Kome to brUD- diuium Ihian^h Apulia, bj Cauniiam and Epiatia. which was only adapted for mulee in the tiiiw of gtrabo, wai fint omnpleted as a highway by Tr^an, and named fnm him the Via Tnyana. The common Rule waa to arm from bence direct to Dyrrbachinm, from whence ths Via EKiiatia led tbroogh llljricam and Uaceduiia to tke Bhonn of the fioiponu % but tnreltera proceeding to Greece fkequentlj cro over to Anion, and thence throngh Epeirru Thevalj- During the later agea of the eni Hjdmntum appears to have become a frequent [ of pisaage. and almost rivalled Bmndnsium in respect ; though in the time of Pliny it waa reckoned Che less aate and certain passage, though the shorter of the two. (Slrab, vi. pp. 382, 283; Ilin. pp.317, 323,497; Plm. iii. U. a. 18; PloL gU;Mel.ii.4.) After the &11 of the Western Empire BmDdusiiun appears to have declined in importance, and during the Gothic wan ptajs a subordinate put to the neighbimring city of Hjdruntiun. Its possession was long retained by the Byiantins emperors, together with the test of Calabria and Apolia; but after they had long contested its poasoaion with the Gotha, Lombarda, and Saracens, it waa finallj wrested from them by the Normans in the eleventh century. Tbe excellence of the prat of Brundasium Is cele- brated by many ancient writers. Stnbo speaks of it as superior to that of Tarentnm, and at a much «r- lier period Eonius (^nn. vi. 53} already called it BRDNDUSrUM. brought to 1ii, thus proved t) he has hinutelfdescribedthnn.attb* narrowest part of the entranct. (Caes. B. C L 25 ; " 'i.vLp.a82j Locan./'Aart.iieiO.ftc.; Swill- s's TnttU, ToL L pp. 384—390.) [U pnepete portii." Outside this narrow channel was an outer harbour or roadstead, itself in i great degree sheltered by a small island, or group of Islet), now called the /lOln diSLA adrea ; the ancient name of which appeals to hare been Barra. (Feet. v. Bariam, p. 33.) It was occupied by a Fhana or lighthouse similar to that at Alexandria. (Mela, IL 7.) Pliny speaks of these islands as " lormtng die port of Bmndusium." Hence he must designate by this lenn the outer har- bcnr; but the one generally meant and described by Caesar and Strabo was certainly the inner harbour, which was cnnpletely lajidlocked and sheltered from tfveiy wind, while it was deep enough for the largest ships: and the namwneea of the entrance rendered it eanly defensible against any attack from without. This channel is DOW ^moet choked up with sand, and the inner port rendered in consequence completely nielesa. This has been ascribed to the works erected by Caeaar for the purpose of obstructing the entiance; but the port continued in full use many centuries afterwardi, and Ibe real origin of the obstmction dates only fnxn the fifteenth ccntoiy. Recent at- tempts tn clear ont the channel have, however, C. SpnlKhereCuurtrfed to block uptbeentrance B.' Iilimli atii. At^Tie. the •netcDl Bane. The modern city of BritidUi IS a poor and d^ clinlng place, though retaiuing ^H>Dt 6000 inhabit- ants ; it possesses very lew vestiges of sntiqnity, except two lofty colnmna of ctpoZline marble, one of which ia still enst, and which appean to have been designed in ancient times to bear lights, and serve ai beacons or lighthousee to guide sblps Inlo the inner harbour. Nmnerons fragments of an architectmal kind also ronain, and many inscripticms, but for Iha most part of little interest. They are collected by Mommsen {^Rtffni NeapolUani Intcript- Latinae, pp. 27 — 30). Many other reuiains of its ancient splaidanr an said to have been destroyed in the IStli century, wheo the modem cuslle was constmcted by Charles V. Tbe territory of Brimfin is still fertile, especially in oUvea ; In ancient times also it wat noted for its abnndvkce of oil and wine, though the latter waa of inferii? qnalily. Stnbo speala rf its territiiry as superior in fertility to that of Tarenlum; but we learn from Caesar that it wai in andent, ai well as modem times, an imhealthy neighbourhood, and his troope that were quartered there in the au- tumn of B.C. 49 suEeied severely in consequence. (Strab. vL p. 282; Caes. B. C. liL 2; Varr. A K. L 8. g 2{ Swinburne, J. c; Giustiniani, lia. Gtogr. vol. iL pp. 360—380.) The coins of Brundutium all belong to the period of the Latin colony. Those with Greek Iwenda cited by seme early numismatista are false. [E. IL B.]