Brindisi was an ancient Greek settlement predating the Roman expansion. The Latin name Brundisium comes from the Greek Brentesion (Βρεντήσιον) meaning "deer's head", which refers to the shape of the natural harbor.
In 267 BC or 245 BC 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 BC and was again attacked in 42 and 40 BC. Under the Romans, Brundisium – a large city in its day with some 100,000 inhabitants – was an active port, the chief point of embarkation for Greece and the East, via Dyrrachium or Corcyra. It was connected with Rome by the Via Appia and the Via Traiana.
In 674 it was destroyed by the Lombards led by Romuald I of Benevento, but such a fine natural harbor meant that the city was soon rebuilt. In the 9th century, a Saracen settlement existed in the neighborhood of the city, which had been stormed in 836 by pirates.
In 267 BC or 245 BC 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 BC and was again attacked in 42 and 40 BC. Under the Romans, Brundisium – a large city in its day with some 100,000 inhabitants – was an active port, the chief point of embarkation for Greece and the East, via Dyrrachium or Corcyra. It was connected with Rome by the Via Appia and the Via Traiana.
In 674 it was destroyed by the Lombards led by Romuald I of Benevento, but such a fine natural harbor meant that the city was soon rebuilt. In the 9th century, a Saracen settlement existed in the neighborhood of the city, which had been stormed in 836 by pirates.
Modern location: Brindisi, Italy
(1)
Brundisium
.jpg)
An
AE
Quadrans
struck ca. 215 BC
in
Brundisium
Obverse: Head of Poseidon facing right, wearing laurel wreath, being crowned by Nike at left; trident and 3 dots below
Reverse: Phalanthos, nude, riding dolphin to left, holding large cithara, Nike crowning him; BRVN below; three pellets below
Diameter:
20 mm
Die Orientation: 4 H
Weight: 6.54 g
Die Orientation: 4 H
Weight: 6.54 g
No notes for this coin
SNG ANS.792