VENUSIA (mod. V enosa, q.v.), an ancient city of Apulia, Italy, on the Via Appia, about 6 m. S. of the river Aufidus (Ofanto), and near the boundary of Lucania. It was taken by the Romans after the Samnite war of 291 B.C., and became a colony at once, no fewer than 20,000 men being sent there, owing to its military importance. The site is a specially strong one, being almost isolated by two deep ravines. Throughout the Han nibalic wars it remained faithful to Rome, and had a further con tingent of colonists sent in 200 B.C. to replace its losses in war.
It took part in the Social War, and was recaptured by Quintus Metellus Pius; in 43 B.C. its territory was assigned to the veterans of the triumvirs. Horace was born here, the son of a freedman, in 65 B.C. It remained an important place under the Empire as a station on the Via Appia. Jewish catacombs with inscriptions in Hebrew, Greek and Latin show the importance of the Jewish population here in the 4th and 5th centuries A.D.