BRINDISI, brin'de-se (ancient BRUN DUSIUI4 ), a seaport and fortified town in the province of Leece in southern Italy, situated on a small promontory in a bay of the Adriatic Sea, 45 miles east-northeast of Taranto. In ancient times Brundusium was one of the most important cities of Calabria. It was one of the chief cities of the Sallentines, and the excellence of its port and commanding situation in the Adriatic were among the chief induce ments to the Romans to attack them. Having conquered the city in 267 ac., the Romans made it a naval station, and it was the scene of im portant operations in the war between Caesar and Pompey. In 230 ac., Brindisi was the starting place of the Roman troops that took part in the first Illyrian War; and from this point the Romans nearly always directed sub sequent wars with Macedonia, Greece and Asia. Pacuvius was born there. Horace, who made a journey there in 38 or 37 B.C. has made the visit one of his satires (Sat. I, 5). Virgil died here 19 B.C. On the fall of the Western empire it declined in importance. In the 11th century it fell into the possession of the Normans, and became one of the chief ports of embarkation for the Crusades. Its importance as a seaport
was subsequently completely lost, and its harbor blocked. In 1870 the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company put on a weekly line of steamers between Brindisi and Alexandria, and Brindisi is now an important station for passengers and mails to and from India and the East. There is also a trade with British, Austrian and other ports. Latterly, the harbor accommodation has been considerably improved. It is used now (1918) as a torpedo station for the Italian navy. The chief exports are wine, olive-oil and figs; the chief import, coal. The principal buildings are the cathedral, where the Emperor Frederick II was married to Yolande in 1225; and the castle, commenced by Frederick II and finished by Charles V. Chief among the ancient remains is a column 62 feet high, one of two, which, tradition says, marked the end of the Appian Way. Pop. 25,317.