History of Brundisium:
Today little of the ancient world remains in this city that has been witness to so much history. There are remains of one of the large columns that marked the end of the Appian Way, a Roman gate, a well and a fresh water reservoir. Brundisium began as a Greek settlement, a port for those trading with Greece or with Greek settlements to the southwest of the Italian peninsula. The Greeks called the city Brentesion. When Rome conquered it in 266 BCE, the name was changed to Brundisium. In 244 BCE, the city was made a Colonia (Roman Colony). When the Appian Way was extended to the city gate, Brundisium became a free port. All major traffic to and from Rome flowed here. Sea travel was dangerous, especially when one needed to battle the fickle winds of the strait of Scylla and Charybdis. Passengers much preferred to disembark at Brundisium and make their way on the Via Appia or the Via Traiana to Rome rather than sail all the way to Ostia. The city, called Brindisi today, still has the safest harbor on the Adriatic and consequently remains an important trade port with the East.