BARIUM
(Bari) Apulia, Italy.
A city of the
Peuceti of Roman times. There are virtually no remains
of the Roman city. However the port was recognized
as the most important in the area as early as 180 B.C.
(
Livy 40.18;
Strab. 5.283). As a Roman municipium the
city was enrolled in the tribus Claudia (Tac.
Ann. 16.9).
An important highway junction at the crossroads of the
Via Traiana and the coast road, Ban was established
as a diocese under Bishop Gervasius (A.D. 347). The
12th-13th c. Norman castle in Città Vecchia has been
supposed to rest on the ancient Greek acropolis.
in the Museum of Archaeology in the Palazzo dell'Ateneo the archaic and Classical eras are represented by
Apulian polychrome impasto pottery from Canosa and
Ruvesta and Attic black- and red-figure pottery; bronze
arms and mirrors; cameos, gems, earrings, and fibulae;
and glass and gold objects, extending down to Roman
times.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
F. Carabellese,
Bari (1909)
I.
D. C. SCAVONE
