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Misenum is the site of an ancient port in Campania
Campania

Campania is a Regions of Italy of southern Italy in Europe. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy, its total area of 13,595 km? makes it the most densely populated region in the country....
, in southern Italy
Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
. It is located on a cape on the northwest end of the Bay of Naples, at modern Miseno
Miseno

Miseno is one of the frazione of the municipality of Bacoli in the Italy Province of Naples....
.

rding to mythology, Misenum was named after Misenus
Misenus

In Greek mythology, Misenus was a name attributed to two individuals.*Misenus was a friend of Odysseus.*Misenus was a character in Virgil's epic poem the Aeneid....
, a companion of Hector
Hector

In Greek mythology, Hector , or Hektor, is a Troy prince and one of the greatest fighters in the Trojan War. He is the son of Priam and Hecuba, descendant of Dardanus, who lived under Mount Ida, and of Tros, the founder of Troy....
 and trumpeter to Aeneas
Aeneas

This article is about the Roman hero. For other uses, see Aeneas .In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas was a Troy hero, the son of prince Anchises and the goddess Venus_....
. Misenus is supposed to have drowned near here after a trumpet
Trumpet

The trumpet is a musical instrument with the highest Register in the brass instrument family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BC....
 competition with the sea-god Triton
Triton (mythology)

Triton is a mythological Greek mythology, the messenger of the deep. He is the son of Poseidon, god of the sea, and Amphitrite, goddess of the sea....
, as recounted in Virgil
Virgil

Publius Vergilius Maro was a classical Roman poet, best known for three major works?the Bucolics , the Georgics and the Aeneid?although several Appendix Vergiliana are also attributed to him....
's Aeneid
Aeneid

The Aeneid is a Latin Epic poetry written by Virgil in the late 1st century BC that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy who traveled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Rome....
.

In 38 BC, Misenum was the site where a short-lived pact was made between Octavian (heir of Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar

'Gaius Julius Caesar' , July 13, 100 BC ? March 15, 44 BC,) was a Roman Republic military and political leader. He played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
, who later became the emperor Augustus), and his rival Sextus Pompeius
Sextus Pompeius

Sextus Pompeius Magnus Pius, in English Sextus Pompey , was a Ancient Rome general from the late Roman Republic . He was the last focus of opposition to the Second Triumvirate....
.

In ancient times, Misenum was the largest base of the Roman navy
Roman Navy

The Roman Navy comprised the naval forces of the Roman state. Although the navy was instrumental in the Roman conquest of the Mediterranean Sea basin, it never enjoyed the prestige of the Roman legions....
, since its port (Portus Julius
Portus Julius

Portus Julius was the home port for the Roman western imperial fleet, the classis Misenensis, named for nearby Cape Miseno. The port was located at the western end of the gulf of Naples and other than the waters of the bay, itself, consisted of three bodies of water in the area: Lucrinus Lacus, Avernus, and the natural inner and outer...
) was the base of the Classis Misenensis
Classis Misenensis

The classis Misenensis , later awarded the honorifics praetoria and Pia Vindex, was the senior fleet of the imperial Roman Navy....
, the most important Roman fleet.






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Encyclopedia


Misenum is the site of an ancient port in Campania
Campania

Campania is a Regions of Italy of southern Italy in Europe. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy, its total area of 13,595 km? makes it the most densely populated region in the country....
, in southern Italy
Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
. It is located on a cape on the northwest end of the Bay of Naples, at modern Miseno
Miseno

Miseno is one of the frazione of the municipality of Bacoli in the Italy Province of Naples....
.

History

According to mythology, Misenum was named after Misenus
Misenus

In Greek mythology, Misenus was a name attributed to two individuals.*Misenus was a friend of Odysseus.*Misenus was a character in Virgil's epic poem the Aeneid....
, a companion of Hector
Hector

In Greek mythology, Hector , or Hektor, is a Troy prince and one of the greatest fighters in the Trojan War. He is the son of Priam and Hecuba, descendant of Dardanus, who lived under Mount Ida, and of Tros, the founder of Troy....
 and trumpeter to Aeneas
Aeneas

This article is about the Roman hero. For other uses, see Aeneas .In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas was a Troy hero, the son of prince Anchises and the goddess Venus_....
. Misenus is supposed to have drowned near here after a trumpet
Trumpet

The trumpet is a musical instrument with the highest Register in the brass instrument family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BC....
 competition with the sea-god Triton
Triton (mythology)

Triton is a mythological Greek mythology, the messenger of the deep. He is the son of Poseidon, god of the sea, and Amphitrite, goddess of the sea....
, as recounted in Virgil
Virgil

Publius Vergilius Maro was a classical Roman poet, best known for three major works?the Bucolics , the Georgics and the Aeneid?although several Appendix Vergiliana are also attributed to him....
's Aeneid
Aeneid

The Aeneid is a Latin Epic poetry written by Virgil in the late 1st century BC that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy who traveled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Rome....
.

In 38 BC, Misenum was the site where a short-lived pact was made between Octavian (heir of Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar

'Gaius Julius Caesar' , July 13, 100 BC ? March 15, 44 BC,) was a Roman Republic military and political leader. He played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
, who later became the emperor Augustus), and his rival Sextus Pompeius
Sextus Pompeius

Sextus Pompeius Magnus Pius, in English Sextus Pompey , was a Ancient Rome general from the late Roman Republic . He was the last focus of opposition to the Second Triumvirate....
.

In ancient times, Misenum was the largest base of the Roman navy
Roman Navy

The Roman Navy comprised the naval forces of the Roman state. Although the navy was instrumental in the Roman conquest of the Mediterranean Sea basin, it never enjoyed the prestige of the Roman legions....
, since its port (Portus Julius
Portus Julius

Portus Julius was the home port for the Roman western imperial fleet, the classis Misenensis, named for nearby Cape Miseno. The port was located at the western end of the gulf of Naples and other than the waters of the bay, itself, consisted of three bodies of water in the area: Lucrinus Lacus, Avernus, and the natural inner and outer...
) was the base of the Classis Misenensis
Classis Misenensis

The classis Misenensis , later awarded the honorifics praetoria and Pia Vindex, was the senior fleet of the imperial Roman Navy....
, the most important Roman fleet. It was first established as a naval base in 27 BC by Marcus Agrippa, the right-hand man of the emperor Augustus.

With its gorgeous natural setting close to the naval base and the nearby important Roman cities of Puteoli and Neapolis, Misenum became the site of Roman luxury villas
Roman villa

A Roman villa is a villa that was built or lived in during the Roman republic and the Roman Empire. A villa was originally a Rome country house built for the upper class....
.

Capomiseno
Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder

Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was an ancient author, naturalist or natural philosopher and naval and military commander of some importance who wrote Natural History ....
 was the praefect in charge of the naval fleet at Misenum in AD 79
79

Year 79 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar....
, at the time of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius
Mount Vesuvius

Mount Vesuvius is an stratovolcano east of Naples Italy. It is the only volcano on the European mainland to have erupted within the last hundred years, although it is not currently eruption....
, visible to the south across the Bay of Naples. Seeing the beginnings of the eruption, Pliny left for a closer view and to effect a possible rescue, and was killed by the eruption. The account of his death is given by his nephew Pliny the Younger
Pliny the Younger

Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo , better known as Pliny the Younger, was a lawyer, author, and natural philosopher of Ancient Rome....
, who was also resident in Misenum at the time.

In fiction

Misenum is one of the main settings in Robert Harris
Robert Harris (novelist)

Robert Dennis Harris is a bestseller England novelist. He is a former journalist and BBC television reporter. He specialises in historical thrillers noted for their literary accomplishment....
' novel Pompeii
Pompeii (novel)

File:Castellum Aquae Pompeii 271.jpgPompeii is a novel by author and journalist Robert Harris published by Random House in 2003. It is a blend of fictional characters with the real-life eruption of Mount Vesuvius on August 24, 79 that overwhelmed Pompeii and its surrounding towns....
, whose protagonist, Attilius, works as at the Piscina Mirabilis
Piscina Mirabilis

The Piscina Mirabilis was a freshwater cistern on the Cape Miseno cliff at the western end of the Gulf of Naples, southern Italy. One of the largest freshwater cisterns built by the ancient Romans, it was situated there in order to provide the Roman western imperial fleet at Portus Julius with drinking water....
 (the terminal reservoir into which the Aqua Augusta aqueduct emptied).

See also

  • List of Roman cisterns
    List of Roman cisterns

    File:Yerebatan2.JPGThe List of Roman cisterns offers an overview over Ancient Rome cisterns. Freshwater reservoir were commonly set up at the terminuses of aqueducts and their branch lines, supplying urban households, Villa rustica, imperial palaces, thermae or naval bases of the Roman navy....