Editing Apulia (section)

=== Antiquity ===
Human settlement in Apulia dates back to at least 250,000 years ago, as evidenced by the fossil remains of the [[Altamura Man]], an archaic form of [[Neanderthal]]. There are numerous finds from the prehistoric era, including several [[menhir]] and [[dolmen]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2009-10-27 |title=Dolmen e Menhir di Puglia |url=http://geocities.com/liceo_livio/archeo/iperPuglia/dolmen_e_menhir_di_puglia.htm |access-date=2024-05-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091027121059/http://geocities.com/liceo_livio/archeo/iperPuglia/dolmen_e_menhir_di_puglia.htm |archive-date=27 October 2009}}</ref>

Around the 1st millennium BC, the [[Iapygians]] settled in the territory with the tribes of the [[Daunians]], the [[Peucetians]] and the [[Messapians]], as well as the populations of the Calabri and the Sallentini (both settled in [[Salento]]); later, in the Hellenic era, the [[Magna Graecia]] colonies were quite numerous, especially in the southern part of the region, including the city of [[Taras, Taranto|Taras]], now [[Taranto]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-03-24 |title=History of Puglia |url=https://www.castellodiugento.com/castle-in-puglia/history-of-puglia/ |access-date=2024-05-12 |language=en-US}}</ref>

During the second [[Samnites|Samnite]] war (326–304 BC), the [[Roman army]], in an attempt to provide relief to [[Lucera]], besieged by the Samnites, suffered a serious defeat in the [[Battle of the Caudine Forks]], in 321 BC. Rome soon understood the strategic importance of ''Apulia'' (corresponding only to the central-northern part of present-day Apulia, while the [[Salento Peninsula]] was known as ''Calabria'' in that period), but the occupation of the region, in the third century BC, was not easy, especially for the resistance of Tarentum and Brundisium. In 216 BC in [[Barletta|Cannae]] the Roman army suffered its worst defeat against [[Hannibal]]'s [[Ancient Carthage|Carthage]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=II GUERRA SANNITICA (326-304 a.c.) |url=https://www.romanoimpero.com/2020/08/ii-guerra-sannitica-326-304-ac.html |access-date=2024-05-12 |website=romanoimpero.com}}</ref>

The Roman [[Province of Apulia and Calabria]] was then established, which also included [[Irpinia]]. With the construction of the [[Appian Way]] and, in the imperial era, of the [[Via Traiana]] along which cities such as [[Troia, Apulia|Troia]], [[Ordona]], [[Gravina in Puglia|Gravina]], [[Canosa di Puglia|Canosa]], [[Ruvo di Puglia|Ruvo]] and [[Bitonto]] prospered. The region occupied leading positions in the production of grain and oil, becoming the largest exporter of olive oil in the East.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2008-05-17 |title=Spazi geografici della Storia Romana: Apulia et Calabria |url=http://www.telemaco.unibo.it/rom/italia/apulia1.htm |access-date=2024-05-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517124845/http://www.telemaco.unibo.it/rom/italia/apulia1.htm |archive-date=17 May 2008}}</ref>