Misenum

Misenum is the site of an ancient port in Campania, in southern Italy. It is located on a cape on the western end of the gulf of Puteoli, on the Tyrrhenian Sea.

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According to mythology, Misenum was named after Misenus, a companion of Hector and trumpeter to Aeneas. Misenus is supposed to have drowned near here after a trumpet competition with the sea-god Triton, as recounted in Virgil's Aeneid.

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In 38 BC, Misenum was the site of a short-lived pact made between Octavian (heir of Julius Caesar, who later became the emperor Augustus), and his rival Sextus Pompeius.

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In ancient times, Misenum was the largest base of the Roman navy. It was first established as a naval base in 27 BC by Marcus Agrippa, the right-hand man of the emperor Augustus.

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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.

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Pliny the Elder was the praefect in charge of the naval fleet at Misenum in AD 79, at the time of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, visible across the bay. 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, who was also resident in Misenum at the time.

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Campania: Campania is a region of Southern Italy, bordering on Lazio to the north-west, Molise to the north, Puglia to the north-east, Basilicata to the east, and the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west. The region covers 13,595 km² and has a population of 5.7 million....

Italy: Italy (Italian: Repubblica Italiana or Italia) is a country in southern Europe. It comprises a boot-shaped peninsula and two large islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia, and shares its northern alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia. The independent countries...

Puteoli: Puteoli, the ancient predecessor of Pozzuoli, was an Italian city of Roman times on the coast of Campania, on the north shore of a bay running north from the Bay of Naples. The Roman colony there was established in 194 BC. The name comes from the Latin word for little wells, referring to the many hy...