Taranto in the context of Port of Taranto

Salento (Italian: [saˈlɛnto]; Salentino: Salentu; Salento Griko: Σαλέντο) is a cultural, historical, and geographic region at the southern end of the administrative region of Apulia, in southern Italy. It is a sub-peninsula of the Italian Peninsula, sometimes described as the "heel" of the Italian "boot". It encompasses the entire administrative area of the Province of Lecce, most of the Province of Brindisi (all of it except Fasano, Ostuni and Cisternino), and the south-eastern part of the Province of Taranto (like Grottaglie and Avetrana, but not Taranto itself).

A phlyax play (Ancient Greek: φλύαξ, pl: φλύακες, phlyakes), also known as a hilarotragedy (Ἱλαροτραγῳδία lit. 'cheerful tragedy'), was a burlesque dramatic form that developed in the Greek colonies of Magna Graecia in the 4th century BC. From the surviving fragments and titles of the plays, they appear to have been a form of mythological burlesque, which mixed figures from the Greek pantheon with the stock characters and situations of Attic Comedy.

While the plays themselves survive only as titles and a few fragments, a substantial body of South Italian vases which survive today are generally thought to represent phlyax-related imagery. These vases depict lively and entertaining theatrical scenes of contemporary Athenian comedies as well as lesser known local productions. Distinct phlyax plays, blending tragic and comic elements, became well defined only in the late 4th century BC onwards by the dramatist Rhinthon. Five authors of this genre are known by name; Rhinthon and Sciras of Taranto, Blaesus of Capri, Sopater of Paphos and Heraclides.

The history of dance is difficult to access because dance does not often leave behind clearly identifiable physical artifacts that last over millennia, such as stone tools, hunting implements or cave paintings. It is difficult to determine the exact point at which dance became part of human culture. Dance is filled with aesthetic values, making it distinct from one society to another. It is filled with symbolism that expounds on the cultural heritage of a community, each style being unique from one another. Dance can help tell a story, convey feelings and emotions, and connect with others and ourselves.

The Roman expansion in Italy covers a series of conflicts in which Rome grew from being a small Italian city-state to be the ruler of the Italian region. Roman tradition attributes to the Roman kings the first war against the Sabines and the first conquests around the Alban Hills and down to the coast of Latium. The birth of the Roman Republic after the overthrow of the Etruscan monarch of Rome in 509 BC began a series of major wars between the Romans and the Etruscans. In 390 BC, Gauls from the north of Italy sacked Rome. In the second half of the 4th century BC Rome clashed repeatedly with the Samnites, a powerful tribal coalition of the Apennine region.

By the end of these wars, Rome had become the most powerful state in central Italy and began to expand to the north and to the south. The last threat to Roman hegemony came during the Pyrrhic War (280–275 BC) when Tarentum enlisted the aid of the Greek king Pyrrhus of Epirus to campaign in the North of Italy. Resistance in Etruria was finally crushed in 265–264 BC, the same year the First Punic War began and brought Roman forces outside of the peninsula for the first time. Starting from the First Punic War (264–241 BC) the territories subject to Roman rule also included Sicily (241 BC), Sardinia and Corsica (238 BC), islands transformed into provinces.

Pyrrhus (/ˈpɪrəs/ PIRR-əss; Ancient Greek: Πύρρος Pýrrhos; 319/318–272 BC) was a Greek king and statesman of the Hellenistic period. He was king of the Molossians, of the royal Aeacid house, and later he became king (Malalas also called him toparch) of Epirus. He was one of the strongest opponents of early Rome, and had been regarded as one of the greatest generals of antiquity. Several of his victorious battles caused him unacceptably heavy losses, from which the phrase "Pyrrhic victory" was coined.

Pyrrhus became king of Epirus in 306 BC at the age of 13, but was dethroned by Cassander four years later. He saw action during the Wars of the Diadochi and regained his throne in 297 BC with the support of Ptolemy I Soter. He co-ruled Macedon together with Lysimachus after driving out Demetrius in 288 BC. In 284 BC, he was driven out of Macedon by Lysimachus. During the eponymous Pyrrhic War of 280–275 BC, Pyrrhus fought Rome at the behest of Tarentum, scoring costly victories at Heraclea and Asculum. He proceeded to take over Sicily from Carthage, but after some initial success, he was soon driven out and returned to Italy where he lost all his gains after the Battle of Beneventum in 275 BC.

The province of Taranto (Italian: provincia di Taranto; Tarantino: provìnge de Tarde; Salentino: provincia ti Tàrantu), previously known as the province of the Ionian, is a province in the Apulia region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Taranto. It has an area of 2,437 square kilometres (941 sq mi), and a total population of 581,092 (2017). The province contains 29 comuni (sg.: comune). The coat of arms of the province contains a scorpion, which Pyrrhus is thought to have seen when looking down at Taranto.

Aphrodite Areia (Ancient Greek: Ἀφροδίτη Ἀρεία) or "Aphrodite the Warlike" was a cult epithet of the Greek goddess Aphrodite, in which she was depicted in full armor like the war god Ares. This representation was found in Sparta and Taras (modern Taranto). There were other, similarly martial interpretations of the goddess, such as at her Sanctuary at Kythira, where she was worshiped under the epithet Aphrodite Urania, who was also represented as being armed. The epithet "Areia", meaning "warlike", was applied to other gods in addition to Aphrodite, such as Athena, Zeus, and possibly Hermes.

The association with warfare contradicts Aphrodite's more popularly known role as the goddess of desire, fertility, and beauty. In the Iliad, Aphrodite is portrayed as incompetent in battle, being wounded in the wrist by Diomedes under the guidance of Athena, and she is reminded of her role as a love goddess rather than a war goddess like Athena by Zeus. It is possible, however, that this representation was deliberate to assert the Ionian interpretation of Aphrodite, which did not portray the goddess with warlike aspects, as the "correct" version.

Rhinthon (Ancient Greek: Ῥίνθων, gen.: Ῥίνθωνος; c. 323 – 285 BC) was a Hellenistic dramatist.

The son of a potter, he was probably a native of Syracuse, Magna Graecia, and afterwards settled at Tarentum.

The Allied invasion of Italy was the Allied amphibious landing on mainland Italy that took place from 3 September 1943, during the Italian campaign of World War II. The operation was undertaken by General Sir Harold Alexander's 15th Army Group (comprising General Mark W. Clark's American Fifth Army and General Bernard Montgomery's British Eighth Army) and followed the successful Allied invasion of Sicily. A preliminary landing in Calabria (Operation Baytown) took place on 3 September, the main invasion force landed on the west coast of Italy at Salerno on 9 September as part of Operation Avalanche at the same time as a supporting operation at Taranto (Operation Slapstick).

The Peucetians were an Iapygian tribe which inhabited western and central Apulia in classical antiquity.

Two other Iapygian tribes, the Daunians and the Messapians, inhabited northern and southern Apulia respectively. All three tribes spoke the Messapian language, but had developed separate archaeological cultures by the seventh century BC; however, in Peucetian territory ancient Greek and Oscan language were spoken as well, as the legends of the currencies from Rubi and Azetium were trilingual. Peucetians lived in the eponymous region Peucetia, which was bordered by the Ofanto river and the Murge in the north, the Bradano river in the west and the territories of the Greek colony of Taras and the Messapians in the south. This region is mostly coincident with the Metropolitan City of Bari and parts of the provinces of Taranto and Barletta-Andria-Trani today.

Manduria is a city and comune of Apulia, Italy, in the province of Taranto. With c. 32,000 inhabitants (2013), it is located 35 kilometres (22 mi) east of Taranto.

The British Mediterranean Fleet, also known as the Mediterranean Station, was a formation of the Royal Navy. The Fleet was one of the most prestigious commands in the navy for the majority of its history, defending the vital sea link between the United Kingdom and India. General at Sea Robert Blake was appointed as the first commander in September 1654. The Fleet was in existence until 1967.

The fleet's shore headquarters was initially based at Port Mahon Dockyard, Minorca for most of the eighteenth century. It rotated between Gibraltar and Malta from 1791 to 1812. From 1813 to July 1939 it was permanently at Malta Dockyard. In August 1939 the C-in-C Mediterranean Fleet moved his flag afloat on board HMS Warspite until April 1940. He was then back onshore at Malta until February 1941. He transferred it again to HMS Warspite until July 1942. In August 1942 headquarters were moved to Alexandria where they remained from June 1940 to February 1943. HQ was changed again but this time in rotation between Algiers and Taranto until June 1944. It then moved back to Malta until it was abolished in 1967.

The Battle of Heraclea took place in 280 BC between the Romans under the command of consul Publius Valerius Laevinus, and the combined forces of Greeks from Epirus, Tarentum, Thurii, Metapontum, and Heraclea under the command of Pyrrhus, king of Epirus. Although the battle was a victory for the Greeks, they incurred severe losses.

The Battle of Beneventum (275 BC) was the last battle of the Pyrrhic War. It was fought near Beneventum, in southern Italy, between the forces of Pyrrhus, king of Epirus in Greece, and the Romans, led by consul Manius Curius Dentatus. The result was a strategic Roman victory and Pyrrhus was forced to return to Tarentum, and later to Epirus.

The Principality of Taranto (Latin: Principatum Tarentinum) was a state in southern Italy created in 1088 for Bohemond I, eldest son of Robert Guiscard, as part of the peace between him and his younger brother Roger Borsa after a dispute over the succession to the Duchy of Apulia.

Taranto became the capital of the principality, which covered almost all of the heel of Apulia. During its subsequent 377 years of history, it was sometimes a powerful and almost independent feudal fief of the Kingdom of Sicily (and later of Naples), sometimes only a title, often given to the heir to the crown or to the husband of a reigning queen. When the House of Anjou was divided, Taranto fell to the house of Durazzo (1394–1463).

Tarantino (/ˌtærənˈtiːnoʊ/; Tarantino: dialètte tarandíne [taranˈdiːnə]; Italian: dialetto tarantino, pronounced [taranˈtiːno]), spoken in the southeastern Italian region of Apulia, is a transitional language, most of whose speakers live in the Apulian city of Taranto. The dialect is also spoken by a few Italian immigrants in the United States, especially in California.

Archytas (/ˈɑːrkɪtəs/; Greek: Ἀρχύτας; 435/410–360/350 BC) was an Ancient Greek mathematician, music theorist, statesman, and strategist from the ancient city of Taras (Tarentum) in Southern Italy. He was a scientist and philosopher affiliated with the Pythagorean school and famous for being the reputed founder of mathematical mechanics and a friend of Plato.

As a Pythagorean, Archytas believed that arithmetic (logistic), rather than geometry, provided the basis for satisfactory proofs, and developed the most famous argument for the infinity of the universe in antiquity.