Basil Boioannes detachment of the elite Varangian Guard was sent. The two forces met on the river Ofanto near Cannae, the site of Hannibal's victory over the Romans in 216 BC. In the second Battle of Cannae, Boioannes achieved an equally decisive victory. Boioannes protected his gains by immediately building a great fortress at the Apennine pass guarding the entrance to the Apulian plain. Troia, named after the ancient city of Asia Minor, was garrisoned by Boioannes' own contingent of Norman troops in 1019. Soon, all the Mezzogiorno had submitted to Byzantine authority, with the exception of the Duchy of Benevento, which
Ancient history of Cyprus Ancient history of Cyprus The ancient history of Cyprus shows a precocious sophistication in the neolithlic era visible in settlements such as at Choirokoitia dating from the 9th millennium BC, and at Kavalassos from about 7500 BC. Periods of Cyprus's ancient history from 1050 BC have been named according to styles of pottery as follows: The documented history of Cyprus begins in the 8th century BC. The town of Kition, now Larnaka, recorded part of the ancient history of Cyprus on a stele that commemorated a victory by Sargon II (722–705 BC) of Assyria there in 709 BC. Assyrian domination