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
History of wine History of wine The earliest archaeological evidence of wine grapes has been found at sites in Georgia ( BC), Iran ( BC), Greece ( BC), and Sicily ( BC), although there is earlier evidence of a wine made from fermented grapes among other fruits being consumed in China (c. 7000–5500 BC). The oldest evidence of wine production has been found in Armenia ( BC). The altered consciousness produced by wine has been considered religious since its origin. The ancient Greeks worshiped Dionysus or Bacchus and the Ancient Romans carried on his cult. Consumption of ritual wine was part of Jewish