Balsa (Roman town) Balsa (Roman town) Balsa was a Roman coastal town in the province of Lusitania, Conventus Pacensis (capital Pax Julia). The modern location is in the rural estates of Torre d'Aires, Antas and Arroio, parish of Luz de Tavira, county of Tavira, district of Faro, in Algarve, Southern Portugal. Balsa is a pre-Roman place-name with a probable Phoenician etymology: "B'LŠ...", a possible theonym connected with the older Phoenician occupation of neighbouring Tavira. It is mentioned by Pomponius Mela (DC III 1, 7), Pliny (HN IV 35, 116), Ptolemy (GH: II 5, 2), and Marcianus of Heracleia (PME: II, 13). Mints bronze
Lusitania (1805 ship) heavy storm, the five merchantmen lost contact with the convoy and its escort. On 6 December they were in the Atlantic Ocean when the French frigate "Clorinde" captured all five (). The French took off the crews of four vessels and scuttled three. They kept "Lusitania" as a cartel and put all their captives aboard her. In their haste, they failed to sink "Blenden Hall". They then permitted "Lusitania" to sail to a British port. On 18 December brought "Blenden Hall" into Plymouth. There, "Blenden Hall" was reunited with her crew, which had arrived that same day on "Lusitania". In