LUCERA  , a

town and episcopal see of Apulia, Italy, 121 M . W.N.W. by rail of Foggia . Pop . (Igor) 16,962 . It is situated upon a lofty plateau, the highest point of which (823 ft.), projecting to the W., was the ancient citadel, and is occupied by the well-preserved castle erected by Frederick II., and rebuilt by Pierre d'Angicourt about 1280 . The cathedral, originally Romanesque, but restored after 1300 is in the Gothic style; the facade is good, and so is the ciborium . The interior was restored in 1882 . The town occupies the site of the ancient Luceria, the key of the whole country . According to tradition the temple of Minerva, founded by Diomede, contained the Trojan Palladium, and the town struck numerous bronze coins; but in history it is first heard of as on the Roman side in the Samnite Wars (321 B.C.), and in 315 or 314 B.C. a Latin colony was sent here . It is mentioned in subsequent military history, and its position on the road from Beneventum, via Aecae (mod . Troja) to Sipontum, gave it some importance . Its wool was also renowned .

It now contains no ancient remains above ground, though several

mosaic pavements have been found and there are traces of the foundations of an amphitheatre outside the town on the E . The town-hall contains a statue of Venus, a mosaic and some inscriptions (but cf . Th . Mommsen's remarks on the local neglect of antiquities in Corp . Inscr . Lat. ix . 75) . In 663 it was destroyed by Constans II., and was only restored in 1223 by Frederick II., who transported 20,000 Saracens hither from Sicily . They were at first allowed religious freedom, but became Christians under compulsion in 1300 . Up to 18o6 Lucera was the capital of the provinces of Basilicata and Molise . (T .