Caesar's lieutenants have fared less well, however, in Africa and around the Adriatic Sea.

Deciding to attack Pompey directly, Caesar brings fifteen thousand of his troops from Spain to Brundisium in Italy in late 49, intending to bring the war to Pompey.

The first ducats are minted after the promulgation of the king's Assizes of Ariano in 1140.

Bearing an effigy of the young Duke Roger in battle dress beside his father, with their hands on the Cross, the ducat is named after the duchy of Apulia.

Roger and Alfonso, the second son Tancred being dead, now move into the Abruzzi to harass papal lands.

At this time, late in 1140, Roger's bride to be, Isabella, arrives from the court of her father, Theobald II of Champagne.

Roger's most famous consort, however, is his mistress, Emma, the daughter of Achard II, Count of Lecce, with whom he has two illegitimate children, Tancred, later king, and William.

In this same year, Richard III of Gaeta dies and his duchy is given to Roger.

…begin to besiege Brindisi.

It is at this point, just as the war seems decided in the allies' favor, that things start to go wrong.

The imperial commander Michael Palaeologus has alienated some of his allies by his arrogance, and this stalls the campaign as the rebel Count Robert of Loritello refuses to speak to him.

Although the two are reconciled, the campaign loses some of its momentum.

Yet worse is to come: Michael is soon recalled to Constantinople.

Although his arrogance has slowed the campaign, he is a brilliant general in the field, and his loss is a major blow to the allied campaign.

A rebellion has broken out against William I of Sicily, and the forces of Constantinople, encouraged by Pope Adrian IV, invades Apulia.

At Brindisi in 1156, the joint force of Germans, Venetians, and Normans loyal to William defeats the invading army dispatched by Emperor Manuel I Komnenos, ending Constantinople’s influence in Italy.

William crushes the rebellion and …

Accompanied by an army and a papal legate, Peter subsequently embarks at Brindisi on ships furnished by the Venetians.

Frederick, responding to pressure by the new pope, organizes the Sixth Crusade.

In September 1227, when Frederick is at last ready to embark from Brindisi for the Holy Land, an epidemic breaks out among the crusaders, delaying the emperor's departure.

Even the master of the Teutonic Knights, Hermann of Salza, recommends that he return to the mainland to recuperate.

Frederick is excommunicated by Pope Gregory IX on September 29 for failing to honor his crusading pledge.

During the delay, he receives envoys from the late Saladin's nephew Sultan al-Kamil of Egypt, who, threatened by the ambitious designs of his Ayyubid brothers, is disposed to negotiate.

…Brindisi, and …