Siege of Tarentum (272 BCE)

E253431

event in ancient history military conflict siege

The Siege of Tarentum (272 BCE) was a decisive Roman capture of the Greek city of Tarentum that effectively ended major Greek resistance in southern Italy and consolidated Roman dominance over the region.

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All labels observed (3)

Label	Occurrences
Roman campaigns against Tarentum	1
Siege of Tarentum	1
Siege of Tarentum (272 BCE) canonical	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T2303995 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Siege of Tarentum (272 BCE)
Context triple: [Roman conquest of southern Italy, hasPart, Siege of Tarentum (272 BCE)]

A. Siege of Brundisium
The Siege of Brundisium was a pivotal early episode in Julius Caesar’s civil war, when Caesar blockaded Pompey’s forces in the key Adriatic port of Brundisium before Pompey escaped to Greece.
B. Siege of Segusio
The Siege of Segusio was a military engagement in 312 AD during Constantine the Great’s campaign against Maxentius in northern Italy, forming part of the civil war that culminated in the Battle of the Milvian Bridge.
C. Siege of Massilia
The Siege of Massilia was a key 49 BC engagement in Julius Caesar’s civil war, in which Caesar’s forces besieged and captured the strategically important Mediterranean port city of Massilia (modern Marseille).
D. Siege of Syracuse
The Siege of Syracuse was a major Roman military campaign during the Second Punic War, famous for the city’s prolonged resistance aided by Archimedes’ ingenious defensive war machines before its eventual capture in 212 BC.
E. Battle of Delium
The Battle of Delium was a significant engagement of the Peloponnesian War in 424 BC, where Boeotian forces decisively defeated the Athenians near the sanctuary of Apollo at Delium.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Siege of Tarentum (272 BCE)
Target entity description: The Siege of Tarentum (272 BCE) was a decisive Roman capture of the Greek city of Tarentum that effectively ended major Greek resistance in southern Italy and consolidated Roman dominance over the region.

A. Siege of Brundisium
The Siege of Brundisium was a pivotal early episode in Julius Caesar’s civil war, when Caesar blockaded Pompey’s forces in the key Adriatic port of Brundisium before Pompey escaped to Greece.
B. Siege of Segusio
The Siege of Segusio was a military engagement in 312 AD during Constantine the Great’s campaign against Maxentius in northern Italy, forming part of the civil war that culminated in the Battle of the Milvian Bridge.
C. Siege of Massilia
The Siege of Massilia was a key 49 BC engagement in Julius Caesar’s civil war, in which Caesar’s forces besieged and captured the strategically important Mediterranean port city of Massilia (modern Marseille).
D. Siege of Syracuse
The Siege of Syracuse was a major Roman military campaign during the Second Punic War, famous for the city’s prolonged resistance aided by Archimedes’ ingenious defensive war machines before its eventual capture in 212 BC.
E. Battle of Delium
The Battle of Delium was a significant engagement of the Peloponnesian War in 424 BC, where Boeotian forces decisively defeated the Athenians near the sanctuary of Apollo at Delium.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (45)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	event in ancient history ⓘ military conflict ⓘ siege ⓘ
belligerent	Greek defenders of Tarentum ⓘ Roman Republic ⓘ Tarentines ⓘ linked to: Taras (Tarentum)
chronologicalOrder	late 3rd century BCE ⓘ
conflictBetween	Epirote garrison in Tarentum ⓘ Greek city of Tarentum ⓘ linked to: Taras (Tarentum) Roman Republic ⓘ
consequence	Magna Graecia effectively subdued by Rome ⓘ Tarentum brought under Roman control ⓘ linked to: Roman conquest of southern Italy
ended	Greek autonomy in Tarentum ⓘ
follows	Pyrrhic War ⓘ
geopoliticalContext	Roman expansion against Greek city-states in Italy ⓘ
hasDate	272 BCE ⓘ
hasLocation	Italian Peninsula ⓘ Magna Graecia ⓘ Tarentum ⓘ ancient city of Tarentum ⓘ southern Italy ⓘ linked to: Southern Italy
hasModernLocation	Apulia ⓘ Italy ⓘ Taranto ⓘ
hasPartOfName	Tarentum ⓘ
hasTheater	Italian theater of Roman wars ⓘ
hasYear	272 BCE ⓘ
historicalPeriod	Roman Republic ⓘ
historicalRegion	Magna Graecia ⓘ
isDecisiveFor	Roman dominance in southern Italy ⓘ
ledTo	increased Roman control over southern Italian trade routes ⓘ integration of Tarentum into the Roman sphere of influence ⓘ
opponentType	Greek polis ⓘ
outcome	capture of Tarentum by Rome ⓘ consolidation of Roman dominance in southern Italy ⓘ end of major Greek resistance in southern Italy ⓘ
partOf	Roman conquest of Magna Graecia ⓘ linked to: Roman conquest of southern Italy Roman expansion in Italy ⓘ wars of the Roman Republic in Italy ⓘ
relatedTo	Pyrrhus of Epirus ⓘ
result	Roman victory ⓘ
significance	decisive step in Roman unification of Italy ⓘ marked the end of independent Greek power in southern Italy ⓘ strengthened Roman strategic position in the central Mediterranean ⓘ
usedWarfareType	siege warfare ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Roman conquest of southern Italy → hasPart → Roman campaigns against Tarentum ⓘ

linked to: Siege of Tarentum (272 BCE)

Roman conquest of southern Italy → hasPart → Siege of Tarentum (272 BCE) ⓘ

Sieges of the Second Punic War → notableSiege → Siege of Tarentum ⓘ