or SIPUS, an ancient town of Italy, in Apulia, on the shore of the Adriatic, south of the mountain and promontory of Garganus. Its origin is ascribed by tradition to Dionysus; but nothing is known of its real founders, and the earliest historical notice we have of it is, that it was captured about 330 B.C., by Alexander of Epirus. How it came into the power of the Romans, we are also ignorant; but a colony was established here in 194. It was deserted shortly after, but subsequently restored by a fresh body of colonists. Under the Romans, Sipontum seems to have been a flourishing town, governed by its own municipal authorities, possessing a good harbour, and a considerable trade in corn. The marshes in the vicinity must always have been very unhealthy; and these caused the decay of the place in the middle ages, and finally induced Manfred, king of Naples, in 1250, to remove the inhabitants to the new city of Manfredonia, not far off.