CANIZARES

canizares, jose de (1676-1750), spanish dramatist, was born at madrid on the 4th of july 1676, entered the army, and retired with the rank of captain in 1702 to act as censor of the madrid theatres and steward to the duke of osuna. in his fourteenth year canizares recast a play by lope de vega under the title of _las cuentas del gran capitan_, and he speedily became a fashionable playwright. his originality, however, is slight, and _el domine lucas_, the only one of his pieces that is still read, is an adaptation from lope de vega. canizares produced a version of racine's _iphigenie_ shortly before 1716, and is to some extent responsible for the destruction of the old spanish drama. he died on the 4th of september 1750, at madrid. cannae (mod. _canne_), an ancient village of apulia, near the river aufidus, situated on a hill on the right bank, 6 m. s.w. from its mouth. it is celebrated for the disastrous defeat which the romans received there from hannibal in 216 b.c. (see punic wars). there is a considerable controversy as to whether the battle took place on the right or the left bank of the river. in later times the place became a _municipium_, and unimportant roman remains still exist upon the hill known as monte di canne. in the middle ages it became a bishopric, but was destroyed in 1276. see o. schwab, _das schlachtfeld von canna_ (munich, 1898), and authorities under punic wars.