 Based on studies of the distances traveled in the "Tabula Peutingeriana" and the Antonine Itinerary on the Via Appia Antica, Guardia could, in fact, be the ancient Samnite city of Romulea, described by Titus Livius in "Ab Urbe Condita" (book 10, chapter 17).According to Livy's history, Romulea was an opulent city that was conquered and sacked in 293 BC by the Roman consul Publius Decius Mus or, according to another academic source, by Volunnio, and was never rebuilt.Despite this, the most likely theory is that the ancient city of Romulea coincided with the nearby town of Bisaccia, but the existence in the ancient texts of a "mansio" called Sub Romula, a small settlement outside Romulea on the edge of the Via Appia, suggests the existence of a population in the Guardiese "frazione" of Taverne di Guardia.