Berytus (/bəˈraɪtəs/; Latin: Colonia Iulia Augusta Felix Berytus) was a Roman colonia that was the center of Roman presence in the eastern Mediterranean shores south of Anatolia. Roman Berytus (modern Beirut) was the capital of Phoenicia during Roman times. The veterans of two Roman legions under Augustus were established in the city (the fifth Macedonian and the third Gallic), that afterward quickly became Romanized and was the only fully Latin-speaking city in the Syria-Phoenicia region until the fourth century.