He was born in Capurso in 1836 and died there in 1897. He has been defined as the "true creator" of the Apulian Aqueduct. Graduated in law, Francesco Lattanzio, after having examined the various projects on the water supply to the Province of BariHe pointed out many errors and recommended ways to fix them. His solution was implemented, many decades later, by the then Minister of Public Works of the Kingdom of Italy, Nicola Balenzano.

“Scarce and unhealthy water – wrote Lactantius – poisons our lives and if it has been asserted with a certainty worthy of a better cause than in Puglia no one has ever died of thirst, we do not know if it can be equally easily argued that the epidemics that have decimated our populations, if the diseases that atrophy and paralyze the development and vigor of so many brave young people, are not due to the scarce and polluted waters that we are forced to drink". Lattanzio is also remembered for having started the railway connection between Bari e Locorotondo, the current South-East Railway.