Italica(Spanish:Itálica) was an ancientRomancity inHispania;its site is close to the town ofSantiponcein theprovince of Seville,Spain.It was founded in 206 BC by Roman generalScipioas acoloniafor hisItalicveterans and named after them.[1]Italica later grew attracting new migrants from the Italian peninsula and also with the children of Roman soldiers and native women.[2]Among the Italic settlers were a branch of thegens Ulpiafrom theUmbriancity ofTuderand a branch of thegens Aeliafrom the city ofHadria,either co-founders of the town or later migrants who arrived at an unknown time; theUlpi Traianiand theAelii Hadrianiwere the respectivestirpesof the Roman emperorsTrajanandHadrian,both born in Italica.[3][4]
Itálica | |
 | |
  Shown within Spain | |
| Location | Santiponce(Seville), Spain |
|---|---|
| Region | Hispania Baetica |
| Coordinates | 37°26′38″N6°02′48″W/ 37.44389°N 6.04667°W |
| Type | Settlement |
| History | |
| Founded | 206 BC |
| Cultures | Roman |
| Site notes | |
| Condition | Ruins |
| Type | Non-movable |
| Criteria | Archaeological site |
| Designated | 13 December 1912 |
| Reference no. | RI-55-0000002 |
According to some authors, Italica was also the birthplace ofTheodosius.[5][6][7]
History
editFoundation
editFrom this time, which was a little before the 144th Olympiad [206 BC], the Romans began to send prætors to Spain yearly to the conquered nations as governors or superintendents to keep the peace. Scipio left them a small force suitable for a peace establishment, and settled his sick and wounded soldiers in a town which he named Italica after Italy: this was the native place of Trajan and Hadrian, who afterwards became emperors of Rome.
— Appian,Iberian Wars, Book VII, Chapter 38
Italica was the first Roman settlement in Spain. It was founded in 206 BC byPublius Cornelius Scipioduring theSecond Punic Warclose to a native Iberian town of theTurdetani(dating back at least to the 4th c. BC) as a settlement for his Italic veterans, a mixture ofsociiandRoman citizens,and therefore named Italica after its inhabitants.[8]The nearby native and Roman city ofHispalis (Seville)was and would remain a larger city, but Italica's importance derived from its illustrious origin and from the fact that it was close enough to theGuadalquivirto control the area.[9][10]
Thevetus urbs(original or "old" city) developed into a prosperous city and was built on aHippodamianstreet plan[11][12]with public buildings and aforumat the centre, linked to a busy river port. Italica thrived especially under the patronage of Hadrian, like many other cities in the empire under his influence at this time, but it was especially favoured as his birthplace. He expanded the city northwards as thenova urbs(new city) and, upon its request, elevated it to the status ofcoloniaasColonia Aelia Augusta Italicaeven though Hadrian expressed his surprise as it already enjoyed the rights of "Municipium".[13]He also added temples, including the enormous and uniqueTraianeumin the centre of the city to venerate his predecessor and adopted father, and rebuilt public buildings.
The city started to dwindle as early as the 3rd century when a shift of theGuadalquivirRiver bed, probably due tosiltation,a widespread problem inantiquitythat followedremoval of the forest cover,left Italica's river port high and dry whileHispaliscontinued to grow nearby.
Late Antiquity
editThe city may have been the birthplace of the emperorTheodosius I[14]and of his eldest sonArcadius(born in Spain in 377 A.D., during his father's exile).[15]
Italica was important enough in late Antiquity to have a bishop of its own, and had a garrison during the Visigothic age. The walls were restored byLeovigildoin 583 AD during his struggles againstHermenegildo.[16]
Rediscovery and excavations
editIn recent centuries, the ruins became the subject of visits, admiration and despair by many foreign travellers who wrote about and sometimes illustrated their impressions. Italica's prestige, history and fame were not enough, however, to save it from being the subject of continued looting, and a permanent quarry for materials from Ancient times to modern ones. In 1740 the city of Seville ordered demolition of the walls of the amphitheatre to build a dam on the Guadalquivir, and in 1796 thevetus urbswas used to build the new Camino Real of Extremadura. The first law of protection for the site took effect in 1810 under the Napoleonic occupation, reinstating its old name of Italica, and allocating an annual budget for regular excavation.
One of the first excavators was the Britishtextilemerchant and Seville resident Nathan Wetherell, who uncovered nearly ten Roman inscriptions in the vicinity of Italica in the 1820s that were later donated to theBritish Museum.[17][18]Regular excavation, however, did not materialise until 1839–1840.[19]When excavations intensified towards the end of the 19th century, some of the mosaic floors have been acquired by the Countess of Lebrija. They are conserved in the palace the countess had built for this purpose, thePalace of the Countess of Lebrija.The archeologist responsible for the excavations at the timeRodrigo Amador de los Ríostried to revert what he considered to be robbery rather than conservation by the countess, but she did not indulge in his complaints. By Royal Order of 1912 Italica was declared a National Monument, but it was not until 2001 that the archaeological site of Italica and the areas of protection were clearly defined.
The site
edit
As no modern city covered many of Italica's buildings of thenova urbs,the result is an unusually well-preserved Roman city with cobbled Roman streets and mosaic floors stillin situ.Many rich finds can also be seen in theSeville Archaeological Museum,with its famous marble statue of Trajan.[20]
The archaeological site of Italica encompasses mainly thenova urbswith its many fine buildings from the Hadrianic period. The originalvetus urbs(old town) lies under the present town of Santiponce.
Extensive excavation and renovation of the site has been done recently and is continuing.
The small baths and the Theatre are some of the oldest visible remains, both built before Hadrian.
Italica’s amphitheatrewas the third largest in the Roman Empire at the time, being slightly larger than theTours Amphitheatrein France. It seated 25,000 spectators, about half as many as theColosseumin Rome. The size is surprising given that the city's population at the time is estimated to have been only 8,000, and shows that the local elite demonstrated status that extended far beyond Italica itself through the games and theatrical performances they funded as magistrates and public officials.
From the same period is the elite quarter with several beautiful (and expensive) houses decorated with splendid mosaics visible today, particularly the:
- House of the Exedra
- House of the Neptune Mosaic
- House of the Birds Mosaic
- House of the Planetarium Mosaic
- House of Hylas
- House of the Rhodian Patio.
The Traianeum
editThe Traianeum was a large, imposing temple in honour of the Emperor Trajan, built by his adopted son and successor, Hadrian. It occupies a central doubleinsulaat the highest point ofnova urbs.It measures 108 x 80 m and is surrounded by a large porticoed square with alternating rectangular and semicircularexedraaround its exterior housing sculptures. The temple precinct was decorated with over a hundred columns of expensiveCipollino marblefromEuboea,and various fountains.[21]
Aqueduct
edit
The aqueduct[22]of 37 km total length was first built in the 1st c. AD and extended under Hadrian to add a more distant source for supplying the expanded city.[23]It fed a huge cistern at the edge of the city which remains intact.[24]Some of the piers of the arches are still visible near the city.
Gallery
edit-
House of the Planetarium -
Ancient Roman theatre -
A vault in the amphitheatre -
Domus of the Birds -
The Cardo Maximus -
The Exedra building -
Mosaic in the Exedra
See also
editReferences
edit- ^Appian, Iberian Wars 38
- ^Knapp, Robert C. (Nov 26, 1977).Aspects of the Roman Experience in Iberia, 206-100 B.C.Universidad, D.L.ISBN9788460008149.RetrievedNov 26,2022– via Google Books.
- ^Bennett, Julian (2001).Trajan. Optimus Princeps.Bloomington: Indiana University Press. P. 1-3.ISBN0-253-21435-1
- ^This is the academic consensus and the traditional viewpoint, held by most historians such as Julian Bennet and Anthony R.Birley. On the other hand, the Spanish historian Alicia M. Canto has argued since 2003 that theTrahii,a family which is usually also thought to be Umbrian and that became related to the Ulpii, were the original paternal family of Trajan and a relevant local indigenous family rather than Italic immigrants. (cf.Las raíces béticas de Trajano: los 'Traii' de la Itálica turdetana, y otras novedades sobre su familia). This position, however, departs from the dominant view in academia.
- ^According toHydatiusandZosimos,Theodosius was born at "Cauca inGallaecia"(modernCoca, Segovia,Spain), whileMarcellinus ComesandJordanesplace his birth at Italica (nearSantiponce) inBaetica,the same as the emperorsTrajanandHadrian.Aurelius Victor,Themistius,Pacatus Drepanius,andClaudian,although not explicitly mentioning Italica, also state that Theododius had the same roots as Trajan. This inconsistency among ancient authors has been explained in a variety of ways by modern scholars, who have also attributed it to mistakes or interpolations. Those favoring Cauca as the actual birthplace have also argued that Italica is a later invention precisely intended to connect Theodosius with Trajan. Martin Almagro Gorbea, although also favouring Cauca over Italica, states that modern historians are divided on the issue.
- ^El Disco de Teodosio,Martin Almagro Gorbea, 2000
- ^Alicia M. Canto
"Sobre el origen bético de Teodosio I el Grande, y su improbable nacimiento enCaucadeGallaecia",Latomus. Revue d'Études Latines65.2, 2006,388-421.
"Itálica,sedes natalisde Adriano. 31 textos históricos y argumentos para una secular polémica ",Athenaeum. Studi di letteratura e Storia dell'Antichità92.2, 2004, 367–408.(in Spanish) - ^Roman-Italic migration in Spain,inThe origins of the Social War,Emilio Gabba
- ^Appian, Iberian Wars 38
- ^Livy (25 June 2009).Hannibal's War: Books 21-30.Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-955597-0.
- ^Alicia M. Canto,"Die 'vetus urbs' von Italica: Probleme ihrer Gründung und ihrer Anlage",Madrider Mitteilungen26, 1985, 137-148 (spec. fig. 1).
- ^"City of Italica | Roman architecture".www.spanisharts.com.Archived fromthe originalon September 26, 2020.RetrievedNov 26,2022.
- ^Aulus Gellius (Noct. Attic.XVI, 13, 4)
- ^Marcellinus:Chronicon Marcellini comitis,ad ann..379 A.D.:Theodosius Hispanus Italicae divi Traiani civitatis a Gratiano Augusto apud Sirmium... imperator creatus est... "
- ^Cf.A.M. Canto,op.cit2006, 413, nr. 6 and pp. 398, 405, 409 and 415.
- ^John of Biclaro, Chronicles
- ^"Collection".The British Museum.RetrievedNov 26,2022.
- ^For the study of the inscriptionscf.Alicia M. Canto,Epigrafía romana de Itálica,Madrid, Complutense University, 1985, nr. 39, 71, 82, 86, 106, 115, 132, 150, 152 and 154.
- ^Alicia M. Canto,"Ivo de la Cortina y su obra" Antigüedades de Itálica "(1840): Una revista arqueológica malograda",Cuadernos de Prehistoria y Arqueología de la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid26, 2001, págs. 158-165.
- ^"Inicio - Museo arqueológico de Sevilla".www.museosdeandalucia.es.RetrievedNov 26,2022.
- ^P. León,Traianeum de Itálica,Sevilla, 1988.
- ^"Roman aqueducts: Italica (country)".www.romanaqueducts.info.RetrievedNov 26,2022.
- ^Alicia M. Canto,"El acueducto romano de Itálica",Madrider Mitteilungen20, 1979, 282-337.There is a more complete 2002 digital version.
- ^M. Pellicer, "Excavaciones en Italica (1978-79). Muralla, cloacas y cisterna",Itálica, Santiponce (Sevilla),E.A.E. nr. 121, Madrid, 205-224:The reconstruction
External links
edit
Media related toItalicaat Wikimedia Commons
- Italica homepagefrom the Andalusian Council
- Historical overviewArchived2012-12-29 at theWayback Machinefrom Livius.org
- Italica City Ruins detailsExprilo