Italica near Seville

On January 27, 2019January 27, 2019 By Paul Coby and Sally BlandfordIn Colonia, SpainLeave a comment

Overall Impact: **** 4 stars – Italica delivers a mixed impression with a massive amphitheatre and high quality mosaics – but hard to understand as a major City.

Access *** 3 stars – road access to site entrance

Atmosphere ** 2 star – Italica is a site that is hard to make sense, although with star elements

Other **** 4 stars – birth-place of 3 Emperors!

Italica should impress more, it is after all the birthplace of two of unquestionably the most important Roman Emperors – Trajan and Hadrian in the 2nd Century CE, and possibly a third Theodosius I of Great in the 4th Century.

It has the third largest amphitheatre in the Empire, and some remarkable mosaics – including a very witty Neptune with putti hunting crocodiles and fighting cranes and a delightful one with bird pictures. What is more when we were there after a very rainy winter day, the sewer system still appears to function.

The Seahorse mosaic in one of the mansions in Italica.

Perhaps it’s the contrast with the altogether amazing Merida which we had just visited the day before, that seems to put Italica in the shade? Maybe the restored walls and portico pillars that line Hadrian’s wide avenues in the New Town, are just too neatly finished? Maybe its the worry induced by at least three world class mosaics being open to all the elements has to throw at them?

Italica was founded as far back as 206 BCE by the great general Publius Cornelius Scipio, later called Africanus after he defeated Hannibal at Zama. His great victory over Hannibal’s brother Hasdrubal at Ilipa was just up the road and Scipio settle his veterans from Italia, in Italica to dominate the areas around the River Guadalquivir.

Scipio’s Old Town lies under the modern Santaponce. Trajan was born in Italica on 18 September 53 CE in Italica in a non patrician family of Italian and possibly Iberian origin. Hadrian was born in Italica on 24 January 76 CE and was the adopted heir of the childless Trajan, who was the maternal cousin of Hadrian’s father.

The substantial remains of the Amphitheatre at Italica, which with CGI additions was used as a set for Game of Thrones.

Hadrian expanded Italica northwards with the New City, and made it a Colonia Aelia Augusta Italica. He added temples including a meassinve Trajaneum and built the amphitheatre that could seat 25,000 spectators – half the Colisseum itself. This was both a bold statement and a massive financial commitment to funding Games and Spectacles by the local elite of Italica. Large well appointed houses were built for this elite in the City.

It is therefore perhaps not surprising that Italica’s prosperity shrunk with the end of the Antonine Dynasty with which it was so closely connected. Also the River Gaudalquivir had shifted course and silted up, which favoured Hispalis (modern Seville).

Italica carried on in a reduced state like a dowager fallen on hard times. It was used as a stone quarry by Moors and Christian regimes alike. Today it has some monuments like the Amphitheatre, but not much extraordinary to excite the visitor, except it’s general size and the memories of Trajan and Hadrian.

Italica in Summary

Italica is a large and sprawling site. The Amphitheatre is massive and impressive. The rest of the site has striking mosaics but how they fit in the houses is difficult to understand. The overall picture of how the City functioned is hard to fathom.

Tarragona (Roman Tarraco)

On January 5, 2019January 4, 2019 By Paul Coby and Sally BlandfordIn Colonia, Provincial Capital, SpainLeave a comment

We visited Tarragona just after the New Year when there were no crowds; it was chilly but with warming sunshine.

If you are coming from Barcelona, come off the toll motorway AP7 onto the A7 and then the A340, so you can enter Tarragona along the course of the ancient long-distance road, the Via Augusta. It is pleasing to see the city’s Roman name still celebrated today, with a large Tarraco sign at a roundabout.

Another advantage of this route is that you pass the Tower of the Scipios, a late First-Century BC funerary monument. Nothing to do with the Roman family of the Scipios themselves, but a striking survival and a taste of things to come!

Brief History of Tarraco

Tarraco was probably an Iberian settlement before its fortification by the brothers Gnaius Cornelius and Publius Scipio in 217BC at the start of the Second Punic War, and building of a military port – Tarraco Scipionum opus, as Pliny the Elder says.

It was Scipio Africanus’ base from 211 – 210BC, where he met the Iberian tribes in conventus. During the long conquest of Hispania, Tarraco remained a supply base for the Roman military and capital of Hispania Citerior. It became a Roman Colony around 45BC after Caesar’s victory at Munda in the Civil War, so added Iulia to its name.

Augustus resided in Tarraco in 27BC whilst overseeing the completion of the conquest and he reorganised the Provinces, Hispania Citerior becoming Hispania Tarraconensis, with about two-thirds of the land area of the Iberian Peninsula ruled from Tarraco. As befits a major provincial capital Tarraco prospered and a theatre was built. The trans-Peninsular road was restored as the Via Augusta and a Temple to the Deified Augustus was erected in 15AD after his death.

Vespasian, as in Britain, was a keen organiser of and investor in the Provinces. After his victory in the Civil War of AD69 he addressed Hispania, with Latin citizenship being granted to its inhabitants and the former tribal areas, and cities re-organised into areas focused around urban centres – both colonies and municipalities. This required the establishment of the Provinciae Concilium as a centre of Roman and Hispanic pride.

Inscriptions to Flamines and Flaminicae – priests and priestesses of the Provincial and Imperial Cult – have been found: these two are dedicated to Flaminicae from the Second Century AD?.

Tarraco, as befitted the provincial capital, received a whole new urban quarter with a provincial Forum for the administration, a Temple to the Imperial Cult and subsequently a Circus – see the model above.

Following this Tarraco prospered for 150 years but, along with the much of Roman Gaul and Spain, the city declined in the Third Century AD and was merely one of six provincial capitals under Diocletian. It was occupied by the Visigoths in 476 and by the Muslims in 713.

The Remains

The Roman Remains of Tarraco are deservedly a UNESCO World Heritage Site. For the visitor they consist of three areas:

the original lower town around the port with its own ‘colonial forum’ and theatre
the upper town, probably occupied by military installations in the Republican Period but developed as the Provincial Centre under Vespasian and Domitian, with Temple, Provincial Forum and Administration, and Circus.
sites outside the city including an Aqueduct, Arch and roadside funerary monument.

The Circus

Entering by the Via Augusta you arrive in the centre of the old City, to be confronted on your right by medieval walls built around the Roman Circus. Try and find the nearest car park (helpfully signed), which is conveniently situated under the Placa de la Font with the Ajuntament (City Hall) at its end. This long rectangular space occupies more than a quarter of the former Circus. Walk from the Placa towards the Sea and you will find the remains of the curved end of the Circus.

The Circus was 290m long and 65m wide, and was part of the major investment in Tarraco as the Provincial Capital of a re-organised Hispania under Vespasian, with the work probably completed under Domitian. The site is well displayed and, although converted into fortifications in the Middle Ages and partly blown up in the French Siege of 1811, provides a good impression of what the Circus looked like. The Tarragona authorities have invested in digital tools and you can download a free location-based App that enables you to visualise the Circus and other key sites in Roman times. All you need to do is to download it onto your phone then scan the bar codes at the sites.

The key remains of the Circus are the remaining tunnels under the curving end of the course and for some way under part of the former seating on the north side of the Circus.

The Temple of Augustus

Remarkably, the walls of the temenos (the sacred enclosure) are preserved in the buildings around the Cathedral Cloisters, now the Cathedral Museum – see above. Unsurprisingly, the 12th-Century Cathedral occupies the same site as the Temple of Augustus, at the highest point of the hill above Tarraco.

The Provincial Forum

It was started in 73AD under Vespasian and was situated up the hill from the original settlement. It is thought to have consisted of buildings for the Provincial Council (see above), a Curia (senate house), an Audience Hall for the Governor and the Temple of Augustus, plus offices for the provincial financial administration and archives.

The Amphitheatre

Given that gladiatorial combats had to take place outside the walls, Tarraco‘s Amphitheatre was situated towards the sea, and can be viewed well from the top of the Roman and Medieval tower termed the Praetorium. It was built at the end of 1st Century BC, presumably when Tarraco became a Colony for Civil War veterans who liked and could afford such entertainments. It is estimated that it could hold 15,000 spectators.

Having been through many vicissitudes over the millennia, as a prison, a convent and so forth, the seating on the sea-side is still there but the central arena, as so often, is cut by the under-surface corridors and remains of later buildings which spoils the effect somewhat. This means that modern gladiatorial reconstructions are restricted to a quarter of the original surface area.

The Colonial Forum

Down the hill in the main town lie the remains of Forum of the Colony as opposed to the Province. There is a reconstructed column, which you often find in excavated forums (see Thessaloniki) and a few arches – a site for the completists.

The Theatre

Taking advantage of the slope down to the port, under Augustus the Roman Theatre was built facing the port. There is a viewing platform where the key remains can be seen, including some surviving seating and the foundations of the scaena. However, it’s not Merida!

Walls of Tarraco

The Walls are, as with so many sites where there has been continuity of occupation (Exeter in Britain has similar layers), a confusing mixture of pre-Roman, Roman, late Roman, Muslim and Medieval additions. However, it is claimed that the circuit of the old Quarter for over 1km are fundamentally Roman and there is a pleasant promenade – the Passeig Archeologic – from which they can be viewed.

Ferreres Aquaduct

The Aqueduct is located 4km north of the city and brought water from the River Francoli 15kms north of Tarraco. It is thought to date from Augustus’s time in the City and is composed of two imposing levels of arches, with a maximum height of 27m and a remarkable length of 249m.

Tower of the Scipios

This is a a funerary monument situated on the Via Augusta 6km east of Tarraco. It is decorated with two reliefs – now much weathered – of the god Attis, deity of death and resurrection. For years these were identified as the Scipio brothers, founders of Roman Tarraco.

Triumphal Arch of Bera

A further 15kns NE of the Tower of the Scipios along the Via Augusta is the Arch of Bera. It was erected, as its inscription informs us, because of a bequest by Lucius Licinius Sura in 13BC, and is thought to be dedicated to Augustus and to mark the limit of the Colony of Tarraco.

Tarraco in Summary

As can be seen from the descriptions above, none of the surviving remains is, individually, the best or (with the exception of the Aqueduct) even nearly the best in the Empire. However, like one of your best creations in the wonderful game ‘Caesar III’, Tarraco has one of everything that matters – Amphitheatre, Theatre, Circus, Walls, Temple of Augustus and so forth. It is also very well displayed and the citizens of Tarragona are clearly proud of their Roman heritage: a lot of effort has gone into their digital support to try and bring the ruins to life. So it is well worth a visit.

Top Tips

The Archaeological Museum is at present closed for renovations. It was reputedly excellent. Avoid Sundays and Mondays when many of the sites are closed!

Tarraco – A Confession

We visited as a family with a toddler which meant that we could not in the time available, having driven down from Barcelona, visit all the sites ourselves. Although we saw the main ones, as the photos prove, we have had to cover some of the others from online sources. We wanted to do this so we could publish this blog and encourage Roman enthusiasts to visit this delightful and fascinating City that really values its Roman Heritage.

Maison Carée, Nîmes

On February 17, 2018 By Paul Coby and Sally BlandfordIn Colonia, France, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Overall Impact: ******6 stars – one of best preserved/restored Roman buildings

Access ****4 star – public square open 24/7 but parking in old town hard

Atmosphere *******7 stars – almost off the scale, especially now it’s cleaned

Other **2 stars – alas, nothing Roman in heavily restored interior

Almost unbelievably, as devoted fans of Roman architecture and remains (being the sort of people who will travel many miles to look some bumps in a field and see in our mind’s eye just what that Auxiliary Fort must have looked like), we had never been to see the Roman Sites of Provence (Provincia) until this New Year.

We were, of course, blown away by what we saw. As many people reading this will know, the Maison Carée (literally, the square house – although it isn’t) in Nimes (Roman Nemausus) is arguably one of the best, if not the best, preserved Roman Temple facades. It sits in the original space of the Forum, high on its 2.8m plinth with its white marble glowing in the sunshine. The impact remains dramatic two millennia after it was built.

The Temple was dedicated c4-7AD to Gaius Caesar and Lucius Caesar, the grandsons and heirs of Augustus, who died tragically soon after. If you believe Robert Graves, after Suetonius, both were poisoned by Augustus’ wife Livia to open the way for her son and Augustus’ step-son Tiberius to become Emperor. The lettering of the dedication (“To Gaius Caesar, son of Augustus, Consul; to Lucius Caesar, son of Augustus, Consul-Designate; to the Princes of Youth”) had been removed from the facade in medieval times, but in 1758 a local scholar reconstructed it from the fixing holes left on the front frieze!

What we see today is the fruit of several reconstructions starting in Napoleonic times with the removal of accreted buildings, through to 1992 when the square around it was cleared. It inspired Thomas Jefferson’s design of the Virginian State Capitol.

The building is remarkable in that the portico forms a third of the length of the building, and there are 20 columns engaged with the wall. The frieze is exceptionally fine, decorated with rosettes and acanthus leaves.

There is nothing left inside of the sanctuary and altars that must have been there. Perhaps more could be done to give a sense of the numinous atmosphere it would once have had. There is, however, a good explanatory film which takes an unashamedly pro-Roman stance on the benefits to the local tribal leaders of joining Caesar as auxiliary cavalry and aiding him in suppressing their Gallic brothers and defeating Rome’s enemies. The film then flashes forward to show the wealthy and now thoroughly Romanised citizens of Nemausus worshipping the Emperor. It’s beautifully done and the re-enactors must have had a great time making it. There is a gratuitous dig at Arles for being founded by former Roman soldiers rather than by the indigenous Gallo-Romans! The master self-propagandist Julius Caesar would have been mightily impressed.

You could spend a lot of time describing the Maison Carée, but the key thing is how absolutely striking and atmospheric it is – in the sunlight (which we didn’t have much of at New Year) and especially when floodlit at night.

Theatre at Merida

On December 31, 2015April 15, 2017 By Paul Coby and Sally BlandfordIn Colonia, SpainLeave a comment

Overall 5 ***** beautifully preserved large theatre with scaena

Display 4 **** informative bilingual display boards

Access 3 *** well laid-out archaeological park – parking difficult

Atmosphere 5 ***** almost unique impression of what a Roman Theatre looked like

Other 4 **** next door to Spain’s magnificent Roman Museum and other sites

The Theatre at Emerita Augusta is without doubt the ‘star attraction’ of the city and is arguably the best preserved Theatre in the Roman Empire.

It is constructed of concrete and granite ashlars. Most of the cavea (seating) tiers are set back into the hillside, as is normal, and it has 13 entrances. Its maximum diameter is 87m and it could seat 6,000 people.

The orchestra is a semi-circle paved with white and blue marble in front of the stage. Around it are 3 tiers of seats separated from the rest by a marble parapet. Three doors allow for the entrance of actors onto the stage.

What really makes the Theatre at Emerita outstanding is the survival of the beautiful scaena (back scene), most of which is still in place including the statues and the columns of the tiered colonnades. The statues are of Ceres, Pluto and Proserpina, with others interpreted as imperial portraits.

It is built according to the rules of Vitruvius and is, as a result, similar to other surviving theatres at Orange in Southern France and Dougga in Tunisia.

Inscriptions show that the Theatre was begun by the remarkable Marcus Agrippa, Augustus’s right-hand man, in 16 BCE when he was campaigning in Iberia. It was modified over the centuries of use: the current scaena was erected under Trajan, and under Constantine (330-40CE) new decorative elements were added.

What was performed in a Roman Theatre? There were comedies and tragedies, most being re-workings of Greek subjects. The Roman comedies that have survived are the work of Plautus and Terentius, who took Greek subjects, removed the role of the chorus and introduced musical accompaniment. Action is set on a street with complications following from overhearing what the stock characters are saying to each other. When you watch Shakespeare’s ‘Two Gentlemen of Verona’, you get a pretty good impression of the kind of plays the citizens of Emerita would have enjoyed here. The most prominent tragedian was the Stoic philosopher Seneca, who also adapted Greek originals for a Latin audience.

For a Colonia, building a Theatre was a very visible statement of its Romanitas or ‘Roman-ness’, as well as a way for the urban elite to show off in the front rows. Theatres were maintained in major settlements throughout the Roman World – clearly, gladiators and games had their place in popular culture, but so did comedies and tragedies!

Introduction to Merida, Emerita Augusta

On December 30, 2015April 15, 2017 By Paul Coby and Sally BlandfordIn Colonia, SpainLeave a comment

Overall 6 ****** a must-see Roman Colonia with ‘one of everything’

Display 5 ***** informative bilingual display boards all around the City

Access 3 *** in a well laid-out archaeological park – parking is difficult

Atmosphere 6 ****** remarkable assemblage of Roman remains

Other 4 **** Merida has Spain’s Roman Museum (closed on Mondays of course!)

The Roman Colonia of Emerita Augusta was founded in 25 BCE by P. Carisius, legate of Augustus, for veteran soldiers (emeriti) from the bloody wars against the Cantabri in the north of the Iberian Peninsular. The soldiers originally came from Legio V Alaudae and Legio X Gemina, and later from VI Victrix and VII Gemina.

Emerita guarded the principal crossing of the River Guardiana (Fl. Ana in Latin) and became the capital of the Roman Province of Lusitania. The territorium of the Colonia stretched out as far as 100kms from the City.

The original settlement was probably a rectangle like a military camp, possibly with the surviving Arch of Trajan marking one of its gates. Later, in the 3rd Century, a much larger city wall was built enclosing the amphitheatre and theatre in the north-east, to protect the City against the rampaging Franks and Alamanni who had by then broken into the Empire.

Emerita contains a remarkable assemblage of Roman remains including a bridge of 57 arches over the Guardiana which carried the Roman road from Asturica Augusta in the north to Italica in the south. (See our separate post about the bridge.)

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There are remains of the Forum and porticos, a Temple to Rome (wrongly called the Temple of Diana) adjacent to the Forum, and the remains of the Temple of Mars under the Church of Santa Eulalia in the west.

The most remarkable remains are the “entertainment quarter” in the north-east, containing arguably the best-preserved Theatre in the Roman World for refined entertainment, a large Amphitheatre for gladiatorial games, and a Circus for chariot racing.

Excavations at the Alcazabar (later Arab citadel) have revealed Roman streets and insulae inside a Roman wall, and remains of the Roman dyke that protected the river quality, an ancient forerunner of Bazalgette’s ‘interceptor sewer’ in London.

Emerita had a large population whose water consumption required advanced hydraulic systems fed by two large reservoirs, both of which are still in working order. The Proserpina Reservoir could hold 8 million cubic metres of water. Two aqueducts fed the town.

There is also a stunning Roman Archaeological Museum with the finds from Emerita, in a modern building made out of replica Roman brick. Sadly the museum was closed on our Monday visit to Merida (although we did see it years ago), so we will need to review it on a future occasion.

So why the very high score of 6 stars? The Bridge, Amphitheatre and especially the Theatre are wonderfully preserved, they are well presented and there are enough other key Roman buildings preserved (temples, porticos and aquaducts) that it gives you a real feeling for what a major Roman Colonia was like.

Amphitheatre at Merida

On December 30, 2015April 15, 2017 By Paul Coby and Sally BlandfordIn Colonia, SpainLeave a comment

Overall 5 ***** well preserved large amphitheatre

Display 4 **** informative bilingual display boards

Access 3 *** well laid out archaeological park – parking difficult

Atmosphere 4 **** has the melancholy air of most Roman amphitheatres

Other 4 **** next door to Spain’s magificent Roman Museum

We don’t particularly like Amphitheatres, for the simple reason of what happened there and the brutal and bloody aspect of Roman ‘civilisation’ it forces you to confront. (The feeling of ‘preserved misery’ in the passages under the Amphitheatre at El Djem in Tunisia was palpable for us.) However, you cannot escape them: no provincial capital worth the name could afford not to have its Amphitheatre and the one at Merida is magnificent.

It formed of a large ellipse some 126m by 103m. Crowd control was as usual excellent, with 16 entrances, each of which accessed a stairway connecting the 32 vomitoria (entrance/exits) that opened onto the cavea (seating) for as many as 15,000 spectators. There was a grandstand for local VIPs. Clearly, as with Directors’ Boxes at the Emirates or the Etihad Stadiums, being visible in the best seats mattered in the City’s social pecking order.

Inscriptions give the probable date of construction as 8 BCE, when Emerita Augusta was still only 16 years old and was expanding fast. The emeriti – retired legionaries after whom the City is named – would no doubt have wanted their fill of games both to show their status and civilisation, and also for entertainment as in their ‘good old days under the eagles’.

Construction, like the Theatre next door, is of concrete and ashlars. There is a fossa bestiaria (large pit) in the arena floor which was used for release of wild animals and other unpleasant surprises for the gladiators and victims of the games.

The Amphitheatre, as with all sites in Merida, has informative bilingual displays. The more blood-thirsty in your party can learn that there were many different types of gladiator for the Roman ‘games enthusiast’ in addition to the retarii (net men) and the murmillones (full armour specialists).

The Amphitheatre is only part of a large well-displayed archaeological park in the north-east of the old city of Merida, complete with a world class Roman Museum devoted to Roman Spain. There are some pretty good tapas bars and a brew pub opposite. A ticket gives entrance to this zone and four other Roman sites.

Roman Bridge over the River Guardiana Merida

On December 30, 2015April 22, 2017 By Paul Coby and Sally BlandfordIn Colonia, SpainLeave a comment

Overall 4 **** remarkable survival through wars and floods

Display 5 ***** bilingual information with diagrams, some on Alcazaba above

Access 5 ***** a pedestrian bridge open at all times, parking on road nearby

Atmosphere 3 *** the view form the Moorish Alcazaba is superb

Other 4 **** a tribute to Roman engineering and construction

The Roman Road from Asturica to Italica crossed the River Guardiana (Latin Ana plus later Arabic Wadi = Wadi-ana).

In the river there is a central island that serves to break the force of the water in spate. The original Roman bridges connected the City with the island and the island with the southern bank. In the 17th Century the two bridges were connected with arches in the middle as well.

Today the bridge now has 57 arches of various periods and spans 792m making it the longest surviving bridge from Antiquity. The best preserved Roman section is the one from the City to the island, identified by curved breakwaters up-stream. Within the arches are spillways to reduce the resistance to flood-waters and no doubt a key reason this magnificent bridge is still here. A remarkable survival!