Roman Seville (Hispalis) and Italica in Spain

Hi and welcome back to the Medieval World. In this video, we're going to be talking about Seville, Spain. What we're going to be talking about in this video isn't Medieval Spain, which is the typical Seville that we think about, such as the archbishop's seat and the cathedral behind me. Instead, we're going to be jumping back a little further in the past to Roman Seville, and that means that we're going to be talking about something that doesn't oftentimes get talked about, which are things like the aqueducts here, the columns here, and five miles to the town of Italica. Seville lies in the Andalusia region of southern Spain. It's been an important settlement since the 8th century BCE. The earliest known inhabitants were the Tartisians, who were conquered by the Carthaginians. The Carthaginians fortified the region, but were eventually conquered by the Romans in the Second Punic War under the great Roman general Scipio Africanus. After the war, Scipio needed a place to settle his veteran soldiers. He elected to place them in a new settlement located on a neighboring hill. This area would become known as Italica, and it's something that we'll see later in this video. It was chosen because it was located next to the city of Seville and could easily be defended. Under the Romans, the city of Seville would become known as Hispales. This was the region where Julius Caesar served out his quaestorship. It was the birthplace of two Roman emperors, Trajan and Hadrian, and it was the home city of one of the most important medieval intellectuals, Isidore of Seville, who was the city's archbishop in the 7th century. Most of Seville's early Roman past lies buried under a modern, bustling metropolis. Nevertheless, if we look closely, we can find a few remnants along busy streets and tucked between apartments of neighborhoods. So we're walking right now, just 15 minutes from the city center where the cathedral lies, to the ancient Roman aqueducts that still survive within the city of Seville. And on the way back, we're going to be stopping by and checking out three ancient Roman columns made of Egyptian granite. These are the Roman aqueducts, known as the Caños de Carmona, or the Pipes of Carmona. Much of this architectural marvel was intentionally destroyed in the 20th century, however. These aqueducts would have carried vital water to the Roman city of Hispales from natural springs in the south. There are three surviving small sections that are free to visit in only a 15-minute walk from the old city center of Seville. Along the way, you can also see these original Roman columns that are of Egyptian granite, the same material used in the city of Rome. Today, they are nestled in a quiet street between two apartment buildings. These few surviving fragments of Seville's Roman past paint a small picture of this thriving metropolis. To get a better sense of Roman Hispales, however, we have to look somewhere else. We have to turn our attention to Italica, a well-preserved Roman city that costs only 150 euro to visit. Perhaps the most notable area of this entire region is the archaeological site of Italica. So we're here at Italica, the birthplace of several Roman emperors, including Trajan. And right now we're going to be looking at the amphitheater and the old Roman ruins of the former city that lies just outside Seville. Perhaps the most notable area in Italica is the archaeological site of the Roman amphitheater. It is one of the largest of the Roman Empire, a testament to the importance and wealth of the region. It is said that the theater could hold up to 25,000 visitors. This is staggering for the ancient world, but it is even more interesting given the fact that only 10,000 people lived in Italica. This means that it likely hosted citizens of neighboring cities. This arena would have housed some of the bloodiest games and festivals during the Roman period, namely gladiatorial fights. This was a key source of entertainment for Roman citizens and would have been expected in a city of this size. The amphitheater would have been one of the central buildings within the city, but the majority of the residents would have lived nearly 100 meters away in the new city or the novus orbs. Now just outside of Italica lies a neighborhood that was constructed in around the second century CE. That's common era. Now in this neighborhood would have been shops, houses, etc. And to this day you can still see them just outside the Italica city walls where there's still a Roman gate sewer system and roads. It is called the new city because this is the newer region of Italica. This original site, however, would have been the old city which lies under the modern-day city of Santa Fonse. It was common during the Roman Empire for populations of major cities to increase. As this happened, Rome would expand its infrastructure and build out new roads and buildings to accommodate a growing population. Because no modern city was built on top of the new city of Italica, it means that the ruins were remarkably well preserved and this allows for us to tour them today. Throughout this old Roman neighborhood, we can see the preserved mosaics of richly adorned mansions. We can also see the necessities of everyday life, such as this oven which would have been used to bake bread for the local residents. So my gimbal's died. I thought today was going to be just a couple short little videos, but it turns out there is so much to see here in Italica. It is well worth the euro 50. My camera's died, my phone's about to die, and I need to get an Uber back, so that's going to be all for this video.