Numantia

Coordinates: 41°48′34.51″N 2°26′39.33″W / 41.8095861°N 2.4442583°W / 41.8095861; -2.4442583
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Numantia
Numancia
Numantia is located in Spain
Numantia
Location of the site in Spain
LocationGarray (Soria), Spain
Coordinates41°48′34.51″N 2°26′39.33″W / 41.8095861°N 2.4442583°W / 41.8095861; -2.4442583
TypeArchaeological site
History
CulturesCeltiberian
TypeNon-movable
CriteriaArchaeological site
Designated25 August 1882
Reference no.RI-55-0000001

Numantia (Spanish: Numancia) is an ancient Celtiberian settlement, whose remains are located on a hill known as Cerro de la Muela in the current municipality of Garray (Soria), Spain.[1]

Numantia is famous for its role in the

Scipio Aemilianus Africanus
the task of destroying Numantia.

History

Celtiberi
tribe with the probable locations of its sub-groups
Further information: Numantine War
Main article: Siege of Numantia

Numantia was an

Duero
.
Uxama
.

The first serious conflict with Rome occurred in 153 BC when

war elephants
, but were unsuccessful.

In 137 BC, 20,000 Romans surrendered to the Celtiberians of Numantia (population between 4,000 and 8,000). The young Roman officer Tiberius Gracchus, as quaestor, saved the Roman army from destruction by signing a peace treaty with the Numantines, an action generally reserved for a legate.

Modern reconstruction of the Celtiberian houses in Numantia

The final siege of Numantia began in 134 BC. Scipio Aemilianus in command of an army of 30,000 soldiers laid siege to the city, erecting a 9 km barrier supported by towers, moats, impaling rods, and other devices. The Numantians refused to surrender and famine quickly spread through the city. After eight months most of the inhabitants decided to commit suicide rather than become slaves. A few hundred of the inhabitants decided to burn the city before surrendering after 13 months of siege.

Later history

Imperial province
of Hispania Tarraconensis (pictured in red), AD 120.

After the destruction in 133 BC, occupation continued in the 1st century BC with a regular street plan but without great public buildings. Its decay started in the 3rd century, but was still settled in the 4th century.

Later remains from the 6th century hint of a

Visigoth
occupation.

Excavation and conservation of Numantia

Numantia's exact location vanished from memory, and some theories placed it in

national monument. In 1905, the German archaeologist Adolf Schulten began a series of excavations which located the Roman camps around the city. In 1999, the Roman camps were included in a zona arqueológica, a category of the Spanish heritage register which did not exist when the hillfort was first protected.[3]
Regular excavations are still going on.

Museums

Jar with three spouts (1st century B.C.) in the Museo Numantino

Many objects from the site are on display in the Numantine Museum of Soria (Spanish: Museo Numantino). This museum is also responsible for in situ displays at Numantia.

Other collections which have items from the site include the

Romano-Germanic Central Museum, Mainz. (Some objects were taken by Adolf Schulten to Germany).[4]

Symbolism

The Siege of Numantia was recorded by several Roman historians who admired the sense of freedom of the ancient Iberians and acknowledged their fighting skills against the Roman legions.

In Spanish culture

Don Quijote) wrote a play about the siege, El cerco de Numancia
, which stands today as his best-known dramatic work. Antonio Machado references the city in his poetry book Campos de Castilla. The poem is an ode to the countryside and peoples of rural Castile. More recently, Carlos Fuentes wrote a short story about the event, "The Two Numantias", in his collection The Orange Tree.

Several Spanish Navy ships have been named Numancia and a Sorian battalion was named batallón de numantinos. During the Spanish Civil War, the Nationalist Numancia regiment took the town of Azaña in Toledo. To erase the memory of the Republican president Manuel Azaña, they renamed it Numancia de la Sagra.

The Sorian football team is called CD Numancia.

The expression "numantine resistance" is occasionally used to refer to particularly obdurate resistance.[5]

References

  1. ^ Keay, S., R. Mathisen, H. Sivan. "Places: 246523 (Numantia)". Pleiades. Retrieved April 30, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ Pliny. Natural History.
  3. ^ Monumento and zona arqueológica are both types of Bien de Interés Cultural
  4. Vocento
    . Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  5. Real Academia Española. Archived
    from the original on 24 March 2007. Retrieved 11 November 2018.

Bibliography

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Numancia.
Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Numantia".
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