- Castulo
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Roman bowl from Castulo, dating to the 1st century AD.
- For the moth genus, see Castulo (moth).
Castulo was an Iberian town located in the Andalusian province of Jaén, in south-central Spain. Evidence of human presence since the Neolithic period has been found there. Oretans was the name of the Iberian tribe which settled in the vicinity in the north of the Guadalquivir River beginning in the 6th century BCE. Of tradition, a local princess named Himilce married Hannibal and gained the alliliance of the city with the Carthaginian Empire.
In 213 BCE, Castulo was the site of a Hasdrubal Barca's crushing victory over the Roman army with a force of roughly 40,000 Carthaginian troops plus local Iberian mercenaries.[1] Thereafter the Romans made a pact with the residents of city —who then betrayed the Carthaginians— and the city became an foederati (ally) of Rome.
Castulo began to lose importance while Andalusia fell under Islamic rule in the Middle Ages. In contrast, the nearby village Linares grew in reputation due to its strong castle — first built as an Arab fortress, then rebuilt by the Christians after the Reconquista — overlooking the city.
O: diademed head R: bull, crescent above, Castulo in iberian below bronze semis struck in Castulo in the mid of 2nd century BC ; ref.: CNH p. 334, 28; SNG BM Spain 1308 In 1227 its walls were destroyed, and the town was depopulated shortly afterward.
References
- ^ Rome and Carthage
Sources
- A Brief History of Spain - Carthage and Rome [1]
Categories:- Archaeological sites in Spain
- Roman sites in Spain
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