This Thursday's weekly field trip was to Itálica, the Roman town now lying in ruins just outside Seville, and it was definitely one of my favorite things I've done so far in Spain. As a colassal nerd, I had way too much fun exploring the old city and seeing all the ancient Roman artifacts I've always loved to read about.
The city was founded in 2o6 B.C.E. by Roman general Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus as a place to house the soldiers wounded in the Battle of Illipia, where they had just defeated the Carthaginians during the Second Punic War. They named it "Itálica" as a reference to the Italian origins of the Roman soldiers, who were now over 1,000 miles from home. Now called Andalucía, the southern region of Spain was called Hispania Baetica when Itálica was founded. Roman Emperor Trajan was born there in the year 53 C.E. His adopted son Emperor Hadrian named it a colonia, the highest class of Roman city, and built several temples and an amphitheater which was the third largest in the Roman Empire. The city was laid out in the standard Roman Grid, with a large central road called the decamanus maximus running north-south and narrower cardo maximus running east-west, with minor roads called limites quintarii creating the rest of the grid.
Deforestation of the surrounding region lead to the siltation and eventual shift of the Guadalquivir River bed, leaving Itálica isloated on a hill, and the city began to decline in the 3rd century C.E. However, as the ciy of Seville had sprung up six miles to the southwest and the town of Santiponce sat below the hill on which Itálica was built, no modern city was built over the ruins of the city. Itálica remains remarkably intact, with notable mosaics still in situ in some of the large private homes.
The two most significant remaining homes in Itálica are House of the Birds and House of the Planetarium, both named for the mosaics still visible on their floors. House of the Birds lies along the decamanus maximus and features a large mosaic floor depicting several species of local birds. Farther out toward the countryside, the House of the Planetarium has a small taverna in the front room, while the back rooms have large mosaic floors featuring the gods for whom the days of the week were named as well as many different non-native animals, both real and mythological. Many of the mosaics in House of the Planetarium feature images of the goddess Venus, suggesting the home was the site of several weddings.
Much of Itálica's huge amphitheater stills stands as well. It once had four levels of seating, although only one now remains. The huge oblong arena has two doorways, one on each end -- the Porta Triumpha (Door of Triumph) through which spectators and gladiators would enter, and the Porta Libitina (Door of Funerals) through which the defeated and deceased would leave. In the center of the arena is a large, deep pit in which wild animals were kept and which was sometimes flooded for mock naval battles. At one time, Hadrian's amphitheater would have held 25,000 spectators -- half as many as the Colosseum but more than three times the population of Itálica.
Itálica was one of the places I've felt most connected to Spain. There was something in the feeling of the bright sun and orange-scented breeze and the knowledge that I was standing where emperors and gladiators and builders of one of history's greatest empire once stood and lived and died. In the United States, there are few places you can go to see the legacy of people who lived two thousand years ago.
On a relatively unrelated note, I took another little field trip last night to the Carnavales de Cádiz. During the day, there are parades, musical performances, and theatrical contests, all of which I had the misfortune to not be in town for. We were bused down to the island city at 8:00 pm, after all the organized events had ended and the cold rain had begun. We were told to dress up in creative costumes and were not given much more information. As a guest in this lovely country, I will refrain from insulting their customs and traditions, so I will leave you with this note: if you do not enjoy carrying your pantsless, dangerously drunk classmate through a crowd of wild drunk young people, the late-night portion of Los Carnavales may not be for you. Although I have heard it is much more fun when it isn't raining.
For the love of God, please drink responsibly.