Theater of Clunia

Clunia, full name Colonia Clunia Sulpicia, was an ancient Roman city located on Alto de Castro, at more than 1000 m above MSL, between the cities of Peñalba de Castro and Coruña del Conde, 2 km away from the latter, in the province of Burgos in Spain. It was one of the most important Roman cities of the northern half of Hispania and, from the 1st century BC, served as the capital of a conventus iuridici in the province Hispania Tarraconensis^[1][2], called Conventus Cluniensis. It was located on the road that lead from Caesaraugusta (Zaragoza) to Asturica Augusta (Astorga). The city declined during the 3rd century and was largely abandoned by the Visigothic era.^[3] Clunia is a toponym of Arevacian origin.^[4] Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew from a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula circa the 9th century BC to a massive empire straddling the Mediterranean Sea. ... For considerations of sea level change, in particular rise associated with possible global warming, see sea level rise. ... Coruña del Conde is a Spanish village and municipality located at the south of Burgos province, Castile-Leon autonomous community, in the Aranda de Duero jurisdiction. ... Burgos province Burgos is a province of northern Spain, in the northeastern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. ... (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium) The 1st century BC started on January 1, 100 BC and ended on December 31, 1 BC. An alternative name for this century is the last century BC. The AD/BC notation does not use a year zero. ... Roman Imperial province of Hispania Tarraconensis, 120 AD Hispania Tarraconensis was one of three Roman provinces in Hispania. ... For other uses, see Zaragoza (disambiguation). ... Episcopal Palace of Astorga Astorga (Latin Asturica Augusta) is a small city located in the province of León of Spain. ... // Overview Events 212: Constitutio Antoniniana grants citizenship to all free Roman men 212-216: Baths of Caracalla 230-232: Sassanid dynasty of Persia launches a war to reconquer lost lands in the Roman east 235-284: Crisis of the Third Century shakes Roman Empire 250-538: Kofun era, the first... Migrations The Visigoths (Western Goths) were one of two main branches of the Goths, an East Germanic tribe (the Ostrogoths being the other). ... Toponymy is the taxonomic study of toponyms (place-names), their origins and their meanings. ... The Arevaci were an ancient Celtiberian tribe who settled in the Meseta Central of northern Hispania. ...

History

Pre-Roman period

The city of Clunia was founded on a mount a short distance from a Celtiberian settlement called Cluniaco or Kolounioukou, belonging to the Arevaci, a Pre-Roman tribe that belonged to the family of Celtiberians. The Arevaci were an ancient Celtiberian tribe who settled in the Meseta Central of northern Hispania. ... Main language areas in Iberia circa 200 BC. The Celtiberians (or Celt-Iberians)[1] were a Celtic people of late La Tène culture living in the Iberian Peninsula, chiefly in what is now north central Spain and northern Portugal, before and during the Roman Empire. ...

Genesis

Mosaic at Clunia.

Clunia was built from scratch. Unlike other sites conquered by the Romans, Clunia did not occupy the site of an earlier city or town.^[5] Clunia boasted two public baths, a basilica, a forum, many taverns and shops, and a large temple dedicated to Jupiter.^[6] This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... St. ... Look up forum in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Temple of Hephaestus, an Doric Greek temple in Athens with the original entrance facing east, 449 BC (western face depicted) For other uses, see Temple (disambiguation). ... For the planet see Jupiter. ...

Apogee

From Livy, we know that the site was besieged by Pompey in his fight against Sertorius in 75 BC; Pompey was forced to leave Clunia partly due to weather conditions there. After 20 of resistance by Sertorius, Pompey finally destroyed what existed of Clunia in 72 BC. Clunia fell under the control of the Vacceos in 56 BC, but subsequently fell again under Roman control, as did the rebelling Vacceos and Arevaci.^[7] A portrait of Titus Livius made long after his death. ... For other meanings see Pompey (disambiguation). ... Quintus Sertorius (died 72 BC), Roman statesman and general. ... Centuries: 2nd century BC - 1st century BC - 1st century Decades: 120s BC 110s BC 100s BC 90s BC 80s BC - 70s BC - 60s BC 50s BC 40s BC 30s BC 20s BC Years: 80 BC 79 BC 78 BC 77 BC 76 BC - 75 BC - 74 BC 73 BC 72... The Vacceos were an ancient tribe who settled in the Meseta of northern Spain. ... Centuries: 2nd century BC - 1st century BC - 1st century Decades: 100s BC 90s BC 80s BC 70s BC 60s BC - 50s BC - 40s BC 30s BC 20s BC 10s BC 0s BC Years: 61 BC 60 BC 59 BC 58 BC 57 BC 56 BC 55 BC 54 BC 53... The Arevaci were an ancient Celtiberian tribe who settled in the Meseta Central of northern Hispania. ...

Years later, the city was formally founded ex novo during the time of Emperor Tiberius as part of the Roman plan to pacify the region after the Cantabrian Wars.^[8]. It was first granted the status of municipium, and minted small coinage, asses and dupondi, on which appear the local quattuorviri, who were in charge of their minting. For other persons named Tiberius, see Tiberius (disambiguation). ... The Cantabrian Wars (29 BC-19 BC) occurred during the Roman conquest of the ancient province of Cantabria. ... A municipium was the second highest class of a Roman city, and was inferior in status to the colonia. ... The As (plural Asses) was a bronze, and later copper, coin used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire, named after the homonymous weight unit (12 unciae = ounces), but not immune to weight depreciation. ... The dupondius (Latin two-pounder) was a bronze coin used during the Roman Empire and Roman Republic valued at 2 asses (1/2 of a sestertius or 1/8 of a denarius). ...

The city acquired, possibly during the reign of Galba or Hadrian, the status of colonia^[9] and the epithet of Sulpicia after Sulpicius Galba, governor of Hispania, proclaimed himself emperor, and who in 68 AD took refuge in Clunia during the anti-Neronian revolution. At this town he received news of the death of the emperor and the announcement of his own elevation as emperor by the Roman Senate (because of this some essayist added the epithet of Galba to the name of the city). He traveled to Rome from Clunia. During the reign of Servius Sulpicius Galba, Clunia was the capital of the Empire. Servius Sulpicius Galba (December 24, 3 BC – January 15, 69) was Roman Emperor from June 8, 68 until his death. ... Publius Aelius Traianus Hadrianus (January 24, 76 –– July 10, 138), known as Hadrian in English, was emperor of Rome from 117 A.D. to 138 A.D., as well as a Stoic and Epicurean philosopher. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Iberian Peninsula. ... The Roman Senate (Latin: Senatus) was the main governing council of both the Roman Republic, which started in 509 BC, and the Roman Empire. ... For other uses, see Rome (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Roman Empire (disambiguation). ...

The splendor of the Roman city of Clunia was extended during the 1st and 2nd century AD, the same as other cities of the Meseta Norte of Hispania such as Asturica Augusta or Iuliobriga, located in the provinces of León and Cantabria, respectively. During its maximum apogee, it is calculated that the city of Clunia came to have around 30,000 inhabitants. The 1st century was that century that lasted from 1 to 100 according the Gregorian calendar. ... The 2nd century is the period from 101 - 200 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian Era. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Iberian Peninsula. ... León province León (Llión in Asturian-leonese language) is a province of northwestern Spain, in the northwestern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. ... For the Mesozoic island Cantabria, see Cantabria (Mesozoic island). ...

Decline

During the 3rd century, a gradual depopulation of the urban nucleus was produced, in relation to the crisis of the 3rd century and the incipient decline of the Western Roman Empire. It is evident that there were Barbarian invasions into Clunia. In fact, it is verified that, towards the end of the 3rd century, the city was burned by Barbarian tribes, specifically, by the Franco-Germans. These invasions, as well as economic instability, may have contributed to the inexorable decline of Clunia. Nevertheless, it does not appear that there was a violent and general destruction, in any event this preludes the end of the Roman cultural influence in the city of Clunia and its surroundings. Excavations reveal destroyed urban areas in Clunia, which were not rebuilt at the end of the 3rd century.^[10] Some limited reconstruction took place during the reigns of Diocletian and Constantine, but large parts of the city were uninhabited by the 7th century, during the Visigothic era.^[11] This article is about the historiography of the decline of the Roman Empire. ... 2nd to fifth century simplified migrations. ... // Overview Events 212: Constitutio Antoniniana grants citizenship to all free Roman men 212-216: Baths of Caracalla 230-232: Sassanid dynasty of Persia launches a war to reconquer lost lands in the Roman east 235-284: Crisis of the Third Century shakes Roman Empire 250-538: Kofun era, the first... Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus (c. ... For other uses, see Constantine I (disambiguation). ... The 7th century is the period from 601 - 700 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian Era. ... Migrations The Visigoths (Western Goths) were one of two main branches of the Goths, an East Germanic tribe (the Ostrogoths being the other). ...

The the full conquest of Visigothic Hispania by the Muslims, the city and its surroundings were conquered by the troops of the Berber general Tariq ibn-Ziyad during the year 713. Later, Christians repopulated the city in 912, locating their city on the site that the current Coruña del Conde occupies, located where many Roman ruins from the city of Clunia can be seen. Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. ... Tariq ibn Ziyad or Taric ben Zeyad (d. ... Events Byzantine Emperor Philippicus deposed. ... Events Orso II Participazio becomes Doge of Venice Patriarch Nicholas I Mysticus becomes patriarch of Constantinople Births November 23 - Otto I the Great Holy Roman Emperor (+ 973) Abd-ar-rahman III - prince of the Umayyad dynasty Deaths Oleg of Kiev Categories: 912 ... Coruña del Conde is a Spanish village and municipality located at the south of Burgos province, Castile-Leon autonomous community, in the Aranda de Duero jurisdiction. ...

Later, the village of Peñalba de Castro was built, which received the meseta of the enclave of Clunia in exchange for water in a time when the value of water was more valuable than the few ruins not yet buried that remained of the abandoned Roman city.

Archeological legacy

Clunia constitutes an archeological enclave of exceptional interest in a collection of the Iberian Peninsula. This interest is determined by its urban morphology and by the cultural sequence of the findings that it provides. Also, its ruins are the most representative of all the ones that have been found of the Roman period in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. The Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe, and includes modern day Spain, Portugal, Andorra and Gibraltar. ...

The archeological excavations in the deposit began in 1915. The work resumed in 1931 and 1958, bringing to light the glorious past of one of the principal cities of Hispania whose extension —judging by the archeological excavation— neared 120 hectares, this being one of the largest cities of all of Roman Hispania. The excavations permitted the discovery —after centuries of being hidden— a theater excavated into rock, various domus with mosaics, streets, ruins of the buildings of the forum and a great cloaca, just as important sculptural findings, like an effigy of Isis and a torso of Dionisus, which are preserved at the National Archeological Museum of Madrid and in that of Burgos, including a large quantity of coins, epigraphic ruins, Roman ceramics such as Samian ware, glass, bronze objects, etc. Year 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday[1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... A hectare (symbol ha) is a metric unit of surface area, equal to 100 ares (the name is a contraction of the SI prefix hecto + are). ... For other usages see Theatre (disambiguation) Theater (American English) or Theatre (British English and widespread usage among theatre professionals in the US) is that branch of the performing arts concerned with acting out stories in front of an audience using combinations of speech, gesture, music, dance, sound and spectacle &#8212... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Look up forum in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article discusses the ancient goddess Isis. ... Image:Samian. ...

Urban Morphology

As in every city, the majority of the space developed in Clunia was occupied by residences. The archeological excavations have permitted the following of the evolution of the domestic town planning and verify some of its most characteristic features.

In the archeological deposit, the following buildings can be observed:

Theater

The most significant ruin is the theater, excavated into rock, which had a capacity of 10,000 spectators, which converted it into one of the largest of its time in Hispania. It had the purpose of serving for the interpretation of theatrical acts of the Classical period. Its recuperation has merited the award in the section of Restoration and Rehabilitation given by the biannual Awards of Architecture of Castile and León of 2004-2005. The panel of judges highlighted "the respectful recuperation of the theater and the general landscaping treatment". For other usages see Theatre (disambiguation) Theater (American English) or Theatre (British English and widespread usage among theatre professionals in the US) is that branch of the performing arts concerned with acting out stories in front of an audience using combinations of speech, gesture, music, dance, sound and spectacle &#8212... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Iberian Peninsula. ... Capital Valladolid Official language(s) Spanish/Castilian Area  â€“ Total  â€“ % of Spain Ranked  94,223 km²  18. ...

Forum

The center of Romana cities, where the Cardus Maximus and Decumanus Maximus crossed, frequently receiving the forum of the city, a public square surrounded by porticos. In it political, commercial, judicial and, habitually, also religious, activities unfolded. In Clunia, the forum is not very far from the theater, in whose environs the ruins of three domus stand out, a basilica and a macellum (market). The mosaics grab the attention, the subterranean habitations and the systems of heating of some of these homes. On top of the market in the 17th century, a hermitage of limited artistic value was built, damaging the deposits. For the crustacean genus Cardus, see Polychelidae. ... Palmyra in Syria In Roman city planning, a Decumanus Maximus was an east-west-oriented road in a Roman city, military camp, or colonia. ... Look up forum in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... St. ... Look up Market in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article is about a decorative art. ... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ...

Thermae

With the Roman forum are the ruins of the Roman thermae, of great dimensions and covered in mosaics somewhat simpler than that of the homes of the forum. Here also is very visible the system of heating of the different thermae rooms, the hypocaust. Roman public baths in Bath, England. ... Ruins of the hypocaust under the floor of a Roman villa. ...

Other buildings

In the subsoil of the city, where no visiting is allowed due to its fragility, are the very interesting systems of water supply and a priapic sanctuary.

Reference

• Great Larousse Encyclopedia, vol 5. Barcelona: Planeta Editorial, S.A.; 1987. ISBN 843207375X.

Notes

1. ^ http://archaeospain.com/clunia/clunia1.htm
2. ^ http://www.arqueoturismoclunia.com/clunia.asp
3. ^ http://archaeospain.com/clunia/clunia1.htm
4. ^ http://www.terra.es/personal/soportal/laribera/clunia.html
5. ^ http://www.findadig.com/clunia
6. ^ http://archaeospain.com/clunia/clunia1.htm
7. ^ http://www.arqueoturismoclunia.com/clunia.asp
8. ^ http://www.terra.es/personal/soportal/laribera/clunia.html
9. ^ http://www.terra.es/personal/soportal/laribera/clunia.html
10. ^ http://archaeospain.com/clunia/clunia1.htm
11. ^ http://archaeospain.com/clunia/clunia1.htm

Image File history File links Commons-logo. ...

External links

• Clunia website with Spanish and English versions