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Numancia | |
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  Numantia Location of the site in Spain | |
| Location | Garray (Soria), Spain |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 41°48′34.51″N2°26′39.33″W / 41.8095861°N 2.4442583°W /41.8095861; -2.4442583 |
| Type | Archaeological site |
| History | |
| Cultures | Celtiberian |
| Type | Non-movable |
| Criteria | Archaeological site |
| Designated | 25 August 1882 |
| Reference no. | RI-55-0000001 |
Numantia (Spanish:Numancia) is an ancientCeltiberian settlement, whose remains are located on a hill known as Cerro de la Muela in the current municipality ofGarray (Soria), Spain.[1]
Numantia is famous for its role in theCeltiberian Wars. In 153 BC, Numantia experienced its first serious conflict with Rome. After twenty years of hostilities, in 133 BC theRoman Senate gaveScipio Aemilianus Africanus the task of destroying Numantia.
Numantia was anIron Agehill fort (in Roman terminology anoppidum), which controlled a crossing of the riverDuero.Pliny the Elder counts it as a city of thePellendones,[2] but other authors, likeStrabo andPtolemy place it among theArevaci people. The Arevaci were aCeltiberian tribe, formed by the mingling of Iberians and migrating Celts in the 6th century BC, who inhabited an area near Numantia andUxama.
The first serious conflict with Rome occurred in 153 BC whenQuintus Fulvius Nobilior wasconsul. Numantia took in some fugitives from the city ofSegeda, who belonged to another Celtiberian tribe called the Belli. The leader of the Belli, Carus of Segeda, managed to defeat a Roman army. The Romans then besieged Numantia, and deployed a small number ofwar 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 officerTiberius Gracchus, asquaestor, saved the Roman army from destruction by signing a peace treaty with the Numantines, an action generally reserved for alegate.
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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.
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 aVisigoth occupation.
Numantia's exact location vanished from memory, and some theories placed it inZamora, but in 1860Eduardo Saavedra identified the correct location inGarray, Soria. In 1882, the ruins of Numantia were declared anational monument. In 1905, the German archaeologistAdolf Schulten began a series of excavations which located the Roman camps around the city. In 1999, the Roman camps were included in azona 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.
Many objects from the site are on display in theNumantine Museum of Soria (Spanish:Museo Numantino). This museum is also responsible forin situ displays at Numantia.
Other collections which have items from the site include theRomano-Germanic Central Museum, Mainz. (Some objects were taken by Adolf Schulten to Germany).[4]
TheSiege 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.
Miguel de Cervantes (author ofDon 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 bookCampos de Castilla. The poem is an ode to the countryside and peoples of ruralCastile.More recently,Carlos Fuentes wrote a short story about the event, "The Two Numantias", in his collectionThe Orange Tree.
Several Spanish Navy ships have been namedNumancia and a Sorian battalion was namedbatallón de numantinos. During theSpanish Civil War, the Nationalist Numancia regiment took the town ofAzaña in Toledo.To erase the memory of the Republican presidentManuel Azaña, they renamed itNumancia de la Sagra.
TheSorian football team is calledCD Numancia.
The expression "numantine resistance" is occasionally used to refer to particularly obdurate resistance.[5]
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