Merida, Andujar, Alcantara

Roman bridge at Alcántara

Mérida, ancient Augusta Emerita, was the capital of Roman Lusitania. It was founded after the Cantabrian Wars and the first settlers were veterans of the legions V Alaudae and X Gemina. Among the sights are a splendidly preserved theater, an amphitheater, a circus, and a bridge that is still in use. The history of the city is briefly summarized here, the website of the lovely Museo Nacional de Arte Romano is here, and links to photos can be found here.

Other Roman bridges, both still in use, were at Andújar (ancient Isturgi) and Alcántara – the last one is one of the most spectacular monuments from ancient history.

This completes the transfer of the Spanish section of Livius.Org; other pages are devoted to Ampurias, Bera, Carmona, Córdoba, Italica, Segovia, and Tarragona. Now that I am finishing this section, I realize that I haven’t been to Spain for a long time. As a student, I was fascinated by Andalusia, and wrote a lengthy comparison of the romanization and arabization of the Iberian Peninsula.

Together, the Livius website now has 3,400 pages, and I still have 103 pages to move…