Numantia

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Numantia was incorporated into the Roman Imperial province of Hispania Tarraconensis, AD 120.

A street corner in the ruins of Numantia.

Numantia (Numancia in Spanish) was a town in Hispania (modern-day Spain), which for a long time resisted conquest by Romans in what was known as the "Numantine War." The city was finally taken and destroyed by consul Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus after a long and brutal siege. This signalled the final subjugation of Iberia by the Romans. This was the first notable military endeavour by Gaius Marius.

The site of Numantia is near modern-day Garray in Soria. Plinius counts it as a city of the Pelendones but other authors, like Strabo and Ptolemy place it among the Arevaci people. The Arevaci were a Celtiberian tribe, formed by the mingling of Iberians and migrating Celts in the 6th century BC, who inhabited an area near Numantia and Uxama.

Before their defeat, the Numantines gained a number of victories. For example, in 137 BC, 20,000 Romans surrendered to the Celtiberians of Numantia (population between 4,000-8,000).

1 Final siege of Numantia
2 Later history
3 Symbolism
4 Reference
5 External links

[edit] Final siege of Numantia

Main article: Siege of Numantia

The final siege of Numantia began in 134 BC. Scipio Aemilianus, who was consul at that time, was in command of an army of 30000 soldiers. His troops constructed a number of fortifications surrounding the city as they prepared for a long siege. The resistance was hopeless but the Numantians refused to surrender and famine quickly spread through the city. After 8 months most of the inhabitants decided to commit suicide rather than becoming slaves. Only a few hundred of exhausted and famished inhabitants surrendered to the victorious Roman legions.

[edit] Later history

After the destruction, there are remains of occupation in the 1st century BC, with a regular street plan but without great public buildings. Its decadence starts in the 3rd century, but with Roman remains still from the 4th century. Later remains from the 6th century hint of a Visigoth occupation.

Its exact location vanished from memory, and some theories placed it in Zamora, but in 1860 Eduardo Saavedra found it. Adolf Schulten located the place of the Roman camps around the city. Regular excavations started in 1906 and are still going on. The findings can be found in the Museo Numantino of Soria.

[edit] Symbolism

The siege of Numantia has been recorded by several Roman historians that admire the sense of freedom of the ancient Iberians and acknowledged their fighting skills against the Roman legions. Miguel de Cervantes (author of Don Quixote) wrote a play about the event, La Numancia, which stands today as his most well-known dramatic work.

In the Spanish culture, it has a meaning similar to that of Masada for Israelis.

Several Spanish Navy ships have been named Numancia and a Sorian battalion was named batallón de numantinos. The Sorian football team is called CD Numancia.

During the Spanish Civil War, the Numancia regiment took the town of Azaña in Toledo. To erase the memory of the Republican president Manuel Azaña, they renamed it as Numancia de la Sagra.