Founding
Roman colony near modern-day Mérida, Spain
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Augusta Emerita, also called Emerita Augusta, was a Roman colonia founded in 25 BC in present day Mérida, Spain. The city was founded by Roman Emperor Augustus to resettle Emeriti soldiers from the veteran legions of the Cantabrian Wars, these being Legio V Alaudae, Legio X Gemina, and possibly Legio XX Valeria Victrix. The city, one of the largest in Hispania, was the capital of the Roman province of Lusitania, controlling an area of over 20,000 square kilometres (7,700 sq mi). It had three aqueducts and two fora.
The city was situated at the junction of several important routes. It sat near a crossing of the Guadiana river. Roman roads connected the city west to Felicitas Julia Olisippo (Lisbon), south to Hispalis (Seville), northwest to the gold mining area, and to Corduba (Córdoba) and Toletum (Toledo).
Today the Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida is one of the largest and most extensive archaeological sites in Spain and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993.
The theater was built from 16 to 15 BC and dedicated by the consul Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa. It has seating for around 6,000 spectators. It was renovated in the late 1st or early 2nd century AD, possibly by the Emperor Trajan or Hadrian. Later, it was renovated again between 330 and 340 during the reigns of Constantine and his sons, when a walkway around the monument and new decorative elements were added. Subsequently, with the advent of Christianity as Rome's sole state religion, theatrical performances were officially declared immoral: the theater was abandoned and most of its fabric was covered with earth, leaving only its upper tiers of seats (summa cavea). In Spanish tradition, these were known as "The Seven Chairs" in which it is popularly thought that several Moorish kings held court to decide the fate of the city.
The amphitheater was dedicated in 8 BC, for use in gladiatorial contests and staged beast-hunts. It has an elliptical arena, surrounded by tiered seating for around 15,000 spectators, divided according to the requirements of Augustan ideology: the lowest seats were reserved for the highest status spectators. Only these lowest tiers survive. Once the games had fallen into disuse, the stone of the upper tiers was quarried for use elsewhere.
The Circus of Augusta Emerita was built some time around 20 BC, and was in use for many years before its dedication some thirty years later, probably during the reign of Augustus' successor, Tiberius. It was sited outside the city walls, alongside the road that connected Emeritus in Corduba (Córdoba) with Toletum (Toledo). The arena plan was of elongated U-shape, with one end semicircular and the other flattened. A lengthwise spina formed a central divide within, to provide a continuous trackway for two-horse and four-horse chariot racing. The track was surrounded by ground-level cellae, with tiered stands above. At some 400m long and 100m wide, the Circus was the city's largest building, and could seat about 30,000 spectators – the city's entire population, more or less. Like most circuses throughout the Roman Empire, Mérida's resembled a scaled-down version of Rome's Circus Maximus.
The bridge can be considered the focal point of the city. It connects to one of the main arteries of the colony, the Decumanus Maximus, or east-west main street typical of Roman settlements.
The location of the bridge was carefully selected at a ford of the river Guadiana, which offered as a support a central island that divides it into two channels. The original structure did not provide the same continuity of the present. renovated bridge, as it was composed of two sections of arches joined at the island, by a large Starling. This was replaced by several arcs in the 17th century after a flood in 1603 damaged part of the structure. In the Roman era the length was extended several times, adding at least five consecutive sections of arches so that the road is not cut during the periodic flooding of the Guadiana. The bridge spans a total of 792 m, making it one of the largest surviving bridges of ancient times.
This aqueduct dates from the early 1st century BC, and was part of the supply system that brought water to Mérida from the Proserpina Dam located 5 km from the city. The arcade is fairly well preserved, especially the section that spans the valley of the river Albarregas.
It is known as Acueducto de los Milagros (English: "Miraculous Aqueduct"), because it seems a miracle that it is still standing.
This aqueduct brought water from streams and underground springs located north of the city. The subterranean part of the aqueduct is very well preserved, but the structure built to cross the Albarregas valley is not. The only surviving elements of that structure are three pillars and their arches located next to the monument of the Roman circus and near to another aqueduct built in the 16th century, partly composed of material reused from the Roman aqueduct.
This temple is a municipal building belonging to the city forum. It is one of the few buildings of religious character preserved in a satisfactory state. Despite its name, wrongly assigned on its discovery, the building was dedicated to the Imperial cult. It was built in the late 1st century BC or early in the Augustan era. In the sixteenth century AD it was partly re-used for the palace of the Count of Corbos.
Rectangular, and surrounded by columns, it faces the front of the city's Forum. This front is formed by a set of six columns ending in a gable. It is mainly built of granite.
An entrance arch, possibly to the provincial forum. It was located in the Cardo Maximus, one of the main streets of the city and connected it to the municipal forum. Made of granite and originally faced with marble, it measures 13.97 metres (45.8 ft) high, 5.70 metres (18.7 ft) wide and 8.67 metres (28.4 ft) internal diameter. It is believed to have a triumphal character, although it could also serve as a prelude to the Provincial Forum. Its name is arbitrary, as the commemorative inscription was lost centuries ago.
This building was found fortuitously in the early 1960s, and is located on the southern slope of Mount San Albín. Its proximity to the location of Mérida's Mithraeum led to its current name. The whole house was built in blocks of unworked stone with reinforced corners. It demonstrates the peristyle house with interior garden and a room of the famous western sector Cosmogonic Mosaic, an allegorical representation of the elements of nature (rivers, winds, etc.) overseen by the figure of Aion. The complex has been recently roofed and renovated.
As mentioned above, it is not considered the actual Mithraeum but a domus. The remains of the Mithraeum are uphill from it in a plot corresponding to a current bullring. This site has rendered prime examples of the remnants of Mithraism. According to professor Jaime Alvar Ezquerra of the Charles III University of Madrid, the oldest Mithraeum artefacts are observed outside of Rome and Mérida "is at the head of the provincial places where the cult is encountered". These are currently located in the National Museum of Roman Art in Mérida, including the latest remains found in excavations as recently as 2003. He notes that some of the sculptures being discovered at the site are in very good condition, leading him to believe they were "hidden on purpose".
The Columbaria are two roofless funeral buildings, part of a necropolis outside the walls of the Roman city. Both are the best examples of funerary constructions in Emerita. The materials used for manufacturing of the building are unworked stone and granite for the seating. Both buildings have preserved their identifying epigraphs of the original gens (families) who owned them, the gens Voconia and the gens Iulia.
Recently, the area has been arranged as a promenade and park about the relation to death of Mérida inhabitants. Quotations of Epicurians and Stoics are displayed in panels, and tomb remains and trees are mixed with panels explaining Roman funerary practices. Two Roman mausoleums are also on the same site. During the 1970s this was the slum dwelling of a tin-worker's family.
The area is accessed through the Mérida Mithraeum House.
These are the protected sites of the Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida as listed by UNESCO:
Text from the Wikipedia article “Augusta Emerita”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.