Juliobriga ( es, Julióbriga, la, Iuliobriga, grc, Ἰουλιόβριγα) was the most important urban centre in

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

Cantabria Cantabria (, also , , Cantabrian: ) is an autonomous community in northern Spain with Santander as its capital city. It is called a ''comunidad histórica'', a historic community, in its current Statute of Autonomy. It is bordered on the ea ...

, as stated by numerous Latin authors including

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ...

. The site has traditionally been identified with ruins in the village of Retortillo (Cantabria) and its Villafría district, in the municipality of Campoo de Enmedio.

History

The founding of Juliobriga, during the

Cantabrian Wars The Cantabrian Wars (29–19 BC) (''Bellum Cantabricum''), sometimes also referred to as the Cantabrian and Asturian Wars (''Bellum Cantabricum et Asturicum''), were the final stage of the two-century long Roman conquest of Hispania, in what tod ...

(29–19 BC), made it a powerful symbol of Roman domination of the tribes of the

Cantabri The Cantabri ( grc-gre, Καντάβροι, ''Kantabroi'') or Ancient Cantabrians, were a pre-Roman people and large tribal federation that lived in the northern coastal region of ancient Iberia in the second half of the first millennium BC. Thes ...

. The city was named after the reigning emperor

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

and his adopted family name, the

gens Julia The gens Julia (''gēns Iūlia'', ) was one of the most prominent patrician families in ancient Rome. Members of the gens attained the highest dignities of the state in the earliest times of the Republic. The first of the family to obtain the ...

, Mangas Manjarrés, J. ''La Hispania Romana''. en Manuel Prado, J. (dir.) ''Historia de España''. Esplugues de Llobregat: Ediciones Orbis, S.A.; 1991. Vol. I ''«Prehistoria a 409»'', p. 192. . with the Celtic

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' ( proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name o ...

element ''-briga'', common in Iberia."The same Indo-European root is also the origin of the Germanic cognates berg or burg, Gothic baurgs. The first meaning is, apparently, something like 'hill', from whence comes 'fortress' or 'fortified town', until we may eventually get simply to the idea of an urban enclave that was not necessarily fortified."
Juan Luis García Alonso, "-Briga Toponyms in the Iberian Peninsula" ''e-Keltoi'' 6)
Due to its strategic location in the Besaya valley, Juliobriga was able to control trade between the

Douro The Douro (, , ; es, Duero ; la, Durius) is the highest-flow river of the Iberian Peninsula. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in Soria Province, central Spain, meanders south briefly then flows generally west through the north-west part o ...

river and the

Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay (), known in Spain as the Gulf of Biscay ( es, Golfo de Vizcaya, eu, Bizkaiko Golkoa), and in France and some border regions as the Gulf of Gascony (french: Golfe de Gascogne, oc, Golf de Gasconha, br, Pleg-mor Gwaskogn), ...

. Juliobriga grew slowly, reaching its peak between the end of the 1st century and the early 2nd century AD. Following that, its population began to decline, until the city was completely abandoned in the 3rd century.

Rediscovery

The ruins of Retortillo were first identified with Julióbriga in the second half of the 18th century by

Enrique Florez Enrique () is the Spanish variant of the given name Heinrich of Germanic origin. Equivalents in other languages are Henry (English), Enric (Catalan), Enrico (Italian), Henrik (Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian), Heinrich (German), Hendrik, Henk ...

. Numerous historians and archaeologists have worked on the site since, including some of Spain's foremost. The ruins of Juliobriga were declared a Heritage Site ( es,

Bien de Interés Cultural A Bien de Interés Cultural is a category of the heritage register in Spain. The term is also used in Venezuela and other Spanish-speaking countries. The term literally means a "good of cultural interest" (" goods" in the economic sense) and incl ...

) by the Spanish Government on March 29, 1985.

References

{{commonscat, Julióbriga History of Cantabria Roman towns and cities in Spain Archaeological sites in Spain Populated places established in the 1st century BC Former populated places in Spain Bien de Interés Cultural landmarks in Cantabria