Laelia was an ancient city located in the Cerro de la Cabeza near Olivares in the

Province of Seville The Province of Seville () is a province of southern Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It borders the provinces of Málaga and Cádiz in the south, Huelva in the west, Badajoz in the north and Córdoba in the ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. Originally a Tartessian settlement, it was named ''Laelia'' by Roman settlers in the 2nd century BC. It was described by

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

in his ''

Natural History Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

'' as lying on the Menoba River (

Guadiamar The Guadiamar is a river of Andalusia, Spain, and a tributary of the Guadalquivir. Its course runs entirely within the Province of Seville, flowing from Sierra Morena through the eastern border of Doñana National Park. Its source is in Dehesa del ...

) near the towns of Olontigi and

Lastigi Lastigi was an ancient Tartessian city in southern Spain, settled by the Romans in the 2nd century BC. It is mentioned by Pliny the Elder in his ''Natural History'' as lying on the Menoba River (Guadiamar) near the towns of Laelia and Olontigi. ...

. These three cities had their own

mint Mint or The Mint may refer to: Plants * Lamiaceae, the mint family ** ''Mentha'', the genus of plants commonly known as "mint" Coins and collectibles * Mint (facility), a facility for manufacturing coins * Mint condition, a state of like-new ...

s and, thus, are well attested from numismatic evidence. Their exact location, however, has not been definitively established. All three were probably located relatively close to

Aznalcóllar Aznalcóllar is a city located in the province of Seville, southern Spain. It is located at the feet of the Sierra Morena. Aznalcollar mine The Boliden mine produces around 125,000 tonnes of zinc and 2.9 million ounces of silver per year. ...

, where the materials for their coins were probably mined. The settlement at the Cerro de la Cabeza, populated until the 13th century, most likely corresponds to Laelia given the archaeological evidence obtained from excavations in 1981. After Pliny,

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

mentioned the city (Lailia) as a settlement by the

Turdetani The Turdetani were an ancient pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula, pre-Roman people of the Iberian Peninsula, living in the valley of the Guadalquivir (the river that the Turdetani called by two names: ''Kertis'' and ''Rérkēs'' (Ῥέ� ...

. No other classical accounts of the city have survived. In 1634, Rodrigo Caro proposed

Aracena Aracena () is a town and municipality located in the province of Huelva, southwestern Spain. , the city has a population of 7,814 inhabitants. The town derived its name from the Sierra de Aracena, which is part of the Sierra Morena system. Arac ...

as the location for Laelia according to Ptolemy's indications, and in 1754 Enrique Flórez proposed Berrocal, also in the

Province of Huelva Huelva () is a province of southern Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is bordered by Portugal, the provinces of Badajoz, Seville, and Cádiz, and the Atlantic Ocean. Its capital is Huelva. Its area is ...

. Based on Pliny's and Ptolemy's accounts,

Juan Agustín Ceán Bermúdez Juan Agustín Ceán Bermúdez (17 September 1749 in Gijón3 December 1829 in Madrid) was a Spanish writer on art. Biography Bermúdez was born in Gijón, Asturias. He founded an art academy at Seville, and was given responsibility to order the Ar ...

(1832), Antonio Delgado (1871) and Rodrigo Amador de los Ríos (1891) agreed on a location in or near

Sanlúcar la Mayor Sanlúcar la Mayor is a municipality in the province of Seville, southern Spain. The municipality is the location of the Solucar Complex. Gaspar de Guzmán, Count of Olivares was created Duke of Sanlúcar la Mayor by Philip IV. He wished to reta ...

, suggesting the Cortijo de la Pisana (or Pizana), located between Gerena and Olivares. Both Ceán Bermúdez and Sebastián Miñano, in his geographical dictionary, mention also

Albaida Albaida is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Vall d'Albaida in the Valencian Community, Spain. Main sights * Palace of Milà i Aragó * Segrelles Museum * Route of the Borgias The Route of the Borgias is a cultural route, that inc ...

, closer to Olivares, as a possible site, despite the lack of archaeological evidence for a settlement in that locality.

References

{{reflist Tartessos Roman towns and cities in Spain Former populated places in Spain Lost ancient cities and towns