Clunia
Encyclopedia
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
city. Its remains are located on Alto de Castro, at more than 1000 metres above sea level
Sea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
, between the villages of Peñalba de Castro and Coruña del Conde
Coruña del Conde
Coruña del Conde is a village and municipality in the southern province of Burgos, Castile and León Spain. The Arandilla River runs through it....
, 2 km away from the latter, in the province of Burgos
Burgos (province)
The province of Burgos is a province of northern Spain, in the northeastern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is bordered by the provinces of Palencia, Cantabria, Vizcaya, Álava, La Rioja, Soria, Segovia, and Valladolid. Its capital is the city of Burgos...
in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. It was one of the most important Roman cities of the northern half of Hispania and, from the 1st century BC, served as the capital of a conventus iuridici in the province Hispania Tarraconensis
Hispania Tarraconensis
Hispania Tarraconensis was one of three Roman provinces in Hispania. It encompassed much of the Mediterranean coast of Spain along with the central plateau. Southern Spain, the region now called Andalusia, was the province of Hispania Baetica...
,, called Conventus Cluniensis. It was located on the road that led from Caesaraugusta (Zaragoza
Zaragoza
Zaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...
) to Asturica Augusta (Astorga
Astorga, Spain
Astorga is a town in the province of León, northern Spain. It lies southwest of the provincial capital of León, and is the head of the council of La Maragatería. The river Tuerto flows through it. , its population was about 12,100 people....
). The city declined during the 3rd century and was largely abandoned by the Visigothic era. Clunia is a toponym
Toponymy
Toponymy is the scientific study of place names , their origins, meanings, use and typology. The word "toponymy" is derived from the Greek words tópos and ónoma . Toponymy is itself a branch of onomastics, the study of names of all kinds...
of Arevaci
Arevaci
The Arevaci or ‘Aravaci’ , were a pre-Roman Celtic people who settled in the Meseta Central of northern Hispania and which dominated most of Celtiberia from the 4th to late 2nd centuries BC...
an origin.
Origins
The city of Clunia was founded on a mount a short distance from a Celtiberian settlement called Cluniaco or Kolounioukou, belonging to the ArevaciArevaci
The Arevaci or ‘Aravaci’ , were a pre-Roman Celtic people who settled in the Meseta Central of northern Hispania and which dominated most of Celtiberia from the 4th to late 2nd centuries BC...
, a Pre-Roman tribe that belonged to the family of Celtiberians
Celtiberians
The Celtiberians were Celtic-speaking people of the Iberian Peninsula in the final centuries BC. The group used the Celtic Celtiberian language.Archaeologically, the Celtiberians participated in the Hallstatt culture in what is now north-central Spain...
.
Basilica
The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...
, a forum
Forum (Roman)
A forum was a public square in a Roman municipium, or any civitas, reserved primarily for the vending of goods; i.e., a marketplace, along with the buildings used for shops and the stoas used for open stalls...
, many taverns and shops, and a large temple
Temple
A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...
dedicated to Jupiter
Jupiter (mythology)
In ancient Roman religion and myth, Jupiter or Jove is the king of the gods, and the god of the sky and thunder. He is the equivalent of Zeus in the Greek pantheon....
.
Apogee
From LivyLivy
Titus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...
, we know that the site was besieged by Pompey
Pompey
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey or Pompey the Great , was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic...
in his fight against Sertorius in 75 BC; Pompey was forced to leave Clunia partly due to weather conditions there. After 20 of resistance by Sertorius, Pompey finally destroyed what existed of Clunia in 72 BC. Clunia fell under the control of the Vacceos
Vacceos
The Vaccaei or 'Vaccei' were a pre-Roman Celtic people of Spain which inhabited the sedimentary plains of the central Duero valley, in the Meseta Central of northern Hispania.-Origins:The Vaccaei were probably largely of Celtic descent...
in 56 BC, but subsequently fell again under Roman control, as did the rebelling Vacceos and Arevaci
Arevaci
The Arevaci or ‘Aravaci’ , were a pre-Roman Celtic people who settled in the Meseta Central of northern Hispania and which dominated most of Celtiberia from the 4th to late 2nd centuries BC...
.
Years later, the city was formally founded ex novo during the time of Emperor Tiberius
Tiberius
Tiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...
as part of the Roman plan to pacify the region after the Cantabrian Wars
Cantabrian Wars
The Cantabrian Wars occurred during the Roman conquest of the modern provinces of Cantabria, Asturias and León, against the Asturs and the Cantabri. They were the final stage of the conquest of Hispania.-Antecedents:...
.. It was first granted the status of municipium
Municipium
Municipium , the prototype of English municipality, was the Latin term for a town or city. Etymologically the municipium was a social contract between municipes, the "duty holders," or citizens of the town. The duties, or munera, were a communal obligation assumed by the municipes in exchange for...
, and minted small coinage, asses
As (coin)
The , also assarius was a bronze, and later copper, coin used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire.- Republican era coinage :...
and dupondi
Dupondius
The dupondius was a brass coin used during the Roman Empire and Roman Republic valued at 2 asses ....
, on which appear the local quattuorviri, who were in charge of their minting.
The city acquired, possibly during the reign of Galba
Galba
Galba , was Roman Emperor for seven months from 68 to 69. Galba was the governor of Hispania Tarraconensis, and made a bid for the throne during the rebellion of Julius Vindex...
or Hadrian
Hadrian
Hadrian , was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in...
, the status of colonia and the epithet of Sulpicia after Sulpicius Galba, governor of Hispania
Hispania
Another theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for "border" or "edge", thus meaning the farthest area or place. Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis....
, proclaimed himself emperor, and who in 68 AD took refuge in Clunia during the anti-Neronian revolution. At this town he received news of the death of the emperor and the announcement of his own elevation as emperor by the Roman Senate
Roman Senate
The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...
(because of this some essayist added the epithet of Galba to the name of the city). He traveled to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
from Clunia. During the reign of Servius Sulpicius Galba, Clunia was the capital of the Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
.
The splendor of the Roman city of Clunia was extended during the 1st and 2nd century AD, the same as other cities of the northern plateau of Hispania
Hispania
Another theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for "border" or "edge", thus meaning the farthest area or place. Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis....
such as Asturica Augusta or Iuliobriga, located in the provinces of León
León (province)
León is a province of northwestern Spain, in the northwestern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León.About one quarter of its population of 500,200 lives in the capital, León. The weather is cold and dry during the winter....
and Cantabria
Cantabria
Cantabria is a Spanish historical region and autonomous community with Santander as its capital city. It is bordered on the east by the Basque Autonomous Community , on the south by Castile and León , on the west by the Principality of Asturias, and on the north by the Cantabrian Sea.Cantabria...
, respectively. During its maximum apogee, it is calculated that the city of Clunia came to have around 30,000 inhabitants.
Decline
During the 3rd century, a gradual depopulation of the urban nucleus took place which was connected with the crisis of the 3rd century and the incipient decline of the Western Roman EmpireDecline of the Roman Empire
The decline of the Roman Empire refers to the gradual societal collapse of the Western Roman Empire. Many theories of causality prevail, but most concern the disintegration of political, economic, military, and other social institutions, in tandem with foreign invasions and usurpers from within the...
.
It is evident that there were Barbarian invasions into Clunia. In fact, it is verified that, towards the end of the 3rd century, the city was burned by Barbarian tribes, specifically, by the Franco-Germans.
These invasions, as well as economic instability, may have contributed to the inexorable decline of Clunia. Nevertheless, it does not appear that there was a violent and general destruction, in any event this preludes the end of the Roman cultural influence in the city of Clunia and its surroundings. Excavations reveal destroyed urban areas in Clunia, which were not rebuilt at the end of the 3rd century. Some limited reconstruction took place during the reigns of Diocletian
Diocletian
Diocletian |latinized]] upon his accession to Diocletian . c. 22 December 244 – 3 December 311), was a Roman Emperor from 284 to 305....
and Constantine
Constantine I
Constantine the Great , also known as Constantine I or Saint Constantine, was Roman Emperor from 306 to 337. Well known for being the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity, Constantine and co-Emperor Licinius issued the Edict of Milan in 313, which proclaimed religious tolerance of all...
, but large parts of the city were uninhabited by the 7th century, during the Visigothic era.
The full conquest of Visigothic Hispania by the Muslims, the city and its surroundings were conquered by the troops of the Berber
Berber people
Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...
general Tariq ibn-Ziyad
Tariq ibn-Ziyad
Tariq ibn Ziyad was a Muslim Berber general who led the Islamic conquest of Visigothic Hispania in 711 A.D. He is considered to be one of the most important military commanders in Iberian history. Under the orders of the Umayyad Caliph Al-Walid I he led a large army from the north coast of...
during the year 713. Later, Christians repopulated the city in 912, locating their city on the site that the current Coruña del Conde
Coruña del Conde
Coruña del Conde is a village and municipality in the southern province of Burgos, Castile and León Spain. The Arandilla River runs through it....
occupies, located where many Roman ruins from the city of Clunia can be seen.
Later, the village of Peñalba de Castro was built, which received the meseta of the enclave of Clunia in exchange for water in a time when the value of water was more valuable than the few ruins not yet buried that remained of the abandoned Roman city.
Archeological remains
Clunia constitutes an archeological enclave of exceptional interest in a collection of the Iberian PeninsulaIberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
. This interest is determined by its urban morphology and by the cultural sequence of the findings that it provides. Also, its ruins are the most representative of all the ones that have been found of the Roman period in the north of the Iberian Peninsula.
The archeological excavations in the deposit began in 1915. The work resumed in 1931 and 1958, bringing to light the glorious past of one of the principal cities of Hispania whose extension — judging by the archeological excavation — neared 1.2 square kilometres, this being one of the largest cities of all of Roman Hispania. The excavations permitted the discovery —after centuries of being hidden— a theater excavated into rock, various domus
Domus
In ancient Rome, the domus was the type of house occupied by the upper classes and some wealthy freedmen during the Republican and Imperial eras. They could be found in almost all the major cities throughout the Roman territories...
with mosaics, streets, ruins of the buildings of the forum
Forum (Roman)
A forum was a public square in a Roman municipium, or any civitas, reserved primarily for the vending of goods; i.e., a marketplace, along with the buildings used for shops and the stoas used for open stalls...
and a great cloaca, just as important sculptural findings, like an effigy of Isis
Isis
Isis or in original more likely Aset is a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. She was worshipped as the ideal mother and wife as well as the matron of nature and magic...
and a torso of Dionisus, which are preserved at the National Archaeological Museum of Spain
National Archaeological Museum of Spain
The National Archaeological Museum of Spain is a museum in Madrid, Spain, located beside the Plaza de Colón , sharing its building with the National Library....
and in that of Burgos, including a large quantity of coins, epigraphic ruins, Roman ceramics such as Samian ware, glass, bronze objects, etc.
Urban morphology
As in every city, the majority of the space developed in Clunia was occupied by dwellings. The archeological excavations have permitted the following of the evolution of the domestic town planning and verify some of its most characteristic features.In the archeological deposit, the following buildings can be observed:
Theater
The most significant ruin is the theater, excavated into rock, which had a capacity of 10,000 spectators, which converted it into one of the largest of its time in HispaniaHispania
Another theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for "border" or "edge", thus meaning the farthest area or place. Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis....
. It had the purpose of serving for the interpretation of theatrical acts of the Classical period. Its recuperation has merited the award in the section of Restoration and Rehabilitation given by the biannual Awards of Architecture of Castile and León
Castile and León
Castile and León is an autonomous community in north-western Spain. It was so constituted in 1983 and it comprises the historical regions of León and Old Castile...
of 2004-2005. The panel of judges highlighted "the respectful recuperation of the theater and the general landscaping treatment".
Forum
The center of Romana cities, where the cardus maximusCardo
The cardo was a north-south oriented street in Roman cities, military camps, and coloniae. The cardo, an integral component of city planning, was lined with shops and vendors, and served as a hub of economic life. The main cardo was called cardo maximus.Most Roman cities also had a Decumanus...
and decumanus maximus
Decumanus Maximus
In Roman city planning, a decumanus was an east-west-oriented road in a Roman city, castra , or colonia. The main decumanus was the Decumanus Maximus, which normally connected the Porta Praetoria to the Porta Decumana .This name comes from the fact that the via decumana or decimana In Roman city...
crossed, frequently receiving the forum
Forum (Roman)
A forum was a public square in a Roman municipium, or any civitas, reserved primarily for the vending of goods; i.e., a marketplace, along with the buildings used for shops and the stoas used for open stalls...
of the city, a public square surrounded by porticos. In it political, commercial, judicial and, habitually, also religious, activities unfolded. In Clunia, the forum is not very far from the theater, in whose environs the ruins of three domus
Domus
In ancient Rome, the domus was the type of house occupied by the upper classes and some wealthy freedmen during the Republican and Imperial eras. They could be found in almost all the major cities throughout the Roman territories...
stand out, a basilica
Basilica
The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...
and a macellum (market
Market
A market is one of many varieties of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. While parties may exchange goods and services by barter, most markets rely on sellers offering their goods or services in exchange for money from buyers...
). The mosaics grab the attention, the subterranean habitations and the systems of heating of some of these homes. On top of the market in the 17th century, a hermitage of limited artistic value was built, damaging the deposits.
Thermae
With the Roman forum are the ruins of the Roman thermaeThermae
In ancient Rome, thermae and balnea were facilities for bathing...
, of great dimensions and covered in mosaics somewhat simpler than that of the homes of the forum. Here also is very visible the system of heating of the different thermae rooms, the hypocaust
Hypocaust
A hypocaust was an ancient Roman system of underfloor heating, used to heat houses with hot air. The word derives from the Ancient Greek hypo meaning "under" and caust-, meaning "burnt"...
.