Roman colonia located on the site of present-day Zaragoza, Spain
Caesaraugusta
• Type
Roman Empire
History
• Established
14 b.C.
Political subdivisions
Tarraconense
Today part of
Spain
Caesaraugusta or Caesar Augusta was the name of the Roman city of Zaragoza, founded as a Colonia Inmune from Rome in 14 BC,[1] possibly on December 23,[2] on the intensely Romanized Iberian city of Salduie.[3] Its foundation occurred in the context of the reorganization of the provinces of Hispania by Caesar Augustus after his victory in the Astur-Cantabrian wars.
The new city received the name of "Colonia Caesar Augusta". It enjoyed the privilege of bearing the full name of its founder, who entrusted its deductio, like many other tasks of the Empire, to his general and close friend Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa.
Veteran soldiers of the legions IV Macedonica, VI Victrix and X Gemina, discharged after the hard campaign against the Asturians and Cantabrians, participated in the foundation of the city, with the double intention of guaranteeing the defense of the territory at the same time as establishing the presence of Rome in it. Zaragoza had the status of an Colonia Inmune, granting it certain privileges such as the right to mint coins or the exemption from paying taxes. The new citizens were attached to the Aniense tribe.
In the process of reorganization of Hispanic territories, three provinces were created, Tarraconense, Baetica and Lusitania, divided into juridical convents, minor districts with judicial and administrative functions; of these, the one governed by Caesaraugusta, the conventus juridicus Caesaraugustanus, was one of the largest of the seven into which the province of Tarraconense was divided. Caesaraugusta assumed from the beginning the role of regional head, replacing the colony Victrix Ivlia Celsa (in the current Velilla de Ebro).
The period of the city's greatest apogee in the first and second centuries brought many of the great public works, some of which can still be seen today: the forum, the river port, which made Caesaraugusta the main redistributor of goods in the Ebro valley, the public baths, the theater or the city's first bridge, located on the site of the current Stone Bridge and which was probably a work of ashlar or a mixture of stone and wood.
Water also played an important role in Roman Zaragoza, both for its location on the banks of the Ebro River and next to the mouth of the Huerva and Gállego rivers, as well as for its complex supply and irrigation systems. In addition to the aforementioned baths, a multitude of cisterns, fountains, sewers and various sections of lead and sanitation pipes have been documented.
^Fatás, Guillermo (2008). Guía Histórico-Artística de Zaragoza (in Spanish) (4th ed.). Zaragoza: Institución «Fernando el Católico»-Ayto. de Zaragoza. pp. 669–708. ISBN 978-84-7820-948-4.
^Mostalac Carrillo, Antonio; Biel Ibáñez, María Pilar (2008). Arqueología y Patrimonio histórico-artístico (1992-2008) (in Spanish). 670: Guillermo Fatás (dir.).{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
^Mostalac Carrillo and Biel Ibáñez, op. cit., chapter «Salduie/Salduvia (2nd century BC to 15-14 BC)», pp. 655-667.
^The most recent research suggests the possibility that the wall, at least on the east side (where the city was better protected by the Huerva River), was built in the second half of the 3rd century, cf. Antonio Mostalac Carrillo and María Pilar Biel Ibáñez, loc. cit. in Guillermo Fatás (dir.), Guía Histórico-Artística de Zaragoza, ed. 2008, p. 678:
For many years it was believed that in Caesar Augusta there were two different walls [...] the older and, therefore, of the foundational period of the Colony, with a core of opus cæmenticium and an outer face of ashlars; and the second, dated to the 3rd century, with only ashlars. The colonial, in its most representative parts, must have been completed at the end of the 1st century, being one of the fundamental elements of the rank and prestige of Caesar Augusta.
However, in 2003, an important work of the whole of what was known so far of the wall [... ], allowed to assure its authors that the wall was possibly built in the second half of the 3rd century and that the execution technique was uniform: inner body of opus cæmenticium with outer covering of ashlar and thickness of 7 m; while the eastern side would be of ashlar with 6 m of thickness.
Caesaraugusta or Caesar Augusta was the name of the Roman city of Zaragoza, founded as a Colonia Inmune from Rome in 14 BC, possibly on December 23, on...
called Salduie or Salduba. The Romans and Greeks called the ancient city Caesaraugusta (in Greek Καισαραυγοῦστα), from which derive the Arabic name سرقسطة...
itinerary for the provinces of Hispania. Roman units Laminium Via XXXI Caesaraugusta One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication...
around 413. The place of his birth is uncertain, but it may have been Caesaraugusta (Saragossa), Tarraco (Tarragona), or Calagurris (Calahorra). Prudentius...
the Virgin Mary appeared to James on the bank of the Ebro River at Caesaraugusta, while he was preaching the Gospel in Hispania. She appeared upon a...
was a civitas stipendiaria in the jurisdiction of the conventus of Caesaraugusta (modern Zaragoza). During the Germanic invasions of 409 and later as...
Caesaraugusta Roman city matching the current Zaragoza city map: 1.- Decumano; 2.- Cardo ; 3.- Foro de Caesaraugusta ; 4.- Puerto fluvial; 5.- Termas públicas;...
roads and consolidating ancient Celtiberian and Iberian cities such as Caesaraugusta (Zaragoza), Turiaso (Tarazona), Osca (Huesca) or Bilbilis (Calatayud)...
discouragement. In AD 40, while he was praying by the banks of the Ebro at Caesaraugusta (Zaragoza), Mary bilocated from Jerusalem, where she was living at the...
Peninsula is to Mérida, but also the theater of Italica, Sagunto, Clunia, Caesaraugusta and others are part of the archaeological record, and some even host...
government is unknown, but was probably the valley of the Ebro centred on Caesaraugusta. Peter (usurper) Collins, 35. Thompson, 193. Collins, Roger. Visigothic...
encountered the future Pope Sixtus II, a famous teacher born in Greece, in Caesaraugusta (Zaragoza), and they travelled together from Spain to Rome. When Sixtus...
of the Pillar. This is an alleged appearance of the Virgin Mary in Caesaraugusta, Spain, in the year 40 AD, at a time when she is believed to have been...
(joining Astorga to Laminium and via xxv (which joined Emerita Augusta and Caesaraugusta), and contained some important conurbations. The city of Complutum (today...
century. Asturicense Convent Roman Museum of Astorga Antonine Itinerary Caesaraugusta Sánchez Zurro, Domingo (2008). Geografía de Castilla y León (in Spanish)...
as Lisbon (Olissipo) and Tarragona (Tarraco), established Zaragoza (Caesaraugusta), Mérida (Augusta Emerita), and Valencia (Valentia), and reduced other...
road from Tarraco (modern Tarragona) and Ilerda (modern Lleida) to Caesaraugusta (modern Zaragoza). During Roman times, the city was known as Osca, and...
Asturica Augusta Astorga Spain 14 BC Borbetomagus Worms Germany 14 BC Caesaraugusta Zaragoza Spain 14 BC Sirmium Sremska Mitrovica Serbia 14 BC Sorviodurum...
middle basin of the Iberus (Ebro). Salduie (Roman time Salduba and Caesaraugusta and modern time Zaragoza) was in their territory. May have been more...
assistance of Visigoth troops, devastated the area surrounding the city of Caesaraugusta and managed by guile to take Ilerda. Some recent scholars doubt that...
Pontificem electi, ad sacrosanctum Cardinalium Collegium (in Latin). Caesaraugusta (Saragossa). Baumgartner, pp. 97–98 "Pope Adrian VI". New Catholic Dictionary...
Soldiers of this unit and X Gemina numbered among the first settlers of Caesaraugusta, what became modern-day Zaragoza. The cognomen Victrix (Victorious)...
Mary appeared to James on a Pilar on the bank of the Ebro River at Caesaraugusta, while he was preaching the Gospel in Hispania (modern-day Spain). Following...
Tarraconensis. It would be under the jurisdiction of the conventus iuridicus of Caesaraugusta (modern Zaragoza). The Roman Empire influenced the area in urbanization...
prevented the spread of his sect. Hydatius convened a synod held at Caesaraugusta in 380. Ten bishops were present at this synod from Spain, and two from...
discouragement. In AD 40, while he was praying by the banks of the Ebro at Caesaraugusta (Zaragoza), Mary bilocated from Jerusalem, where she was living at the...