A beautiful Roman Theatre in Cadiz (Spain)
I have just returned from an amazing trip to Spain with my family. Unfortunately for them, I have a habit of finding ancient remains wherever I go and Spain did not disappoint!
Living in Britain, I have been spoiled for choice when it comes to historic sites closer to home but when I am able to get abroad I love to see what survives there. And I also like to see how other countries manage their heritage attractions. This has led to some very jarring experiences (try a driving tour of medieval castles in Ireland sometime … it is interesting!), but in Spain I was just in awe.
One of my favourite places was Cadiz where they have this beautiful Roman theatre surviving in an impressive condition.
Ancient Cadiz
Located to the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula, Cadiz sits just outside of the Straits of Gibraltar and was originally founded by Phoenician settlers from Tyre in modern Lebanon. The traditional date for this founding is 1110 or 1104 BCE (80 years after the ancient dating of the Fall of Troy), and excavations in Spain over the past 20 years suggest this may not be as fanciful a date as has been often assumed!
Originally called Gadir, the town was pretty well known and many of our ancient sources make mention of it including the Greek historian Herodotus (5th century BCE) who describes it as lying outside the famous Pillars of Hercules (i.e. outside the Straits of Gibraltar and the Mediterranean Sea).
Cadiz came under the control of another Phoenician outpost, one that grew in power and began to exert its own influence over the western Mediterranean, the north African city of Carthage.
Its most famous Carthaginian visitor, the military commander Hannibal Barca (the one who crossed the Alps with elephants), came to the city just before he began his march to Italy. He came to Cadiz to make offerings and oaths to the Punic god Melqart (who was often equated by Roman authors with Hercules), whose temple was considered one of the oldest and most important of its kind in the west.
Roman Cadiz
Hannibal was ultimately unsuccessful in his Italian venture, and the city of Cadiz came under the control of Rome in 206 BCE. It would later serve as the location of one of Julius Caesar’s epiphanies (Suetonius, Julius Caesar 7):
[H]e came to Gades [Cadiz], and noticing a statue of Alexander the Great in the temple of Hercules, he heaved a sigh, and as if out of patience with his own incapacity in having as yet done nothing noteworthy at a time of life when Alexander had already brought the world to his feet, he straightway asked for his discharge, to grasp the first opportunity for greater enterprises at Rome.
And the ancient remains of Cadiz continue to inspire!
The city is believed to be one of, if not the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Europe and it is a beautiful place to waste away your time. But for me, the hidden Roman ruins, which suddenly appear out of nowhere in the warren-like narrow streets of the city - these are the most amazing.
I accept that I am very biased about such things but, I mean, come on - just look at this ancient tunnel which Romans walked through to access their seats in the theatre:
Walking through was just an amazing experience; one where the urge to touch the stone work is tempered only by the numerous signs forbidding it and a very diligent, if rather stern and intimidating looking security guard who was ensuring our compliance.
I managed to control myself!