Segeda is an ancient settlement, between today's

Belmonte de Gracián Belmonte de Gracián (Aragonese: ''Belmón de Grazián'') is a village near Calatayud in the province of Zaragoza in Aragon, Spain. It is fortified village which sits at the foot of a 15th-century castle. It is the birthplace of Baltasar Graci� ...

and Mara in the

province of Zaragoza Zaragoza (), also called Saragossa in English,''Encyclopædia Britannica''Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)/ref> is a province of northern Spain, in the central part of the autonomous community of Aragon. Its capital is Zaragoza, which is also th ...

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. Originally it was a Celtiberian town, whose inhabitants, the

Belli The Belli, also designated Beli or Belaiscos were an ancient pre-Roman Celtic Celtiberian people who lived in the modern Spanish province of Zaragoza from the 3rd Century BC. Origins Roman authors for unknown reasons wrote that the Belli wer ...

, gave it the name ''Sekeida'' or ''Sekeiza''. According to the

Periochae The work called ( en, From the Founding of the City), sometimes referred to as (''Books from the Founding of the City''), is a monumental history of ancient Rome, written in Latin between 27 and 9 BC by Livy, a Roman historian. The work ...

, in 153 BC, the Roman Senate changed the first day of the consular year to 1 January in order to allow consul

Quintus Fulvius Nobilior Quintus Fulvius Nobilior was a Roman consul who obtained the consulship in 153 BC. His father Marcus Fulvius Nobilior and his brother Marcus Fulvius Nobilior (consul 159 BC) were also consuls. Nobilior and his father were patrons of the writer Q ...

to attack the city of Segeda during the

Celtiberian Wars The First Celtiberian War (181–179 BC) and Second Celtiberian War (154–151 BC) were two of the three major rebellions by the Celtiberians (a loose alliance of Celtic tribes living in east central Hispania, among which we can name the Pellend ...

. The city was destroyed during the war but, soon after, a new settlement was built on a nearby site. Coinage shows it had the same name as the old settlement, but "Segeda II" (as archeologists have named it) was under Roman influence, obvious from the rectilinear layout of streets and other features. During the events of the

Roman Civil War This is a list of civil wars and organized civil disorder, revolts and rebellions in ancient Rome (Roman Kingdom, Roman Republic, and Roman Empire) until the fall of the Western Roman Empire (753 BCE – 476 CE). For the Eastern Roman Empire or B ...

, "Segeda II" was ruined, and after 49 BC it was abandoned permanently. In 1998 excavations began in the area, bringing this ancient settlement into prominence.

References

External links

Homepage of Segeda archaeology sites
Roman towns and cities in Spain Roman sites in Spain Archaeological sites in Aragon Prehistoric sites in Spain Celtiberian cities and towns Former populated places in Spain Calatayud Oppida Buildings and structures in the Province of Zaragoza {{Zaragoza-geo-stub

References

Further reading

External links