Augusta Bilbilis

Augusta Bilbilis was a city (or municipium) founded by the Romans in the province of Hispania Tarraconensis. It was the birthplace of famous poet Martial c. 40 AD. The modern town of Calatayud was founded near this Roman site.

Recent excavations have uncovered many of the impressive remains visible today which dominate the surrounding area and are testament to the city's rich past.

The indigenous Celtiberian settlement of Bilbilis was situated on the heights of Cerro de Bambola and part of San Paterno, lying to the North of ancient Segeda and 60 km SW of the Roman colony of Col. Caesaraugusta (modern Zaragoza) in NE internal Spain. Bilbilis was famous for its metalworking.

Its inhabitants belonged to the group of the Celtic tribes of Hispania Citerior known as the Lusones tribe, of which Bilbilis was their capital. Their earliest coin issue includes a male head facing right, with dolphin to the left of the portrait on the obverse, while the reverse depicts a horseman carrying a spear and the inscription Bilbilis. These date from the late 2nd to the early 1st century BC and a number of these form part of the Iberian coin collection in the British Museum.

The first contact between the eventual conquerors of the area, the Romans, and the Lusones occurred around the 2nd century BC, when Quintus Fulvius Flaccus journeyed from the Mediterranean coast of Spain into the hinterland, a region referred to as Celtiberia. It was not until the 1st century, however, that Roman culture, language and customs, gradually began to spread into the hinterland with the indigenous cultures taking on many and varied aspects of Roman life while still maintaining aspects of their own distinct cultures.

With the pacification of Hispania and the death of Julius Caesar, Augustus embarked on a series of administrative reforms including the Conventus of Bilbilis. The city was given the status of Municipium, and became Augusta Bilbilis and thus enjoyed the many privileges under Roman law, including bestowing Roman citizenship on all its inhabitants. Monumentalisation of civic and urban spaces characterise the Augustan period. The main road from Augusta Emerita to Caesaraugusta passed near Bilbilis.

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