Hispălis
more rarely
Hispal. The modern Seville, a town of the Turdetani in
Hispania Baetica, founded by the Phœnicians, and situated on the left bank of the
Baetis, and in reality a seaport, for, although 500 stadia from the sea, the river is
navigable for the largest vessels up to the town. Under the Romans it was an important place,
with the name Iulia Romŭla or Romulensis, and was surpassed in size by Corduba (Cordova) and Gades alone. Under the
Goths and Vandals it was the chief town in the south of Spain; and under the Arabs the capital
of a separate kingdom.