IULIOBRIGA
(Retortillo) Santander, Spain.
In the Cantabrian mountains 3 km E of Reinosa, in one
of the best passes from the plateau to the sea. It was the
first Roman establishment in Cantabria and the main
one, settled probably between 29 and 19 B.C. Its name
indicates its founding by Augustus, perhaps during the
Cantabrian wars. Pliny (
HN 3.21) calls it an oppidum,
meaning that it enjoyed privileges similar to those of a
colony. It was the principal Roman city in the limes of
N Hispania, and was probably destroyed during the invasions of the 5th c.
It must have occupied ca. 1 sq. km, but only a small
part has been excavated. The principal discovery is a
building (79.4 x 29.5 m) whose SE side consisted of an
enclosed portico, probably a loggia or private gallery
rather than a porticoed street. The building has two parts
each ca. 40 m long, one a residence with rooms around
a peristyle, the other apparently an outbuilding with
servants' quarters and storerooms. The finds are in the
Museum of Prehistory in Santander.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A. García y Bellido,
Iuliobriga, ciudad
romana de Cantabria. Las nuevas excavaciones (1953);
id., “Excavaciones en Juliobriga y exploraciones en Cantabria. II Relación. Campaña de 1953 a 1956,”
ArchEspArq 29 (1956); id.,
Excavaciones y exploraciones
arqueológicas en Cantabria (1970).
R. TEJA
