Bilbilis
- A town in an elevated position in Hispania Tarraconensis, on the river Salo, the birthplace of the poet Martial, now Calatayud Vieja: Bilbilis, Mart. 10, 103, 1: Bilbilim, id. 1, 50, 3; Plin. 34, 14, 41, § 144: Bilbilin, Mart. 4, 55, 11; 10, 104, 6; 12, 18, 9.—Hence,
- B Bilbĭlĭ-tānus, a, um, adj., of or belonging to Bilbilis: aquae, a medicinal spring in the vicinity of Bilbilis, Itin. Anton.—
- II The river Salo, near Bilbilis, now Xalon, Just. 44, 3, 13.
- 1. m zijrivier v.d. Ebro, nu de Jalón;
- 2. f geboorteplaats v. Martialis aan de Bilbilis, nu Calatayud Vieja.
BI´LBILIS(Βίλβιλις, Strab. 3. p. 162; Βίλβις, Ptol. 2.6.58; Belbili, Geogr. Rav. 4.43), the second city of the Celtiberi in Hispania Tarraconensis, next in importance to Segobriga, but chiefly celebrated as the birthplace of the poet Martial, who frequently mentions it with a mixture of affection for it as his native home, and of pride in the honour he had conferred on it, but not too without some apology for the rude sound of the Celtiberian names in the ears of his friends at Rome. (4.55, 10.103, 104, 12.18.) The city stood in a barren and rugged country, on a rocky height, the base of which was washed by the river SALOa stream celebrated for its power of tempering steel; and hence Bilbilis was renowned for its manufacture of arms, although, according to Pliny, it had to import iron from a distance. It also produced gold. (Mart. 1.49. 3, 12, reading, in the former line, aquisfor equis; 4.55. 11--15, 10.20. 1, 103. 1, 2, foil. 104. 6, 12.18. 9; Plin. Nat. 34.14. s. 41; Justin. 44.3, where the river Bilbilisseems to mean the Salo.) It stood on the high road from Augusta Emerita to Caesaraugusta, 24 M. P. NE. of the baths named from it [AQUAE BILBITANAE], and 21 M. P. SW. of Nertobriga ( Itin. Ant. pp. 437, 439). Under the Roman empire it was a municipium, with the surname of Augusta (Martial. 10.103.1.) The neighbourhood of Bilbilis was for some time the scene of the war between Sertorius and Metellus (Strab. 3. p. 162.) Several of its coins exist, all under the emperors Augustus, Tiberius, and Caligula, with the epigraphs BILBILI, BILBILIS,and MUN. AUGUSTA. BILBILIS.(Florez, Med.vol. i. pp. 169, 184; Mionnet, vol. 1. p. 30, Suppl. vol. 1. p. 55; Sestini, p. 108; Eckhel, vol. i. pp. 35, 36; Rasche, s. v.) The site of Bilbilis is at Bambola, near the Moorish city of Calatayud( Job's Castle), which is built in great part out of its ruins (Rader, ad Martial. p. 124; Ukert, vol. ii. pt. i. pp. 460, 461; Ford, Handbook of Spain, p. 529).
[P.S]BI´LBILISthe river, mentioned very vaguely by Justin (Justin. 11.4.3), is probably the SALO
[P.S]The modern Baubola or Bambola, a town of the Celtiberi in Hispania Tarraconensis, famous as being the native place of the poet Martial, who often refers to it with pleasure and affection. (See Mart. i. 49; x. 103, 104; xii. 18.) It stood on a rocky height in a barren, rugged country through which ran the river Salo. Bilbilis was noted for its manufacture of arms, and near it were the baths named from it Aquae Bilbitanae.
Iberian settlement and Roman municipium in the Conventus Caesaraugustanus Tarraconensis, at the junction of the Jalón and Jiloca rivers and SW of the town of Zaragoza on the road to Madrid. Traces of it are visible on the hill above Bambola, 6 km from the present town of Calatayud. Excavations have yielded remains perhaps of a theater, of a temple, and of hydraulic construction. The town climbed a hillside and was of long but irregular outline. Paintings and other objects are in the local museum.
Bilbilis was the scene of the struggle between Sertorius and Metellus. The town issued native coinage and, from the time of Augustus, Imperial bronze coinage. It was famous for the temper of its weapons, as well as for being the place where Martial was born and died. Ausonius (Ep. 29.57), in the 4th c., includes it among the abandoned and desolate Spanish towns.
BIBLIOGRAPHYStrabo 3.4.13; Pliny, HN 24.144.
M. Dolç, “Semblanza arqueológica de Bilbilis,” ArchEspArq 27 (1954) 179-211I.
J. ARCE