Corduba

• a town in Hispania Baetica, on the river Baetis, now Caes. B. C. 2, 19 al.—Cordŭbensis, e, adj., of Corduba, Plin. 3, 1, 3, § 7; 34, 2, 2, § 4; Auct. B. Alex. 57.—Hence. Cordŭbenses, ium, m., the inhabitants of Corduba, Auct. B. Alex. 59.

CO´RDUBA (Κόρδυβα, Κορδύβη, Κορδούβα: Eth. and Adj. Cordubensis: Cordoba or Cordova), one of the chief cities of Hispania, in the territory of the Turduli. It stood on the right bank of the Baetis (Guadalquivir), a little below the spot where the navigation of the river commenced, at the distance of 1200 stadia from the sea. [BAETIS] Its foundation was ascribed to Marcellus, whom we find making it his head-quarters in the Celtiberian War. (Strab. 3. p. 141; Plb. 35.2.) It was occupied from the first by a chosen mixt population of Romans and natives of the surrounding country; and it was the first colony of the Romans in those parts. Strabo's language implies that it was a colony from its very foundation, that is, from B.C. 152. It was regarded as the capital of the extensive and fertile district of Baeturia, comprising the country between the Anas and the Baetis, the richness of which combined with its position on a great navigable river, and on the great high road connecting the E. and NE. parts of the peninsula with the S., to raise it to a position only second to Gades as a commercial city. (Strab. l. c., and p. 160 )

In the great Civil War Corduba suffered severely on several occasions, and was at last taken by Caesar, soon after the battle of Munda, when 22,000 of its inhabitants were put to the sword, B.C. 45. (Caes. B.C. 2.19; Hirt. Bell. Alex. 49, 57, 59, 60, Bell. Hisp. 32--34; Appian, App. BC 2.104, 105; Dio Cass..)

Corduba was the seat of one of the four convents juridici of the province of Baetica, and the usual residence of the praetor; hence it was generally regarded as the capital of the province. (Plin. Nat. 3.1. s. 3; Appian, App. Hisp. 65.) It bore the surname of PATRICIA (Plin. l. c.; Mela, 2.6.4), on account, as is said, of the number of patricians who were among the colonists; and, to the present day, Cordova is so conspicuous, even among Spanish cities, for the pride of its nobles in their azure bloodt hat the Great Captain, Gonzalo de Cordova, used to say that other towns might be better to live in, but none was better to be born in.( Ford, Handbook, p. 73.)

In the annals of Roman literature Corduba is conspicuous as the birthplace of Lucan and the two Senecas, besides others, whose works justified the epithet of facunda,a pplied to it by Martial (Mart. 1.62. 8):--Duosque Senecas, unicumque Lucanum Facunda loquitur Corduba.

(Comp. 9.61, and the beautiful epigram of Seneca, ap. Wernsdorf, Poet. Lat. Min. vol. v. pt. 3, p. 1364.)

Numerous coins of the city are extant, bearing the names of CORDUBA, PATRICIA, and COLONIA PATRICIA. (Florez, Med. de Esp. vol. 1. p. 373, vol. 2. p. 536; Mionnet, vol. 1. p. 11, Suppl. vol. 1. p. 23; Sestini, p. 46; Eckhel, vol, 1. p. 18.) There are now scarcely any remains of the Roman city, except a ruined building, which the people dignify with the title of Seneca's House. (Florez, Esp. Sagr. vol. 10. p. 132; Miñano, Diccion. vol. 3. p. 170.) The city is one of Ptolemy's places of recorded astronomical observations, having 14 hrs. 25 min. for its longest day, and being distant 3 2/5 hrs. W. of Alexandria. (Ptol. 2.4.11, 8.4.4.)

The modern Cordova; one of the largest cities in Spain, and the capital of Baetica, on the right bank of the Baetis. It became a Roman colony B.C. 152, and was the birthplace of the two Senecas and of Lucan.

City of Andalusia on the Guadalquivir river, founded in 152 B.C. by the consul Claudius Marcellus on an ancient native site. It received the status of colonia shortly before A.D. 45, perhaps from Gnaius, son of Pompey the Great, and the title of Patricia from Augustus when veterans of Legiones V and X were settled there. The city flourished during the Roman period, first as capital of Hispania Ulterior, and later of the senatorial province of Baetica; it was the most completely romanized city of the Peninsula and the seat of the juridical conventus. After the Germanic invasions, in the Moslem period, it became the center of the independent Cordovan caliphate and an important cultural center of the early Middle Ages. The remains of the Roman colony lie beneath the modern city, but the superb bridge over the Guadiana is still used, although restored.

The modern network of streets is largely superimposed on the Roman one, which divided the city into the four rectangles customary for Roman encampments. The cardo (Osanio Street) ran N-S, and a Roman necropolis lay at the end of it. Traces of the forum have been found in the center of town, including a large edifice originally over 90 m long, which was undoubtedly a bath. The rooms had mosaic floors and the heating system included suspensurae for the caldanium. The area so far excavated (60 x 20 m) greatly resembles the baths in Italica; they were doubtless a standard provincial type. The exterior wall, which abuts on the plaza or site of the forum, is perhaps 2 m thick, with marble revetments on the outside. There were two entrances, marble-lined as at Italica. The thick walls seem designed to carry heavy vaults. The baths were adorned with statues, many fragments of which have come to light.

A large temple has also been identified, on the property of the present Casa Consistonial. It stood on a high podium, approached by a stairway with an altar at its foot, on the central axis. Large rough-hewn blocks have been found, laid fanwise to contain the earth fill for the temple. The building has been reconstructed as 18 by 32 m, peripteral with six columns in front and ten on each side, seven of which were attached pilasters. The Corinthian capitals (in the museum) are large and of excellent quality (ht. 1.02 m, diam. at top 1.14). There are also remains of private houses. The most interesting is the central portion of a villa or insula, comprising the N side of a hexastyle peristyle court with a garden. On each side was a gallery carried on six Doric columns. Any new building activity in the city today reveals Roman constructions and bits of architecture, which the museum direction records and fits into the plan of ancient Corduba.

A series of cemeteries line the roads ascending to the walled city: the patrician necropolis of the Puerta de Hierro where elegant lead coffins have been found, the cemetery by the Osario gate with rich stone burials, and another at the ascent to the S gate. The most important one, however, is on the old road to Almodóvar del Rio: its area is over 5000 sq. m, and the most crowded section is at the first milestone on the road from Corduba to Hispalis. Judging by the finds, this necropolis was used from Iron Age II until the Moslem era; it was the most frequented because of its location to the W and its proximity to the Guadalquivir river. Most of the finds belong to the Republican and Imperial periods. Nearby there are foundations and walls of large projecting cutstone blocks, suggesting a public building, perhaps a stadium.

The Archaeological Museum houses a wealth of architectural remains, capitals, column shafts, bits of molding of fine workmanship; abundant epigraphic material comparable only to that of Tarraco; sculptures and bas-reliefs, including statues from the baths; gravestones and grave goods; numerous bronze objects; Roman and Visigothic jewelry; clay figures; glass; Campanian, Arretine, and local ceramic ware.

A. Blázquez, “El Puente romano de Córdoba,” Boletin de la Real Academia de la Historia (1914); S. de los Santos Gener, Guía del Museo Arqueológico Provincial de Córdoba (1950); id., “Memoria de las Excavaciones del Plan Nacional, realizadas en Córdoba (1948-1950),” Informes y Memorias de la Comisaría General de Excavaciones Arqueológicas 31 (1955); A. García y Bellido, “Las colonias romanas de Hispania,” Anuario de Historia del Derecho Español 29 (1959) 451ff; id., Los hallazgos cerámicos del área del templo romano de Córdoba (1970).