Oretum

Ōrētum, ī, n. (Ὤρητον), ville de la Tarraconnaise [auj. Calatrava] || -ānus, a, um, dʼOrétum, Orétain : Plin. 3, 19 || -ānī, Orétains, peuple habitant le territoire dʼOrétum : Plin. 3, 19.

ORETUM (Nuestra Señora de Oreto) Ciudad Real, Spain.

Site ca. 33 km W of Valdepeñas. Tributary city of the Oretani which belonged to the conventus of Carthago Nova, according to Pliny (3.3.25: Oretani qui germani cognominantur). Ptolemy (3.6.59) calls it Ὤρητον Γερμανῶν, and possibly it is identical with Θρία, mentioned by Strabo (3.3.2) together with Castulo as the principal cities of Oretania. Its ruins are known but have never been excavated. It had a bridge built by the Oretanian P. Baebius Venustus (CIL II, 3221).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

P. Bosch-Gimpera, “Infiltracões germanicas entre os Celtas peninsulares,” Revista de Guimarães 60 (1950) 341-49; A. García y Bellido, “Algunos problemas relativos a las invasiones indoeuropeas en España,” ArchEspArq 23 (1950) 487-90; S. Lambrino, “Les Germanis en Lusitania,” Actas e Memórias do I Congresso Nacional de Arqueología 1 (1969) 478.

J. M. BLÁZQUEZ