Corduba, the Andalusian Rome

The city of Corduba was founded by the general Claudius Marcellus between 169 and 152 BC, planted at a strategic river crossing on the Guadalquivir that would shape its fortunes for centuries. It was planned from the outset as a Roman city — a grid of streets, a forum, public baths — and it quickly became the administrative and commercial heart of the province of Hispania Ulterior. By the time Augustus reorganised the provinces, Corduba had been elevated to the rank of Colonia Patricia, the most prestigious title a provincial city could hold, marking it as a settlement of pure Roman stock under the direct patronage of the emperor.

Under the early Empire, Corduba reached its golden age. The city swelled to an estimated population of over 100,000 — enormous for its era — and was adorned with a monumental temple to the imperial cult, a circus, a theatre, and one of the largest amphitheatres in the entire Roman world. It was also a city of ideas: Corduba gave Rome two of its greatest literary minds in Seneca the Elder and Seneca the Younger, and the epic poet Lucan, whose Pharsalia remains a landmark of Latin literature. No other provincial city outside Italy could claim such a concentration of intellectual prestige.

Twenty centuries later, you can still walk the footprint of Corduba. The Roman Temple's soaring columns rise above a modern plaza. The Roman Bridge carries pedestrians across the same river it has spanned since Caesar's legions passed here. The Plaza de la Corredera holds the rectangular ghost of the ancient forum. Explore the sites below, or dive deeper into each landmark through the cluster pages.