Castellar de la Frontera in Roman times

 

The presence of the Romans in the Iberian Peninsula dates back to the III century B.C when this village defeated the Carthage army and evicted them from this country. The Roman invasion became very important to the whole of  Spain and, obviously, in the areas near the Straits of Gibraltar, where they established two powerful cities: Carteia and Baelo Claudia.

There is good evidence that Castellar de la Frontera area was visited by the Romans and that they settled in this region. It is thought that there was an important enclave, Torre Lascutana, in this village, which lies under where today the castle is situated. There was a Roman road that united Carteia with Cordóba and it is thought that there was an army in this enclave to watch out for the armies on their way to Cordoba and vice versa. There is also evidence of another smaller Roman road that would link the main one to this site.

The Muslims built the current medieval village and destroyed all evidence of previous periods, but some ceramic remains, coins and roof tiles have been found that prove that a Roman settlement existed under the old Castellar.

Apart from this fact, more remains have been found in the district of Castellar. Some examples of these include individual constructions, graves, remains of different walls, silos excavated on the ground, coins, remains of ceramics, remains of rooms, etc, which shows that the presence of the Roman village in this area was an important one.

Gradually, the Roman Empire started to decline which resulted in other villages growing in the Iberian Peninsula. The Visigoths also occupied this area and, of course, they too left traces of their passage through this land, although there were not so many.

Andrés Herrera Moya