The history of the city goes back to the eighth century BC, to the biblical kingdom of Tartessos, which developed an extraordinary civilisation. Its ships sailed as far as the British Isles and ventured down the West African coast. Trade with Greeks and Phoenicians flourished and they founded prosperous factories. The Battle of Ilipa in 206 BC marked the triumph of Rome over Carthage and the Roman presence for the following seven centuries left a profound mark on the personality of Seville.

The Roman city of Italica, located on the Lower Guadalquivir, between Seville (Hispalis) and Alcalá del Río (Ilipa), very close to the routes that communicated with the mining zone in the Sierra Norte mountains of Seville and in Huelva, played a very important role in both politico-military and economic terms during the early Roman Empire.

The families of Trajan and Hadrian were originally from Italica and the city was the home of a good number of the senators of the time. From the days of Augustus, at the change of Era, the city underwent many urban and architectural improvements including, especially, the Theatre, which was begun under his rule or perhaps under Caesar, which has a capacity for 3,000 spectators, and the Amphitheatre, one of the largest in the Empire.

For further information: www.juntadeandalucia.es/cultura/museos/CAI/