The river Singulis, discharging itself into the Bætis at the place already mentioned, washes the colony of Astigi[907], surnamed Augusta Firma, at which place it becomes navigable. The other colonies in this jurisdiction which are exempt from tribute are Tucci, surnamed Augusta Gemella[908], Itucci called Virtus Julia[909], Attubi or Claritas Julia[910], Urso[911] or Genua Urbanorum; and among them in former times Munda[912], which was taken with the son of Pompey. The free towns are Old Astigi[913] and Ostippo[914]; the tributary towns are Callet, Callecula, Castra Gemina, the Lesser Ilipula, Merucra, Sacrana, Obulcula[915], and Oningis. As you move away from the sea-coast, near where the river Menoba is navigable, you find, at no great distance, the Alontigiceli and the Alostigi[916].
The country which extends from the Bætis to the river Anas, beyond the districts already described, is called Bæturia, and is divided into two parts and the same number of nations; the Celtici[917], who border upon Lusitania, in the jurisdiction of Hispalis, and the Turduli, who dwell on the verge[918] of Lusitania and Tarraconensis, and are under the protection of the laws of Corduba. It is evident that the Celtici have sprung from the Celtiberi, and have come from Lusitania, from their religious rites, their language, and the names of their towns, which in Bætica are distinguished by the following epithets[919], which have been given to them. Seria has received the surname of Fama Julia[920], Nertobriga that of Concordia Julia[921], Segida that of Restituta Julia[922], and Contributa[923] that of Julia. What is now Curiga was formerly Ucultuniacum, Constantia Julia[924] was Laconimurgis, the present Fortunales were the Tereses[925], and the Emanici were the Callenses[926]. Besides these, there are in Celtica the towns of Acinippo[927], Arunda[928], Aruci[929], Turobriga, Lastigi, Salpesa, Sæpone, and Serippo.
The other Bæturia, which we have mentioned, is inhabited by the Turduli, and, in the jurisdiction of Corduba, has some towns which are by no means inconsiderable; Arsa[930], Mellaria[931], Mirobriga[932], and Sisapo[933], in the district of Osintias.
To the jurisdiction of Gades belongs Regina, with Roman citizens; and Læpia, Ulia[934], Carisa[935] surnamed Aurelia, Urgia[936] or Castrum Julium, likewise called Cæsaris Salutariensis, all of which enjoy the Latian rights. The tributary towns are Besaro, Belippo[937], Barbesula, Lacippo, Bæsippo, Callet, Cappacum, Oleastro, Ituci, Brana, Lacibi, Saguntia[938], and Audorisæ.
M. Agrippa has also stated the whole length of this province to be 475 miles[939], and its breadth 257; but this was at a time when its boundaries extended to Carthage[940], a circumstance which has often caused great errors in calculations; which are generally the result either of changes effected in the limits of provinces, or of the fact that in the reckoning of distances the length of the miles has been arbitrarily increased or diminished. In some parts too the sea has been long making encroachments upon the land, and in others again the shores have advanced; while the course of rivers in this place has become more serpentine, in that more direct. And then, besides, some writers begin their measurements at one place, and some at another, and so proceed in different directions; and hence the result is, that no two accounts agree.
(2.) At the present day the length of Bætica, from the town of Castulo[941], on its frontier, to Gades is 250 miles, and from Murci, which lies on the sea-coast, twenty-five miles more. The breadth, measured from the coast of Carteia, is 234 miles. Who is there that can entertain the belief that Agrippa, a man of such extraordinary diligence, and one who bestowed so much care on his subject, when he proposed to place before the eyes of the world a survey of that world, could be guilty of such a mistake as this, and that too when seconded by the late emperor the divine Augustus? For it was that emperor who completed the Portico[942] which had been begun by his sister, and in which the survey was to be kept, in conformity with the plan and descriptions of M. Agrippa.
CHAP. 4. (3.)—OF NEARER SPAIN.
The ancient form of the Nearer Spain, like that of many other provinces, is somewhat changed, since the time when Pompey the Great, upon the trophies which he erected in the Pyrenees, testified that 877 towns, from the Alps to the borders of the Farther Spain, had been reduced to subjection by him. The whole province is now divided into seven jurisdictions, those of Carthage[943], of Tarraco, of Cæsar Augusta[944], of Clunia[945], of Asturica[946], of Lucus[947], and of the Bracari[948]. To these are to be added the islands, which will be described on another occasion, as also 293 states which are dependent on others; besides which the province contains 179 towns. Of these, twelve are colonies, thirteen, towns with the rights of Roman citizens, eighteen with the old Latian rights, one confederate, and 135 tributary.
The first people that we come to on the coast are the Bastuli; after whom, proceeding according to the order which I shall follow, as we go inland, there are the Mentesani, the Oretani, and the Carpetani on the Tagus, and next to them the Vaccæi, the Vectones, and the Celtiberian Arevaci. The towns nearest to the coast are Urci, and Barea[949] included in Bætica, the district of Mavitania, next to it Deitania, and then Contestania, and the colony of Carthago Nova; from the Promontory of which, known as the Promontorium Saturni[950], to the city of Cæsarea[951] in Mauritania, the passage is a distance of 187 miles. The remaining objects worthy of mention on the coast are the river Tader[952], and the free colony of Ilici[953], whence the Ilicitanian Gulf[954] derives its name; to this colony the Icositani are subordinate.
We next have Lucentum[955], holding Latian rights; Dianium[956], a tributary town; the river Sucro[957], and in former times a town of the same name, forming the frontier of Contestania. Next is the district of Edetania, with the delightful expanse of a lake[958] before it, and extending backward to Celtiberia. Valentia[959], a colony, is situate three miles from the sea, after which comes the river Turium[960], and Saguntum[961] at the same distance, a town of Roman citizens famous for its fidelity, the river Uduba[962], and the district of the Ilergaones[963]. The Iberus[964], a river enriched by its commerce, takes its rise in the country of the Cantabri, not far from the town of Juliobriga[965], and flows a distance of 450 miles; 260 of which, from the town of Varia[966] namely, it is available for the purposes of navigation. From this river the name of Iberia has been given by the Greeks to the whole of Spain.