Listed 1 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for wider area of: "OSUMA Town ANDALUCIA" .
OSUMA (Town) ANDALUCIA
Urso or Ursone (Osuna) Sevilla, Spain.
Town 24 km SW of Ecija. Pliny (3.12) calls it Colonia Genetiva Urbanorum, under
the jurisdiction of Astigi (Ecija). The city mint is shown by its coinage, with
the name written Urso or Ursone. In Appian 65 it appears as Orsona. The coin types,
although struck during the Roman period of Baetica, continue Iberian traditions,
with the bear on the oldest and the sphinx, resembling that of Castulo (Caziona)
in Jaen, on the later issues, along with the magistrates' names.
Appian (Hisp. 16) tells us that in 211 B.C. the brothers Scipio spent
the winter between Urso and Castulo, awaiting the outcome of the struggle against
the Carthaginians wintering in Turdetania, and Urso was the concentration place
for the army of Quintus Fabius Maximus Aemilianus in 145-144 B.C. (App. Hisp.
65). In 139 B.C. Audas, Ditalkes, and Minuros or Nikorontes, natives of Urso,
are cited as the most faithful companions of Viriatus, who employed them for peace
negotiations with the Romans and then, under Scipio's influence, put them to death
(Diod. 33.21; App. Hisp. 71). Finally, when Urso sided with Pompey, it was forced
to fight against Caesar, who conquered it in 45 B.C. (Bell. Hisp. 22.1; 26.3;
28.2; 41.2; 42.1). Urso became colonia immunis and appears to have been inscribed
in the Galeria or Sergia tribe. Perhaps related to it was a certain Sergius Paulus,
who was chosen patron of Urso (CIL II, 1406).
Many reliefs survive from buildings constructed after Caesar's conquest,
also statues, inscriptions, and coins. The theater, portions of the Roman burial
ground, remains of villas, mosaics, and parts of the circuit walls (destroyed
in 1932) are also known. In 1870 five bronze sheets, of the original nine, containing
part of the Lex Ursonensis or Lex Coloniae Genetivae Juliae were found (now in
the National Archaeological Museum in Madrid). Although the law was originally
codified in Caesar's time, this definitive text must have been engraved and transmitted
to Urso in the Flavian period. Approximately a third of the law has survived.
It is of extraordinary interest in that it deals with the interior administration
of Urso. The whole text is of interest also for the fuller understanding of Roman
law in the Iberian peninsula.
Among archaeological finds was a mosaic (now lost) in which the river
Acheloos in the center, labeled in Greek, was surrounded by busts of SIRE(ne),
NYMPHE, etc. Roman burials have yielded thin-walled vases, terra sigillata, unguent
jars, glass vessels, coins, and fragments of sculpture. Some of this material
is in the archaeological museum at Osuna, much of the rest in private collections.
There have also been finds from the Early Christian and Visigoth periods, particularly
baked clay bricks from the latter, when the city apparently enjoyed considerable
prosperity: in the 4th c. a certain Natalis was bishop of Urso and participated
in the Council of Iliberri (Granada).
Other relics from the Roman period, a head possibly of Juno, and a
pedestal inscribed with a dedication to the Sacred Tree, are in private collections.
C. Fernandez-Chicarro, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Jan 2006 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
Receive our daily Newsletter with all the latest updates on the Greek Travel industry.
Subscribe now!