Valuable Enough to Kill For: 4,000-Year-Old Mine Which Was Hijacked by Foreign Forces Uncovered in Spain

Ancient Origins

Archaeologists in Spain have uncovered sophisticated mining operations in Munigua, which were in operation as long ago as 4,000 years, but first Carthage and then Romans hijacked them for the vitally important metals iron and copper.

Iron and copper were important in those days for weaponry and tools and in international trade. An article in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz says the substances were “valuable enough to kill for.”

The Romans had a habit of taking over mines that were already in operation in Spain, Israel and elsewhere in their far-flung empire.

Some of the Roman ruins at Munigua go back to around the 2 nd century BC. ( Wikimedia Commons /Photo by Cybergelo)

 Researchers believe the mine in the ancient city of Muniqua in southern Spain was developed by the Turdetani people more than 4,000 years ago. The archaeologists have found ventilated underground rooms, shafts and tunnels dug into the earth that they believe were later developed by the Romans, who hijacked the operation from Carthaginians, who had stolen it in the 3 rd century BC from the locals.

Living spaces in the ruins of the city of Munigua, where mines produced iron and copper as long ago as 4,000 years by locals and which were later commandeered by first Carthaginians and then the Romans. ( Wikimedia Commons /Aegon2001)

The article says miners extracted huge amounts of iron and copper for the Romans at Munigua but that the operation shut down in the 2 nd century AD along with other mines on the Iberian Peninsula, which Rome referred to as Hispania.

Haartez says the mines were in operation before people settled the area of Munigua. Evidence for a community there is seen in Greek ceramics dating to the 4 th century BC. The town was a big, important hub when the Romans arrived and conquered it.

People were mining iron and copper for more than 4,000 years in southern Spain. Around the 3 rd century BC the Carthaginian general Hamilcar Barca made landfall on the southeast coast and set up New Carthage. The Punic general also hijacked the Munigua mines, which refilled Carthage’s treasury within a few years.

Not long after, in 218 BC, the Romans arrived by ship in Hispania and took the mines at Castulo and New Carthage. The Romans severed Carthage’s supply of the vital metals and attempted to destroy its economy.

In one bold attack, 500 Roman troops came ashore at New Carthage, which marked the beginning of the end for Carthage in Spain. But it wasn’t until more than 100 years later that the Romans were mining there. Ancient authors wrote that there was a big migration from Italy to Hispania around that time.

The researchers concluded that mining really took off in the 2 nd century BC because of huge amounts of slag—a mining byproduct—around Munigua.

“Slag is a first-class archaeological source material, as it can be analyzed and can give precise information about the metal melted, the process by which melting was achieved and the chemical characteristics of the metal,” Professor Thomas G. Schattner of the German Archaeological Institute in Madrid and head of the excavations.

A temple to Mercury at Munigua ( Wikimedia Commons /Photo by Aegon2001)

The mines are not the only thing being excavated at Munigua. Digs have been underway since 1956, and archaeologists have found city walls, a big necropolis or cemetery, temples, small sanctuaries, a two-story hall, thermal baths and a forum.

 A large terrace sanctuary is there and is referred to as the Castle of Mulva, but experts don’t know which deity or deities were worshiped there.

The city declined after an earthquake in the 3 rd century AD. By the 6 th century, people had abandoned Munigua for the most part. The only evidence of occupation was a few broken pieces of Arab pottery, Haaretz says.

Top image: Roman gold mine, representational image ( CC by SA 3.0 )

By Mark Miller

2,000-Year-Old Cooling System for Chariot Horses Unearthed at Ancient Carthage Site

Ancient Origins

In the Classical world, chariot races were the equivalent of today’s highest-profile sports and had the highest-paid athletes in history. But how did the chariot horses of North Africa cope with the searing heat? Archaeologists have now found the answer after unearthing an advanced system that cooled the horses and kept the popular races running at the Roman Circus of Carthage in Tunisia 2,000 years ago.

The circuses in Carthage, Rome and elsewhere around the empire were built specifically for the chariot races, which were fast, violent and wildly popular. Haaretz, which has a report on the horse-cooling features recently discovered, says one charioteer won 36 million sesterces (silver coins) —the equivalent of about $15 billion in today’s money.

An ancient mosaic shows the circus of Carthage. (Wikimedia Commons/University of Chicago)

Carthage’s circus was 470 meters (1542 feet) long and 30 meters (98.4 feet) wide. This was smaller than the Circus Maximus in Rome, which was wider and 80 meters longer. And while the Circus Maximus could seat 150,000 to 200,000 people, scholars believe the Carthage circus held far fewer spectators at around 45,000. Still, the Carthage circus was the largest sporting venue of the empire except for those in Rome itself.

The arches of the ruins of the Circus Maximus in Rome—the largest chariot racetrack of them all. (Wikimedia Commons/Joris van Rooden)

There was ancient poetry about the chariot races (read one such poem here), mosaics, and of course the circuses around the empire that attest to the sport’s popularity.
Chariot drivers wore uniforms of distinct color and teams represented different groups in society, social or political, Haaretz says. According to accounts of the time, supporters applauded wildly when their favorite team took the field. Certain charioteers were so adulated that their portraits were hung in homes.
There were riots, including one at Pompeii that Roman historian Tacitus told about, when Pompeians fought with fanatics from nearby Nucreia.
Part of the reason the archaeologists determined that the ancient Carthaginians cooled the horses came with the discovery of water-resistant mortar at the circus.
“This kind of mortar is called hydraulic mortar. It's a type of waterproof lime mortar mixed with crushed and pulverized ceramics that the Romans used in hydraulic engineering,” Frerich Schön of Tübingen University told Ha’aretz. He is a water technology specialist who discovered the hydraulic mortar at the spina, or the median.
Water basins were built along the track and spina at Carthage and elsewhere. Sparsores—the people who sprinkled the horses—dipped clay vessels into the water and sprinkled it on the chariots as they passed, according to Ralf Bockmann of the German Archaeological Institute, co-director of the excavations with Hamden Ben Romdhane of the Institut National du Patrimonie de Tunisie.
The men say this was without doubt a dangerous job.
“The sparsores would usually be on foot, directly on the spina, presumably at the level of the arena, to cool down the chariot wheels driving by at high speed. How exactly the cooling was organized is not clear. But for sure, it must have been a dangerous business,” Dr. Bockmann told Haaretz.
Chariot racing was popular not just in Rome but also in Greece and the Byzantine Empire. It was less violent than the gladiatorial contests, but still, many horses and men suffered grave injuries and death in the races.

Nike rides a chariot to victory in this relief from ancient Greece; the sport was popular all over the Classical world. (Wikimedia Commons/Jastrow)

The charioteers were slaves or freedmen. They drove light chariots, which made the sport all the more dangerous. Races were run for seven laps, and up to a dozen chariots ran in them.

“Many drivers were thrown from a broken or overturned chariot,” says an article on PBS. “They could then be trampled and killed by the charging horses, or get caught in the reins and dragged to their deaths.”

Aristocrats sneered at the chariot races, thinking them childish and unremarkable. But the public was in thrall to them.
Top image: Chariot racing in ancient Rome (University of Wisconsin)
By Mark Miller

History Trivia - battle at Lake Trasimenus

June 21

217 BC Carthaginian forces led by Hannibal destroyed a Roman army under Consul Gaius Flaminicy in a battle at Lake Trasimenus in central Italy.
 

In a nutshell: the Punic Wars

History Extra

17th-century painting of the Battle of Zama, a decisive victory for the Romans over Hannibal of Carthage. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

What were they and who fought them?
The Punic Wars were a series of conflicts fought by the powerful cities of Carthage and Rome between 264 BC and 146 BC. The period is usually split into three distinct wars – the First was from 264-241 BC, the Second between 218-201 BC and the Third started in 149 BC and ended, bringing the Punic Wars to a conclusion, in 146 BC.
Why ‘Punic’?
The word ‘Punic’ actually comes from the word ‘Phoenician’ (phoinix in Greek or punicus in Latin), and refers to the citizens of Carthage, who were descended from the Phoenicians.
How and why did they begin?
Rome in 264 BC was a relatively small city – a far cry from its later superiority – and it was the city of Carthage (located in what we now know as Tunisia) that reigned supreme in the ancient world.
Tensions arose between the cities over who should have control of the strategic island of Sicily. Although relations were generally friendly, Rome’s intervention in a dispute on the island saw the cities explode into conflict. In 264 BC, war was officially declared for control of Sicily.
Rome built and equipped over 100 ships to take on the Carthaginian navy and finally, in 241 BC, was able to win a decisive victory against the Carthaginians at sea. In the peace treaty, Rome gained Sicily, its first overseas province.

Hannibal leads his Cathaginian army during the Second Punic War (Photo by Photo12/UIG/Getty Images)

Who were Hannibal and Scipio and what were their contributions to the conflict?
In 219 BC, Hannibal (son of Hamilcar Barca, a Carthaginian general during the First Punic War) broke the tentative peace between the two cities and laid siege to Saguntum (in eastern Spain), then an ally of Rome. Furious at Hannibal’s audacity, the Romans demanded that he be handed over for punishment. This order was ignored by the Carthaginian senate, and so the Second Punic War began.
Roman General Publius Cornelius Scipio, later known as Scipio Africanus, emerged in opposition to Hannibal during this conflict. Famously, the Carthaginian proceeded to march his forces over the Alps, along with his elephants, and conquered much of northern Italy.
Hannibal faced the Romans, including Scipio, at the Battle of Cannae in 216 BC – he won a great victory that saw some 70,000 Romans killed compared to just 6,000 Carthaginians.
Not a man to be beaten, Scipio – a admirer of Hannibal – turned the situation around at the Battle of Zama in 202 BC. Hannibal’s elephant charge was deflected back into the Carthaginian ranks, followed by a combined cavalry and infantry advance, which crushed Hannibal’s forces.
Carthage was ordered to surrender its navy, pay Rome a war debt of 200 talents of gold every year for 50 years, and was prevented from waging war with anyone without Roman approval.

The army, and war elephants, of Hannibal cross the Rhone River. (Photo by Stock Montage/Getty Images)

If Carthage had been crushed, why did war break out for a third time in 149 BC?
Carthage paid its war debt to Rome over 50 years, until 149 BC. Then, deeming the treaty to be complete, the city went to war against Numidia, in what is now Algeria.
Not only did they lose the war, but Carthage incurred the wrath of Rome, who again deemed its old foe a threat. This time, Carthage was to be put down permanently.
That same year, a Roman embassy was sent to Carthage to demand that the city be dismantled and moved inland away from the coast. When the  Carthaginians refused, the Third War broke out. Roman forces besieged Carthage for three years, until it finally fell in 146 BC. The city was sacked and burned to the ground where it lay in ruin for more than a century, with its inhabitants sold into slavery.

What were the long-term implications of the wars?
By the time the Punic Wars ended, Rome had blossomed from a small trading city into a formidable naval force. With no serious threat coming from Carthage, the Romans had the power to expand into an empire that would rule the known world.

Archaeologists in Sicily excavate an ancient Greek city remarkably preserved beneath earth and sand

Ancient Origins

In 409 BC, Carthaginian troops from North Africa slaughtered and enslaved the 16,000 soldiers and residents of Selinunte, a Greek metropolis whose ruins were preserved in ancient times by blowing earth and sand. Working for many years, archaeologists have examined and excavated the entire city to find 2,500 houses, the streets and harbor and an industrial zone that produced exquisite pottery.
Archaeologists have compared Selinunte to Pompeii in the degree of preservation. Pompeii, on the Italian mainland, was buried in ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD.
About 15 percent of Selinunte, including a spectacular acropolis and temples, had remained above-ground and was visited on what the British of the Georgian and Victorian used to call the Grand Tour. They called it the City of the Gods. More than 500 years ago a temblor knocked down those buildings. Two of the temples were re-built in the mid-20^th century and have been a tourist attraction ever since.

“Selinunte is the only classical Greek city where the entire metropolis is still preserved, mainly buried under sand and earth. It therefore gives us a unique opportunity to discover how an ancient Greek city functioned,” Martin Bentz of the University of Bonn, head of excavations now underway at Selinunte, told The Independent.

This pot, which was made in Selinunte, shows a rider with a spear and an attendant. (Photo by Marie Lan-Nguyen/Wikimedia Commons)

Before Selinunte, scholars had found not one single entirely intact ancient Greek city and were able to study only fragmentary city plans and ancient city life. The study of Selinunte has shed much light on the ancient world and its demographics and lifestyles. Researchers never knew how many residents there were in any ancient Greek cities until Selinunte.
Archaeologists found a half-eaten meal inside a dozen bowls around a hearth in a building that burned during the invasion and will analyze the food residue. They have also found dozens of unfired ceramic pots and tiles in the city, which was a major producer of ceramics. Terrified locals apparently left these products unfired because the invasion interrupted their work.
Recent excavations have brought to light pottery kilns and entire workshops. Archaeologists have found pigments used to paint the ceramics and 80 kilns, including large circular ones for producing roof tiles and amphorae jars and a dozen large rectangular kilns for firing giant amphorae and coffins. In smaller kilns, workers fired weights, tableware and small statues of the gods.
The ceramicists had a chapel for worshiping a working-class goddess, Athena Ergane of Athena of the Workers, and Artemis, Demeter and Zeus, the supreme deity.

A pottery piece made in Selinunte showing Artemis with a bow and arrow in front of an altar (Photo by Marie-Lan Nguyen/Wikimedia Commons)

Scholars are examining pottery from around the Mediterranean to determine how much of it originated in Selinunte, which produced much more than it could use on its own. They estimate the city’s residents produced 300,000 ceramic pieces per year, but less than 20 percent of that was for domestic use. In addition, amphorae produced in Selinunte may have been used to transport the city’s surplus wheat and olive oil, The Independent says.
Researchers have been studying Selinunte’s man-made harbor and will use geophysical surveys to find the foundations of warehouses that would have been positioned around it. Artifacts in the city’s shops and houses, including pottery, glass and bronze pieces from Egypt, Turkey, southern France and northern Italy, show that ships from far and wide docked in the harbor.
The city, which overlooks the Mediterranean Sea, didn’t exist for very long. Ancient Greeks founded it between 650 and 630 BC. A bit more than 200 years later, Carthage attacked and killed and enslaved its defenders and residents.
The Carthaginians, at war with Greece, besieged the city for nine days and then breached its walls and overwhelmed its defenders.

“What followed was an orgy of destruction, torture, rape, murder and looting that was considered abhorrent even by the standards of those days,” says the site Best of Sicily. “According to Diodorus Siculus, about 16,000 of Selinunte's estimated 25,000 or so civilians were butchered outright and 7,000 were enslaved. Only a scant two thousand managed to escape the bloodbath and make their way to Agrigento.”

The Carthaginians repopulated the city some, but it never regained its former power or prestige. During the first Punic War with Rome in 250 BC, Carthaginian forces destroyed the city before fleeing Roman troops.
Featured image: The interior of what researchers call Temple E in Selinunte (Photo by Evan Erickson/Wikimedia Commons)
By: Mark Miller

History Trivia - Treaty of Brétigny ratified at Calais

October 24

439 Carthage, the leading Roman city in North Africa, fell to Genseric and the Vandals. 

 1360 The Treaty of Brétigny was ratified at Calais, marking the end of the first phase of the Hundred Years' War. 

1537 Jane Seymour, the third wife of England's King Henry VIII, died after giving birth to Prince Edward.  Prince Edward became King Edward VI.

History Trivia - Battle of Sama - Scipio defeats Hannibal's army

October 19

 202 BC, the Romans under Scipio Africanus defeated Hannibal's army of Carthaginians and Numidians in the Battle of Sama in the Second Punic War. 

439 Gaiseric, King of the Vandals, seized the Roman city of Carthage, and made it his capital. 

1216 King John of England died at Newark-on-Trent and was succeeded by his nine-year-old son Henry.

History Trivia - Henry VIII orders bowling lanes at Whitehall

October 15

70 BC, Virgil was born. He is considered to be one of the greatest poets of the Roman Empire. 5

33 Byzantine general Belisarius made his formal entry into Carthage, having conquered it from the Vandals.

1389 Pope Urban VI died. The election of Urban sparked the Western Schism, which lasted nearly 40 years.

1501 English crown prince Arthur married Catherine of Aragon.

1520 King Henry VIII of England ordered bowling lanes at Whitehall.

1537 Prince Edward Tudor was baptized.

History Trivia - Hadrian orders the construction of the great wall, dividing Britain

Sept 13

585 BC Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, king of Rome, celebrated a triumph for his victories over the Sabines, and the surrender of Collatia.  

509 BC The temple of Jupiter on Rome's Capitoline Hill was dedicated on the ides of September.

81 Roman emperor Titus, who was on the throne when Pompeii was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, died in Rome at age 40.

122 Construction of Hadrian's Wall began.

533 General Belisarius of the Byzantine Empire defeated Gelimer and the Vandals at the Battle of Ad Decimium, near Carthage, North Africa.

1321 Dante, author of "The Divine Comedy," died.

1475 Cesare Borgia was born.