Urban Walls of Roman Times in Hispania (centuries I. B. C.-V. A. C.)

Research on Roman walls in the Iberian Peninsula has witnessed significant advances in recent decades, making it possible to define the building characteristics of these works between the period of Augustus and the end of Roman times. Analysis of archaeological data rules out the hypothesis that pointed to a generalised phenomenon of wall erection in the time of Augustus. During recent decades, the archaeological examination of the walls of some Hispanic cities, traditionally considered to be from the Augustan period, has made it possible to trace their construction back to the 1st century BC. These are works with typological and constructive patterns different from those of the previous republican period, but also from those of the Augustan ensembles, in which the use of opus caementicium prevails in the nucleus of the wall. Construction continued until the middle of the 1st century AD, and even until Flavian times. From the last third of the 3rd century AD onwards, Hispania underwent a new process of urban refortification. In the new urban walls, the most advanced innovations in defensive designs of military origin were applied: ultra-semicircular or square towers projected beyond the line of the wall; the width of wall-walks was increased to 4-7 metres to facilitate the mobility of the defenders and the use of artillery; the height of wall curtains was increased to 10-12 metres; distances between towers were reduced. These new works were completely different in appearance from those of the previous era. At the beginning of the 5th century, a second phase of wall building seems to have taken place, restricted in this case to a number of cities.