Celsa (Roman city)

Celsa was originally an Iberian settlement, called Kelse, of the Ilergetes tribe. It was located in the middle reaches of the River Ebro at a privileged position on the natural route from the coast to the peninsula. It was sited on terraces rising from the river and dominating a strategic ford.

From the mid-second century to the first half of the first century BC, Kelse coined its own currency with representations of winged victories, Hercules and Venus; and this is the main documentation of the city.

Bronze coin minted in Kelse in the 2nd century BC, showing its name in the Iberian language

It later had the only stone bridge over the upper Ebro,[1] located in Velilla de Ebro, where remains of a bridge were reported in the 19th century.

Marcus Emilius Lepidus, governor of Hispania Citerior, founded a colony here in 44 BC with discharged veterans of the legions, who each received a plot of land to cultivate and the grant of Roman citizenship.[2] It was known as Colonia Celsa Lepida, the highest rank of Roman city and one of the only two colonies in Aragon with Caesaraugusta. The new town occupied an area of about 44 ha (109 acres) and played a key role as communications centre via Tarraco (Tarragona). The population eventually numbered about 4,000.

The settlement was soon renamed Colonia Victrix Iulia Celsa because Lepidus was removed from political office and exiled in 36 BC by Augustus, Caesar's successor.[3] Celsa experienced a period of great splendour, but it was brief and from the time of Nero it began to wane. Its decline is likely to be due to economic and administrative changes resulting from the creation of a new and thriving colony in the area, Caesaraugusta, which monopolised the main trade flows.

Mosaic in the House of the Dolphins

Whole neighbourhoods have been brought to light with paved streets and blocks of houses of several floors arranged around courtyards, in Roman fashion, and rooms decorated with mosaics and paintings are numerous. Commercial establishments such as warehouses, shops, a market and a bakery can be seen.

Roman architects carefully designed the street plan around the terraced slopes so that the streets evacuated rainwater into the Ebro because, unlike other Roman cities, it had no drains. For this reason the main arteries of the city are parallel and perpendicular to the river.

Excavations have also unearthed remains of several residential buildings of great interest, among which are the Houses of the Dolphin and of Hercules, both with beautiful and important wall paintings.

House of Hercules

Fresco from the House of Hercules: Hercules and the Erymanthian boar

This latter house, of enormous dimensions, inaugurated the use of the Tuscan atrium in Celsa, one of the earliest types of italic-style house. Two stages can be seen in this house; the first (from the founding of the colony) centred around the Tuscan atrium and the second after the addition of the arcaded courtyard to the north, in the reign of Augustus. Rainwater collected in the impluvium of the atrium and was stored in a giant water tank located under room 29. The mosaic floors are of great beauty, especially in room 1 which also had walls adorned with paintings of the second Pompeian style, displaying several episodes of the labours of Hercules which gave its name to the house. The arcaded courtyard gave access to well-designed rooms for a peaceful and private life.

• Holland, Tom, Rubicon: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic, Abacus, 2004, ISBN 0-349-11563-X, 316.
• Colonia Lepida Celsa Velilla turismodezaragoza.es

41.373°N 0.433°W / 41.373; -0.433