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History of Cartagena


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Ancient history

The town was originally named Mastia. Possessing one of the best harbors in the Western Mediterranean, it was re-founded by the Carthaginian general Hasdrubal in 228 BC as Qart Hadasht ("New City"), identically named to Carthage, for the purpose of serving as a stepping-off point for the conquest of Spain. The Roman general Scipio Africanus conquered it in 209 BC and renamed it as Carthago Nova (literally, New New City) to distinguish it from the mother city. Julius Caesar gave the town Latin Rights, and Octavian renamed it in his honor as the colony Colonia Victrix Iulia Nova Carthago or Colonia Vrbs Iulia Nova Carthago (C.V.I.N.C.) depending on the source.

In 298 AD Diocletian constituted a new Roman province in Hispania called Carthaginensisand settled the capital in this city. It remained important until it was destroyed by theVandals in 435 AD. During the Roman period, it was the site of major silver mines, yielding revenue of 25,000 drachmae daily. It was known also for the production of garum, a fermented fish sauce, and for esparto grass which granted it a new name, Cartago Spartaria.

Middle Ages

The demise and fall Roman sovereignty caused the city to go into decline and it was occupied successively by the Vandals (409–425), the Visigoths (425–551 and 624–714) and the Byzantines (551–624), who made it the capital of Spania, the Byzantine Empire's westernmost province). Cartagena went re-conquered by the Visigoths until the Muslim conquest in 714 AD, under the name of Qartayannat-al-Halfa. It was subsequently ruled by Umayyads (714–756), the Caliphate of Cordova (756–1031), the Taifa of Denia (1031–1076), the Taifa of
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