Lucus Asturum
Lucus Asturum, also known as Lugo, is a historical town located in the region of Asturias in northwestern Spain, formerly part of ancient Callaecia. Founded by Emperor Augustus around 25 BC, it emerged after the Roman conquest of the Astures and represents a significant example of Roman urban planning. The town's layout reflects its origins as a military encampment, which evolved into a civilian settlement over time. Notably, Lugo is home to well-preserved Roman fortifications, with walls extending over a mile in length and impressive towers that served defensive purposes against invasions, particularly during the Gothic incursions starting in AD 260.
The ancient Roman bridge over the river Minius, dated to the time of Emperor Trajan, and various infrastructural remains such as baths and water conduits, highlight Lugo's historical importance and its role as a hub of Roman civilization in the region. Additionally, inscriptions found in the area point to the worship of deities, illustrating the blending of Roman and local Galician religious practices. Lugo's rich historical legacy makes it a significant site for understanding the Roman influence in Hispania and the cultural developments in the region.
Lucus Asturum
Lucus Augusti (Lugo)
In the territory of the Astures (Asturia, (Asturias), which formed part of upland Callaecia (Galicia) in northwestern Spain (Hispania Tarraconensis). Situated on the river Minius (Miño, Minho), the town was founded by Augustus after his reduction of Asturia and the rest of Callaecia (c 25 BC), when he brought the hill tribes down to his new valley settlements. The ancient urban plan, detectable under the modern town, mirrors the design of the original military encampment, round which a civilian settlement was gradually formed.
The Roman fortifications, although restored and altered, remain the most complete and best preserved of any in the western provinces outside Rome itself. The walls are one-and-a-third miles in length, eighteen feet thick, and between thirty and forty feet high, with eighty-five closely spaced semicircular towers (still in existence, except for their upper storeys), designed to accommodate archers and missile throwers. The walls were also fronted by ditches and equipped with single-arched entrance gates furnished with portcullises and drawbridges. These defences were devised to meet the Gothic invasions of Spain recorded from AD 260 onward, and provide a remarkable example of a massive constructional undertaking designed to protect what was only a small town. Military planning, advice and manpower were no doubt forthcoming from neighboring Legio (León), which, like Asturica Augusta (Astorga), was another of the walled bastions devised to meet the barbarian threat.
The bridge over the Minius dates from the time of Trajan (98–117), although very little of the original structure survives. There are also remains of baths, water tanks and conduits, and an inscription records a temple to the Carthaginian Dea Caelestis, who was equated with Venus.