Carthago Nova: fases e hitos de monumentalización urbana y arquitectónica (siglos III a.C.-III d.C.) = Carthago Nova: phases and landmarks in the process of urban and architectural monumentalisation (2nd century BC-3rd century AD)

Abstract

This article gives a diachronic account of the evolution of the Punic Qart Hadast and the Roman Carthago Nova (modern Cartagena, province of Murcia, Spain), especially focusing on the most significant landmarks in the process of architectural and urban monumentalisation undergone by the city between the 3rd century BC and the 3rd century AD. For this, historiographical information will be combined with the urban and underwater archaeological data collected in the last few decades, particularly in the areas around the theatre and Molinete, which have uncovered long occupational sequences that cover the whole history of the city. This work has greatly contributed to increasing our knowledge of the Punic city, which was a highly Hellenised enclave, and also of its evolution in the Roman period, including the Republican foundations in the acropolis, the urban-architectural project launched in the Augustan period and the reflection of ethnicity upon the urban structure. In addit ion, recent excavations in Molinete have demonstrated that the notions of crisis a nd urban decadence must be revised, forcing us to rewrite the history of the city in the 3rd century.