This is how the Iberian city that the Carthaginians erased from history was found

BarcelonaIn the spring of 218 BC, Hannibal Barca crossed the Ebro River with 90,000 soldiers and 12,000 cavalry. The Carthaginian general had set out from the lush and cosmopolitan Qart Hadasht (present-day Cartagena) in early spring, and had conquered Arse (Sagunto) along the way. The goal was to reach the Alps before winter and conquer the Italian Peninsula. The Romans feared Hannibal and did not sit idly by. In 218 BC, they landed at Empúries to halt the Carthaginians' advance. The confrontation between the Romans and Carthaginians had terrible consequences for the IberiansAmong them, the destruction of a significant settlement that until now we only knew about through written sources: Kissa. The Greek historian Polybius mentions it only once to explain the confrontation between the Carthaginians and the Romans, but archaeology has rescued it from the ashes.

Archaeologists had been searching for Kissa for many years. The location was a mystery, and there was even a theory that Polibi was actually referring to present-day Tarragona, where the Iberian settlement of Kesse was located. In 2013, during a survey with internship students from the University of Barcelona (UB) in Valls, the remains of a ditch were found. Since then, more clues have been sought. This April, the team led by UB archaeology professor Jaume Noguera was able to demonstrate that Kissa was a significant Iberian settlement of around 5,000 inhabitants, and that it was located at the Vilar site, where the old Magrinyà anise factory stood. In fact, stones from the Iberian wall were used to build the factory walls.

A hail of projectiles

Kissa was founded in the 3rd century BC. "It was an Iberian settlement of about eight hectares in area with imposing fortifications. The walls were eight meters wide and had a ditch four meters deep and fourteen meters wide," explains Noguera. The remains found show that many houses were destroyed and burned. A granite stone projectile with a flattened bottom embedded in the roof of one of the houses provides clues as to who destroyed the city. "It was fired with torsion artillery. At that time, the Carthaginians were using it. The Romans knew about it because the Greeks had used it, but it wasn't until the Romans conquered Cartagena in 209 BC that they adapted it," assures Noguera.

This isn't the only evidence. There was a high concentration of Carthaginian coins around the site and on the other side of the ravine, from where the Carthaginian gunners likely fired the projectiles, which could travel up to 400 meters. "From the other side of the ravine, they were in a higher position and had better visibility. They weren't projectiles that could destroy a wall, but their target was the warriors guarding it. They had hooks and hooks," Noguera recounts.

After the Romans landed at Empúries and conquered the coast, the Carthaginians headed inland. The archaeologist has followed the passage of the Carthaginian troops through the coins they left behind. There is a high concentration in the Aixalelles (Ascó, Ribera del Ebro). Noguera believes that the Carthaginian troops crossed the Ebro at the fords of the meanders in the Ascó and Flix areas, then continued north to Lleida, and from there went up the Segre River basin. This route roughly coincides with the current N-232, C-12, and C-13 highways. Archaeologists have also found many coins in the Palace of Anglesola, in Agramunt, and Camarasa.

Locating Roman camps is much easier: remains of objects carried by combatants are found, from belt buckles to coins and buttons, including pendants and, above all, the nails of sandals. The problem for the Carthaginians was that their troops were very diverse. "One of Hannibal's great achievements was that he achieved a very powerful army by combining Libyans, Numidians, Gauls, Ligurians, Iberians, Celtiberians..." the archaeologist assures.

The Carthaginians' allies

Kissa met a disastrous end. It was partially destroyed by the Carthaginians, who received no salaries but were paid with the spoils of various battles. Next to the settlement, a Carthaginian camp remained, led by General Hanno, because it was a strategic location: Valls controlled the passage from the coast through the Cabra Pass or the Riba Strait, toward the Barberà Basin and the West. The Carthaginians had the Ilergets, Ilercavons, and Ossitans as allies. These Iberian peoples controlled the lower reaches of the Ebro River and did not hinder the passage of the Carthaginian troops. In fact, they became allies of the Carthaginians from the early stages of the war. Hannibal likely engaged in intense diplomatic contacts prior to his march toward the Italian Peninsula, just as he did with the peoples of southern Gaul. In contrast, most of the Iberian settlements on the coast, such as the Cosetanians, were more sympathetic to the Romans. This is probably why Kissa was destroyed by the Carthaginians.

The Carthaginian victory was rather short-lived. Two or three months later, the Romans arrived, destroyed the Carthaginian camp, and expelled General Hanno and the Ilerget leader, Indibil. In that confrontation, the Romans raided what remained of the Iberian settlement and, according to Polibi, found only "barbaric possessions and slaves." The Greek historian does not mention any destruction and emphasizes that they did not find much of value because it had already been previously assaulted. Even so, some of the houses were reoccupied, as archaeologists have confirmed. "The city, badly damaged, survived for another ten or twenty years until its final abandonment, this time without violent destruction, surely as a result of the Roman suppression of the indigenous revolts between 206 and 205 BC and 195 BC," states Noguera. All these rebellions ended badly.

All rebellions, defeated

To put an end to the last rebellion, in 195 BC, the consul Marc Porci Cató, the Censor, traveled to Empúries. His mission was to put down the Iberian rebellion that had begun two years earlier in northeastern Hispania against the creation of the Roman province of Citerior. The Romans defeated the Iberians after a day of battle, and Rome no longer had to worry about rebels, at least in the northeastern part of the peninsula. In 2021, archaeologists also found the scene of this battle., near Empúries, in which 24,000 Roman infantrymen and around 1,600 Roman cavalrymen faced off against 40,000 Iberian warriors, coming from different parts of present-day Catalonia and Aragon, who had united against Rome.

The following day, to completely subdue the enemy, Cato sent his army to ravage the territory, with acts of pillage and plunder, and the Iberians' surrender was final. Cato left, considering the conflict over, and continued his "pacification" campaign towards the south and the interior of the Iberian Peninsula, subjugating everyone in his path. "Large Iberian centres were decapitated, destroyed or abandoned at the behest of Roman power," concludes Noguera. "We will never be able to know how Iberian culture evolved."