Acinipo

Acinipo

File:Teatroacinipo.JPG The Roman theatre of Acinipo
Shown within Spain
Location	Province of Málaga, Spain
Region	Hispania Baetica
Coordinates
Type	Settlement
History
Founded	45 BC
Cultures	Roman
Site notes
Condition	In ruins

Acinipo was a city created by retired soldiers from the Roman legions more than 2,000 years ago, about 20 kilometers from Ronda, near Seville, Southern Spain. The Acinipo ruins include a Roman theater still in use today. Acinipo is known locally as Ronda la Vieja, Arunda or Old Ronda, though it has a separate origin and history from Ronda.

History

File:Termasacinipo.JPG

Roman baths of Acinipo.

Some historians assert that Acinipo was created after the battle of Munda (45 BC), fought between the armies of Julius Caesar and the army of Pompey's two sons, Gnaeus and Sextus. To Caesar, Munda was supposed to be a mop-up action after Pompey's main forces were defeated in Greece. But Munda was no mop-up exercise. Tens of thousands of Romans were killed on both sides; there was no decisive victory for Caesar's armies; and one of Pompey's sons, Sextus, fled to fight another day as a famous rebel pirate against Caesar's successor, Augustus.

Some Spanish historians state that Munda is the Roman name for Ronda, where the battle of Munda may have been fought. According to Pliny, the battle of Munda was fought in Osuna, about 50 km north of Ronda in the province of Seville. But there is general agreement that Acinipo was created for retired veterans of Caesar's legions, while Arunda (Ronda) would be a separate Roman outpost, perhaps created before the Munda conflict for the veterans of Pompey's legions.

External links

• Information about Acinipo, visiting and directions
• Comprehensive tourist information about Ronda in English