ESPAÑA ROMANA

Iberia's splendid Roman history predates the medieval Moors and the Catholic conquest by some 1500 years. Noel Boardman went in search of the heart of an Empire

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Having spent a few weeks motorhoming in Andalusia – visiting the Alhambra in Granada, the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba, and the magnificent city of Seville we had been stunned by all that medieval Moorish and Catholic Spain has to offer.

However, our route north and home would take us to historic sites where the buildings predated these Spanish locations by up to 1500 years.

Our first stop was 30 minutes outside Seville, at the rather rundown town of Santiponce.

The historic city of Italica

On the outskirts and in a few hidden-away places lie the remains of Italica, one of the oldest cities in the world, dating from around 206 BC.

It played an important part in Roman history, as the birthplace of Trajan and Hadrian, two of the empire's greatest leaders.

Having taken the A66 from Seville, we parked our motorhome by the city gates, paid the €1.50 entrance fee and wandered through the ruins.

Imagine old streets with closed sewers running below, foundation walls and wonderfully intact mosaic floors (including a rather eye-catching latrine floor), the streets lined by cypresses.

Afterwards, we visited the amphitheatre, once three storeys high and holding 25,000 spectators, one of the largest arenas in the empire.

We imagined dragons hovering above as the leaders of the triumvirate met to fight a common enemy. I digress, from Roman history to Game of Thrones - the season seven finale was filmed here.

Hadrian was born in Italica in 76 AD and ruled from 117-138 AD, when the Roman empire was at its most extensive. Just like Brandon Stark in Westeros, Hadrian spent much of his time consolidating his borders. He didn't build an Ice Wall, but the famous stone barrier across Northern England still bears his name.