Numantia:
Archaeology and History
Multimedia book edited by José María Luzón and María del Carmen Alonso
Texts by Alfredo Jimeno Martínez
ISBN: 978-84-96406-49-0 • Publication Date: May 2018 • Book developed in RABASF as part of the project MINECO HAR2014-53170-P
Prologue
The 2150th anniversary of the Roman siege and capture of the Celtiberian city of Numantia in 2017 was declared to be an Event of Exceptional Public Interest. For that purpose a National Commission was set up under the honorary presidency of the Spanish monarchs. This commemoration aims to bring out the importance and significance of one of the key historical moments in Spain’s past, occurring in 133 BCE and since going down in history as an emblematic symbol of a people’s heroic resistance and struggle for its freedom.
One of the remits of the public culture-and-creativity promoting organisation called Spanish Cultural Action (Acción Cultural Española: AC/E) is the commemoration of historic events that have helped to carve out our identity as a country and people. For this very reason, we could hardly fail to feature within the wide range of projects and activities approved by this Commission for commemoration of ‘Numantia 2017´.
AC/E, together with the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando: RABASF), has set out to offer a new slant on the event, seeking a more modern vision and tapping into the new technologies for that purpose.
Bearing in mind the sheer importance of the Numantia events and drawing on the RABASF’s experience in the use of state-of-the-art technology, a virtual 3D model of the Numantia site and adjacent Roman camps has been drawn up. This will be the first time a 3D virtual model has been created from site photogrammetry, using drone images in this case.
The possibility of linking up our past with avant-garde technology represents a great stride forward in the illustration and understanding of events that occurred over two thousand years ago.
The publication of a multimedia book, which will include an explanatory text written by Alfredo Jimeno Martínez and the photogrammetric survey of the Numantia site, brings us closer to one of the most defining moments of our past, from which the expression “Numantine resistance” was coined.
This project has without doubt posed a stiff challenge for both institutions, but its exceptional result will now stand us in good stead for a better understanding of that historical event. Furthermore, the English version of the book will help to bring it to a much bigger audience and boost international knowledge and awareness of this historical event.
Secretary of State for Culture
Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport
