Roman City | |
 | |
 Location of Asturica Augusta (now Astorga) | |
| Location | Spain |
|---|---|
| Region | Country: Roman Empire Province: Tarraconensis (since 298, Gallaecia) |
| Coordinates | 42°27′32″N 6°03′48″W / 42.45889°N 6.06333°W |
| History | |
| Founded | Around 14 B.C. |
| Site notes | |
| Designation | Current equivalent: Astorga, Spain |
| Military unit: Legio X Gemina, until the beginning of the 1st century. | |
Asturica Augusta was a Roman city corresponding to the Spanish city of Astorga, in the province of León. Founded around 14 B.C. as a camp of the Legio X Gemina, at the beginning of the first century it developed as a civil center and was the capital of the Asturicense conventus iurudicus, within the province of Tarraconense.
Located on a hill overlooking a large territory, from the mountains of León to the plains of the Páramo, during the first and second centuries it acquired great importance due to the control of gold mining in the northwest of the peninsula, and was an important communications hub, which, via numerous roads, linked the city with some of the most important centers of Roman Hispania.
Its ruins are hidden under the present city and among these are the Roman Ergastula, the two thermal complexes and the sewage system, as well as the domus of the Mosaic of the Bear and the Birds.