Following Odysseus Not the end of the world Amarna city of light ...

GreenSpainUrsula Kampmann goes in search of Romans and Visigoths in Cantabria and AsturiasIt was on 13 January 27 BC,when the Civil War amongthe Romans had just been settledby a complex act of state.Octavianus had assumed the honorarytitle of Augustus and, in addition,a range of functions securinghis retention of power. His majorproblem was the army. After thebattle of Actium, 70 legions wereunder arms and, although not allthese legions had their official combatstrength of 6,000 men each, theRoman army, including the cavalryand navy, now totalled a colossal250,000 men. Every one of thesesoldiers expected a piece of land bigenough to sustain his family at theend of his military career, but therewas simply not enough to go round.A huge, idle army might become acradle of rebellion, and Augustus1. Aureus made ofgold mined in Spainshowing Augustus and,reverse, the templeof Jupiter Tonans(Thundering Jupiter),19-16 BC. Augustuswas almost killed bya stroke of lightning,after which he builta temple to JupiterTonans. Courtesy ofThe New York Sale XX(2009) 391.had no choice but to put his soldiersto use. This he did by conqueringareas he had previously avoidedbecause of their difficult terrain. So,when the campaigning season of27 BC began, Augustus left Romeand personally took command ofthe conquest of northern Spain.The roads across this barren,rough countryside have improvedbeyond measure since Augustus’day. But when we cross the border1between France and Spain around2,000 years later, we notice thatone thing has remained the same.You can only drive along the northcoast, or into the heart of thecountry on the famous Way of StJames, and there are still few connectionsbetween these two routes.The northern and southern partsof the area are separated by theCantabrian Range, which runs eastwestabout 15 kilometres inlandfrom the coast, and whose peakscan reach 2,500 metres.We decide to cross ‘Green Spain’by driving along the coast and soonlearn why it is so called – becauseit rains so much here that everythinggreen flourishes. The mostpopular souvenir is not, as youmight assume, the scallop shell of StJames but a strong umbrella that46Minerva November/December 2012