The story of this place
Founded in 206 BC by the general Scipio Africanus to settle wounded veterans of the Punic Wars, Itálica near Seville became the hometown of emperors Trajan and, probably, Hadrian. Hadrian lavished the town with a spectacular new district of colonnaded avenues, mosaic-floored mansions and one of the largest amphitheatres in the Roman world, seating some 25,000—far more than the settlement's population, a monument to imperial pride in a birthplace. As the river silted the port declined, and the city faded, its stone quarried for Seville. Today its ruined arena has doubled as the Dragonpit in 'Game of Thrones,' filling with dragons instead of gladiators.