Encyclopaedia Britannica > Volume 21, ROT-Siam

and is represented in the cortes by four senators and
twelve deputies. The following towns have a population
nf more than 10,000 within the municipal boundaries
tvZ fee below), Carmona (17,420), Constant.na
no,988), Ecija (24,955), Lebrija (12,864), Marehena
(13,768), Moron de la Frontera (14,879), Osuna (17,211),
an SEYILL^1 (Span. Sevilla, Latin Ispalis, Arabic I&hU-
liya), capital of the above province and the seat of an
archbishopric, with a population of 133,938 in 1877,
situated in 37 22 N. lat. and
5° 58' W. long., 62 miles
(95 by rail) north-north-east
of Cadiz and 355 miles south-
south-west of Madrid, on
the left bank of the Guadal¬
quivir, which here flows
through a level country as
productive as a garden. The
river is navigable up to the
city, which is highly pictur¬
esque in its combination of
ancient buildings with busy
commerce. From the earliest
times the port has been a
chief outlet for the wealth of
Spain. Under the Romans
the city was made the capital
of Bsetica, and became a
favourite resort for wealthy
Romans. The emperors
Hadrian, Trajan, and Theo¬
dosius were born in the
neighbourhood at Italica
(now Santiponce) where are
the remains of a considerable
amphitheatre. The chief
existing monument of the
Romans in Seville itself is the
aqueduct, on four hundrec
and ten arches, by which th<
water from Alcal& de Gua
daira continued until recentb
to be supplied to the town
At the beginning c>f the 5tl
century the Silingi Vandal
made Seville the seat of thei
empire, until it passed in 5 3
under the Goths, who chos
Toledo for their capita
After the defeat of Do
Roderick at Guadalete i
712 the Arabs took posse
sion of the city after a sie£
of some months. Under tl
Arabs Seville continued i
flourish. Edrisi speaks
particular of its great expo
trade in the oil of Aljaraf-.
The district was in great
CsT^EmeS: pRthe troops that enfecd Spain
with Balj in 741 at the time of the revolt of the Berbers H
was a scion of one of these Emesan families, Abu 1-K4sim
Mohammed, cadi of Seville, who on the fall of the Spanish
caliphate headed the revolt of his townsmen against their
Berber masters (1023) and became the founder of the
Abb&did dynasty, of which Seville was capital, and whicl
lasted under his son Mo'tadid (1042-1069) and grandson
Mo'tamid (1069-1091) till the city was taken by tne
Almoravids. The later years of the Almoravid rule were
very oppressive to the Moslems of Spam; in 1133 the
people of Seville were prepared to welcome the victorious
arms of Alphonso VIL, and eleven years later Andalusia
broke out in general rebellion. Almohade troops now
passed over into Spain and took Seville m 1147. Under
the Almohades Seville was the seat of government and
enjoyed great prosperity; the great mosque was com¬
menced by Yusuf I. and completed by his son the famous
Almanzor. In the decline of the dynasty between 12-8
Plan of Seville.
and 1248 Seville underwent various revolutions, and ulti¬
mately acknowledged the Hafsite prince, who however,
was unable to save the city from Ferdinand I .,
restored it to Christendom in 1248. The aspect o •
town even now is essentially Moorish, with its narrow or
ous streets and fine inner court-yards to the houses. Many
of these date from before the Christian conquest and the
walls and towers which until recendy^ encircled the yf
I a length of 5 miles have a similar origin. The victory