, e llegaron a Italica e los de la villa
salieron e lidiaron con ellos, e los de fuera entraron con ellos de
vuelta por medio de la villa, e mataron los a todos, e ganaron la
villa." It is not clear what invasion is here alluded to.

The town of Italica was one of the six or seven in these provinces which
possessed the title of _municipia_; a superior one to that of _colonia_,
from its involving the privilege of retaining its ancient laws and
customs, while on the colonies those of Rome were imposed. It was among
the cities which sheltered some of the earliest converts to
Christianity. Its first bishop was the martyr Saint Geruncio, put to
death in prison. The prison, being considered sanctified, from its
containing the saint's remains, became subsequently the resort of pious
votaries from all parts of the province. In the Mozarabic ritual there
is a hymn for the day of this saint, one of the stanzas of which fixes
the epoque of his life and martyrdom, at that of the apostles.[14]

The centurion Cornelius, mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, as
converted by the preaching of St. Peter, was, it is said, a native of
this city, and commanded a cohort raised in his native place.

The date of the destruction of Italica, is as uncertain as that of its
origin. The fact of its existence during almost the entire period of the
Gothic dominion, is established, by the presence of its bishops being
recorded at the different councils. It is conjectured that its
destruction was the work of the Arabs, who were no sooner in possession
of Seville, than they considered it imprudent to allow so large a town
to be in the hands of enemies in their immediate neighbourhood. This
supposition of Spanish antiquaries seems hazarded without sufficient
reflection; since, in the first place, had the occupants of Italica
occasioned the Arabs any uneasiness, nothing was easier than to occupy
the place themselves; and secondly, the ruins bear strong symptoms of
having been reduced to their present state by some convulsion of nature,
rather than by human agency: not to mention the coins discovered in
large quantities, which would not have been neglected by human
destroyers. It is not likely that the destruction of so considerable a
place by the conquerors of the province, at the time they were too few
to defend it, would have been overlooked by their historians--who make
no allusion to the event.

The present appearance is that of a green undulating