This article is about the city in Spain. For the cultivar group of Brassica oleracea, see Broccoli. For the oceanographic and freight ship, see Italica (ship)

The Roman amphitheatre at Italica seated 25,000

The city of Italica (Spanish: Itálica; north of modern day Santiponce, 9 km NW of Seville, Spain) was founded in 206 BC by the Roman general Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus in order to settle Roman soldiers wounded in the Battle of Ilipa, where the Carthaginian army was defeated during the Second Punic War. The name Italica bound the colonia to their Italian origins.

History[link]

The 2nd-century Venus of Italica, found in 1940 near the theatre (Museo Arqueológico, Seville)

Italica was the birthplace of the Roman emperor Trajan. Hadrian was generous to his settled town, which he made a colonia; he added temples, including a Trajaneum venerating Trajan, and rebuilt public buildings. Italica’s amphitheater seated 25,000 spectators—half as many as the Flavian Amphitheatre in Rome— and was the third largest in the Roman Empire. The city's Roman population at the time is estimated to have been only 8000. The games and theatrical performances funded by the local aristocracy, who filled the positions of magistrate, were a means of establishing status: the size of the amphitheater shows that the local elite was maintaining status that extended far beyond Italica itself.

The modern town of Santiponce overlies the "old city" of Republican times founded by Scipio and the pre-Roman Iberian city. The well-preserved city of ruins seen today is the nova urbs magnificently laid out under Hadrian's patronage.

A shift of the Guadalquivir River bed, probably due to siltation— a widespread problem in antiquity that followed removal of the forest cover—left Italica isolated, high and dry. The city started to dwindle as early as the 3rd century. Later Seville grew nearby, and no modern city covered most of Italica's foundations. The result is an unusually well-preserved Roman city of Hispania Baetica, and unexpected riches in the Museo Arqueologico of Seville, with its famous marble colossus of Trajan. In Italica, cobbled Roman streets are visible, and mosaic floors still in situ. The excavation of Italica began in 1781 and continues.

Modern day[link]

Following extensive excavations and the building of visitor facilities, Italica is now a popular destination for tourists.

The ruins of the city also host an annual cross country running competition every January: the Cross Internacional de Itálica. The mass race and children's competitions attract hundreds of participants each year. The senior international competition has featured numerous world champions and (with IAAF permit meeting status) it is one of the world's foremost annual cross country competitions.^[1]

Gallery[link]

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  Italica's amphitheatre pit

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  Pits were filled with water for the naumachia

• Italicahall.jpg

  A hallway that circles the amphitheatre

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  Votive plaque with engraved feet at the entrance of the amphitheatre

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  Mosaic floor in the House of the Planetarium

• Italicabirds.jpg

  Mosaic floor in the House of the Birds

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  Mosaic Owl: Detail of the floor in the House of the Birds

• Italicatest.jpg

  A Roman road in Italica

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  A hallway in amphitheatre in Italica

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Itálica

• Italica homepage from the Andalusian Council
• Historical overview from Livius.org

Coordinates: 37°26′38″N 6°02′48″W / 37.44389°N 6.04667°W / 37.44389; -6.04667

Medal record
Men’s Athletics
Competitor for  Morocco
Olympic Games
Gold	1992 Barcelona	10,000 m
World Championships
Silver	1995 Gothenburg	10,000 m
Bronze	1991 Tokyo	10,000 m
Mediterranean Games
Gold	1993 Narbonne	10,000 m

Khalid Skah (Arabic: خالد سكاه‎) (born January 29, 1967) is a Moroccan athlete, winner of 10 000 m at the 1992 Summer Olympics.

Born in Midelt, Morocco, Khalid Skah established himself first as a good cross country runner by winning the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in 1990 and 1991.

His first major tournament on track was 1991 World Championships where he at first won a bronze in 10 000 m and then finished sixth at the 5000 m run. This was a disappointing outcome for Skah as, earlier in the season, he had won the 10000 m race in Oslo against a very strong field and had emerged as one of the favourites for the finals in Tokyo. However, for the 10 000 m final Richard Chelimo and the eventual world champion, Moses Tanui (both of Kenya) employed some very elaborate tactics and worked as a team. By the time of the 5000 m final Skah was probably tired. Yobes Ondieki (Kenya) who won the gold medal over 5000 m had expected Skah to be his major rival.

At the Barcelona Olympics, Khalid Skah had a long duel with Richard Chelimo from Kenya in the 10 000 m. When they were lapping another Moroccan Hammou Boutayeb, the latter interfered with Chelimo and Skah went on to win a second ahead of the Kenyan. After the race Skah was accused of receiving undue assistance from Boutayeb and was disqualified, but was later reinstated on a technicality. During the presentation ceremony, held the next day, Skah was loudly booed by the crowd as he received his medal; Chelimo received a standing ovation.

In 1993 Skah won the 5000 m race at the prestigious meeting in Zurich. However, he finished fifth in 5000 m at the 1993 World Championships. He ran his only world record in 2 miles (8:12.17) on the same season. He won the 1994 World Semi-Marathon Championships and finished second in 10 000 m at the 1995 World Championships.

Skah's last major international tournament was 1996 Summer Olympics, where he finished seventh in 10 000 m. In 1995, Skah was given Norwegian citizenship, where he lived and trained with athletes club B.U.L. After that, the Moroccan Athletics Association banned him from international competitions. Skah was reinstated in 2001 after which he tried a come-back to re-establish himself as one of the world's best long distance runners, finishing tenth in the World Half Marathon Championships that year.

Personal life[link]

Khalid Skah married Norwegian interior designer Anne Cecilie Hopstock after his Barcelona triumph, and they have two children. The marriage ended in divorce after the family relocated to Morocco in 2006. Skah lost a custody battle with his former wife in Norwegian courts two years later, yet failed to return the children. He is indicted on kidnapping, threats and domestic disturbance charges in Norway.^[1] As of 2009, Norwegian authorities had not accomplished to serve Skah any verdict.^[2]

The children fled Morocco in July 2009. The Norwegian embassy's alleged improper sheltering of the dual-citizenship children during their escape has led to a diplomatic dispute between the two countries.^[3][4] Skah has issued a reward and filed for custody in Morocco. The former track champion maintains his innocence, claims the children were abducted^[5] and asserts that armed Norwegian commandos intruded into his home.^[6] Hopstock later confirmed she had hired off-duty naval rangers to help her sail her children out of Moroccan waters.^[7]

Skah's sister is married to the Finnish runner Janne Holmén and lives in Uppsala, Sweden.

References[link]

IAAF profile for Khalid Skah

Sporting positions
Preceded by Saïd Aouita	Men's 3,000 m Best Year Performance 1990	Succeeded by Dieter Baumann
Preceded by Carl Thackery	Men's Zevenheuvelenloop Winner (15 km) 1993	Succeeded by Haile Gebrselassie