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(en) The Celtiberian city of Bilbilis (Βίλβιλις) was located in modern-day Valdeherrera, on the left bank of the Jiloca River, at the confluence with the Jalon River. Later on, the Romans founded Augusta Bilbilis, on the Bambola Hill, in modern-day Huérmeda, near Calatayud. It was part of the Conventus Caesaraugustanus Tarraconensis. The distance between the old Iberian town and the Roman municipium is 7.5 km. The name of Bilbilis is possibly derived from the River Birbilis, an alternative name for the Salo. In Roman times, the road from Augusta Emerita to Caesaraugusta passed through Bilbilis. The town fell into ruin in late Roman times and was abandoned by the 4th century AD. Bilbilis was possibly the capital of the Lusones tribe or an oppidum of the Belli. Bilbilis was famous for the temper of its weapons, as well as for being the place where Martial was born in circa AD 40. Bilbilis was also the scene of the struggle between Sertorius and Metellus. Their earliest coin issue includes a male head facing right, with a dolphin to the left of the portrait on the obverse, while the reverse depicts a mounted spearman and the inscription Bilbilis. They date from the late 2nd to the early 1st century BC. From the time of Augustus, Augusta Bilbilis issued provincial bronze coinage. There were ten types minted under Augustus, four under Tiberius and one under Caligula. The most intriguing coin is one naming Lucius Aelius Sejanus as consul, on which "COS" was stamped inside a garland of oak leaves (the corona civica) under Tiberius on the reverse. The town must have flourished with Sejanus as benefactor, but was ultimately hurt with his demise when he was proved to be a traitor. All statues and monuments were subject to "damnatio memoriae" along with the coinage. Most of the coins were asses or semisses, which were filed or stamped to erase his name from memory. Some very rare coins have his name still legible. (sources: • Leandre Villaronga, Jaume Benages; 2011. "Ancient Coinage of the Iberian Peninsula". Societat Catalana d'Estudis Numismàtics, Institut d'Estudis Catalans, Barcelona, Spain. • Richard Stillwell, William L. MacDonald, Marian Holland McAlister; 1976. "The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites". Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, United States.)
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