Asta
Ἄστα
Asta (Ἄστα: Astensis: Ru. at Mesa de Asia,) an ancient city of the Celtici in Hispania Baetica, on an aestuary of the Gulf of Cadiz, 100 stadia from the port of Gades. (Strab. iii. pp. 140, 141, 143.) The Antonine Itinerary (p. 406) places it on the high road from Gades to Hispalis and Corduba, 16 M. P. from the Portus Gaditanus, and 27 from Ugia. Mela (3.1.4) speaks of it as procul a litore. It was the ancient and usual place of meeting for the people of the territory of Gades (Strab. p. 141), and its importance is confirmed by its very antique autonomous coins. The old Spanish root AST, found also in ASTAPA, ASTIGI, ASTURA, ASTURES, ASTURICA, is supposed to signify a hillfortress.
Under the Romans, Asta became a colony, with the epithet Regia, and belonged to the conventus of; Hispalis. (Plin. Nat. 3.1. s. 3; coin with epigraph P. COL. ASTA. RE. F.) It is mentioned twice in Roman history. (Liv. 39.21, B.C. 186; Bell. Hisp. 36, B.C. 45.)
Its ruins, and the remains of the old Roman road through it, are seen on a hill between Xerez and Tribugena, which bears the name of Mesa de Asia. Some place it at Xeres, which is more probably the ancient ASIDO. (Florez, Esp. S. xii. p. 60, Med. Esp. 3.98; Eckhel, vol. i. p. 15; Ukert, 2.1, p. 356.)
From William Smith (ed.), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. Text provided under a CC BY-SA license by Perseus Digital Library, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Tufts University. Data accessed from https://github.com/PerseusDL/canonical-pdlrefwk/ on 17 October 2026.