Palencia

Palencia, in Castile and Leon, Spain, occupies the site of ancient Pallantia, chief town of the Vaccaei people, mentioned by Strabo and Ptolemy. The fortified Celtiberian settlement endured Roman sieges by Lucullus (151 BC), Lepidus (137-136 BC), and Pompey during the Sertorian wars. Cathedral square excavations revealed superimposed occupation layers from the Sertorian period through Constantine's reign and medieval reoccupation. Finds include Roman mosaics -- notably a Medusa head now in Madrid's National Archaeological Museum -- gold and silver hoards with native denarii, and numerous inscriptions.