Astapa

A´STAPA(Ἀσταπά: Eth. Ἀσταπαἰοι, Astapenses: Estepa, Ru.), an inland city of Hispania Baetica, in an open plain on the S. margin of the valley of the Baetis, celebrated for its fate in the Second Punic War. Its firm attachment to Carthage had made it so obnoxious to the Romans, that, though it was perfectly indefensible, its inhabitants resolved to hold out to the last, when besieged by Marcius, the lieutenant of Scipio, and destroyed themselves and their city by fire, rather than fall into his hands. (Appian, App. Hisp. 33; Liv. 28.22.) A coin is extant, bearing its name, the genuineness of which, however, is questionable. It was not, as Hardouin thought, the OSTIPPO of Pliny: its total destruction accounts for the absence of its name from the Itineraries and the pages of the geographers. (Morales, Ant. 6.28; Florez, vol. 3. p. 16; Sestini, p. 33; Eckhel, vol. 1. p. 15; Ukert, 1.2, p. 360.)
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