Description : Castulo (Latin: Castulo; Iberian: Kastilo) was an Iberian town and bishopric (now Latin titular see located in the Andalusian province of Jaén, in south-central Spain, near modern Linares. Evidence of human presence since the Neolithic period has been found there. It was the seat of the Oretani, an Iberian tribe which settled in the vicinity in the north of the Guadalquivir River beginning in the sixth century BC. According to tradition, a local princess named Himilce married Hannibal, gained the alliance of the city with the Carthaginian Empire. In 213 BC, Castulo was the site of Hasdrubal Barca's crushing victory over the Roman army with a force of roughly 40,000 Carthaginian troops plus local Iberian mercenaries. Thereafter the Romans made a pact with the residents of city — who then betrayed the Carthaginians — and they became foederati (allied people) of Rome. According to Livy, the inhabitants of Castulo were intimidated by Scipio Africanus ordering the wholesale massacre of the inhabitants of the neighboring Illiturgis Its medieval name was Cazlona. It lost importance even more when Andalusia fell under Islamic rule in the Middle Ages, and at the same time the nearby village of Linares grew because of its strong castle —first built as an Arab fortress, then rebuilt by the Christians after the Reconquista— overlooking the city. In 1227 the walls of Castulo were destroyed, and the town was depopulated shortly afterwards.
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