Gadēs

Gadēs (Cadiz, Gk. Gadeira), colony founded by the Phoenicians from Tyre, traditionally in 1100 BC, on a small island off the Spanish mainland north-west of the Pillars of Hercules (Gibraltar), and for a long time the westernmost point of the world known to the Greeks and Romans. It was sometimes identified with and sometimes said to be near the mythical island of Erytheia, where Geryon grazed the cattle which were later carried off by Heracles (see HERACLES, LABOURS OF 10). Occasionally it was confused with the region of southern Spain known as Tartessus. For a long time it was dependent on Carthage, and from 237 BC was Hamilcar Barca's base in his Spanish campaigns. In 206 BC during the Second Punic War it surrendered to Rome on favourable terms, and was later made a Roman municipium by Julius Caesar. For a long time it was the most important commercial shipping port in the West, and enjoyed considerable wealth.