Roman Empire league leaves Madrid out
Mérida, Tarragona, Numantia: the league modelled on the Roman Empire leaves Madrid out. Football, history and economic power.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Roman Empire league leaves Madrid off the football map
What do Mérida, Córdoba, Tarragona and Zaragoza have in common? They were key cities of the Roman Empire in Hispania. And Madrid? It didn't exist. That is the premise behind a list of clubs that would form a hypothetical league inspired by Roman cities: Mérida, Córdoba, Lugo, Nàstic (Tarragona), Betis, Sevilla, Zaragoza and Numantia. Spain's football capital is left out because present-day Madrid has no Roman past to show off, an uncomfortable argument for many.
The historical exercise has obvious holes. Constantinople, home to some of Turkey's biggest clubs, did not exist in Trajan's time, and Londinium, today's London, was a minor settlement compared with Emerita Augusta or Tarraco. Numantia wasn't even the most important city in its area: Uxama outranked it, and today it has its own club, Vxama de El Burgo de Osma. So the perfect league is impossible, but the debate leaves a sarracena: the cities that dominated the empire's economy are not the ones that rule modern football.
The idea has spawned a satirical version, the Liga Felipe II, which brings together clubs from the territories of the Spanish empire, from Tenochtitlan to Flanders, with River, Boca, Ajax or Napoli as guests. A way of showing that history, like football, can always be rewritten. And that the Roman Empire, at least, doesn't need to top the table to keep winning arguments.
What do Mérida, Córdoba, Tarragona and Zaragoza have in common? They were key cities of the Roman Empire in Hispania. And Madrid? It didn't exist. That is the premise behind a list of clubs that would form a hypothetical league inspired by Roman cities: Mérida, Córdoba, Lugo, Nàstic (Tarragona), Betis, Sevilla, Zaragoza and Numantia. Spain's football capital is left out because present-day Madrid has no Roman past to show off, an uncomfortable argument for many.
The historical exercise has obvious holes. Constantinople, home to some of Turkey's biggest clubs, did not exist in Trajan's time, and Londinium, today's London, was a minor settlement compared with Emerita Augusta or Tarraco. Numantia wasn't even the most important city in its area: Uxama outranked it, and today it has its own club, Vxama de El Burgo de Osma. So the perfect league is impossible, but the debate leaves a sarracena: the cities that dominated the empire's economy are not the ones that rule modern football.
The idea has spawned a satirical version, the Liga Felipe II, which brings together clubs from the territories of the Spanish empire, from Tenochtitlan to Flanders, with River, Boca, Ajax or Napoli as guests. A way of showing that history, like football, can always be rewritten. And that the Roman Empire, at least, doesn't need to top the table to keep winning arguments.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (14 replies).
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