Free Festivals and Parades - The Travel Free Guide to Spain - page 204

95. The Festival Of The Mediterranean, Cartagena
In the time before the Christian era, the Carthaginian Empire was a great power that fought
with Rome for dominance of the Mediterranean Sea. Cartagena, in the region of Murcia, is
one of the cities founded by this empire, and nowadays it hosts an annual recreation of the
Second Punic War . The festival is comprised of various parades and performances reenact-
ing several stages of the conflict.
The parades include thousands of costumed participants, with 25 legions of Romans and an-
other 25 of Carthaginians. The recreated historical events include the famed Carthaginian
general Hannibal's destruction of Sagunto and his attempt to conquer Rome; the session of
the Roman Senate in which war was declared on the Carthaginian Empire; gladiator fights
and races in the Roman Circus of Cartagena; and the taking of the city by Publius Cornelius
Scipio .
2014 will be the 25 th year of the festival.
Image Credit: Roman parade. Image by Alejandro López Conesa .
When It's Free