On the archaeological evidence of mansiones along the Roman roads of Hispania in the Antonine Itinerary: The case of Mellaria (Fuente Obejuna, Córdoba, Spain)

The functioning of the cursus publicus in Roman Hispania relied on a regular network of roadside stations ( mansiones ), whose archaeological identification remains a challenge due to the scarcity of visible surface remains. This article presents the discovery of a previously undocumented infrastructure in the suburbium of the Roman city of Mellaria (Fuente Obejuna, Córdoba, Spain), a key node along Route XI of the Antonine Itinerary ( Corduba–Emerita ). Through the application of non-invasive geomagnetic survey, the complete ground plan of a longitudinally arranged building has been recovered with exceptional clarity. Archaeomorphological analysis and comparative assessment at an imperial scale allow this complex to be classified within the standard class of Roman mansiones , sharing a modular, repetitive layout identical to well-known continental parallels such as Vindonissa (Switzerland) and Rottweil (Germany). The considerable size of the Mellaria complex highlights its significant role within the road network of the southwestern Iberian Peninsula, likely connected to the management of road traffic and possibly to the storage and redistribution of goods. This discovery demonstrates the effectiveness of geophysical methods in reshaping our understanding of the road network and institutional architecture of Roman Baetica without the need for excavation.