English and the World · Spain · 28 · Cádiz · A1–C2 · A1–A2 free
Sailors from the far end of the Mediterranean, a town on an island at the edge of the known world, a temple of Hercules visited by Hannibal and Caesar, and a Roman city rich from fish and trade. Choose your level.
Phoenician Gadir
Cádiz is a city by the sea in the south-west of Spain. It is very, very old. About 2,800 years ago, sailors came here from Tyre, a city in Phoenicia (today Lebanon). They came for silver and for trade. They built a town on a small island and called it Gadir, “the wall”.
Old Roman books say the town started in 1104 BC, more than 3,000 years ago. Archaeologists are not so sure: the oldest Phoenician houses they found are from about 800 BC. You can see them today, under a building in the old town.
From Gadir to Gades
The Phoenicians built a big temple near Gadir for their god Melqart. The Greeks and Romans called him Hercules. Famous men visited the temple: Hannibal in 218 BC, before his war with Rome, and the young Julius Caesar, more than 2,000 years ago. Caesar saw a statue of Alexander the Great there, and he cried.
After 206 BC the city was a friend of Rome, and the Romans called it Gades. It was rich from fish and trade, and it had a big theatre. People found the theatre again in 1980. In the Museum of Cádiz you can see two Phoenician stone coffins, a man and a woman, with calm faces.
🦉 Want more? Sophia explains the past simple, with ago and dates, in An Incident with a Shelf (Philo & Sophia, Lesson 2).
Language: ago, in, before, after
| Word | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ago | how long before now; it goes after the time | 2,800 years ago, two days ago |
| in + year | with a year or a century | in 218 BC, in 1980 |
| before / after | earlier / later than something | before his war, after 206 BC |
| BC / AD | before / after the birth of Christ | 1104 BC, AD 1262 |
⚠️ BC years count backwards: 800 BC is before 206 BC. And we say 3,000 years ago, not ✗ ago 3,000 years or ✗ before 3,000 years.
Read the texts first. Press “Check my answers” at the end.
Choose the best answer.
1. Where did the first sailors come from?
2. What does Gadir mean?
3. What did the Greeks and Romans call the god Melqart?
4. What can you see in the Museum of Cádiz?
Write ago or in.
5. The Phoenicians came about 2,800 years .
6. Hannibal visited the temple 218 BC.
7. Caesar cried in the temple more than 2,000 years .
8. People found the Roman theatre again 1980.
Write before, after or BC.
9. The Romans came the Phoenicians.
10. The year 800 BC is the year 206 BC.
11. Hannibal visited the temple his war with Rome.
12. Old Roman books say the town started in 1104 .
Go there!
Visit: the Museum of Cádiz, in the Plaza de Mina, to see the two Phoenician coffins. Then walk to the Gadir archaeological site, with its Phoenician houses under the old town, and to the Roman Theatre in the Barrio del Pópulo.
Your task: write six sentences about the history of your town, with ago, in, before and after.
It tells how sailors from Tyre built a town on an island at the edge of the known world, why its founding date is still argued over, how a Phoenician god became Hercules, why Hannibal and Caesar came to his temple, and how Gades grew rich under Rome, with grammar, practice, etymology and a visit plan.
The A1–A2 version above is free for everyone.
It tells how sailors from Tyre built a town on an island at the edge of the known world, why its founding date is still argued over, how a Phoenician god became Hercules, why Hannibal and Caesar came to his temple, and how Gades grew rich under Rome, with grammar, practice, etymology and a visit plan.
The A1–A2 version above is free for everyone.