Cecas

The city was placed in the territory of La Contestania (Ptolemy II, 6, 14), with an optimal topographic location, on a high promontory next to a major communication route: the Camino de Aníbal or via Hercúlea (Strabo III, 4, 9), part of which later was called via Augusta (Sillières 1977: 31-93; Arasa and Rosselló 1995, Sillières 1999: 239-250).
From the mentions of the classical authors, it can be deduced that it was one of the most important ancient cities not only of the Contestania but also of the Edetania (an interesting and exhaustive compilation of these texts has been published by Ventura 1980: 301-12, Idem, 1972: 11-26. A somewhat more succinct relationship in Tovar 1989: 211).
The archaeological investigations carried out in La Solana del Castell have contributed to outlining the evolution of the Iberian habitat of Saitabi (Cerdá 1989: 37-46). Archaeological works have found structures that are difficult to interpret and have recovered materials that testify that the occupation of the area can be traced back to the Late Bronze Age (Cerdá 1989 and 1997). It is estimated that the surface of the city would occupy about 8 ha (Pérez Ballester and Borredá 1998: 150; Pérez Ballester 2008).
Saitabi (Xàtiva) began minting coins at an early stage, around the last decade of the 3rd century BC. From that moment and until ca. 50 a. C. issued about six series of coins. The first was the only one that was minted in silver and must be related to the events of the Second Punic War (end of the 3rd century BC). It consisted of three denominations (didrachm, drachm and hemidrachm) and its production was not important from the quantitative point of view; on the obverse, it shows Herakles-Melkart and on the reverse the eagle and the legend śaitabietar / śaitabikitarban.
Over a century, between ca. 150 and 50 BC, Saitabi minted a large number of bronze coins; It is not difficult to guess that the economic life of the city and the provision of infrastructures demanded the minting of this metal currency. Saitabi was the most important city in the northern part of the Contestania and it should have served as the central place of a wide and fertile territory, where the elites would reside, draining the surplus production and its benefits towards it. The economic activities were, in part, destined to export; the production of linen fabrics stands out, which came to reach an excellent status in Rome (Punica III, 371-5; Catulus 12, 10-17; Grattius Faliscus Cynegeticon 34-41 ).
The most significant minting activity in Saitabi was developed in the second half of the 2nd century BC and perhaps at the beginning of the 1st century BC. In those years was put into circulation a significant quantity of units, which show a male portrait on the obverse and a horseman on the reverse. The issues consisted of various bronze denominations, with average weights ranging from 2.32 g to 23.51 g, although the most coined denomination was the so-called "Iberian unit", with an average weight of 12.03 g. As a consequence of this regular activity and the arrival of coins issued in other cities, the bronze currency was available in the city for daily exchanges.
The typology of the bronze emissions was quite uniform in the larger units and used the designs that became the most traditional among the Iberians and later the Celtiberians; on the obverse a male head accompanied by various symbols that helped to identify the different emissions (sceptre, palm, sceptre-eba and club) and on the reverse the rider with palm or spear. The small bronzes used common designs along with new ones, such as the running horse, the pecten or half Pegasus, besides original ones, such as the goose, the fly or the bat.
The legends mention the name of the city in Iberian, alone or accompanied by several words or segments (śaitabietar, śaitabikitarban, śaitir and śaiti) and, only at the end, the Latin form SAETABI was introduced in a bilingual issue. The personal name ikoŕtaś appears once, but it is not possible to know the reason why it is mentioned.
The series struck in the 1st century BC were quite modest and do not reflect any relation to the events of the Sertorian Wars. Over the years the city was adopting Roman habits, which in the monetary production is reflected in the Latinization of the place name (SAETABI), since its last issue, minted around the middle of the 1st century BC, was bilingual. The city did not mint in the imperial period, despite the fact that Saitabi obtained the legal status of a municipality.