Los mapas del Cuerpo de Estado Mayor (1864-1867) referidos a los escenarios de las batallas de Julio César en Hispania. Un singular encargo de Napoleón III a Isabel II / The maps of the Cuerpo de Estado Mayor (1864-1867) referring to the scenes of the battles of Julius Caesar in Hispania. A peculiar request from Napoleon III to the Queen of Spain Isabel II

Abstract

The maps of the battle scenarios of Julius Caesar in Hispania were one of the important topographic works carried out by the Spanish General Staff in the 1860s. They were made at the request of Napoleon III, to illustrate the Histoire de Jules César led by the French emperor. It was an ambitious and complex work, due to the scale used (1:20,000) and the large area covered (4,637 km²). The topographical works were carried out in the south of the provinces of Córdoba (Andalusia) and Lleida (Catalonia), in 1864 and early 1865. The results were presented in Paris in June 1865. A copy of the final maps, along with 12 landscape watercolors, are stored in the Library of Palacio Real (Madrid). This work reinforced the prestige of the General Staff Corps. The success obtained supported the option by General and Prime Minister Narvaez to entrust the National Map works to the Army, in 1866. In 1867 the Estado Mayor carried out a second phase of the work, in order to complete the area to the margin of the planned sheets. But, for several reasons, the atlas was not published until 1887. Four of its plates were a result of the topographical work carried out by the Spanish officers, although the origin of the maps was not indicated in any way. A rather poor end to the huge, fast and efficient work done by the Spanish military between 1864 and 1867.