Page "Alicante" Paragraph 3

Although the Carthaginians conquered much of the land around Alicante, the Romans would eventually rule Hispania Tarraconensis for over 700 years.

By the 5th century AD, Rome was in decline and the Roman predecessor town of Alicante, known as Lucentum ( Latin ), was more or less under the control of the Visigothic warlord Theudimer.

However neither the Romans nor the Goths put up much resistance to the Arab conquest of Medina Laqant in the 8th century.

The Moors ruled southern and eastern Spain until the 13th century reconquista ( reconquest ).

Alicante was finally taken in 1246 by the Castilian king Alfonso X, but it passed soon and definitely to the Kingdom of Valencia in 1298 with King James II of Aragon.

It gained the status of Royal Village ( Vila Reial ) with representation in the medieval Valencian Parliament.