Italica was a prominent Roman city located in the present municipality of Santiponce, in the province of Seville, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Its history dates back to 206 B.C., when it was founded on an ancient indigenous settlement of the Turdetania, inhabited at least since the fourth century B.C. In the surroundings of the site have been found traces of even older occupations, of Argaric and Greek origin, which demonstrate the relevance of the place long before the arrival of Rome.

During the Roman Republic, Italica reached a position of some importance, and its development was even greater during the Imperial period, although it never became the capital of a province or a legal convent. Although for a long time it was thought that the city was abandoned in the 4th century, in reality only the area of expansion promoted by Hadrian was vacated. The population retreated to the original nucleus, located under the current urban center of Santiponce, where an active and prestigious community continued to exist during the Lower Empire and the Visigothic period.

From this period there are abundant archaeological remains, and the sources indicate that the Visigothic king Leovigild ordered the restoration of its walls in 583, in the context of his confrontation with his son Hermenegild. The relevance of Italica in those centuries is also reflected in its religious role: several bishops from Italica are known to have participated in Christian councils, the last of them, Cuniuldo, documented in the XVI Council of Toledo in 693.

The city maintained a certain vitality during the Muslim domination, when it was mentioned by Arab chroniclers under the name of Talikah or Taliqa. There are even known characters who adopted the nisba al-Talikí, linked to the place. However, by the 12th century, Italica was definitively depopulated, becoming an abandoned place known as Campos de Talica or Sevilla la Vieja.