History of Soria
Soria appears in history with the Roman conquest. However, in what now is called Cerro del Castillo it has been discovered and ancient settlement related with Numantia. Bartolomé de Torres in his Topografía de la ciudad de Numancia, says that the castle of this city took its name Oria from a Greek knight called Dórico, captain of Dorians, that arrived to Soria from Achaea. From this it is deduced that the first settlers of Soria were Dorians. However, nothing about this has been corroborated by archeology and for other experts the Suebi were the first settlers of Soria whose kings, according to Tutor and Malo in their Compedio historial de las dos Numancias, established in it one of their courts.
[edit] Christian conquest
During the 11th century in became an important and strategic enclave due to its situation near Duero and it delimited the Christian and Muslim lands with the so called "marca del Duero" or "línea del Duero". At the beginning of the 12th century, Alfonso the Battler conquered it definitely to Muslims and it repopulated it putting the bordier further south; thus it is reflected in the legend "Cabeza de Extremadura" in the coat of arms of the city. However, it continued being an important location due to the battles among the kingdoms of León, Castile, Aragon and Navarre.
