Merida was founded as Augusta Emerita by the Roman emperor Augustus in 25 BC, and became the capital of Roman Lusitania. It has many important monuments from Roman times like a theatre, an amphitheatre, a circus, a bridge over de Guadiana River, temples, aqueducts and roads. During the Visigoths the city remained important, being the second city after the capital Toledo. The city declined after it was taken by the Moors in 713, being retaken by Alfonso IX in 1230.