city state · Iberia

Sexi

800 BCE – 206 BCE (approx.) · capital Sexi

A Phoenician colony at Almuñécar on Spain's southern coast, known for its rich tombs and for salted fish exported across the Mediterranean.

Origins

Sexi was founded by Phoenicians in the 8th century BCE on the headland of modern Almuñécar, in Granada province. It formed part of the string of Phoenician harbours along the Andalusian coast, between Malaka and Abdera.

Rule and society

Its Laurita necropolis has yielded Egyptian alabaster vases reused as burial urns, evidence of the colonists' wide contacts. The city's economy rested on trade and on fish salting, and its later Punic-legend coins carried tuna, the source of its wealth. Its government is not recorded.

Decline and legacy

With the Roman conquest of the south after 206 BCE, Sexi passed under Roman control. It kept its fish-salting industry and became the Roman town of Firmum Iulium Sexi, ancestor of modern Almuñécar.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Connections (1)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Sexi. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/sexi
MLA
“Sexi.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/sexi. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Sexi.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/sexi.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Sexi’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/sexi (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻