Listed 8 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for wider area of: "GERONA Town CATALONIA" .
AMPURIAS, EMPURIES (Village) SPAIN
Emporion or Emporiae (La Escala or Ampurias) Gerona, Spain.
A Greek trading settlement inhabited by the Phokaians from Massalia, at the end
of the Gulf of Rosas on the Costa Brava; it is 3 km from the village of La Escala
and 40 km NE of Gerona. It is first mentioned in the Periplus of the Pseudo-Skylax
and in Skymnos. Its location has been known from the time of the Renaissance since
it gave its name to an entire district, the Ampurdan, was an episcopal see in
the Middle Ages, and one of the counties of the Marca Hispanica.
The Greeks originally occupied the small islet of San Martin, now
joined to the mainland, which was subsequently known as Palaiapolis (Strab. 3.4.8).
They soon spread to the nearby coast and used the mouth of the Clodianus (Fluvia)
as a trading port. The town was founded a little after 600 B.C. (date of the foundation
of Massalia) and throughout the 6th c. was a mere trading settlement, a port of
call on the trade route from Massalia (Marseille), two days' and one night's sail
distant (Pseudo-Skylax 3), to Mainake and the other Phokaian foundations in S
Iberia which traded with Tartessos. Because it was frankly a mart the Greek settlement
grew rapidly, and probably received fugitives from the destruction of Phokaia
by the Persians (540) and after the Battle of Alalia (537), also Greeks from Mainake
and other cities in the S destroyed by the Carthaginians.
In the 5th c. Massalia declined, and Emporion, which was already independent,
became a polis ruled by magistrates; it developed a brisk trade with the Greek
towns in S Italy, the Carthaginian towns, and the native settlements in the interior,
on which it had a profound Hellenic influence. Emporion then minted its own coins,
first imitating those of the towns with which it traded, including Athens and
Syracuse, and later creating its own currency in fractions of the drachma. The
types were copied from those of both Carthage and Syracuse, and the currency system
continued to be separate from that of Massalia until Emporion was Romanized in
the 2d c. The 5th-3d c. were those of its greatest wealth and splendor.
The town built temples, foremost among which was that dedicated to
Asklepios, for which a magnificent statue of Pentelic marble was imported. Outside
the town a native settlement developed, which soon became hellenized. It was called
Indika (Steph. Byz.), an eponym of the tribe of the Indiketes. In the course of
time the two towns merged, although each kept its own legal status; this explains
why, in Latin, Emporion is referred to in the plural as Emporiae. In the 3d c.
commercial interests arising from its contacts with the Greek cities in Italy
made it an ally of Rome. After the first Punic war the Roman ambassadors visited
the Iberian tribes supported by the Emporitani, and in 218 B.C. Cn. Scipio landed
the first Roman army in Hispania to begin the counteroffensive against Hannibal
in the second Punic war.
The war years were prosperous for the city's trade, but when the Romans
finally settled in Hispania, difficulties arose between the Greeks and the native
population, which were accentuated during the revolt of 197 B.C. In Emporion itself
the Greek and native communities kept a constant watch on each other through guards
permanently stationed at the gate in the wall separating the twin towns (Livy
34.9). In 195 B.C. M. Porcius Cato established a military camp near the town,
rapidly subdued the native tribes in the neighborhood, and initiated the Roman
organization of the country. As the result of the transfer to Tarraco of the Roman
administrative and political sector, Emporion was eclipsed and became a residential
town of little importance. The silting-up of its port and the increase in the
tonnage of Roman vessels hastened its decline. The town became a municipium and
during the time of C. Caesar received a colony of Roman veterans.
The Roman town, which was surrounded by a wall, was ruined by the
invasion of the Franks in 265 and Rhode became the economic center of the district.
However, a few small Christian communities established themselves in Emporion
and transformed the ruins of the town into a necropolis which extended beyond
the walls. Mediaeval sources claim that St. Felix stayed in Emporion before his
martyrdom in Gerona in the early 4th c.
The enclosure of the Greek town has been completely excavated. To
the S is a temple area (Asklepieion and temple of Serapis), a small agora, and
a stoa dating from the Roman Republican period. It is surrounded by a cyclopean
wall breached by a single gate, confirming Livy's description. On top of the Greek
town and further inland is a Roman town, ten times larger and surrounded by a
wall built no earlier than the time of Augustus. Inside is a forum, completely
leveled, on which stood small votive chapels. To the E, facing the sea, are two
large Hellenistic houses with cryptoportici, which contained remains of wall paintings
and geometric mosaics. Many architectural remains are in the Barcelona Archaeological
Museum and in the museum on the site. Among the finds are a statue of Asklepios,
a Greek original; the mosaic of Iphigeneia, an archaic architectural relief with
representations of sphinxes; Greek pottery (archaic Rhodian, Cypriot, and Ionian;
6th-4th c. Attic, Italic, and Roman). Several cemeteries near the town have also
been excavated.
J.Maluquer De Motes, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Jan 2006 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains 34 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
RODOS (Ancient city) SPAIN
Rhoda or Rhodus (Rhode, Steph. B. s. v.; Rhoda, Mela, ii. 6; Liv. xxxiv.
8; Rhodos, Strab. xiv. p. 654; Eustath. ad Dion. Per. 504; called by Ptol. ii.
6. § 20, Rhodipolis, where we should probably read Rhode polis), a Greek emporium
on the coast of the Indigetae in Hispania Tarraconensis, founded according to
Strabo (l. c.) by the Rhodians, and subsequently taken possession of by the Massiliots.
It is the modern Rosas; but tradition says that the old town lay towards the headland
at San Pedro de Roda. (Ford, Handbook of Spain, p. 249; comp. Meurs. Rhod. i.
28; Marca, Hisp. ii. 18; Martin, Hist. des Gaules, p. 218; Florez, Med. iii. p.
114; Mionnet, i. p. 148.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited August 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Emporion. A Greek trading settlement inhabited by the Phokaians from Massalia,
at the end of the Gulf of Rosas on the Costa Brava; it is 3 km from the village
of La Escala and 40 km NE of Gerona. It is first mentioned in the Periplus of
the Pseudo-Skylax and in Skymnos. Its location has been known from the time of
the Renaissance since it gave its name to an entire district, the Ampurdan, was
an episcopal see in the Middle Ages, and one of the counties of the Marca Hispanica.
The Greeks originally occupied the small islet of San Martin, now
joined to the mainland, which was subsequently known as Palaiapolis (Strab. 3.4.8).
They soon spread to the nearby coast and used the mouth of the Clodianus (Fluvia)
as a trading port. The town was founded a little after 600 B.C. (date of the foundation
of Massalia) and throughout the 6th c. was a mere trading settlement, a port of
call on the trade route from Massalia (Marseille), two days' and one night's sail
distant (Pseudo-Skylax 3), to Mainake and the other Phokaian foundations in S
Iberia which traded with Tartessos. Because it was frankly a mart the Greek settlement
grew rapidly, and probably received fugitives from the destruction of Phokaia
by the Persians (540) and after the Battle of Alalia (537), also Greeks from Mainake
and other cities in the S destroyed by the Carthaginians.
In the 5th c. Massalia declined, and Emporion, which was already independent,
became a polis ruled by magistrates; it developed a brisk trade with the Greek
towns in S Italy, the Carthaginian towns, and the native settlements in the interior,
on which it had a profound Hellenic influence. Emporion then minted its own coins,
first imitating those of the towns with which it traded, including Athens and
Syracuse, and later creating its own currency in fractions of the drachma. The
types were copied from those of both Carthage and Syracuse, and the currency system
continued to be separate from that of Massalia until Emporion was Romanized in
the 2d c. The 5th-3d c. were those of its greatest wealth and splendor.
The town built temples, foremost among which was that dedicated to
Asklepios, for which a magnificent statue of Pentelic marble was imported. Outside
the town a native settlement developed, which soon became hellenized. It was called
Indika (Steph. Byz.), an eponym of the tribe of the Indiketes. In the course of
time the two towns merged, although each kept its own legal status; this explains
why, in Latin, Emporion is referred to in the plural as Emporiae. In the 3d c.
commercial interests arising from its contacts with the Greek cities in Italy
made it an ally of Rome. After the first Punic war the Roman ambassadors visited
the Iberian tribes supported by the Emporitani, and in 218 B.C. Cn. Scipio landed
the first Roman army in Hispania to begin the counteroffensive against Hannibal
in the second Punic war.
The war years were prosperous for the city's trade, but when the Romans
finally settled in Hispania, difficulties arose between the Greeks and the native
population, which were accentuated during the revolt of 197 B.C. In Emporion itself
the Greek and native communities kept a constant watch on each other through guards
permanently stationed at the gate in the wall separating the twin towns (Livy
34.9). In 195 B.C. M. Porcius Cato established a military camp near the town,
rapidly subdued the native tribes in the neighborhood, and initiated the Roman
organization of the country. As the result of the transfer to Tarraco of the Roman
administrative and political sector, Emporion was eclipsed and became a residential
town of little importance. The silting-up of its port and the increase in the
tonnage of Roman vessels hastened its decline. The town became a municipium and
during the time of C. Caesar received a colony of Roman veterans.
The Roman town, which was surrounded by a wall, was ruined by the
invasion of the Franks in 265 and Rhode became the economic center of the district.
However, a few small Christian communities established themselves in Emporion
and transformed the ruins of the town into a necropolis which extended beyond
the walls. Mediaeval sources claim that St. Felix stayed in Emporion before his
martyrdom in Gerona in the early 4th c.
The enclosure of the Greek town has been completely excavated. To
the S is a temple area (Asklepieion and temple of Serapis), a small agora, and
a stoa dating from the Roman Republican period. It is surrounded by a cyclopean
wall breached by a single gate, confirming Livy's description. On top of the Greek
town and further inland is a Roman town, ten times larger and surrounded by a
wall built no earlier than the time of Augustus. Inside is a forum, completely
leveled, on which stood small votive chapels. To the E, facing the sea, are two
large Hellenistic houses with cryptoportici, which contained remains of wall paintings
and geometric mosaics. Many architectural remains are in the Barcelona Archaeological
Museum and in the museum on the site. Among the finds are a statue of Asklepios,
a Greek original; the mosaic of Iphigeneia, an archaic architectural relief with
representations of sphinxes; Greek pottery (archaic Rhodian, Cypriot, and Ionian;
6th-4th c. Attic, Italic, and Roman). Several cemeteries near the town have also
been excavated.
J. Maluquer De Motes, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
GERONA (Town) CATALONIA
Gerunda (Gerona) Gerona, Spain.
Town in the province of Tarraconensis at the confluence of the Ter and the Onyar.
Chief town of the Gerundenses who, according to Pliny (HN 3.23), had Latin rights.
It was an oppidum of the Ausetani who controlled the defile of the Ter which separated
them from the Indiketes and from Emporion's area of influence. Stretches of the
pre-Roman cyclopean wall, which was strengthened during the Republican era, still
survive; the wall of the Imperial age, rebuilt on the same perimeter, dates from
the end of the 3d c. The town is on the main Roman road from Tarraco to Narbo
and is mentioned in ancient sources (Ant.It. 390; Ptol. 2.6.9). Like all of Tarraconensis
it was invaded by the Franks but, thanks to its fortifications, it subsequently
acquired greater importance under the Late Empire (Rav. Cosm. 307.4; 341.13).
From an early time it had a large Christian community and was a bishopric
(Martyr. Felix peristeph. 4.29). The Church of San Felix contains pagan and Christian
sarcophagi. Roman villas outside the town have yielded the mosaic of Ball-lloch
and others, now in the Barcelona and Gerona museums; the mosaic of Sarria de Ter
is now being excavated. A local museum is being built, which contains prehistoric,
Iberian, and Greek materials from Rosas and Ampurias, in addition to Roman remains.
J. Maluquer De Motes, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Jan 2006 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
RODOS (Ancient city) SPAIN
Rhode or Rhodanus (Rosas) Gerona, Spain.
Greek trading establishment founded by the Rhodians in NE Spain, 18
km E of Figueras. According to an ancient tradition recorded by Scymnus (196)
and Strabo (3.4.8), it was probably founded when the Rhodian thalassocracy, the
rival of the Phoenicians, achieved its maximum expansion in the W Mediterranean
(Balearics, Catalan coasts of Iberia, Gulf of Leon) at the end of the 9th or the
beginning of the 8th c. In any event the colony was founded before the First Olympiad
(Strab. 14.2.10), or before 776 B.C. Much Rhodian material, although dating a
century later, has also been found in S France.
The original colony was on the site of the town of Rosas in the so-called
Citadel of Rosas, at the N end of the Gulf of that name. Its location appears
to indicate that originally it was a settlement of refuge and a port of call on
the Rhodian route from the Balearics to S Gaul and the N Rhone, where goods from
the Atlantic area (amber and tin) were assembled. It is undoubtedly the oldest
Greek city in the West and antedates the foundation of Cumae in Italy by Greeks
from Chalkis.
Its beginnings are obscure, documented only indirectly by the Rhodian
goods found N of the Pyrenees. With the Phokaian colonization of these coasts
and the foundation of Massalia (600 B.C.) and of Emporion, Rhode thrived; probably
its Dorian origin enabled the town to maintain its personality in the face of
the Phokaian Ionians, although it ended by falling into the commercial sphere
of influence of Massalia-Emporion and subsequently became clearly Emporitan after
the arrival of the Romans in 218 B.C. However, it always maintained its original
Rhodian character. It was the first Greek city in the West to mint silver coins
(drachmai). The wide dispersion of these coins indicates extensive commercial
influence in the interior of Gaul, whose tribes copied the coins of Rhode.
In 195 B.C. the Roman consul M. P. Cato disembarked at Rhode and began
the repression of the Iberian communities that had risen against the Roman domination,
before establishing his headquarters in Emporion.
The Republic and the Early Empire was a period of economic balance
for Rhode, which had been annexed by Emporion. However, it maintained its influence
N of the Pyrenees while Emporion's trade was with the interior and the Spanish
Levant. In the 3d c. A.D., with the destruction of Emporion by the Franks (265),
Rhode gained a marked impetus which was maintained during the 4th-5th c. It became
a large frontier town destined to play a major role under the Visigoths during
the revolt of Count Paulus against Wamba
J. Maluquer De Motes, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
TOSSA DEL MAR (Village) SPAIN
Turissa (Tossa de Mar) Gerona, Spain.
A village on the Costa Brava in Catalonia 82 km NE of Barcelona. It retains its
defensive wall, protected by circular towers, dating from the Middle Ages. Excavation
of a Roman villa (both farmhouse and large estate) dating from the 1st-2d c.,
which was destroyed during the invasion of the Franks in 265 and rebuilt in the
4th c., has yielded pottery, glassware, and mosaics; an inscription on one mosaic
gives the ancient name: SALVO/VITALE FELIX TURISSA/EX OF/ICINA FELICES. The Roman
remains are housed in a small museum.
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