Listed 3 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for destination: "AMPURIAS, EMPURIES Village SPAIN".
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.
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.
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