When did the Greeks found Emporion in Catalonia?
Greeks settle at Emporion
Los griegos fundan Emporion
c. 570s BC. Around 575 BC Greek traders from Phocaea, on the coast of today's Turkey, settled on a small promontory in the bay of Roses in Catalonia, then moved to the…
Where: Spain, Catalonia
What happened
Around 575 BC Greek traders from Phocaea, on the coast of today's Turkey, settled on a small promontory in the bay of Roses in Catalonia, then moved to the shore nearby and built a town they called Emporion, 'the market'. It is the only Greek city whose remains survive in the peninsula. The Greeks lived peacefully beside the local Iberians, trading wine, pottery and ideas; the Iberian towns of the region took on Greek fashions. In 218 BC, during the war between Rome and Carthage, Emporion, as Rome's ally, was where the first Roman legions landed in Hispania. Rome later built its own city beside it, Emporiae, and the two merged. Today the site is Empúries, with a museum run by the Museu d'Arqueologia de Catalunya.
Say it
Los griegos fundaron Emporion hace más de dos mil quinientos años.
The Greeks founded Emporion more than 2,500 years ago.
Why it matters
Emporion was the peninsula's door to Greek culture and the beachhead for Rome; a Greek name for a market town survives in the Catalan place name Empúries and the region Empordà.
Connected
- The Phoenicians found Gadir (c. 8th century BC)
- Rome lands in Hispania (218–19 BC)
- Rome lands in Hispania (218–19 BC)
Sources
- Jaciment – Conjunt arqueològic d'Empúries — Museu d'Arqueologia de Catalunya