Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
History
The layered settlement of Barcelona has seen waves of immigrants and con-
querors over its 2000-plus years of existence, including Romans, Visigoths,
Franks and later Catalans. Barcelona has seen its fortunes rise and fall over
the years - from the golden era of princely power in the 14th century to dark
days of civil war and the Franco era. A fierce independent streak has always
run through Barcelona, which has often put it into conflict with the Kingdom of
Castilla - an antagonism that continues to the present, with a desire for more
autonomy (full independence say some Catalans) from Spain.
The Romans
Barcelona's recorded history really begins with the Romans when Barcino (much later Bar-
celona) was founded in the reign of Caesar Augustus. The Romans were attracted to the loca-
tion for its possibilities of building a port here.
The heart of the Roman settlement lay within what would later become the medieval city -
now known as the Barri Gòtic. The temple was raised on Mont Tàber (three of its columns
still stand in a building near Plaça de Sant Jaume). Remains of city walls, temple pillars and
graves all attest to what would eventually become a busy and lively town. The Latin poet
Ausonius paints a picture of contented prosperity - Barcino lived well off the agricultural
produce in its hinterland and from fishing. Oysters, in particular, appeared regularly on the
Roman menu in ancient times. Wine, olive oil and garum (a rather tart fish paste and favour-
ite staple of the Romans) were all produced and consumed in abundance.
A stroll through the remnants of former Roman streets in the Museu d'Historia de Bar-
celona provides a fascinating glimpse of life at that time. There were communal baths, wine-
making stores, garum factories, dyeing shops, a laundry (where urine was used as a disinfect-
ant - passersby could make their contribution in pots left outside the building) and upper-
class villas (complete with frescoes and mosaic-covered floors). There was even a water
drainage system.
As the Roman Empire wobbled, Hispania (as the Iberian Peninsula was known to the Ro-
mans) felt the effects. It is no coincidence that the bulk of Barcelona's Roman walls, vestiges
of which remain today, went up in the 4th century AD. Marauding Franks, followed by Ro-
manised Visigoths and other tribes wrought death and destruction on the city; successive
waves of invaders flooded across the country like great Atlantic rollers.
