The history of Barcelona stretches over 2000 years to its origins as an Iberian village named Barkeno. Its easily defensible location on the coastal plain between the Collserola ridge (512 m) and the Mediterranean Sea, the coastal route between central Europe and the rest of the Iberian Peninsula, has ensured its continued importance, if not always preeminence, throughout the ages.
Barcelona is currently a city of 1,620,943, the second largest in Spain, and the capital of the autonomous community of Catalonia. Its wider urban region is home to three-quarters of the population of Catalonia and one-eighth of that of Spain.
Origins The origin of the earliest settlement at the site of present-day Barcelona is unclear. Remains from the Neolithic and early Chalcolithic periods have been found on the coastal plain near the city. The ruins of an early settlement have been excavated in the El Raval neighbourhood, including different tombs and dwellings dating to earlier than 5000 BC. Later, in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, the area was settled by the Laietani, an Ιberian people, at Barkeno on the Tàber hill (in the present-day Ciutat Vella, or "Old City") and at Laie (or Laiesken), believed to have been located on Montjuïc. Both settlements struck coinage which survives to this day. Some historians have maintained that a small Greek colony, Kallipolis (Καλλίπολις), was founded in the vicinity at around the same period, but conclusive archaeological evidence to support this has not been found.
It is sometimes asserted that the area was occupied c. 230 BC by Carthaginian troops under the leadership of Hamilcar Barca, but this is disputed. The alleged military occupation is often cited as the foundation of the modern city of Barcelona, although the northern limit of the Punic territories up to that time had been the river Ebro, located over 150 km to the south. There is no evidence that Barcelona was ever a Carthaginian settlement, or that its name in antiquity, Barcino, had any connection with the Barcid family of Hamilcar.
Legends about the foundation At least two founding myths have been proposed for Barcelona by historians since the 15th century. One credits the Carthaginian general Hamilcar Barca, father of Hannibal, with the foundation of the city around 230 BC, giving it the name Barkenon. Despite the similarities between the name of this Carthaginian family and that of the modern city, it is usually accepted that the origin of the name "Barcelona" is the Iberian word Barkeno.
The second myth attributes the foundation of the city to Hercules before the foundation of Rome. During the fourth of his Labours, Hercules joins Jason and the Argonauts in search of the Golden Fleece, travelling across the Mediterranean in nine ships. One of the ships is lost in a storm off the Catalan coast, and Hercules sets out to locate it. He finds it wrecked by a small hill, but with the crew saved. The crew are so taken by the beauty of the location that they found a city with the name Barca Nona ("Ninth Ship").
Roman Barcino Information about the period from 218 BC until the 1st century BC is scarce. The Roman Republic contested the Carthaginian control of the area, and eventually set out to conquer the whole of the Iberian Peninsula in the Cantabrian Wars, a conquest which was declared complete by Caesar Augustus in 19 BC. The north-east of the peninsula was the first region to fall under Roman control, and served as a base for further conquests. While Barcelona was settled by the Romans during this period under the name of Barcino, it was considerably less important than the major centres of Tarraco (capital of the Roman province of Hispania Tarraconensis) and Caesaraugusta, respectively known today as Tarragona and Zaragoza).
The name Barcino was formalised around the end of the reign of Caesar Augustus (AD 14). It was a shortened version of the name which had been official until then, Colonia Faventia Julia Augusta Pia Barcino (also Colonia Julia Augusta Faventia Paterna Barcino)Incr. ap. Gruter, p. 426, nos. 5, 6. and Colonia Faventia. As a colonia, it was established to distribute land among retired soldiers. The Roman geographer Pomponius Mela refers to Barcino as one of a number of small settlements near Tarraco, a town wealthy in maritime resources. However, Barcino's strategic position on a branch of the Via Augusta allowed its commercial and economic development,Avienius, Or. Mar. 520: Et Barcilonum aoena sedes ditium.) and it enjoyed immunity from imperial taxation.
At the time of Caesar Augustus, Barcino had the form of a castrum, with the usual central forum and perpendicular main streets: the Cardus Maximus (today Carrer de la Llibreteria) and the Decumanus Maximus (today Carrer del Bisbe) intersecting at the top (25 m) of the Tàber hill (Mons Taber), site of the Iberian Barkeno. The perimeter walls were 1.5 km long, enclosing an area of 12 ha.
By the 2nd century, the city had the form of an oppidum and a population of 3500–5000. The main economic activity was cultivation of the surrounding land, and its wine was exported widely. The archeological remains from the period (sculptures, mosaics, and amphorae) indicate a relatively prosperous population, although the city lacked the major public buildings (theatre, amphitheatre, circus) found in more important Roman centres such as Tarraco. The forum's most impressive building was the temple dedicated to Caesar Augustus, probably constructed at the start of the 1st century. It was quite large for a city the size of Barcino, measuring 35 m by 17.5 m, and built on a podium surrounded by Corinthian columns.
The first raids by the Germanic tribes started around 250, and the fortifications of the city were substantially improved in the later years of the 3rd century under Claudius II. The new double wall was at least two metres high, up to eight metres in some parts, and was punctuated by seventy-eight towers measuring up to eighteen metres high. The new fortifications were the strongest in the Roman province of the Tarraconensis, and would increase the importance of Barcino compared to Tarraco.
Significant vestiges of Roman Barcino can be seen in the underground displays of the Museum of the History of Barcelona (MUHBA) under Plaça del Rei, which also maintains other heritage sites from Roman times in Barcelona, such as the Roman Sepulchral way, or the Roman walls.
Paleochristian Barcino The first Christian communities in the Tarraconense were founded during the 3rd century, and the diocese of Tarraco was already established by 259, when the bishop Saint Fructuosus (Fructuós) and the deacons Augurius and Eulogius were burned alive on the orders of the governor Aemilianus, under an edict issued by the emperor Valerian. The Christian community in Barcino appears to have been established in the latter half of the 3rd century.
The persecution of the Christians under Diocletian at the start of the 4th century would lead to at least one martyr dying in the region of Barcino: Saint Cucuphas (). Apparently of African origin, Cucuphas had evangelised in several areas of the Tarraconense, including Barcino, Egara (modern Terrassa) and Iluro (modern Mataró), before being killed at Castrum Octavium (modern Sant Cugat del Vallès, just over the Collserola ridge from Barcino/Barcelona). Saint Eulalia () is also often considered as a martyr from Barcino.
The Edict of Milan in 313 granted a greater freedom of religion to Christians in the Roman Empire and put an end to widespread persecution. The first recorded bishop of Barcino was Prætextatus (Pretextat) (d. 360), who attended the Council of Sardica in 343. He was succeeded by Saint Pacian (, c. 310–390) and Lampius (Lampi) who died in the year 400. Pacian is particularly known for his works De baptismo ("On Baptism") and Libellus exhortatorius ad poenitentium, about the penitential system. The first major Christian church in Barcino, the Basílica de la Santa Creu, was constructed around the end of the 4th century at the site where the medieval Barcelona Cathedral now stands; its baptistry was found in the underground and can be accessed through the nearby Museum of the History of Barcelona (MUHBA).
Visigothic Barchinona At the start of the 5th century, the Western Roman Empire suffered ever more serious attacks at the hands of various Germanic peoples, notably the Goths and the Vandals. Alaric's stepbrother and successor Ataulf led the Visigoths into southern Gaul, and after a defeat at the hands of the Roman forces at Narbona (modern Narbonne) in 414, moved across the Pyrenees into the Tarraconensis. Ataulf established his court at Barcino, where he was murdered by one of his own troops in 415.
The death of Ataulf, who had imprisoned then married Galla Placidia, daughter of the emperor Theodosius I, changed the relations between the Visigoths and the Romans. Under Wallia (415–419), the Visigoths became fœderati, allies charged with the control of the other Germanic tribes who had invaded Hispania. Wallia was notably successful in this task (Wallia's campaign in Spain), and the emperor Honorius extended the area of Visigoth control to include Aquitania and Gallia Narbonensis. Wallia established his capital at Tolosa (modern Toulouse) in 417.
Barcino would remain an important, if provincial, centre of the Visigoth kingdom, notably because of its excellent defensive walls. After the death of Alaric II at the Battle of Vouillé against the Franks in 507, his successor Gesalec (507–513) moved the capital from Tolosa to Barcino. However, he was defeated by Ibbas, an Ostrogothic general, outside of the city in 512.* Amalaric (511–531) ruled from Narbona, but was murdered by his troops in Barcino, from where his successor Theudis ruled until 548. Barcino returned to its role as a provincial centre with the establishment of the Visigoth capital in Toledo by Leovigildus in 573.
The Visigoths formed only a minority of the population of the city, occupying the positions of authority. The first rulers were Arians until the adoption of Catholic Christianity as the state religion in 589, but the practice of Catholicism by the city population was tolerated. The religious centre moved from the Basílica de la Santa Cruz, which had been converted into an Arian church, to the Església dels Sants Just i Pastor (Church of Saint Justus and Pastor). Christian Councils were held in 540 under bishop and in 599 in the reconsecrated Basilica under bishop Ugnas, whose name does not appear as a signatory of the unique document known as De fisco Barcinonensi. This letter to the treasurers of the city, traditionally associated with the council of 592, describes the provincial tax system administered from Barcelona. It is the most informative historical source on the Visigothic system of taxation.
The language spoken at the time was undoubtedly Vulgar Latin, including by the Visigoth rulers who were rapidly Latinised. Over time, the spelling of the Latin Barcino (declined as Barcinone, Barcinonem, Barcinonam, Barcinona) gradually came to include an intercalated "h" to represent the evolving pronunciation, and the use of the different Latin cases declined.
Jewish Barchinona The Jewish population of Barcino/Barchinona dates from the mid-4th century at the latest. While the Jewish religion had been tolerated by the Romans, Jews suffered varying degrees of discrimination and persecution under the Visigoths. In his general law code of 654, the Visigothic king Recceswinth outlawed many essential Jewish practices, including circumcision of males, dietary laws (kashrut), marriage laws and ceremonies, and the celebration of Passover.