Map of the Roman Empire - Tarraco

Tarraco
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Ancient Tarraco - An ancient city on the eastern coast of Spain, situated on the river Tulcis between the Iberus river and the Pyrenees. Tarraco was most likely founded by the Phoenicians, who called it Tarchon which means 'a citadel' because of its location on a high rock, about 800 feet high. In Roman times Augustus made Tarraco a Roman colony and the capital of Hispania Tarraconensis, one of Rome's three Spanish provinces. It was known for producing good wine and flax.

Tarrăco - Now Tarragona; an ancient town on the eastern coast of Spain, situated on a rock 760 feet high, between the river Iberus and the Pyrenees, on the river Tulcis. It was founded by the Massilians, and was made the headquarters of the two brothers P. and Cn. Scipio in their campaigns against the Carthaginians in the Second Punic War. It subsequently became a populous and flourishing town; and Augustus, who wintered here (B.C. 26) after his Cantabrian campaign, made it the capital of one of the three Spanish provinces (Hispania Tarraconensis), and also a Roman colony. See Hispania. - Harry Thurston Peck. Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. New York. Harper and Brothers.

Tarragona (Catalan: [tərəˈɣonə], Spanish: [taraˈɣona]) is a city located in the south of Catalonia on the north-east of Spain, by the Mediterranean. It is the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and the capital of the Catalan comarca Tarragon�s.

Roman History of Tarragona. In Roman times, the city was named Tarraco (Ταρρακών) and was capital of the province of Hispania Tarraconensis (after being capital of Hispania Citerior in the Republican era). The Roman colony founded at Tarraco had the full name of Colonia Iulia Urbs Triumphalis Tarraco. The city may have begun as an Iberic town called Kesse or Kosse, named for the Iberic tribe of the region, the Cosetans, though the identification of Tarragona with Kesse is not certain. Smith suggests that the city was probably founded by the Phoenicians, who called it 'Tarchon, which, according to Samuel Bochart, means a citadel. This name was probably derived from its situation on a high rock, between 700 and 800 feet above the sea; whence we find it characterised as arce potens Tarraco. It was seated on the river Sulcis or Tulcis (modern Francol�), on a bay of the Mare Internum (Mediterranean), between the Pyrenees and the river Iberus (modern Ebro). Livy mentions a portus Tarraconis; and according to Eratosthenes it had a naval station or roads (Ναύσταθμον); but Artemidorus says with more probability that it had none, and scarcely even an anchoring place; and Strabo himself calls it ἀλίμενος. This answers better to its present condition; for though a mole was constructed in the 15th century with the materials of the ancient amphitheatre, and another subsequently by an Englishman named John Smith, it still affords but little protection for shipping. Tarraco lies on the main road along the south-eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It was fortified and much enlarged by the brothers Publius and Gnaeus Scipio, who converted it into a fortress and arsenal against the Carthagenians. Subsequently it became the capital of the province named after it, a Roman colony, and conventus juridicus. Augustus wintered at Tarraco after his Cantabrian campaign, and bestowed many marks of honour on the city, among which were its honorary titles of Colonia Victrix Togata and Colonia Julia Victrix Tarraconensis. The city also minted coins. According to Mela it was the richest town on that coast, and Strabo represents its population as equal to that of Carthago Nova (modern Cartagena). Its fertile plain and sunny shores are celebrated by Martial and other poets; and its neighbourhood is described as producing good wine and flax. - Wikipedia

Tarraco, a city of the Cosetani, and capital of Tarraconensis, on the Mediterranean, at the mouth, L., of Tulcis fl., bet. Tolobis and Oleastrum, 45 m. s.w. from Barcino. Enlarged by Cneius and Publius Scipio. A colonia of Caesar (Julia Victrix). Tarragona. - Classical Gazetteer

Tarraco
TA�RRACO (Ταρρακών, Ptol. 2.6.17), an ancient city of Spain, probably founded by the Phoenicians, who called it Tarchon, which, according to Bochart, means �a citadel.� This name was pro bably derived from its situation on a high rock, between 700 and 800 feet above the sea; whence we find it characterised as �arce potens Tarraco.� (Auson. Class. Urb. 9; cf. Mart. 10.104.) It was seated on the river Sulcis, on a bay of the Mare Internum, between the Pyrenees and the river Iberus. (Mela, 2.6; Plin. Nat. 3.3. s. 4.) Livy 22.22) mentions a �portus Tarraconis;� and according to Eratosthenes (ap. Strab. iii. p.159) it had a naval station or roads (Ναύσταθμον); but Artemidorus (ap. Strab. l.c.; Plb. 3.76) says with more probability that it had none, and scarcely even an anchoring place; and Strabo himself calls it ἀλίμενος. This answers better to its present condition; for though a mole was constructed in the 15th century with the materials of the ancient amphitheatre, and another subsequently by an Englishman named John Smith, it still affords but little protection for shipping. (Ford's Handbook of Spain, p. 222.) Tarraco lay on the main road along the S. coast of Spain. (Itin. Ant. pp. 391, 396, 399, 448, 452.) It was fortified and much enlarged [2.1105] by the brothers Publius and Cneius Scipio, who converted it into a fortress and arsenal against the Carthaginians. Subsequently it became the capital of the province named after it, a Roman colony, and �conventus juridicus.� (Plin. l.c.; Tac. Ann. 1.78; Solin. 23, 26; Plb. 10.34; Liv. 21.61; Steph. B. sub voce p. 637 ) Augustus wintered at Tarraco after his Cantabrian campaign, and bestowed many marks of honour on the city, among which were its honorary titles of �Colonia Victrix Togata� and �Colonia Julia Victrix Tarraconensis.� (Grut. Inscr. p. 382; Orelli, no. 3127; coins in Eckhel, i. p. 27; Florez, Med. ii. p. 579; Mionnet, i. p. 51, Suppl. i. p. 104; Sestini, p. 202.) According to Mela (l.c.) it was the richest town on that coast, and Strabo (l.c.) represents its population as equal to that of Carthago Nova. Its fertile plain and sunny shores are celebrated by Martial and other poets; and its neighbourhood is described as producing good wine and flax. (Mart. 10.104, 13.118; Sil. Ital. 3.369, 15.177; Plin. Nat. 14.6. s. 8, 19.1. s. 2.) There are still many important ancient remains at Tarragona, the present name of the city. Part of the bases of large Cyclopean walls near the Quartel de Pilatos are thought to be anterior to the Romans. The building just mentioned, now a prison, is said to have been the palace of Augustus. But Tarraco, like most other ancient towns which have continued to be inhabited, has been pulled to pieces by its own citizens for the purpose of obtaining building materials. The amphitheatre near the sea-shore has been used as a quarry, and but few vestiges of it now remain. A circus, 1500 feet long, is now built over it, though portions of it are still to be traced. Throughout the town Latin, and even apparently Phoenician, inscriptions on the stones of the houses proclaim the desecration that has been perpetrated. Two ancient monuments, at some little distance from the town, have, however, fared rather better. The first of these is a magnificent aqueduct, which spans a valley about a mile from the gates. It is 700 feet in length, and the loftiest arches, of which there are two tiers, are 96 feet high. The monument on the NW. of the city, and also about a mile distant, is a Roman sepulchre, vulgarly called the. �Tower of the Scipios;� but there is no authority for assuming that they were buried here. (Cf. Ford, Handbook, p. 219, seq.; Florez, Esp. Sagr. xxix. p. 68, seq.; Mi�ano, Diccion. viii. p. 398.)  - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) William Smith, LLD, Ed.