Orientation first. Left satellite view; this is the southern Gulf of Roses. On the right is Greek Emporion (amplified right), Roman Empúries (left lower, with “R”). North is “up.” The scale is huge. IMHO, these were cities, not ho-hum towns.
First, however, indigenous people lived in the area. Although later occupations have covered them up, that round knob at the top, an island with an elevated summit, was an Iron Age settlement, and inland were others.
Greeks were trading here before establishing a settlement. They first built on the knob to trade, and called it Palaiaopolis; the harbor was to the south of the island. Celt-Iberian pottery was changing from this presence by the 7th C BC. In the 6th C BC, Greeks moved to a new area to the south of the harbor; they called it Neapolis. This community was given repeated updates and modifications. By the 4th C BC, this was a city with a Greek layout—including an acropolis on the highest spot, and markets and an agora, the central public space. In the 2nd C BC, they beefed up the walls, expanded the sanctuary areas, and added new port structures.
You can research the warfare/conflict that gave the Romans the upper hand by the 1st C BC. On the left, the rectangular “R” area is the Roman city. Ultimately, the grid of streets was 6 or 7 wide, and 15 north-south. The amphitheater is just outside the wall south of the southwest corner.
Now, some photos of the Greek city.
Sarapieion temple, southeast corner of Emporion.
Peristyle domestic complex, the largest of Emporion, close to the bay and immediately south of the agora.
View east-southeast, with stoa along the left (colonaded public structure), and agora in mid-ground.
View south from houses north of the agora, down the main north-south street of the southern part of the city.
Port—now green grass and trees; view north.
Acropolis. View is to the north. I found it amazingly small, perhaps 5×5 m.
Somehow this is a water filtration system, up near the acropolis. No info was offered about how it worked.
This gives an indication of the density of houses (almost all of these rooms were dwellings/dwelling complexes), looking toward the acropolis from the main north-south street, view to west.
They’ve put a museum in the church, between the two cities. This statue was found in 1909 in the temple area in the southeast of the city. The upper part was in a cistern, and the rest in the temple where it stood originally, and a replica stands now.
From the museum, we ascended the hill and entered the Roman city. It is vast. This view is from the northeastern edge of the excavated area, looking south. I’m pretty sure all of what you can see, except perhaps the tallest trees, lies within the city (maybe not the walls, but the city).
Here’s looking the length of the forum from the north. I’m standing on the front of a large temple honoring Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva. Colonaded structures lined the other three sides, and more temples flanked this one on the north side. Again, all but perhaps the tallest trees: in the city.
Looking north through the door/gate in the south wall, up the main street, the length of the city. Ish. That partial structure on the left is a reconstruction of the southwest corner of the forum.
Outside the wall, but snugged up against it is the amphitheater. The vertical element is gone, and I find it difficult to visualize its scale.
Well, that’s enough. Remember, too, that, big as this Roman city was, the whole population of the immediate area was not living here. Indeed, there were other communities and villas scattered about. ’Nuff said.