Pollentia (

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

: Pol·lèntia) was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

city founded by

Quintus Caecilius Metellus Balearicus Quintus Caecilius Metellus Balearicus (born c. 170 BC) was a Roman statesman and general who was elected consul for the year 123 BC. Career Quintus Caecilius Metellus was the eldest son of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus, the Roman consul o ...

in the present city of

Alcúdia Alcúdia () is a municipality and township of the Spanish autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. It is the main tourist centre in the North of Majorca on the eastern coast. It is a large resort popular with families. Most of the hotels ...

, allegedly in the year 123 BC. The first documented remains belong, however, to the first half of the 1st century BC. This had led the researches to establish the possibility of the creation of a ''castra'' (military camp) by the military expedition that, a generation later, would result in the current city of Pollentia.

History

Like the other Roman cities founded by consul Metellus, it is believed Pollentia was a Roman ''castra'' (camp) until c. 70 BC, when, according to the excavations in the

forum Forum or The Forum (plural forums or fora) may refer to: Common uses * Forum (legal), designated space for public expression in the United States *Forum (Roman), open public space within a Roman city **Roman Forum, most famous example *Internet ...

area, the urbanization of the city was reorganized and monumentalized. Pollentia was a rich and prosperous city, whose conserved area is around 16

hectares The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ab ...

. This area suffered a devastating fire in the 3rd century AD, but the city was not depopulated, since the construction of a fortification in the 5th century AD has been documented in the same forum. In the following centuries, Pollentia was partially or totally unpopulated, with the Christian medieval population settling down a bit further north, in the present town of

. Excavations, since the 16th century, but especially since the beginning of the 20th century, have occurred mainly in the area of ''Sa Portella'' (a residential district), the city forum and the

tabernae A ''taberna'' (plural ''tabernae'') was a type of shop or stall in Ancient Rome. Originally meaning a single-room shop for the sale of goods and services, ''tabernae'' were often incorporated into domestic dwellings on the ground level flanking ...

, and in the

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...

References

{{authority control History of Mallorca Roman towns and cities in Spain 17th-century archaeological discoveries Archaeological museums in Spain Former populated places in Spain Ruins in Spain