Emporion?

[Gyrion]

Hey guys,

I have been looking to create a game with a Greco-Iberian City State faction called Emporion which uses both Iberian and Greek units. I was wondering if anyone knew anything about the social and political structure of Emporion? What style of government did it have? 

[Lion.Kanzen]

emporium refers to a trading post, factory, or market of Classical antiquity, derived from the Ancient Greek: ἐμπόριον, translit. (empórion), which becomes Latin: emporium. The plural is emporia in both languages, although in Greek the plural undergoes a semantic shift to mean "merchandise". ^[1]

Famous emporia include Sais, where Solon went to acquire the knowledge of Egypt; Elim, where Hatshepsut kept her Red Sea fleet; Elat, where Thebes was supplied with mortuary materials, linen, bitumen, naphtha, frankincense, myrrh and carved stone amulets from Palestine, Canaan, Aram, Lebanon, Ammon, Hazor, Moab, Edom, Punt and the Arabian Peninsula from Petra to Midian; and Olbia, which exported cereals, fish and slaves.

Emporia functioned much like European trading colonies in China.

In the Hellenic and Ptolemaic realm, emporia included the various Greek, Phoenician, Egyptian and other city-states and trading posts in the circum-Mediterranean area. Among these commercial hubs were cities like Avaris and Syene in Lower Egypt, Thebes in Upper Egypt, and Opone, Elim, Elat and other Red Sea ports. For the Hittites, it encompassed Kanesh and Kadesh. For Phoenicia, it included Cádiz, Carthage, Leptis Magna, and Cyrene, among others (although Cyrene had been founded by Greeks).

Ampurias, also known as Empúries (Greek: Ἐμπόριον, Catalan: Empúries [əmˈpuɾiəs], Spanish: Ampurias [amˈpuɾjas]), was a town on the Mediterranean coast of the Catalan comarca of Alt Empordà in Catalonia, Spain. It was founded in 575 BC by Greek colonists from Phocaea with the name of Ἐμπόριον (Emporion, meaning "trading place", cf. emporion). It was later occupied by the Romans (Latin: Emporiæ), but in the Early Middle Ages, when its exposed coastal position left it open to marauders, the town was abandoned.

The ruins are midway between the Costa Brava town of L'Escala and the tiny village of Sant Martí d'Empúries. There are good car parking facilities and the site may be reached by a traffic-free coastal walk from L'Escala.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empúries

 

[Nescio]

Here's the relevant entry in Brill's New Pauly:

Spoiler

Emporiae

(567 words)

 

[German Version]

This item can be found on the following maps:

| | Etrusci, Etruria | Hispania, Iberia | Colonization | Punic Wars | Pyrenean peninsula

(Emporion). Sea-trading port, now Ampurias, on the eastern edge of the Pyrenees, in the province Gerona, on the Costa Brava. Sources: [1; 2]. Archaeological activity that was unparalleled in Spain took place here from the start of the 20th cent. and has been extensively covered in several publications [3. 334ff.; 4. 66ff.; 5. 94; 6; 7; 8. 273ff.]. The inscriptions have produced very little; two of them were Christian [9]. Coin finds have been rich and significant [7. 251ff.; 10; 11; 12].

E. grew up from four different settlements. The oldest part is Palaiopolis, probably founded by Massalia after 520 BC (Str. 3,4,8) on the island, today's peninsula, off San Martín de Ampurias, with a temple of the Ephesian Artemis. In any event the finds go even further back in time (as far as 600 BC). To the south lay the harbour, still protected today by a Greek mole. Neapolis, which has been built up in terraces on the mainland beach, probably arose after 500. To the west lay the Iberian city Indike [13], separated from Neapolis by a wall (a description of both peoples in Str. 3,4,8; Liv. 34,9.) Neighbouring it was the Roman colony founded by Caesar in 45 BC. As well, Greek, Roman and Iberian Necropoleis [14; 15] have been uncovered. There have been numerous finds, including many pieces of classical art [16. 275f.].

E. was the starting point for Roman military operations in Spain (Scipiones, Cato [1] the Elder) and developed into a rich city. Invasion by the Franks (AD 265) seems to have been a disaster for E. but it still played a role as a bishopric in the West Gothic period [17]. That came to an end after invasion by the Arabs, although a condado de Ampurias survived [18].

Barceló, Pedro (Potsdam)

Bibliography

1 A. Schulten (ed.), Fontes Hispaniae Antiquae, 2, 1925

2 M. Almagro, Las fuentes escritas referentes a Ampurias, 1951

3 A. Schulten, Ampurias, Neue Jbb. für das klass. Altertum 10, 1907, 334ff.

4 Id., Eine unbekannte Top. von Emporion, in: Hermes 60, 1925, 66ff.

5 Id., Forsch. in Spanien, in: AA I/2, 1940

6 A. Frickenhaus, Zwei top. Probleme. 1. Emporion, in: BJ 118, 1909, 17-27

7 M. Almagro, Ampurias, 1951

8 P. García, La España primitiva, 1950

9 M. Almagro, Las inscripciones ampuritanas griegas, ibéricas y latinas, 1952

10 H. Dessau, s.v. Emporia, RE V 2, 2526f.

11 A. Vives, La moneda hispánica, 1926

12 J. Amorós, Les monedes empuritanes anteriores a les dracmes, 1934

13 A. Schulten, s.v. Indiketes, RE IX 2, 1368

14 M. Almagro, Las Necrópolis de Ampurias, 2 vols., 1953/1955 (Reviews cf. Gnomon 26, 1954, 284 and Gnomon 29, 1957, 238)

15 M. Almagro, P. de Palol, La Ampurias paleocristiana y visigoda, (Monografias Ampuritanas, 4), 1958

16 P. García, La España primitiva, 1950, 275ff.

17 Fontes Hispaniae Antiquae 9, 1947, 447ff.

18 Enciclopedia Universal Ilustrada 5, 274.

Anuari de l'Institut d'Estudis Catalans 1907-1927 (Research reports)

E. Samarti i Grego et al., Emporion, in: W. Trillmich, P. Zanker (ed.), Die Monumentalisierung hispanischer Städte zwischen Republik und Kaiserzeit, 1990, 117-144

E. Samarti i Grego et al., La presencia comercial etrusca en la emporion arcaica, determinada a partir de las Anforas, in: J. Remesal, O. Musso, La Presencia de Material Etrusco en la Península Ibérica, 1991, 83-94

R. Mar, J. Ruiz de Arbulo, El foro de Ampurias y las transformaciones augusteas de los foros de la Tarraconense, in: W. Trillmich, P. Zanker (ed.), Die Monumentalisierung hispanischer Städte zwischen Republik und Kaiserzeit, 1990, 145-164

Tovar, 3, 1989, 427-430.

Cite this page

Barceló, Pedro (Potsdam), “Emporiae”, in: Brill’s New Pauly, Antiquity volumes edited by: Hubert Cancik and , Helmuth Schneider, English Edition by: Christine F. Salazar, Classical Tradition volumes edited by: Manfred Landfester, English Edition by: Francis G. Gentry. Consulted online on 26 April 2018

 

[Gyrion]

Thank you guys so much, 0 AD has such an amazing and helpful community !!!

[Gyrion]

Don't suppose either of you guys @Lion.Kanzen or @Nescio know of any actual Greek City States of Colonies in Iberia rather than like trading ports