Barcino
- the present city Barcelona, in Spain, Plin. 3, 3, 4, § 22; Mel. 2, 6, 5; Aus. Ep. 24, 89; Prud. στεφ. 33.
- —Hence, Barcĭnōnensis, e, adj., of Barcelona: muria, Aus. Ep. 21 init.
➳ postért : Barcilo, Barcilona, Barcinona ; et même Barcilo Avien. Ora mar. 520, habitant de Barcilo || Barcelona, Barcelonensis Hier. Vir. ill. 106 ; 36.
BA´RCINO (Βαρκινών, Ptol. 2.6.8), BA´RCENO (Itin. Ant. pp. 390, 398), in the later writers BA´RCELO (Avien. Or. Mar. 520) and BARCELONA (Geogr. Rav. 4.42, 5.3; Aeth. Cosmogr. p. 50, ed. Basil. 1575), which name it still preserves, was a city of the Laletani, on the E. coast of Hispania Tarraconensis, a little N. of the river Rubricatus (Llobregat), and about half way between the Iberus (Ebro) and the Pyrenees. The only information respecting its early history consists in some native traditions referred to by the later Roman writers, to the effect that it was founded by Hercules 400 years before the building of Rome, and that it was rebuilt by Hamilcar Barcas, who gave it the name of his family. (Oros. 7.143; Miñano, Diccion. vol. 1. p. 391; Auson. Epist. 24.68, 69, Punica Barcino.) Under the Romans it was a colony, with the surname of Faventia (Plin. Nat. 3.3. s. 4), or, in full, Colonia Faventia Julia Augusta Pia Barcino. (Inscr. ap. Gruter, p. 426, nos. 5, 6.) Mela (2.6) mentions it among the small towns of the district, probably as it was eclipsed by its neigh-bour Tarraco; but it may be gathered from later writers that it gradually grew in wealth and consequence, favoured as it was with a beautiful situation and an excellent harbour. (Avien. Or. Mar. l. c.;Et Barcilonum amoena sedes ditium.) It enjoyed immunity from imperial burthens. (Paul. Dig. 1. tit. 15, de Cens.) In modern times it has entirely supplanted TARRACO in importance, owing to its submitting to the Moors when they destroyed the latter city.
As the land has gained upon the sea along this coast, the modern city stands for the most part E. of the ancient one, only a portion of the site being common to the two. The ruins of the ancient city are inconsiderable; they are described by Laborde (Itin. de l'Espagne, vol. 2. p. 41, 3rd ed.), Miñano (Diccion. l. c. ), and Ford (Handbook of Spain, p. 229).
There is a coin of Galba, with the epigraph, COL. BARCINO. FAVENTIA. (Rasche, Lex. Rei Num. s. v. )
[P.S](Βαρκινών). Now Barcelona. A town of the Laletani in Hispania Tarraconensis, with an excellent harbour.
Town in Tarraconensis whose name, known from many inscriptions, was Colonia Iulia Augusta Paterna Faventia Barcino, indicating that it was founded by Augustus. Barcino appears to be the native name of an oppidum of the Laietani who minted silver drachmae at the end of the 3d c. B.C., imitating those of Emporion and bearing the iberian legend BARKENOS. An allusion by Ausonius (Ep. 37.68) is the basis for the claim that it was founded by the Carthaginians (the family of the Barcidae). This is unacceptable, however; the name appears in Avienus (OM. 5.520) in its pure Iberian form, Barcilo.
The Augustan colony spread over a small height, Mons Tabar (18 m above sea level), between two mountain streams, the San Juan to the N and La Rambla to the S. its fields probably extended from the Baetulo river (Besós) to the Rubricatus (Llobregat). During the Late Empire it had large monuments, temples, baths, and two aqueducts, but it was burned and razed in A.D. 265 during the invasion of the Franks and the Alamanni. it was subsequently rebuilt and its perimeter reduced. The colony had been surrounded by a strong defensive wall with over 60 circular or polygonal towers which were mostly incorporated later into mediaeval structures. The extraordinary fortification of Barcino and the excellence of its port increased its importance during the Early Empire. At the beginning of the 5th c. A.D. it was occupied by the Visigoths as allies of the Romans, and King Ataulfo was assassinated there in 414. it had an active Christian community, including St. Paciano, and there are remains of a 6th c. basilica.
The Roman wall has been restored and the subsoil excavated, uncovering a large amount of reused architectural material, statues, funerary and honorific stones, and mosaics, from the destruction of the town in the 3d c. it is now possible to visit more than 200 m of the Roman town under the Gothic cathedral and the public buildings dating from the Middle Ages. The finds are in the museum on the site and the Barcelona Archaeological Museum.
BIBLIOGRAPHYJ. Puig i Cadafalch, L'Arquitectura romana a Catalunya (1934); L. Pericot et al., Historia de Barcelona (1943); A. Balil, Las murallas romanas de Barcelona (1961); id., Colonia Iulia Augusta Paterna Barcino (1964); F. Pallares, “Las excavaciones de la Plaza de San Miguel y la topografia romana de Barcino,” Cuadernos de Historia de la Ciudad 13 (1969) 5ff.
J. MALUQUER DE MOTES