The arrival of the Romans at the end of the century. BC launched the Romanization of the Iberian Peninsula, a process of adaptation of indigenous communities towards a new culture and social and economic organization. Rome remained for more than 700 years a great empire around the Mediterranean, including the current Catalonia was an important component.

The territory they called Hispania interested to expand both domains for precious metals could be extracted from the mines or large quantities of grain they obtained their fields. The Romans structure drawing country roads where there were only muddy roads, founding new cities and establishing small farms and livestock farming. Gradually, the Iberian population was absorbed and was integrated in this new social structure, political and economic.

Roman cities were the centers political, religious, administrative and economic region and reproduced on a small scale the role of Rome, the great city , in connection with the empire.

The Roman city
The advances made by the Romans in the field of military engineering had their application to civil architecture. Until modern times a network of public works similar to that projected by the Romans more than two thousand years ago was not planned in Europe.

City location, construction of walls, water supply, sewerage system, public buildings, type of dwelling and height, number of ‘inhabitants that could accommodate … Everything was calculated so that we could plan nice and functional cities. There were two types: new colonies or cities, such as Tarraco (Tarragona) or Bárcino (Barcelona), where residents had virtually the same rights as the citizens of Rome, and municipalities or cities built on previous urban centers they had to pay taxes in Rome, as in the case of Emporiae (Empúries), Gerunda (Girona), Egara (Terrassa) or Ilerda (Lleida).

Beyond the walls were the ager , fields that provided the population with cereals, wine, oil, vegetables, legumes … This land was exploited by the Roman settlers through the villae , productive units freelancers mainly engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry.

The urban centers were interconnected by a road network. The tracks were drawn by saving all kinds of obstacles through bridges; milestones were also marked and milestones were provided and livestock shelters were provided for travelers. The Via Augusta was the most important of these routes: it traveled the empire from Rome to Gades (Cádiz), all along the coast.

The legacy of Rome
At the beginning of this room stands out the magnificent Circus Mosaic, from the Roman period (4th century). It probably paved a luxurious house in the old Barcino. In the middle of the s. III begins the process of weakening the political, economic and social structures of the Roman Empire. Christianity is imposed as a new religion

The room documents Roman cultural continuity and the weight of Christianity in the late Roman world.

Belerofont mosaic
Belerofont was a prince who killed his brother unintentionally, and because of this he was banished, and he was expelled from his kingdom. She went to another kingdom and there the queen fell in love with him, but Belerofont rejected her and the queen, angry, requested the king to execute her, but she did not want to. responsible for the assassination, and sent Belerofont a letter to another kingdom, where the queen’s father reigned. What Belerofont did not know was that in his letter he wrote that they had to be killed when he arrived.

Nor did this king want to kill him directly, so what he did was send Belerophont to face many dangers. And the scariest was a monster named Chimera. Chimera had a lion’s head, a goat’s and a snake’s head on its tail, and it set fire. This terrible monster was feared by all and caused great destruction throughout the region.

But Athena, goddess of wisdom and strategic and well thought war, decided to help Belerofont by giving her a fabulous animal: Pegasus. Pegasus was a winged horse and with him the hero came up with a way to defeat Chimera.

So Belerofont reached where the Chimera was but by air, so that he escaped the fire of the monster. He fired arrows at him and finally shoved a lead spear through his mouth, which melted and drowned the monster.

Thus Belerofont slew the Chimera through his cunning, and at last the king who had confronted him with so many dangers had to acknowledge his worth and rewarded him by marrying him with his daughter. Thus Belerofont became one of the most famous heroes. But also one of the proudest, and decided that he could fly to Olympus, the mountain where the gods lived, mounted on Pegasus.

But Zeus, the chief of the gods and god of the storm, sent a stallion, a stinging fly, which infuriated Pegasus, and his horse fell to Belerofont, and thus the story of this hero ended. However Pegasus did reach Olympus and Zeus remained there and finally made it a constellation that we can all see at night to remember the wonderful winged horse.

Archaeology Museum of Catalonia
The Museum of Archeology of Catalonia (MAC) is a national museum whose objective is the conservation, research and dissemination of archeological remains in Catalonia, which illustrate the different historical periods between prehistory and medieval times. It was created as a result of the Museum Law of 1990 and is a networked museum made up of a series of different sites and sites, spread throughout Catalonia.

The Archeology Museum of Catalonia and exhibiting in the most important archaeological collection in Catalonia. For this reason, the museum and heritage museum Becomes an essential destination to discover the archeology, history and ancient art of the current Catalan territory.

The Museum of Archeology of Catalonia integrates five major facilities museum: the Museum of Archeology of Catalonia in Barcelona, the headquarters of the institution, the Museum of Archeology of Catalonia in Girona, the Greek-Roman city of Empúries in L’Escala; the Iberian citadel of Ullastret in Ullastret; and the Castle and Archeological site of Olèrdola Olèrdola in. In addition, the museum also Manages the Center for Underwater Archeology of Catalonia (CASC), based in Girona, the National Deposits of Archeology, located in Cervera, and the “Iberian Graeca” Research Center, based in Scale.

National reference center in research, conservation and promotion of Catalan archaeological heritage, the Archeology Museum of Catalonia offers visitors a rich and unique services and experiences and cultural museum, Which includes BOTH visits to museums and archaeological sites museïtzats around the country, Such an extensive and varied program of temporary exhibitions and cultural and educational activities complementary Renewed always constantly THROUGHOUT the year. And all this with a single objective: That your visitors can live intense and enriching learning experiences, excitement and enjoyment, and Thusis can begin or renew an intense love story and lasting culture and heritage.