He hoped Minerva would protect them. That’s why, with a dagger, the Roman centurion Manius Vibio left an inscription written in the stone on the tower relief dedicated to the goddess of wisdom.
Without knowing it, he had just written the oldest Latin inscription in the peninsula. He was an Etruscan and commanded the soldiers who were building the Tarraco walls, which would become the oldest Roman construction in Europe outside the Italian peninsula. Rome had landed in Hispania and was here to stay.
In Tarragona, History emanates from the stones, the books and becomes alive. The city has specialised in historic re-enactment events. Archaeologists, historians, script writers, narrators and extras work hard to spread and share the city’s history and our classical civilisation through events like the TARRACO VIVA festival in May and the sessions dedicated to the Napoleonic War.
preading ancient history in an attractive way that provokes reflection about our past. That was the aim when Tarraco Viva was set up in 1999. “History for everyone” could be the motto for this international festival dedicated to spreading the history of Roman times. Tarraco Viva has become a benchmark event thanks to both the proposals that it makes and the quality that it offers. Military life and daily life; the legions, the theatre, the gladiators, the homes, the cuisine, the writings, the engineering, the fashion... all recreated with a common denominator: exactness. Getting to know the past is not something that is confined, rather it is the best way to understand the present and, therefore, to be able to choose the future. You will probably discover that you are more Roman than you thought. Welcome to Tarraco!
Discover places and sites of the Roman Archaeological Ensemble of Tarraco
Choose a thematic route and prepare your visit to Tarragona
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