Bocchoris (city)

Last updated

Bocchoris (also known as Bocchorum, Bocchor and Oppidum Bochoritanum [1] ) was an ancient city in northern Majorca (Balearic Islands, Spain), dating back to pre-Roman times. It was one of the oldest settlements in Majorca [2] and was once a foederatus (federated city to Rome), as recorded by Pliny the Elder.

Contents

Location

Bocchoris lay near the current town of Port de Pollença, on a hill to the right of the road from Port de Pollença to Pollença, around Boquer Valley.

The city dates back to c. 1400 BC and many traces of it remain. A long stretch of the Roman town wall and the entrance gates are still visible in what is now flat farmland. The surrounding area has not been excavated.

Historiography

A tabula patronatus
from Bocchorus (AD 6). Tabula Patronatus Bocchorus (AD 6) - Serra Ferragut.jpg
A tabula patronatus from Bocchorus (AD 6).

The civitas bocchoritana, i.e., Bocchoris, is unique in the island of Majorca. Evidence that it once was a federated city is sensu stricto confirmed by juridic epigraphy, in the form of two different tabulae patronatus. Pliny the Elder also listed Bocchoris among the federated cities, in his book Naturalis Historia , III, 77–78 in the 1st century BC:

The Baleares, so formidable in war with their slingers, have received from the Greeks the name of Gymnasiæ. The larger island is 100 miles in length, and 475 in circumference. It has the following towns; Palma and Pollentia, enjoying the rights of Roman citizens, Cinium and Tucis, with Latin rights; and Bocchorum was a federate town. [3]

Near the ruins of Bocchoris, two bronze inscriptions were found, dating back to the years 10 BC and 6 AD. One inscription, found in the Bay of Pollença in 1951, and dating to 10 BC, mainly stated that Bocchoris' patron was Marcus Crassus, Roman consul in 14 BC. The whole text in Latin, as written in the inscription, is as follows:

(Iullo Ant)onio Fabio Africano | a(nte) d(iem) XVII k(alendas) Apriles | Civitas Bochoritana ex | insula Baliarum Maiorum | patronum cooptavit M. | Crassum Frugi leiberos | posterosque eius. | M. Crassus Frugi eos in | suam suorumque | clientelam recepit. Egerunt C. Coelius C. F. et | C. Caecilius T. F. legati

The other tabula patronatus was discovered much earlier, in 1765. [4] According to this bronze inscription, dating to 6 AD, the Senate and the people of Bocchoris selected by mutual consent the Roman Senator Marcus Atilius Vernus as their patron. In Latin, it says:

M. Aemilio Lepido, L. Arruntio | co(n)s(ulibus) k(alendis) Mais. | Ex insula Baliarum Maiore senatus | populusque Bocchoritanus M. Atilium M. F. Gal(eria) Vernum patronum coopata | M. Atilius M. F. Gal(eria) Vernus senatum | populusque Bochoritanum in fidem | clientelamque suam suorumque recepit. | Egerunt Q. Caecilius Quintus | C. Valerius Icesta praetores

Etymology

Very little is known about the origin of the word Bocchoris and whether the name of the city was actually Bocchor, Bocchoris or Bocchorum. The name is still conserved in its Catalan variant, Boquer, which denominates the area around the current Boquer Valley in Port de Pollença.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Menapii</span> Belgic tribe

The Menapii were a Belgic tribe dwelling near the North Sea, around present-day Cassel, during the Iron Age and the Roman period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bituriges Cubi</span> Gallic tribe

The Bituriges Cubi were a Gallic tribe dwelling in a territory corresponding to the later province of Berry, which is named after them, during the Iron Age and the Roman period. They had a homonym tribe, the Bituriges Vivisci, in the Bordelais region, which could indicate a common origin, although there is no direct evidence of this.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Remi</span> Belgic tribe

The Remi were a Belgic tribe dwelling in the Aisne, Vesle and Suippe river valleys during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Their territory roughly corresponded the modern Marne and Ardennes and parts of the Aisne and Meuse departments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vellavii</span> Gallic tribe

The Vellavii were a Gallic tribe dwelling around the modern city of Le Puy-en-Velay, in the region of the Auvergne, during the Iron Age and the Roman period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calpurnia gens</span> Ancient Roman family

The gens Calpurnia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome, which first appears in history during the third century BC. The first of the gens to obtain the consulship was Gaius Calpurnius Piso in 180 BC, but from this time their consulships were very frequent, and the family of the Pisones became one of the most illustrious in the Roman state. Two important pieces of Republican legislation, the lex Calpurnia of 149 BC and lex Acilia Calpurnia of 67 BC were passed by members of the gens.

Marcus Terentius Varro Lucullus, younger brother of the more famous Lucius Licinius Lucullus, was a supporter of Lucius Cornelius Sulla and consul of ancient Rome in 73 BC. As proconsul of Macedonia in 72 BC, he defeated the Bessi in Thrace and advanced to the Danube and the west coast of the Black Sea. In addition, he was marginally involved in the Third Servile War.

The Venellī or Unellī were a Gallic tribe dwelling on the Cotentin peninsula, in the northwest of modern Normandy, during the Iron Age and the Roman period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Redones</span> Gallic tribe

The Redones or Riedones were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the eastern part of the Brittany peninsula during the Iron age and subsequent Roman conquest of Gaul. Their capital was at Condate, the site of modern day Rennes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leuci</span> Belgic tribe

The Leucī were a Belgic tribe dwelling in the southern part of the modern Lorraine region during the Iron Age and the Roman period.

The gens Asinia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome, which rose to prominence during the first century BC. The first member of this gens mentioned in history is Herius Asinius, commander of the Marrucini during the Social War. The Asinii probably obtained Roman citizenship in the aftermath of this conflict, as they are mentioned at Rome within a generation, and Gaius Asinius Pollio obtained the consulship in 40 BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caecilia gens</span> Ancient Roman family

The gens Caecilia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are mentioned in history as early as the fifth century BC, but the first of the Caecilii who obtained the consulship was Lucius Caecilius Metellus Denter, in 284 BC. The Caecilii Metelli were one of the most powerful families of the late Republic, from the decades before the First Punic War down to the time of Augustus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boquer Valley</span>

The Boquer Valley is a scenic valley running 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) north-east from the town of Port de Pollença, Majorca, to the sea at Cala Boquer. It is popular with bird-watchers for its migratory birds and resident Blue Rock Thrushes.

The gens Metilia was a minor family at ancient Rome. Although they occur throughout Roman history, and several were tribunes of the plebs, beginning in the fifth century BC, none of the Metilii attained the higher offices of the Roman state until imperial times, when several of them became consul.

The Dexivates were a small Gallic tribe dwelling in the southern part of modern Vaucluse, near the present-day village of Cadenet, during the Iron Age and the Roman period.

The Segovellauni were a small Gallic tribe dwelling in the modern Drôme department, near the present-day city of Valence, during the Iron Age and the Roman period.

The Catuslugi were a small Belgic coastal tribe dwelling around modern-day Incheville (Normandy) during the Roman period.

The Vediantii were a Celto-Ligurian tribe dwelling on the Mediterranean coast, near present-day Nice, during the Iron Age and the Roman period.

References

  1. "Oppidum Bochoritanum". The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  2. Riaza, Enrique García. "La civitas Bocchoritana: una cuestión abierta". García Riaza, E. Revista d'Arqueologia de Ponent, 9, 1999, 75-81. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  3. Baliares funda bellicosas Graeci Gymnasias dixere. maior Cp. est longitudine, circuitu vero CCCCLXXV.ppa habet civium Romanorum Palmam et Pollentiam,Latina Guium et Tucim, et foederatum Bocchorum fuit.
  4. "Disertación Histórica Sobre una Inscripción Romana del Pueblo Bocchoritano Hallada en Mallorca en el Territorio de la Villa de Pollensa en el Año de 1765", S. Ferragut (1766)