Empúries

Summary

Empúries was an ancient Greek city on the Mediterranean coast of Catalonia, Spain. Empúries is also known by its Spanish name, Ampurias. The city Ἐμπόριον was founded in 575 BC by Greeks from Phocaea. The invasion of Gaul from Iberia by Hannibal the Carthaginian general in 218 BC prompted the Romans to occupy the city, thus initiating the Roman conquest of Hispania. In the Early Middle Ages, the city's exposed coastal position left it open to marauders and it was abandoned.