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Neolithic era to the Roman Empire
During the Neolithic the region was inhabited by the same people that
lived in other regions of Atlantic Europe, and are known as the
Iberians. They built religious monuments called megaliths. Dolmens and
Menhirs still survive in the countryside around the city. The Celts
invaded after first millennium BC and they intermarried with the
Iberians, giving birth to the Celtic-speaking local tribes such as the
Conii and Cempsi.
Archeological findings prove that a Phoenician trading post existed in
the place now occupied by the centre of the city since 1200 B.C.. The
magnificent natural harbour provided by the estuary of the river Tagus
made it the ideal spot for a settlement to provide foodstuffs to the
Phoenician ships travelling to the tin islands (modern Isles of Scilly)
and Cornwall. The new city was named Alis Ubbo or "safe harbour" in
Phoenician. Besides sailing to the North, the Phoenicians also probably
took advantage of the situation of the new colony at the mouth of
Iberia's largest river to trade with the inland tribes for valuable
metals. Other important local products were salt, salted fish and the
then widely famous Lusitanian horses. Recently, Phoenician remains from
the eighth century B.C. were found beneath the Middle Age Sé de Lisboa
or main Cathedral of the modern city.
According to an Ancient Greek myth, the hero Ulysses founded the city
after he left Troy and departed to the Atlantic to escape the Greek
coalition. However the foundation of the city by the Phoenicians
predates any Greek presence in the area.
The Greeks knew it as Olissipo, a name they thought was derived from
Ulysses (over time, this was corrupted in vulgar Latin to Olissipona).
Roman Empire to the Moorish conquest
During the Punic wars, after the defeat of Hannibal (whose troops
included members of the Conii) the Romans decided to deprive Carthage
in its most valuable possession, Hispania (or "Spain"" in English but
in fact Spain and Portugal). After the defeat of the Carthaginians by
Scipio Africanus in Eastern Hispania, the pacification of the West was
led by Consul Decimus Junius Brutus. He obtained the alliance of
Olissipo which sent men to fight alonside the Legions against the
Celtic tribes of the Northwest. In return, Olissipo was integrated in
the Empire under the name of Felicitas Julia, a Municipium Cives
Romanorum, that is, it was granted self-rule over a territory going as
far away as 50 kilometres (30 miles), exempted from taxes and its
citizens given the privileges of Roman citizenship. It was integrated
in the newly created province of Lusitania, whose capital was Emerita
Augusta. The attacks by the Lusitanians during the frequent rebellions
over the next couple of centuries weakened the city and a wall was
built.
The Romans built a great Theatre in the time of Augustus; the Cassian
Baths underneath the current Rua da Prata; Temples to Jupiter, Diana,
Cybele, Tethys and Idae Phrygiae (an uncommon cult from Asia Minor),
besides temples to the Emperor; a large necropolis under Figueira
Plaza; a large Forum and other buildings such as insulae (multi-storied
apartment buildings) existed in the area between the modern Castle Hill
and Downtown. Many of these ruins were first unearthed during the
middle Eighteenth century, when the recent discovery of Pompeii made
Roman Archeology fashionable among Europe's upper classes.
Economically Olissipo was known for its garum, a sort of fish sauce,
highly prized by the elites of the Empire, and exported in Amphorae to
Rome and other cities. Wine, salt and its famously fast horses were
also exported. The city came to be very prosperous through suppression
of piracy and technological advances, which allowed a boom in the trade
with the newly Roman Provinces of Britannia (particularly Cornwall) and
the Rhine; and the introduction of higher civilization to the tribes
living by the river Tagus in the interior of Hispania. The city was
ruled by an oligarchical council dominated by two families, the Julii
and the Cassiae. Petitions are recorded addressed to the Governor of
the province in Emerita and to the Empreror Tiberius, such as one
requesting help dealing with "sea monsters" alegedly responsible for
shipwrecks. Roman Lisbon's most famous son was Sertorius which early in
the history of the Roman Period led a large rebellion against Dictator
Sulla. Among the majority of Latin speaking peoples lived a
surprisingly large minority of Greek traders and slaves. The city was
connected by a broad road to Western Hispania's two other large cities,
Bracara Augusta (in the province of Tarraconensis, todays Portuguese
Braga); and Emerita Augusta, the capital of Lusitania, today Merida in
Spain.
In matters of religion, the city followed within the mainstream Roman
Polytheist cults, but with special attention paid to the god of
Medicina, Asclepius and the Moon goddess Cybele and a local lizard and
snake divinity.
Olissipo like most great cities in the Western Empire was a centre for
the dissemination of Christianity. Its first Bishop was Saint Gens, and
there were several martyrs killed by the pagans during the great
persecutions: Maxima, Verissimus and Julia are the most significant
names.
The city was part of Roman Lusitania (although not the capital), was
taken by Moors (it was called al-ʾIšbūnah (Arabic الأشبونة) under the
Arabs in the Eighth Century (approximately 711), was reconquered 1147
by Dom Afonso Henriques, first king of Portugal (with the help of
crusaders of the Second Crusade (see Siege of Lisbon). One of them,
Gilbert of Hastings, was to became the first Bishop of the restored
diocese of Lisbon. Lisbon has been the capital of Portugal since 1255.
The University of Lisbon was originally founded in 1290, transferred
several times to Coimbra and refounded in 1911 after centuries of
inactivity, incorporating reformed former colleges and other
non-university schools of the city (such as the Escola Politécnica).
Today there are 3 public universities in the city (UL, UTL and UNL) and
a public university institute (ISCTE) - see list of universities in
Portugal.
Fall of the Moors to the Portuguese Empire
Lisbon reached its peak of prosperity during the period of the
Portuguese Empire in the 16th century. On 26 January 1531 the city was
hit by an earthquake which killed thousands.
The XVI century marks the golden age for Lisbon. The city became the
European hub of commerce with the Far East, while gold from Brazil also
flooded into the city.
Padrão dos Descobrimentos (Discoveries landmark)
Enlarge
Padrão dos Descobrimentos (Discoveries landmark)
On 1 November 1755 Lisbon was destroyed by another earthquake, the 1755
Lisbon earthquake, which killed between 60,000 and 90,000 people and
destroyed eighty-five percent of the city [1]. Voltaire wrote a long
poem, "Poême sur le désastre de Lisbonne", shortly afterwards, and
mentioned the earthquake in his 1759 novel Candide (indeed, many argue
that this critique of optimism was inspired by that earthquake). Oliver
Wendell Holmes, Sr. also mentions it in his 1857 poem, The Deacon's
Masterpiece, or The Wonderful One-Hoss Shay.
After the 1755 earthquake, the city was rebuilt largely according to
the plans of the Marquês de Pombal; hence the designation of the lower
town as Baixa Pombalina. Instead of rebuilding the medieval town,
Marques de Pombal decided to demolish the remains of the earthquake and
rebuild the down town in accordance with modern urban rules, in what
would now probably be considered at least controversial.
After Napoléon
Lisbon was the centre of a republican coup October 4-5,1910 and the
Carnation Revolution of April 25, 1974, which overthrew Antonio
Salazar's successor Marcelo Caetano, the last prime-minister of the
Portuguese Corporative Regime: the Estado Novo.
[taken from the Wikipedia]
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