The Roman Crust

Portuguese Golden Age was the pinnacle of the country's history, and Portugal had to travel a centuries-long and winding road to reach that Everest. Unlike an actual path leading from a base camp all the way up to the summit, the virtual historical road would also meander through treacherous swamps and plunge into deep ravines. Yet, occasionally, it just rolled along some peaceful valley.

Countries are shaped by processes and events. The latter, such as battles and whole wars, natural disasters and revolutions, are easier to understand and relate to, because they are more intense, more dynamic, and usually associated with a particular date or set of dates. Sometimes, they last just a day (like the battle of Hastings in 1066, or the signing of Magna Carta by King John in 1215); others might take several years, up to a decade: the Civil War or the War of Independence in America, or the Cromwell Republic in England between 1649 and 1660). The most significant events aren't limited to a single country while affecting everyone involved - the 1848 Springtime of the Peoples is one such powerful example.

Years and even decades are a long time in the life of an individual but barely a fleeting moment on a historic scale dealing with centuries and millennia - and that's the timeline for historical processes like, for instance, the _aftermath_ of the above-mentioned battle of Hastings or a series of Viking invasions into England in the previous several centuries. Such processes are never straightforward but some of them are much more complex than others. What had been happening in - and occasionally to - Portugal between the years 218 BC and about the middle of the 15th century AD was so enormously complex and varied that the best way to describe it might be by drawing a comparison with a multi-layered pie, the Roman invasion of Iberian Peninsula during the Second Punic War being the crust of the pie.

The history of human civilization is so riddled with wars that peace seems almost like an intermission - yet, while War authors history, Peace creates civilizations. Roman's decision to expand inland rather than limiting their control to the coastal line resulted in fierce battles against local Lusitania tribes, Eventually, the Roman conquered, turned their conquest into a province and...named it after the tribe they had just fought against! Then, some of the legionnaires settled down right next to their former enemies - be it through intermarriages, land acquisitions, or in some other way - and the resulting settlements became a hybrid between Roman lifestyle and that of Lusitanians. A new reality gradually emerged. One of the consequences of that new reality was Conimbriga.  

A small town before the conquest, the Romans turned it into a prosperous hub with mixed population. Both Roman and Lusitanian, it was at the same time neither, but rather Portuguese, even if the name "Portugal" (as in "Portus Cale") was initially limited to a small settlement farther north of Conimbriga, then - since 868 - to a newly founded county. Archeological excavations provide plenty of information for historians and ethnographer to learn how Conimbriga built, and which materials 

professional tools

and household utensils

it used. Amateur tourists are likely to be more impressed by artistic details - such as, for instance, mosaic floors with intricate patterns 

or the sizable coliseum

As if saving the best for last, Conimbriga offers some personal touch right near the exit - a 3d century private house most modern celebrities wouldn't be ashamed of

The edifice itself hadn't survived, of course, but its foundation and some structural elements did. The layout is so well-preserved and clearly recognizable that it doesn't take too vivid an imagination to flesh out the rest...