AT THE HEART OF ISLAND LIFE
Bocchoris: Mallorca's Forgotten Ancient City
Oxford archaeologist Joel Bellviure reveals the remarkable story of Mallorca's forgotten ancient city and the settlement that flourished long before Rome.
When most of us think of Roman Mallorca, our minds turn to the impressive ruins of Pollentia in Alcúdia. Yet long before the Romans arrived, another settlement was already thriving in the north of the island. Bocchoris, believed to have stood in the Vall de Bóquer near Pollença, was more than 1,500 years old when Rome conquered the Balearics in 123 BC. Today, archaeologist Joel Bellviure, a doctoral researcher in Classical Archaeology at the University of Oxford, is helping to uncover the remarkable story of this ancient community and challenging long-held assumptions about Roman expansion. Lucy Hawkins spoke to Joel about Mallorca's place in the Roman Empire, the mysteries of Bocchoris, and what archaeology can reveal about the lives of the ordinary people who once called the island home.
Written by Lucy Hawkins. Photography (Above) by J. Rodriguez Pandozi
06/08/26
Joel, why was Mallorca strategically important to the Romans?
Mallorca, and the Balearics, lie in the middle of a very large body of water. For a Roman merchant sailing west to the big blue, it was essential to have familiar ports of call where sailors could rest, load wares and water, and continue a ship’s journey. In a world where tourism existed but was quintessentially different from nowadays, Mallorca had very few resources to offer. It was rather a service area for the thousands of ships that sailed in all possible directions in the Mediterranean.
Bocchoris existed before the Roman Conquest and was granted the status of a civitas foederata, allied city. Was that because it was so old?
Many very old settlements were still thriving in the Balearics when the Romans conquered the islands, and they did not receive a reward, so certainly something different happened with the Bocchoritans. It seems that its strategic position near a very suitable port quickly drew the attention of foreign merchants. Its inhabitants might have been more open to trade and diplomacy towards the Romans than other local villages.
What role did Bocchoris play in the Roman Empire?
We still know very little about the role of the Civitas Bocchoritana (the name that the Romans gave to the city that we often call Bocchoris, whose real name we still ignore). It seems that Bocchoris served as a bridgehead during the Roman conquest of the island. The town would have also provided Rome with resources, through trade or tribute, and perhaps joined its armies with the famous Balearic slingers. More excavations are needed to help uncover these mysteries.
What would Bocchoris have looked and felt like at its peak?
Bocchoris would have been a strange place to visit for someone coming straight from Rome. Roman citizens would have gasped at the clumsy cluttering of proper Italian-style houses next to 1,000-year-old megalithic relics at the time that the Romans came. The local Bocchoritans did not abandon their old ways of living but adapted to new customs. The environment has also changed dramatically in the past 2,000 years. Species that no longer exist in Mallorca, like the fallow deer, would have roamed around the city’s ramparts.
What can pottery found in archaeological digs tell us about daily life here 3,400 years ago?
We would like to have preserved the clothes, ornaments, wooden furniture, and much more from the ancients. However, very little remains besides constructions, metals, and, chiefly, pottery. Pottery is indestructible unless ground to dust, and hundreds of shards are found daily during a dig. Because pottery is made with clay, we are able to study the microscopic mineral inclusions of pottery and find out more about where these pots originally came from. Thanks to this, we know, for instance, that in about 350 BC, the Bocchoritans drank wine from Italy in cups brought from as far away as Athens.
Video below courtesy of the Museu de Pollença
Can you tell me about the exhibition at the Museu de Pollença that you’ve curated?
This is a very small exhibition, with roughly 40 objects, that introduces the general public to the ancient history of Pollença. It is meant to highlight important pieces of Bocchoris, such as an Egyptian amulet or two very important Latin inscriptions cast in bronze. It was a very important step that originated from within the island, through Rotary Club Pollença and its president, Sebastià Pons, who have been spearheading archaeology in the town. More to come in the following years.
How connected was Mallorca to wider Mediterranean trade networks?
Very well connected. Mallorca lay in the middle of several trade routes that connected very prosperous regions of the Empire, foremost Africa (the Roman name for modern Tunisia), Baetica (in what is now Andalusia), and Italy itself. When excavating a Roman site, we find wares from any place imaginable in the Mediterranean Sea, even as far as Syria or the Black Sea.
Are there parallels between the Roman Empire and modern global trade?
Yes. Despite the long time that has elapsed and the impact of the Industrial Revolution, the Romans hugely benefited from trading in a sea that, for most of the time, was at peace. They were the first to fully embrace long-distance shipping. Thousands of Roman amphorae (terracotta containers) have been found in India alone. The Romans themselves wrote of how important the trade with India was for their economy, even if the average citizen would have never sailed that far east.
Did Rome make Iberia richer, or simply make Rome richer?
Colonisers usually leave conquered territories in a shambles through extracting resources, coercing local inhabitants, and carefully controlling their economy. This most commonly results in an economic debacle for the conquered and the enrichment of a very privileged elite. We are increasingly finding that the case of Iberia was different, and that many other factors, like trade, allowed social climbing and the expansion of the economy in a way that cannot be exclusively attributed to conquest and enslavement.
Would people living in Roman Mallorca have felt prosperous under Roman rule?
The first generation living in Mallorca after the Roman conquest would have lived a very different life from that of their parents. Products from abroad suddenly flooded the market, and a society that was broadly hesitant to interact with foreigners found itself increasingly compelled to do so. Yet when we excavate a local archaeological site, besides the two Roman colonies established by the conquerors, Palma and Pollença, we see that local peasants saw few radical changes in their way of living. They probably ate differently and ploughed different crops, but they still inhabited the same houses and buried their loved ones the same way as previous generations.
Was Mallorca exploited for resources or valued as a trading hub?
Mallorca provided the Romans with very few valuable resources. Perhaps the most valuable were men, as Caesar enrolled several local slingers in his tumultuous conquest of Gaul (modern France). Mallorca was not a desirable place to live, unlike nowadays, and was well-known as a place of exile for many disgraced Roman politicians.
What do you personally feel when you stand among ruins?
Amazement and the dread of thinking that much of what we have cheaply built will likely not survive intact 4,000 years from now.
Oxford archaeologist Joel Bellviure reveals the remarkable story of Mallorca's forgotten ancient city and the settlement that flourished long before Rome.
When most of us think of Roman Mallorca, our minds turn to the impressive ruins of Pollentia in Alcúdia. Yet long before the Romans arrived, another settlement was already thriving in the north of the island. Bocchoris, believed to have stood in the Vall de Bóquer near Pollença, was more than 1,500 years old when Rome conquered the Balearics in 123 BC. Today, archaeologist Joel Bellviure, a doctoral researcher in Classical Archaeology at the University of Oxford, is helping to uncover the remarkable story of this ancient community and challenging long-held assumptions about Roman expansion. Lucy Hawkins spoke to Joel about Mallorca's place in the Roman Empire, the mysteries of Bocchoris, and what archaeology can reveal about the lives of the ordinary people who once called the island home.
Can you tell me about the exhibition at the Museu de Pollença that you’ve curated?
This is a very small exhibition, with roughly 40 objects, that introduces the general public to the ancient history of Pollença. It is meant to highlight important pieces of Bocchoris, such as an Egyptian amulet or two very important Latin inscriptions cast in bronze. It was a very important step that originated from within the island, through Rotary Club Pollença and its president, Sebastià Pons, who have been spearheading archaeology in the town. More to come in the following years.
How connected was Mallorca to wider Mediterranean trade networks?
Very well connected. Mallorca lay in the middle of several trade routes that connected very prosperous regions of the Empire, foremost Africa (the Roman name for modern Tunisia), Baetica (in what is now Andalusia), and Italy itself. When excavating a Roman site, we find wares from any place imaginable in the Mediterranean Sea, even as far as Syria or the Black Sea.
Are there parallels between the Roman Empire and modern global trade?
Yes. Despite the long time that has elapsed and the impact of the Industrial Revolution, the Romans hugely benefited from trading in a sea that, for most of the time, was at peace. They were the first to fully embrace long-distance shipping. Thousands of Roman amphorae (terracotta containers) have been found in India alone. The Romans themselves wrote of how important the trade with India was for their economy, even if the average citizen would have never sailed that far east.
Did Rome make Iberia richer, or simply make Rome richer?
Colonisers usually leave conquered territories in a shambles through extracting resources, coercing local inhabitants, and carefully controlling their economy. This most commonly results in an economic debacle for the conquered and the enrichment of a very privileged elite. We are increasingly finding that the case of Iberia was different, and that many other factors, like trade, allowed social climbing and the expansion of the economy in a way that cannot be exclusively attributed to conquest and enslavement.
Would people living in Roman Mallorca have felt prosperous under Roman rule?
The first generation living in Mallorca after the Roman conquest would have lived a very different life from that of their parents. Products from abroad suddenly flooded the market, and a society that was broadly hesitant to interact with foreigners found itself increasingly compelled to do so. Yet when we excavate a local archaeological site, besides the two Roman colonies established by the conquerors, Palma and Pollença, we see that local peasants saw few radical changes in their way of living. They probably ate differently and ploughed different crops, but they still inhabited the same houses and buried their loved ones the same way as previous generations.
Was Mallorca exploited for resources or valued as a trading hub?
Mallorca provided the Romans with very few valuable resources. Perhaps the most valuable were men, as Caesar enrolled several local slingers in his tumultuous conquest of Gaul (modern France). Mallorca was not a desirable place to live, unlike nowadays, and was well-known as a place of exile for many disgraced Roman politicians.
What do you personally feel when you stand among ruins?
Amazement and the dread of thinking that much of what we have cheaply built will likely not survive intact 4,000 years from now.
Why do you think ancient history still matters today?
Human behaviour is mirrored in any historical era, no matter its distance from today. The achievements, failures, and joy of the ancients are no less relevant than those of our parents or children. They inhabited the same world we do, and though both the planet and humans have transformed over the centuries, questions that concern us all are universal. How did the ancient confront violence and aggression, how did they adapt to climate changes, and how did they manage to make themselves and their neighbours better off?
What’s it actually like working on a live excavation site?
Digs are usually done in the summer to allow students (and those teaching) to participate. This often means pickaxing one’s way through a site (brushes in archaeology are a Hollywood myth) under the blazing August sun. But for students, it often feels like a summer camp. Free time after excavation often involves a swim at the beach or enjoying Mallorcan cuisine in the local plaça.
What’s the most exciting discovery you’ve made on a dig?
It is very hard to choose. Archaeology is never about the objects but about the stories that they tell us. We have excavated a farmhouse that was brutally destroyed by the Roman army in Italy, or a tomb of a Medieval peasant who lived in the ruins of Pollentia long after the Roman town had been abandoned in the Islamic period. These tell two very completely different stories, which help us to have a more humane (and often inhumane) vision of the Romans. Some of my favourite discoveries are finding plates with their owner’s names scratched in Latin.
Visit the exhibition A la recerca de Bocchoris ('In Search of Bocchoris') at the Museu de Pollença from now until October 4th.
Why do you think ancient history still matters today?
Human behaviour is mirrored in any historical era, no matter its distance from today. The achievements, failures, and joy of the ancients are no less relevant than those of our parents or children. They inhabited the same world we do, and though both the planet and humans have transformed over the centuries, questions that concern us all are universal. How did the ancient confront violence and aggression, how did they adapt to climate changes, and how did they manage to make themselves and their neighbours better off?
What’s it actually like working on a live excavation site?
Digs are usually done in the summer to allow students (and those teaching) to participate. This often means pickaxing one’s way through a site (brushes in archaeology are a Hollywood myth) under the blazing August sun. But for students, it often feels like a summer camp. Free time after excavation often involves a swim at the beach or enjoying Mallorcan cuisine in the local plaça.
What’s the most exciting discovery you’ve made on a dig?
It is very hard to choose. Archaeology is never about the objects but about the stories that they tell us. We have excavated a farmhouse that was brutally destroyed by the Roman army in Italy, or a tomb of a Medieval peasant who lived in the ruins of Pollentia long after the Roman town had been abandoned in the Islamic period. These tell two very completely different stories, which help us to have a more humane (and often inhumane) vision of the Romans. Some of my favourite discoveries are finding plates with their owner’s names scratched in Latin.
Visit the exhibition A la recerca de Bocchoris ('In Search of Bocchoris') at the Museu de Pollença from now until October 4th.