Abstract:

Based on a study of late-Republican military turres in north-eastern Hispania Citerior (present-day Catalonia), this paper focuses on two isolated towers (Puig d’Àlia and Tentellatge 1) and a Roman stronghold with a towered rampart and a separate tower (Olèrdola). Excavations at the three sites have been conducted in recent years to determine morphological features, distribu-tion and chronology of the towers. Late Republican turres were strategically sited to control the road network and administer the surrounding area from the mid second century BC, although their chronology is still subject to debate. A thousand years later, in medieval times, they played a key role in the expansion of the Catalan counties, becoming strategic assets again fol-lowing a long period of abandonment. Finally, the paper notes that the reuse of the structures and the plundering of their masonry makes the study of these notable archaeological elements problematic.