Roman Málaga: trade, theatre and garum

Roman Málaga: trade, theatre and garum

The Roman history of Málaga is easy to reduce to one monument: the Roman Theatre beside the Alcazaba. But the archaeological story is much broader. Roman Malaca was a port city shaped by trade, fish processing, civic institutions and a long transition from the Punic settlement that came before it.

Rome arrived, but the city did not start again from zero

Málaga’s official archaeological route places the Roman conquest at the end of the 3rd century BC. The first important point is continuity. According to the municipal archaeological record, the economic, social and urban structure of the existing city did not immediately disappear.

That makes Roman Málaga more interesting than a simple before-and-after story. Rome took control of a functioning Mediterranean settlement and gradually transformed it.

Fish, salt and sauce were serious business

Among the earliest strong archaeological signals of Roman-era activity is large-scale fish processing. The official archaeological material refers to production linked to sauces and salted fish.

Garum is the best-known name connected with this world. Málaga’s municipal history describes it as a sauce made from salted and fermented fish and places its production within a wider urban economy that also included pottery and the movement of goods through the port.

For a visitor, this matters because it changes the image of Roman Malaca. This was not just a city of monuments and officials. It was also a place of workshops, storage, processing and maritime commerce.

A Roman municipality with public architecture

During the 1st century AD, the Lex Flavia Malacitana reflects the city’s Roman municipal status. This period is associated with the construction of major public buildings, including the theatre.

The municipal history of Málaga also records a forum in the area of today’s Calle Alcazabilla. The theatre, therefore, belonged to a wider civic landscape rather than standing alone.

Today the theatre is the most immediately legible Roman monument in the centre because it remains visible beside the Alcazaba. Its location creates one of Málaga’s clearest historical contrasts: Roman public architecture below an Islamic fortress built many centuries later.

The port remained fundamental

Roman Malaca’s economy was closely connected to the sea. The city’s official history mentions products such as olive oil, purple dye extracted from molluscs and garum, alongside pottery linked to trade and export.

This fits the longer pattern already visible in Phoenician Málaga: the bay and port were not background scenery. They were part of the reason the settlement mattered.

The Roman city kept changing

Malaca did not remain frozen at its 1st-century peak. Between the beginning of the 3rd century and the 4th century AD, the city was fortified again. Archaeology also identifies production areas connected with fish processing and routes leading out of the city.

After the western Roman political order weakened, urban life changed again. By the early 6th century, during the Byzantine phase, archaeological evidence still points to active commerce, with storage areas near the port and residential zones.

The lesson is continuity mixed with transformation. Málaga did not simply move from “Roman” to “not Roman” overnight.

How to read Roman Málaga today

Start with the Roman Theatre, but do not stop there. Look at Calle Alcazabilla as part of a former civic area, then consider how close the ancient port zone was to the urban centre.

Pair this story with the Phoenician layer beneath Málaga and the later Alcazaba above it. Together they explain why this small part of the city contains such a dense sequence of Mediterranean history.

Roman Málaga is best understood not as one preserved monument, but as a port city where trade, industry, administration and public life all overlapped.

Sources used for this draft

• Ayuntamiento de Málaga · Rutas Arqueológicas: Málaga romana
• Ayuntamiento de Málaga · Historia ampliada