PAX JULIA
(Beja) Alentejo, Portugal.
Mentioned by Ptolemy (2.5), it was made a colonia by Julius Caesar or Octavian. It was the seat of one of the
three judicial districts into which Augustus divided
Lusitania, and minted coins in the time of Octavius. The
fortifications, reconstructed in the Middle Ages over the
remains of the Roman ones, retained the three early
gates: Aviz, Mértola, and Évora. Only the gate of Évora remains today. The foundations of a temple have
been discovered, but were covered again.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A. Viana,
Origem e evolução histórica de Beja (1944).
J. ALARCÃO