I
spent some time yesterday afternoon visiting a small village in Central
Portugal, not far from Pombal but in the municipality of Ansião. It is located
about 185 km North of Lisbon and its name is Santiago da Guarda.
In the middle of the village, there is part of
an ancient Roman villa, very well preserved and worth the visit. The dwelling
was a large one, around 1,300 square metres. Its size, the design and the
quality of the tile floorings show clearly this house was then built for a very
powerful family. And that´s particularly intriguing, as Santiago da Guarda is
on a mountain in a region that could only be of interest, 16 or 17 centuries
ago, for rearing small ruminants.
It
is a fact we know little about the basis of political and economic power at the time. We know a bit
more about today´s power basis, don´t we?
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