Tarraco was founded in 218 BC alongside an indigenous population centre and was the logistical base for the Roman conquest of the inland areas of the Peninsula. During the second half of the 1st century BC, it was granted the honorific title of colonia. Under Augustus, the provincial governor resided here and it became the centre of a conventus (a legal district). The walled area of Tarraco covered between 60 and 70 hectares. An impressive forum, where the administrative services of the province were concentrated, was built in the upper part of the city, while a large circus was built in the central area. Housing and the port occupied the lower part of the city.