Roman Malacca began as Phoenician Malaka in the seventh and sixth centuries BC.

The village became a major economic hub in the sixth century BC, but its earliest archaeological artifacts date to the eighth century BC.

In the early half of that century, a defensive belt was built and new structures were built, many of which used masonry. A new, larger, eastern defense system that used the older wall was built towards the end of the sixth or beginning of the fifth century BC, causing a second building boom. From then on, the old buildings were reorganized until the third century BC. At this point, the settlement extends into surrounding areas.

In the early years after its integration into the Roman state, the Roman metropolis had to preserve eastern urban physiognomy and culture. Punic inscriptions on imported Roman ceramics and coins minted in the city during the Roman era show this.

One of the rare early Roman constructions found is a bath beneath the Roman theater's flooring. An opus spicatum floor from a water-related construction was preserved.

After the Republic, the city's urban design and public monuments reflected the Empire's new governmental framework, transforming the High Empire's political, economic, and religious life. Public programs promoted Roman political ideas. Spas, theaters, new offices, and more were created to convey the emperors' ideologies. The Malaga Roman theater was built during the monumentalization of the public realm that lasted through the early half of the second century.

By the second century, the theater was rarely utilized. Historically, it was abandoned in the third century.

In the third century, salting industrial buildings dominated the area. The Theatre still has several garum-making basins.

It became a cemetery.

The Byzantine conquest revived commercial life, but it ceased in the 7th century, a time with little archaeological or textual evidence. The city looks to have fled to the hilltop fortress. The population dropped and emigrated to adjacent areas.