The Romanization of Hispania is the process by which Roman or Latin culture was introduced into the Iberian Peninsula during the period of Roman rule.
Although Roman influence had a major impact on existing cities in the peninsula, the largest urban development effort focused on newly constructed cities:
Roman towns or settlements were conceived as images of the imperial capital in miniature. Public buildings were constructed by the curator operatum and were run directly by the supreme municipal magistrates.
To allocate public funds to any work, authorization from the emperor was needed.[citation needed] Patriotism and local euergetism encouraged local cities to compete, creating more affluent neighboring municipalities.
Public works undertaken with private funds did not need approval by the emperor. The planners decided the space needed for the houses, plazas and temples, the volume of water required and the number and width of streets. Soldiers collaborated in the construction of the city, as well as local craftsmen together with slaves.
Tarraco had its origin in the Roman military camp established by the two brothers, consular,[clarification needed] Gnaeus and Publius Cornelius Scipio in 218 BC, when commanding the landing on the Iberian Peninsula during the Second Punic War. The first mention of the city is by Pliny the Elder who characterizes the city as scipionum opus ("work of the Scipios") (Nat.Hist. III.21) and ends "... sicut Poenorum Carthago" (loosely translated, "... just like the original Carthage").
Tarraco was the capital at the outset of the Hispania Citerior during the Roman Republic, and later the very extensive Hispania Citerior Tarraconensis Province. Possibly around the year 45 BC Julius Caesar changed the status of city to a colonia, which is reflected in the epithet Iulia in its formal name: Colonia Iulia Urbs Triumphalis Tarraco, which remained for the duration of the Empire.
Emerita Augusta was founded in 25 BC by Publius Carisio, as the representative of the emperor
Italica (located where the city of Santiponce in the province of Seville stands today) was the first purely Roman city founded in Hispania. After the Second Punic War, Scipio Africanus divided land between the Roman legions in the Betis river valley (now the Guadalquivir), so that although Italica was created as a field hospital for the wounded from the Battle of Ilipa, later it became a settlement for veterans of war and then a municipality, on the west bank of the river Betis in 206 BC.
In the reign of
Also during the reign of Hadrian, the city changed its status to become a Roman colony. It was at this time renamed Colonia Aelia Augusta Italica, in honor of the emperor. By then, the Roman Senate had an important pressure group originating from the Spanish city.
The city was founded around the year 227 BC by the Carthaginian general Hasdrubal the Fair under the name of Qart Hadast ("New Town"). It was strategically located on a large natural harbor from which the nearby silver mines of Carthago Nova could be controlled. It was taken by the Roman general Scipio Africanus in the year 209 BC during the Second Punic War to cut off the silver going to general Hannibal.
In the year 44 BC, the city received the title of colony under the name Colonia Urbs Iulia Nova Carthago (CVINC), founded by citizens of Roman law.[clarification needed] In 27 BC, Augustus decided to reorganize Hispania, and the city was included in the new imperial province of Hispania Tarraconensis, through[clarification needed] Tiberius and Claudius, it was made the capital of conventus iuridicus Carthaginensis.
During the reign of Augustus, the city was subjected to an ambitious development program which included, among other urban developments, the construction of an impressive Roman theater, the Augusteum (imperial cult building) and a forum.
Later, under Emperor Diocletian, it was made the capital of the Roman Province of Hispania Carthaginensis, separate from Tarraconensis.
The military works were the first type of infrastructure built by the Romans in Hispania, due to the confrontation with the Carthaginians on the peninsula during the Second Punic War.
Once a settlement had developed into a stable colony or camp, it had to be defended with sturdy walls. The Romans inherited the
There are notable present-day remains of Roman walls in Zaragoza, Lugo, León, Tarragona, Astorga, Córdoba, Segóbriga and Barcelona.
The ancient Roman civilization is known as the great builder of infrastructure. It was the first civilization which dedicated itself to a serious and determined effort for this kind of civil work as a basis for settlement of their populations, and the preservation of its military and economic domination over the vast territory of its empire. The works of most importance are
Either within or outside the urban environment, these facilities became vital for the function of the city and its economy, allowing it to supply the most essential necessities; either water via aqueducts or food, supplies and goods through the efficient network of roads. In addition, any city of at least average importance had a sewer system for the drainage of waste water and to prevent rain flooding the streets.
Infrastructure for civilian use was built with intensity by the Romans in Hispania, Roman roads that ran through the peninsula joining
Among these roads, the most important were:
To signal distance along these routes milestones were placed, which were either columns or significant stones, and they marked the distance from the point of origin as measured by thousands of steps (miles).
Currently most of these routes correspond to the layout of present-day roads or highways in the states of Spain and Portugal, which confirms the renewed logic of the Roman optimal choice for their roads.
Roman bridges, an essential complement to the roads, allowed them to overcome the obstacle posed by rivers, which in the case of the Iberian Peninsula can be very wide. Rome, faced with this geographical challenge, responded with some of the most durable and reliable constructions. Rome also built a large number of wooden bridges on minor crossings, but today the only surviving references are those made of stone.
The typical Roman bridge consisted of a platform supported by arches, semicircles or segments of circles. There are also cases of bridges over full circles. The pillars in the water include a wedge-shaped structures called
This successful model construction model lasted until late Middle Ages, and today it is difficult to know in some cases if some bridges are actually Roman or if they were built later to the original design.
An important town needed a constant water supply for the thousands of people gathered in one place which could be sometimes several miles away from natural water source. To achieve this continuous flow of water the Romans built aqueducts.
The Roman aqueducts, despite their appearances, were built mostly underground. However, they are now known as the monumental aqueducts built to bridge geographic barriers in order to give a continuous water channel. The slenderness of this type of construction, along with the tremendous height reached by some of them, makes them the most beautiful works of civil engineering of all time, especially taking into account the difficulties overcome to build them.
For the construction of an aqueduct, first they needed a source of the water, channeling a natural flow through the construction of a
From this point, the water could be transported by canals, whether of stone, or by pipes of ceramic or lead. The latter solution would also bring about health problems such as lead poisoning, a problem that would extend almost to the present day in places where this type of water management has been used in abundance. Lead piping was more easy to work, but was used more in the urban distribution network due to its high price, as well as aqueduct traps.
The artificial reservoir water was transported through an underground channel to the town, often taking advantage of natural slopes, but sometimes the Romans also built traps, which allowed them to avoid a downward slope without building the famous bridges but keeping the pressure flow. These traps take advantage of the pressure resulting from the falling water to raise the other side, keeping the pressure at the expense of losing some of the flow. This is an application of the principle of communicating vessels.
Current aqueducts which are notable for their condition include the first
Within the urban environment are the baths and sewers, but also remarkable buildings for leisure and culture, including
Roman culture worshiped the body, and therefore the health of it. The hot springs or public baths became meeting places for people from all walks of life, and their use was encouraged by the authorities, which sometimes covered their expenses which allowed free access to the population. Although men and women sometimes shared the same spaces, bath times were different for each: women came in the morning while the men did at dusk. Those available in separate sections for men and women, the separate areas devoted to them were given the name spas.
In the Iberian Peninsula there is great diversity of such archaeological buildings, highlighting their conservation status such as the Baths of Alange near Mérida which, after several restorations over the 18th and 19th centuries, are now open the public as part of a medicinal water spa.
The
Generally, the spa is surrounded by gardens and other accessory buildings with services for visitors such as gymnasiums, libraries or other places of assembly (laconium), all with the aim of providing customers with a pleasant and invigorating environment. These springs require large numbers of staff to operate, particularly taking into account the need for large amounts of hot water, the need for materials and to properly serve customers.
The Romans knew from the beginning of its rise as a civilization that a city must have an efficient system of waste disposal in order to grow. Hence, they built in all cities of any importance the sewage systems that still in some cases remain in their original form. In Mérida, for example, the Roman sewer system has been used until recent years, and its design still serves as reference to know what was the layout of the ancient Roman city. In other cities like León (founded as a camp of the Legio VII Gemina) are vestiges of these infrastructures and serve as an example on rainy days of a perfect drainage system to prevent flooded streets .
Classical literature, both Greek and Roman, is full of dramas written expressly for public performance, although in reality, the Roman theater has its origins in the Etruscan foundations of their culture. It is however true that very soon assimilated the characteristics of ancient Greek tragedy and comedy.
The theater was one of the favorite leisure activities of the Hispanic-Roman, and as with other buildings of public interest, any city of renown could do without owning one. So much so that the theater of
The Roman theatre had more important activities than comedies or dramas; it was a venue for celebrations that praised the emperor, it is therefore of a more political, not leisurely nature, although on occasion it may have accommodated all kinds of cultural exhibitions. The vast wealth of theaters in Hispania has to do with the political life of cities and towns which all aspired to have its own theater and therefore solidify their status.
Other examples are in the city of Baelo Claudia, a city that has an impressive Roman theatre inside the fortress, occupying a huge space. Its construction in a city where only houses have been found only within the fortress, suggests the importance of this civil building: to represent the political force of the emperor. Undoubtedly, the best preserved theater in the Peninsula is to Mérida, but also the theater of Italica, Sagunto, Clunia, Caesaraugusta and others are part of the archaeological record, and some even host modern theater festivals regularly: they can be considered to be fulfilling the purpose for which they were built, in some cases more than two thousand years ago.
In the nineties Roman Theatre in Cartagena was discovered and currently under restoration.
The reconstruction carried out on Sagunto's theater, designed by architects Giorgio Grassi and Manuel Portaceli and carried out between 1983 and 1993 is still mired in both controversy and in legal disputes. A court order requires the demolition of all the reconstruction work and for the return of the theatre to the conditions in which it was before the work was conducted. It seems unlikely however that such a sentence can be executed, since it can not guarantee the preservation of the original theatre due to the scale of the necessary demolition work.
Roman culture had distinct values on human life which are very different from those now prevailing in Europe and, in general, in the world. The system of slavery, made it possible for a man to lose his status as "free man" for various reasons such as: crime, debt or military defeat. After losing their rights, they were coerced into participating in a form of entertainment which today could be considered excessively brutal, but which at that time was one of the most powerful attractions of urban life: gladiatorial combat. Not only slaves or prisoners were involved in these kinds of struggles (although the vast majority of gladiators were), but some also had career as a gladiator who fought for money, favors or glory. Even some emperors occasionally ventured down to the sand to play this bloody "sport", as in the case of the emperor Commodus.
The fight took place at first in the circus, but then the construction of
Roman influence gradually spread across the peninsula over a
The Mediterranean coast, which was inhabited before the arrival of the Romans by indigenous Iberians such as the Turdetani and Ilergetians, as well as Greek and Phoenician/Carthaginian colonies, were quick to adopt aspects of Roman culture. The first Roman cities were founded in these territories, such as Tarraco in the northeast or Italica in the south during the period of confrontation with Carthage.
In the interior of the Iberian Peninsula, where Celtiberian, Cantabrian and Vasconian (Basque) cultures were well established. Constant military campaigns against the rebellious indigenous Iberians eventually pacified the Hispanic provinces, ending with the Augustan campaigns against the Cantabrians and Astures. The predominance of native Iberian culture diminished in the face of the cultural impact of Roman dominion, being assimilated and transformed gradually into the later Hispano-Roman culture.
The new Hispano-Roman elite, formed of the preceding Iberian tribal elite and the growing Roman aristocracy, occupied administrative positions in the new municipal institutions and wider imperial bureaucracy, serving in judicial, military and civil offices. The expansion of Roman citizenship in the