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Until relatively recently, the Ancient Age was widely considered to have begun in the Orient with the advent of writing, roughly 5,000 years ago. Today, other factors are also taken into account when situating this period in the timeline of history, such as the way societies were organised, diversification with respect to production and consumption, transport systems, and lastly, the appearance of more advanced civilisations that have gone down in history or, in other words, have persisted in our collective memory.

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From this new perspective, the Ancient Age on the Iberian Peninsula is thought to have begun during the Iron Age II, although the last two millennia BC appear to be more typical of the Neolithic period, which was characterised by the use of metallurgy, and therefore cannot be dated to Prehistory with total certainty. Nevertheless, it is much more complicated to define the ending of the Ancient Age. According to some scholars, it concluded with the rise of the Visigoths in the 6^th century, while others contend that it was the Moorish invasion (in the Battle of Guadalete) in the year 711 (three centuries later) that marked its ending. Additionally, these theories raise the question of whether the reign of the Visogoths can be referred to as the first Spanish nation-state. If so concluded, the Middles Ages would only have been a period of re-conquest (''la Reconquista''). Or perhaps, this three-century-long period was merely a continuation of Roman rule (Antiquity). There is a longstanding historiographical debate about whether the origin and essence of Spain begin with ''Hispania'', or if Spain is something much more recent, as far as the 19^th century. In any case, as previously mentioned, belief in one historical theory does not preclude consideration of other differing theories.

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|titulo=The formation of Roman Hispania

The first Roman occupation took place along the Mediterranean coast and in the Guadalquivir River Basin, with the Romans ultimately replacing the Carthaginians. The Romans restructured the territory known to the Punics as ''I-span-ya'' (roughly meaning “the land of metals”), dividing it into two provinces: the ''Hispania Citerior'' and ''Hispania Ulterior'' (197 BC).

Over time, Hispania gradually assimilated the culture of the Roman Republic. In this territory, civil wars were waged between Mario and Sila. A Sila's enemy named Sertorius (whom the romantic historiography of Spain called the first king of Spain), defied the Romans and became a semi-independent ruler of Hispania until he was assassinated in 72 BC. Sertorius created the Senate of Evora, a school in Osca (Huesca) for the children of native nobility, and his own army. Also, in Hispania, the civil wars between Julius Caesar and Pompey (48 and 49 BC) were raging. Pompey was eventually defeated in the battles of Ilerda (Lleida) as well as his sons in the battles of Munda.

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The construction of [https://www.rtve.es/television/20220105/ingenieria-romana-carreteras/2069341.shtml Roman roads] uniting the now very Romanised 150 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Nvl55laqLA&list=ULNSZ4I0USJ8k&index=5100 cities] in Hispania facilitated a rapid distribution of raw materials and merchandise. The development of highly-advanced technology enabled them to go through mountains and [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0FZSmqcM-U rivers] as well as the construction of [https://chitiya.wordpress.com/2017/05/17/los-acueductos-romanos/ queducts], civic centres, sports complexes, institutional buildings and recreational spaces. The road system ran north-south with two major thoroughfares: ''Vía de la Plata'', from sea to sea, and ''Vía Augusta'', extending all the way to the city of Rome. These two roads were linked in turn from east to west by two parallel roads originating in Asturica Augusta and Italica. And lastly, there was a diagonal causeway joining Emerita Augusta with Cesaraugusta.

Facing the crisis of the 3^rd century, Diocletian (284-305) carried out an administrative, military and economic restructuring of the Roman Empire. The three provinces of Hispania were divided into five regions: ''Tarraconensis, Cartaginensis, Baetica, Lusitania'' and ''Gallaecia''. However, economic reform brought poverty. Slaves, who were very costly, were emancipated and inevitably became peasants, servants, manual labourers, and even, personal bodyguards for the lords and their possessions. The development of this system of multiple autonomous regions with a central governing power (which also protected life against hunger or thieves), forebode the manorial system of feudalism.

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Rural Hispania aided the successive arrival of Barbarian tribes to the Iberian Peninsula throughout the 5^th century. They came by virtue of agreements or ''foedus'' (the root of the word feudal) negotiated with the remote imperial power of Rome, and it is thought that Rome, in turn, felt obligated to show them some level of ''hospitalitas''. They had not come to wage war, so upon their arrival, only some cities, run by their bishops, closed its doors to them. Moreover, they were rarely met with hostility, except on the occasions when some group joined together with gangs of ''Bagaudae'' (organised thieves). In any case, this Barbarian presence on the Iberian Peninsula went virtually unnoticed in a population of perhaps four million people.

[[File:Enelaboracion.jpg|left|thumb|none|300px|Map: Constitution of the Visigothic State. German invasions. Spain.

<span style="color: #b20027; ">13988 [PDF]. [Datos]. </span>]]

The Suevi arrived around 409, the Vandals, around 411 and the Alans about 418. After intermingling with the Hispano-Romans, the Suevi were the only group of people during the 5^th and 6^th centuries able to establish their own state. The first Visigoths arrived on the Iberian Peninsula between the years 414 and 417. As allies of the Roman Empire and in exchange for this loyalty, they were awarded a giant swath of land spanning from the Loire to the Ebro rivers. In this region, they went on to establish their capital city, Toulouse. The Visigoths contributed to the victory of the Orleans Battle against the Huns in 451 and founded the first court of law in Barcelona. They expelled the Alans and Hasdingi Vandals from the Iberian Peninsula. A second wave of immigrants arrived in Hispania between 466 and 484. When the Franks defeated the Visigoths in the Battle of Vouille in 507, they settled south of the Pyrenees and Toledo became their new royal seat, circa 540.

Over the course of the 6^th century, Hispania gradually ceased to be Hispano-Roman and by the 7^th century, started to become Hispano-German. With King [https://dbe.rah.es/biografias/11996/leovigildo Leovigild] at the helm (568-586) the Visigoths united the territory and attacked the villages in the north (573-581) as well as the Suevi (585) and the Byzantines, who had arrived on the Peninsula during the territorial expansion led by Emperor Justinian. Recaredo (586-601), Justinian´s successor, renounced Arianism, the official Visigoth religion and accepted the Nicene Creed, as did the Hispano-Romans. King Suintila (621-631) expelled the last of the Byzantines and it is posited that King Recceswinth may have been the leader who in 654 unified the German and Latin laws to create the Visogothic law code ''Liber Iudiciorum''. This legal system was in effect in the Hispanic kingdoms throughout the High Middle Ages. The institutional structure of the Visigothic Kingdom included legislative assemblies (the ''concilios'') where nobles and clergymen took decisions, great halls in an imperial or royal palace ([https://www.lavanguardia.com/historiayvida/edad-media/20200704/482050898650/tesoro-guarrazar-visigodos-toledo-museo-cluny-reconquista-arqueologia-man.html#foto-1 aula regia] or ''cincilium regis''), a Royal household imitating the Roman Imperial Model (''officium palatinum''), borders, an army, and a currency. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwtZqfJwV9I Saint Isidore] recognised in his ''Laus Hispaniae'' that: "You are, oh Hispania, sacred mother... the most beautiful of all lands... from the West to India... You are the honour and ornament of the world, the most illustrious... And therefore... golden Rome loves you and... the nation of the Goths... it now rejoices in you... with security and happiness".

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