286
edits
Changes
no edit summary
Romanisation on the Iberian Peninsula was a slow, gradual process by which Rome progressively brought the territories of Hispania under its rule. This movement had taken hold starting in the year 218 BC and endured until the end of the 1<sup>st</sup> century BC, when the diverse peninsular communities had been fully integrated into a single unified territory with a common economy, language and culture.<br>
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).<br>
Expansion into the interior of the Peninsula incited resistance from the various communities, two of which were significant: the wars with the Lusitanians and the Celtiberians. In the former, Lusitanian General [https://dbe.rah.es/biografias/5898/viriato#:~:text=Caudillo%20lusitano%20y%20estratega%20militar,hispana%20contra%20la%20conquista%20romana. Viriathus] was triumphant in several battles until he was betrayed and assassinated in 139 BC. In the latter, the Celtiberian city of [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3z_SZbw1_4 Numantia] was at the centre of several battles, the last one being a long, hard-fought conflict with the forces of Publius Cornelius ScipioAmelianus. The Numantinos ended up burning the city before ultimately surrendering in 133 BC.<br>
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.<br>
Thirty years later, the Cantabrian Wars broke out (26-19 BC), initiated by Augustus, the first Roman emperor, with the objective of defeating the Galicians, Asturians and Cantabrians. A year before, he had reorganised the Peninsula into three provinces: ''Tarraconensis, Lusitania'' and ''Baetica''. Hispania was then completely under the new Roman rule, officially converting into an empire. By this time, its inhabitants had forgotten their old, native traditions and customs and had developed a well-formulated idea of their identity as Hispano-Romans.
