Roman conquest of the Iberian Peninsula

Quick Facts: Who was Roman conquest of the Iberian Peninsula?

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Roman conquest of the Iberian Peninsula

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The gradual military, diplomatic, and cultural absorption of the Iberian Peninsula by the Roman Republic.

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Origins & Early Life

The Roman Republic conquered and occupied territories in the Iberian Peninsula that were previously under the control of native Celtic, Iberian, Celtiberian and Aquitanian tribes and the Carthaginian Empire. The Carthaginian territories in the south and east of the peninsula were conquered in 206 BC during the Second Punic War. Control was gradually extended over most of the peninsula without annexations. It was completed after the end of the Roman Republic (27 BC), by Augustus, the first Roman emperor, who annexed the whole of the peninsula to the Roman Empire in 19 BC. Roman acquisition of the Carthaginian territories in south and east Hispania were the result of defeating the Carthaginians (206 BC) during the Second Punic War (218–201 BC).

Career & Major Achievements

Afterwards, in 197 BC, the Romans established two Roman provinces: Hispania Citerior along most of the east coast and Hispania Ulterior in the south. Over the next 170 years, the Republic expanded its control over Hispania. This was a gradual process of economic, diplomatic and cultural infiltration and colonization, with campaigns of military suppression when there was native resistance, rather than the result of a single policy of conquest. The Romans turned some native cities outside their two provinces into tributary cities and established outposts and Roman colonies to expand their control. Administrative arrangements were ad hoc.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

Governors who were sent to Hispania tended to act independently from the Senate due to the great distance from Rome. In the latter part of this period, the Senate attempted to exercise more control, but this was to try to curb abuse and extortion by officials in the peninsula. Conquest was a process of assimilation of the local tribes into the Roman culture and its economic system and laws. This changed after the end of the Republic and the establishment of rule by emperors in Rome. After the Roman victory in the Cantabrian Wars in the north of the peninsula (the last rebellion against the Romans in Hispania), Augustus conquered the north of Hispania, annexed the whole peninsula and carried out administrative reorganisation in 19 BC.

Historical Fact-Check Quiz: Roman conquest of the Iberian Peninsula

True or False: “The entire conquest of the Iberian Peninsula was completed in a single, decisive military campaign under Augustus.”

Answer (FALSE ❌): The process was gradual, involving centuries of economic infiltration and colonization, culminating with Augustus's final annexation in 19 BC.

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