Ancient Age in the Iberian Peninsula

We explain what the Ancient Age was like in the Iberian Peninsula. What were its stages like, the first peoples who inhabited the Iberian Peninsula and how it ended.

What was the Ancient Age in the Iberian Peninsula?

The Ancient Age in the Iberian Peninsula was the period beginning at the end of the second millennium BC. C. and ended in the 4th century AD. c. At this time, various populations inhabited the peninsula, known today through archeology and the texts of Greek and Roman authors.

The Ancient Age includes phenomena such as the emergence of the Tartessian civilization and the subsequent arrival of Indo-European populations such as the Celts (which led to the formation of the Celtiberian culture). Other cultures that manifested themselves during the first millennium BC were also part of this stage. C. in various regions of the peninsula, such as the Iberians, as well as the colonizations of the Phoenicians, Greeks and Carthaginians in coastal areas.

The last stage of the Ancient Age of the Iberian Peninsula was characterized by Roman domination and the process of cultural assimilation called “Romanization.”which began in the 3rd century BC. c.
From the 5th century AD. C., with the migrations of Germanic populations and the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Ancient Age concluded and a period that some historians call Late Antiquity began.

The historical context

After a long Paleolithic period in the Iberian Peninsula, The Neolithic period began, between approximately 5000 and 3000 BC. c. The new farming and ranching communities settled and created permanent towns.

The Metal Age began with the Copper Age, around 3000 BC. C., and continued with the Bronze Age, around 2000 BC. C. Around 1200 BC. C. the first of a series of migrations through Europe of Indo-European peoples, the Celts, who arrived in the Iberian Peninsula in the 9th century BC. c.

Thus began what is called the Protohistory of the Iberian Peninsula: period included between the beginning of the Iron Age in 750 BC. C. and the Roman conquest in the second half of the 3rd century BC. c. Abundant archaeological remains have remained from this period, to which are added the first written testimonies of the Greeks and Romans about the Iberian Peninsula.

This evidence allows us to reconstruct some aspects of the so-called pre-Roman towns (i.e. those who They inhabited the peninsula before the Romanization process implemented by Rome since the 3rd century BC. C.), as well as the phases of Greek, Phoenician and Carthaginian colonization, and Roman domination.

The pre-Roman towns

Tartessos

The Tartessian civilization emerged in the southwest of the peninsula in the 12th century to. C. Still surrounded by mystery, some Greek and biblical texts described it as a very rich civilization (although some historians question the identification of the Tarshish biblical with Tartessos).

Important archaeological remains associated with Tartessos have been foundlike the tesoro of El Carambolo (600-550 BC), which includes Phoenician influences, but does not seem to correspond to the richness described in classical texts.

It is currently believed that Tartessos had an active trade that benefited a powerful aristocracy. After prospering between the 9th and 5th centuries BC. C., Tartessos collapsed, perhaps due to military action by the Carthaginians or due to internal problems.

The Iberians: peoples of the south and east

in the area Mediterranean and southern Various towns settled with common features and possibly common or similar language (indigetes, turdetanos, among others). These people were generically called Iberians.

He commercial contact of the Iberians with the Phoenician, Greek and Carthaginian colonizers It caused cultural changes, for example: the promotion of urban planning and the adoption of the cult of new divinities. The Iberians had an agricultural-livestock economy and practiced commerce and mining.

They had small cities in easily defendable areas and had a very hierarchical society (which included an aristocracy, peasants, artisans and slaves). They were ruled by petty kings who ruled one or several cities. The Iberians They produced a very refined art, whose best example is the sculpture “La Dama de Elche”.

The towns of the center and the west

In the central and western regions of the Iberian Peninsula, the influence of the Mediterranean colonizers came very weakly, while the Celtic presence (Indo-European speaking people) was much more important. To these peoples, who integrated Celtic culture with Iberian culture, were called Celtiberians.

Their economy was agricultural-livestock, with less weight of trade, and they had a solid warrior tradition. Their society maintained a strong tribal cohesion and they lived in fortified towns, such as Numancia.

In art, Some funerary goods stood out, as well as the boar culture, corresponding to another Celtic population, the Vetones of the Tagus Valley.. Boars are large sculptures of animals linked to livestock cults, for example: one of the most famous is the Guisando Bulls., from the province of Ávila, dated to the 4th or 3rd centuries BC. c.

The northern towns

Celtic groups or groups influenced by Celtic culture, such as the Galicians, Asturians, Cantabrians and Várdulos, as well as other populations such as the Vascones, settled in the north of the peninsula, from Galicia to the Aragonese Pyrenees.

These towns used to be strongly warriors and had an economy based on livestock, gathering and fishingwhile the weight of agriculture was lower.

Among the archaeological remains of these populations, The forts stand out, fortified towns with circular houses built by the Galicians and the Asturians, among which the Castro de Coaña, in Asturias, stands out. In addition, these people practiced magic and divination.

The colonizations of the Iberian Peninsula: Phoenicians, Greeks and Carthaginians

In the first millennium BC. C., the Mediterranean area of ​​the Iberian Peninsula received a series of colonizing waves of peoples who arrived through the Mediterranean Seawho had cultures different from those that characterized the indigenous populations of the peninsula.

Phoenicians, Greeks and Carthaginians successively arrived on the Mediterranean coasts of the peninsula. His The purpose was economic: they searched for metals (copper, silver, tin, gold) and encouraged activities such as fishing and salting..

• The Phoenicianscoming from Phenicia, in what is now Lebanon, they had a strong commercial impetus that led to the founding of various colonies on the coasts of the western Mediterranean. From the 9th century BC. C. they founded colonies in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, among which Gades (Cádiz) stood out in the 8th century BC. c.
• The Greeks They promoted colonization to obtain local resources but also to accommodate the surplus population that resulted from the population increase in the new colonies. cop Greeks. Around 600 BC. C. they founded the colony of Massalia (now Marseille, in the south of France), and from there they established various colonies on the Mediterranean coast, such as Emporion (later called Ampurias by the Romans) and Rhode (Rosas).

• The carthaginians They came from Carthage, a Phoenician colony (located in present-day Tunisia) that became independent in the 6th century BC. C. They created very active colonies such as Ibiza (on a previous Phoenician colony) in the Balearic Islands, whose commercial boom took place between the 5th and 3rd centuries BC. C., and Cartago Nova (current Cartagena).

The legacy of the Phoenician, Greek and Carthaginian colonizations in the Iberian Peninsula

He impact of colonization in the history of the Iberian Peninsula It was important, although its influence did not extend beyond the Mediterranean coast and the Guadalquivir River valley. Among the aspects that constituted The legacy of these Mediterranean peoples can be noted as follows:

• The introduction of new crops or new techniques for their production, such as olive trees, vines and esparto grass.
• The introduction of the potter's wheel for the production of ceramics and new metallurgical techniques.
• The minting of coins, which facilitated the expansion of trade.
• The diffusion of the alphabet, first Phoenician and then Greek.
• Urban growth from commercial and cultural contact with Phoenicians, Greeks or Carthaginians, as in the case of Tartessos during the 6th century BC. c.
• The creation of artistic and architectural works, among which some examples stand out such as the Phoenician anthropoid sarcophagi of Cádiz, the Phoenician-style treasure of Aliseda (in Extremadura) or the Greek city of Emporion.

The Roman conquest of the Iberian Peninsula

The Roman conquest of the Iberian Peninsula began in the 3rd century BC. C. and concluded, after a long and complex process, in the 1st century BC. We can distinguish three main stages:

• 1st stage: conquest of the east and south of the peninsula (218-197 BC)

The beginning of the Roman conquest of the Iberian Peninsula was framed in the context of the Second Punic War (that is, the second armed conflict that pitted the Roman Republic against Carthage for hegemony in the western Mediterranean).

The Carthaginians had important settlements in the eastern part of the peninsula and, from there, they attacked Italy through southern France and the Alps. Rome counterattacked, sent its troops to Empuries (an allied city in the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula) and invaded the Carthaginian possessions in Hispania at the end of the 3rd century BC. C. The Roman victory at the Battle of Ilipa (206 BC) put an end to the Carthaginian presence in Hispania and established Rome's dominance over the east and south of the peninsula.

• 2nd stage: conquest of the center and west of the peninsula (155-133 BC)

The Romans extended their campaigns of conquest to the center and west of the Iberian Peninsula, but they had to do in the face of the resistance of the people who inhabited these areas.

The best examples of this stage are the Lusitanian wars (155-139 BC), in which the Lusitanian leader Viriato and the fierce Celtiberian resistance in Numancia stood out, until their surrender in the year 133 BC. C. Almost the entire Iberian Peninsula remained under the authority of Rome, divided into two provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior.

Later, the civil wars that broke out in the Roman Republic also reached the peninsula, such as the confrontation between Pompey and Caesar (49-45 BC). These conflicts could accelerate and expand Roman rule over the peninsula.

• 3rd stage: conquest of the northern peninsula (29-19 BC)

The end of the conquest came in the time of Augustus, the first Roman emperor, with the domination of the Galicians, Asturians, Cantabrians and Vascones in the north of the peninsula, thanks to the Roman victory in the so-called Cantabrian wars. The complete control of Hispania by the Roman Empire led to a new administrative division, based on three provinces: Betica, Tarraconense and Lusitania.

The Romanization process: the cultural legacy

The concept of romanization refers to the process by which The societies that remained under the authority of Rome assimilated Roman culture. In the case of Hispanic society, it was about full integration into a set of aspects of the Roman world (economy, politics, society, culture, religion). This process affected the various indigenous peoples of the Iberian Peninsula (such as Iberians or Celtiberians).

The romanization It was a key moment in the cultural history of the people of the peninsula. Some fundamental facts were:

• Latin was imposed as a common language.
• Roman law (the laws and conception of the state of Rome) established the legal framework in the peninsula.
• The Roman polytheistic religion (centered on the cult of gods such as Jupiter, Saturn or Minerva) and, from the 1st century AD. C., Christianity (which became the official religion of the Roman Empire in the 4th century AD) spread throughout the provinces of the empire and, therefore, also throughout Hispania.

The Romanization process reached its maximum expression when, in the year 212 AD. C., Emperor Caracalla extended the Roman citizenship to all free inhabitants of the Roman Empireincluding those who inhabited Hispania.

Hispania was one of the most Romanized provinces of the empire. Good proof of this is that three emperors were born on the peninsula (Trajan, Hadrian and Theodosius). There were also important Roman philosophers and writers who were born in Hispania, such as Seneca, Quintilian and Martial.

The Romanization process: public works

Roman culture had an eminently practical character and, therefore, The Romans were great engineers and builders of public works. Many works were carried out in the Iberian Peninsula, such as the following:

• Aqueductslike the one in Segovia or the one in Tarragona.
• Wallslike those of Lugo.
• Bridgeslike that of Alcántara or that of Mérida.

In addition to these public works, Rome erected other important works with commemorative, artistic or religious functions, such as:

• memorial archeslike that of Bará in Tarragona or that of Medinaceli in Soria.
• Templeslike Diana's in Mérida.
• Amphitheaterslike that of Italica in Seville.
• Theaterslike the one in Mérida or the one in Cartagena.

Roman domination left an extensive urban network in Hispaniawith very important cities such as Tarraco (current Tarragona), Caesar Augusta (current Zaragoza), Emerita (current Mérida) or Toletum (current Toledo). These cities were linked by a complex system of roads. and other public infrastructures introduced by the Romans.

The end of the Ancient Age in the Iberian Peninsula

It is generally accepted that The end of the Ancient Age in the Iberian Peninsula occurred with the migrations of “barbarian” populations (mostly Germanic). that influenced the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD. C. and led to the formation of a Visigoth kingdom in Hispania.

In this era, which some historians call Late Antiquity, the Visigoth rulers were a minority in relation to the largely Hispano-Roman population. For this reason, they integrated Germanic law with Roman law, and the Visigoth kings, who initially professed Arianism (a Christian doctrine considered heretical by the Catholic Church), ended up adopting Catholicism.

The political and religious unity that the Visigoth kings implemented in the Iberian Peninsula was interrupted by internal conflicts and, finally, by the muslim invasion that ended the Visigoth kingdom in 711.

References

• Britannica, Encyclopaedia (2016). Iberian. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/
• Domínguez Monedero, A. (1996). The Greeks in the Iberian Peninsula. Arch Books.
• Elshaikh, EM (nd). Phoenicians: Masters of the Sea. Khan Academy. https://www.khanacademy.org/
• Roldán Hervás, JM (2013). Ancient history of Spain I. Pre-Roman Iberia, Republican and High Imperial Hispania. UNED.
• Salinas de Frías, M. (2006). The pre-Roman towns of the Iberian Peninsula. Akal.