Roman Hispania Discussion

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The Lusitani and Celtiberians who lived in western Iberia resisted Roman attempts to pacify them until 61 BC when Julius Caesar arrived on the scene. The final conquest of Hispania was accomplished under Augustus, between the years 39 and 19 BC. In 13 BCE Hispania was divided into three provinces: Baetica, Lusitania, and Tarraconensis. Hispania was significantly Romanized throughout the imperial period and it came to be one of the most important territories of the Roman Empire. Emperors Trajan and Hadrian were both born there and most all of the people of Hispania were granted Roman citizen status. Despite this, Legio VII Gemina was permanently stationed in Hispania Tarraconensis. Its base was at Leon to be close to, and to protect the gold and iron mines of Gallica. Hispania finally fell from the Roman Empire with the great Germanic migrations of the 4th and 5th centuries AD. Alani, Seuvi, Vandals and Visigoths poured through Gaul and into the west, effectively removing Hispania from Roman control by about 409 AD. Hispania's economy expanded greatly under Roman Rule. The province, along with North Africa, served as a granary for the Roman market, and its harbors exported gold, wool, olive oil, and wine. Agricultural production increased with the introduction of irrigation projects, some of which remain in use even today.