UNIT 12: THE ANCIENT
HISTORY OF THE IBERIAN PENINSULA
1.
EARLY SETLEMENTS OF THE
PENINSULA
People from different
origins lived on the Iberian peninsula between the 8th century BC, and the
Roman conquest after the 3rd century BC. Some pre-Roman people lived inland,
while others arrived on the coast from the eastern Mediterranean.
EARLY CELTIC SETTLEMENT
During the first milennium
BC, the Celts settled on the Meseta and in the north-west of the peninsula. The
Celts used iron tools in agriculture, and had livestock. They lived in walled
settlements called castros, which were located in high defensive
positions. They built circular stone houses
TARTESSOS
Tartessos was the earliest
historical state on the Iberian peninsula. It developed in western Andalusia
and the Guadalquivir Valley between the 8th and 6th centuries BC.
- Society was very
hierarchical, under a military leader.
- They mined metals, and
exported them to the Greeks and phoenicians.
- Tartessos had an advanced
culture, with strong Greek and phoenician influences. They were expert craftsmen.
MEDITERRANEAN COLONISATION
Several Mediterranean people
founded trading colonies in the south and east of the Iberian peninsula.
- The Phoenicians
reached the Iberian peninsula from the
eastern Mediterranean between the 10th and 8th centuries BC. They founded
several colonies, including Gadir (Cádiz) and Malaca (Málaga). They brought textiles,
pottery and manufactured products in exchange for metals.
- The Greeks founded
trading colonies on the east coast from the 8th century BC. Greek colonies
included Emporion (Ampurias) and Akra Leuke (Alicante).
- The Carthaginians
founded colonies from the 6th century
BC. These included Ebessus (Ibiza) and Cartago Nova (Cartagena).
WHAT WAS THE COLONISERS’ CONTRIBUTION TO IBERIAN DEVELOPMENT?
The colonisers made several
important contributions to the economic and cultural development of the Iberian
peninsula. These were:
- Improved techniques for
mining and pottery.
- New crops such as olives
and vines, which were introduced by the Greeks.
- The use of coins as
currency.
- Writing with the
Phoenician, and later, the Greek alphabet.
2.
PRE-ROMANS INHABITANTS
The Iberian peninsula was
inhabited by three different groups when the Romans began their conquest of the
peninsula in 218 BC. These groups are known as the pre-Romans. Due to differences in their society and places of settlement on
the peninsula, we can distinguish three
groups: the Iberians, the Celtiberians and the northern people or Celtics.
THE IBERIANS
The iberians lived on the
Mediterranean coast and in the south of the peninsula.
- Politics and social
organisation: they were ruled by chieftains, and lived in city-states with defensive walls. Their
society was hierarchical, and they owned slaves.
- Economy: agriculture and livestock farming. Craftsmen made textiles, iron tools and
pottery.
- Religion: they believed in spirits in Nature, but
also worshipped some phoenician and Greek gods.
- Culture: they created exceptional sculptures like the
Lady of Elche. They had writing.
THE CELTIBERIANS
The Celtiberians lived in
the centre and west of the peninsula.
- Politics and social
organisation: they formed clans, which were led by chieftains. They lived
in settlements with defensive walls.
- Economy: cereals
and livestock farming. They were metalworkers.
- Religion: they
believed in spirits in Nature.
- Culture: they had
little contact with Mediterranean cultures, and they did not have writing.
Craftsmen made sculptures of bulls and pigs.
THE NORTHERN PEOPLE OF CELTICS
Different groups, of mainly
celtic origin, lived in the north of Spain.
- Politics and social
organisation: they formed clans. They lived in small settlements called castros.
- Economy:
agriculture and livestock farming. They sometimes carried out raids on the
people of the Meseta.
- Culture: they were
isolated and had little contact with Mediterranean culture.They had no writing.
3.
THE
ROMAN CONQUEST OF HISPANIA
THE PUNIC WARS
During the three Punic Wars
(264 -(to) 146 BC), the Romans fought against the Carthaginians and became the leading
power in the western Mediterranean. This war was fought all across the region,
including the Iberian peninsula.
- During the First Punic
War, the Carthaginians occupied
the south of the Iberian peninsula.
- The Second Punic War
began after the Carthaginian general Hannibal attacked the city of Saguntum,
which was allied to the Romans in 219 BC. The following year the Romans sent an
army to fight against the Carthaginians on the Iberian peninsula.
THE ROMAN CONQUEST
The Romans conquered the
peninsula, which they called Hispania, in three stages:
- Between 218 BC and 170
BC the Romans expelled the Carthaginians from Hispania, and conquered the south and east of the
peninsula.
- In the next stage, 154
-(to) 133 BC, the Romans conquered central Hispania. They defeated the Celtiberians, despite resistance from the
Lusitanos and the Arevacos.
- Between 29 -(to) 19 BC,
under Octavian, the Romans
defeated the Celtics.
ROMANISATION
The Romans imposed their
political system on the conquered societies. They organised the territory into provinces,
which were ruled by governors and their advisers. The inhabitants of the
Iberian peninsula adopted Roman culture through a process called romanisation. This was the result of:
- New cities, which spread Roman culture.
- The contact between Roman
legionaries and the local population. Some
soldiers stayed on in Hispania after their military service ended.
- Latin, which became the
shared language of all the people. Official
Latin was the same everywhere, but local dialects were different from one
region to another.
Romanisation did not happen to the same extent in all regions. It was rapid
and complete in the south and east of Hispania. However, some northern people, like the vascones, were never fully romanised.
4.
ROMAN
HISPANIA
THE CITIES
Under the Romans, cities
became the centres of political, social and cultural life. There were two main types
of cities:
- Colonies were established by the Romans. Retired
legionaries lived in them, together with people from Rome. There were many
Roman colonies including Corduba (Córdoba), Italica (Santiponce near Seville), Hispalis
(Seville) and Emerita Augusta (Mérida).
- Other cities already existed when the Romans arrived.
Cities that welcomed the Romans bécame municipalities with similar rights to
Italian cities. However, those that resisted Roman rule were forced to pay
tribute.
THE ECONOMY
The main economic activities
in Roman Hispania were the following:
- Agriculture:
olives, vines and wheat. The Romans introduced iron ploughs pulled by oxen and
also irrigation.
- Mining: silver
was mined in Cartagena and the Morena Range. Mercury was mined in Almadén, and
gold in León and Galicia.
- Craftwork:
textiles, pottery and iron tools. Olive oil was made from olives, and wine from
vines.
- Trade:
Hispania exported raw materials to Rome and other parts of the empire. It
imported manufactured goods and luxury products. Trade was facilitated by a
network of roads and ports.
ROMAN CULTURE
Hispania made an important
contribution to Roman culture. One of the most famous Roman philosophers, Seneca, was born in Córdoba. The
poet Martial also came from Hispania. The peninsula was so strongly
romanised that people from Hispania even became emperors. Two of the greatest Roman emperors, Trajan and
Hadrian, were born in Italica. The
emperor Theodosius from the 4th century BC was also from Hispania.
ROMAN ART
The Romans created great art
in Hispania:
- In architecture, the
Romans built many important buildings that reflected the prosperity of
Hispania’s cities. These included public
baths, like those in Italica, and theatres,
like those in Emerita Augusta and Saguntum.
- Impressive engineering
works included the bridge of
Alcántara, the defensive walls of Lugo and the Segovia aqueduct.
- In sculpture, there
were portraits of emperors like Augustus and Trajan.
5. THE FALL OF ROMAN HISPANIA
THE GERMANIC INVASIONS
The 3rd century crisis
affected many regions of the Roman Empire. On the Iberian Peninsula, both trade
and urban life declined. Germanic civilisations were
on the move, both outside and inside the empire’s frontiers, and they moved
into parts of Hispania. In 409 AD, three
Germanic groups, the Suevi, Vandals and Alans, entered Hispania, but Rome was now too weak to resist them.
Instead, it came to an agreement with a
different Germanic group, the Visigoths. In return for land in Gallia, the
Visigoths expelled the invaders from most of Hispania. But in 507 AD, the
Visigoths lost their kingdom in Gallia. Consequently, they returned to Hispania, and this time they stayed. They created the
Visigothic kingdom, which unified most of the peninsula and had its capital in
Toledo.
OTHER INHABITANTS
- The Suevi settled in the
north-west, but the area came under Visigothic
control in the late 6th century.
- The Cántabros and the
Vascones were never fully romanised, and
they also resisted the Visigoths.
- Under the Emperor
Justinian in 6th century, the Byzantine Empire gained
control of the south-east of the Peninsula.
THE VISIGOTHIC KINGDOM OF TOLEDO
The Visigoths were only a
minority, but they dominated the Hispano-Roman population.
- Politics:
their monarchy was elected so there
were often disagreements about succession. They were advised by an assembly of aristocrats, called the Aula
Regia.
- Religion: the Visigoths practised a different type of
Christianity called Arianism, but under King Recaredo, they converted to
Catholicism. The Councils of Toledo
were a series of important meetings, where religious and political questions
were decided.
- Economy: after
the decline of city life in the late Roman empire, the economy was mainly based on agriculture.
- Culture: the Visigoths built small, decorated churches
and their craftsmen made exceptional jewellery. This was not a period of
original intellectual achievement, but Saint
Isidore of Seville wrote Etymologiae, which was an encyclopedia of all existing
knowledge. Under King Rodrigo, the Visigoths were defeated by the Muslims at
the Battle of Guadalete in 711 AD. This marked the end of the Visigothic
kingdom, and the beginning of Muslim rule on the Iberian peninsula.
Unit 12: The ancient history of the Iberian Peninsula
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