Roman Conquest of Hispania - The Wars of Conquest

The Wars of Conquest

From 197 B.C. onward, the part of the Iberian Peninsula that fell under Roman control was divided into two provinces: Hispania Citerior to the north (the future Hispania Tarraconensis with Tarraco as its capital) and Hispania Ulterior to the south with capital Córdoba. The two provinces were governed by two biannual proconsuls. In the same year of 197, the Citerior province was the scene of a rebellion by the Iberian and Ilergete communities. The Proconsul Quinto Minucio had considerable difficulty controlling those rebellions. The Ulterior province escaped Roman control when its governor died as the local turdetano people were rebelling. In 195 B.C., Rome was forced to send the consul Marcus Cato. He arrived in Hispania to find the Citerior province in full rebellion with Roman forces controlling only a few fortified cities. Cato quelled the rebellion in summer of the same year and reestablished control over the province, but he failed to endear himself to the natives or Celtiberians who acted as paid mercenaries for the turdetanos. After making a show of force by passing the Roman legions through Celtiberian territory, Cato convinced them to return to their homes. However, the natives' submission proved superficial because when rumors spread that Cato would soon depart for Italy, the rebellion reignited. Cato acted decisively once again, conquering the rebels and selling the instigators off into slavery. The native population was totally disarmed. Cato returned to Rome with great fanfare from the Roman Senate. He brought with him an enormous war chest of over 11,000 kilos of silver, 600 kg of gold, 123,000 denarii, and 540,000 silver coins, all of which was taken from the Hispanic peoples in the course of his military actions. He fulfilled his promise to Rome before beginning the campaign that "the war will pay for itself."

A later proconsul of Hispania, Marcus Fulvius Nobilior, would fight other rebellions as well.

The next major Roman step was the conquest of Lusitania with two crushing victories: one in 189 B.C. won by proconsul Lucius Aemilius Paulus, and a more dubious one by the pretor/proconsul Caius Calpurnius in 185.

The central region of the peninsula, called Celtiberia, was officially conquered in 181 B.C. by Quintus Fabius Flaccus. He bested the local Celtiberian people and claimed control of several territories. But the real work was done by Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus from 179 to 178 when he conquered thirty cities and villages. He took some by sheer force and others by exploiting rivalries between the Celtiberians and the Vascones to the north. His alliances with the Vascons would facilitate the Roman domination of Celtiberia.

By this time, some of the Basque cities and villages may have already been subject to Rome, but at any rate a significant number of Basque holdings came into the Roman Empire voluntarily through alliance. Tiberius Sempronius Graccus founded a new city named Gracurris on top of the existing city of Ilurcís (probably the modern-day Alfaro in La Rioja or Corella in Navarre). It was built of standard Roman construction and it appears to have housed several disorganized Celtiberian groups. The city would have been founded in roughly 179 B.C. according to references in later writings. The foundation of this city marks the end of the Celtiberian civilization and the consolidation of Roman influence in the area. Graccuris would prove to be situated in the middle of a region that would be hotly contested between the Celtiberians and Vascons. The area roughly corresponds to the modern Ebro River Valley. Tiberius Sempronius Graccus was probably responsible for the majority of the treaties signed with the two groups. The treaties generally established a tribute from the surrounding cities to be paid in silver or other products of the earth. Each city had to supply a predetermined amount of men for the army, and only a select few cities had the right to issue currency.

Yet the inhabitants of cities subdued by force were almost never tribute-paying subjects: when they offered resistance to the Romans and were defeated, they were sold as slaves. Those who surrendered before an outright conquest were recognized as citizens of their respective cities were denied Roman citizenship.

When cities subjugated themselves freely, the inhabitants became citizens, and the cities retained their municipal autonomy and at times, were exempt from taxes.

The proconsuls (also called pretores or propretores), that is, the provincial governors, adopted the custom of making themselves rich at their subjects' expense. Forced gifts and abuses were the norm. During their excursions, the proconsul and other functionaries were to be housed for free; at times they would confiscate a home. The proconsul would impose low prices on provisions of grain, for their own needs and those of the functionaries and their families, and at times also for their soldiers.

The resulting complaints became so strong that the Roman Senate, after hearing from an embassy of provincial Hispanics, released in 171 BC some laws of control: Tributes could not be collected by means of the military; cereal payments were permissible but proconsuls could not gather more than a fifth of the harvest; the proconsul was prohibited to fix the prices of grains on his own; petitions in support of popular holidays in Rome were limited; and the contribution of contingents for the army was maintained. However, like the judgement of the proconsuls that had committed abuses corresponding to the Senate through the proconsul of the city, it was rare that a proconsul was judged.