Hispania Tarraconensis was one of three Roman provinces in Hispania. It encompassed much of the northern, eastern and central territories of modern Spain along with modern northern Portugal. Southern Spain, the region now called Andalusia, was the province of Hispania Baetica. On the Atlantic west lay the province of Lusitania, partially coincident with modern-day Portugal.
Contents
History
Establishment
The Phoenicians and Carthaginians colonised the Mediterranean coast of Iberia in the 8th to 6th centuries BC. The Greeks later also established colonies along the coast. The Romans arrived in the 2nd century BC during the Second Punic War.
The province Hispania Citerior Tarraconensis was established in the reign of Augustus as the direct successor of the Roman Republican province of Hispania Citerior ("nearer Hispania"), which had been ruled by a propraetor. The roots of the Augustan reorganisation of Hispania are found in Pompey the Great's division of Hispania between three of his legates at the end of the Republic, immediately before his civil war with Julius Caesar. As a result of the agreements that led to the formation of the First Triumvirate in 60 BC, Pompey had received the governorship of the Iberian provinces. Given that he preferred to remain in Rome, where he could oversee affairs in the capital, he delegated the government of Hispania to three legates:
Lucius Afranius in Hispania Citerior, with three legions;
Marcus Petreius in the eastern part of Hispania Ulterior, with two legions;
Marcus Terentius Varro in the western part of Hispania Ulterior, with two legions.
At the end of the civil wars, Pompey's division was consolidated by Augustus in 27 BC, when he formally established the three provinces of Hispania Citerior Tarraconensis, Hispania Ulterior Lusitania (corresponding to modern Portugal, apart from the northern region of the modern country, plus Spanish Extremadura), and Hispania Ulterior Baetica (corresponding to the southern part of Spain, i.e. Andalusia). Citerior and Lusitania were Imperial provinces, while Baetica was a Senatorial province.
The creation of these new provinces was achieved in order to facilitate the incorporation of the northwestern portion of the Iberian peninsula, inhabited by the Gallaeci, Cantabri, and Astures, into the Roman empire. Tarraconensis thus served as a base for the annexation of these territories during the Cantabrian Wars (27–19 BC). Augustus himself resided from 27 to 26 BC at Segisama (modern Sasamón, Burgos), and at Tarraco, where he received an embassy from India. During this period he was accompanied by his nephew and heir, Marcellus, and his stepson, the future emperor Tiberius, both of whom served as military tribunes in 25 BC in the conflict with the Cantabrians – the pair's first military commands.
The name of the province derives from its capital, Colonia Urbs Triumphalis Tarraco. The provincial borders were modified in 12 BC, in order to incorporate the Galician and Asturian territories which had previously belonged to Lusitania, and perhaps to an ephemeral Transduriana province before that, as well as the mining area around Castulo that had previously been part of Baetica. This reorganisation meant that all Roman troops stationed in Hispania were henceforth under the command of a single Roman legate based at Tarraconensis and that the main mining regions, which supplied precious metals to the Imperial treasury (gold in the Galician Massif, silver in Sierra Morena), were under the direct control of the Imperial administration, with easy access by sea to Italia and Rome, where the Imperial mints were located.
Pacification and Romanisation under the Julio-Claudians and Flavians
In addition to creating the province and setting its borders, Augustus followed the directions left by Julius Caesar in granting many communities in the province the privileged status of colonia or municipium (Roman or Latin), especially along the Levante coast, the part of Baetica transferred to the province in 12 BC, and the Ebro Valley, along with some foundations on the Meseta Central and in the northeast. He also regularised the status of the other political entities in the province, the civitates stipendiaria (communities subject to tribute), whose affairs could be directly intervened in by the governor.
This policy was continued by Tiberius (AD 14–37), who increased the number of municipia in the northern part of the Meseta Central.
Between the reigns of Augustus and Nero, imperial interventions led to the regularisation of the old pre-Roman roads and their conversion into Roman roads, which formed a framework for the provincial territory which brought the provincials into contact with Roman culture (Latin rapidly became the common language of the province) and gave them access to highly developed economic networks and a monetary economy. Ceramics began to be imported in large quantities – Arretine ware from Italy under Augustus and Tiberius and Samian ware from Gaul between the reigns of Caligula and Vespasian.
The province was effectively at peace except for an attempt at rebellion by the Astures under Nero which was easily suppressed by a primus pilus of the Legio VI Victrix. As a result, it was possible to progressively reduce the military garrison of the province. In AD 42–43, Claudius transferred the Legio IV Macedonica to Germania and in AD 63 Nero sent the Legio X Gemina to Pannonia.
In AD 68, Galba, who had governed the province since AD 61, was invited by Vindex to join his rebellion against Nero. When Galba received news that Nero had decided to have him killed, he accepted Vindex's offer, justifying the decision, according to Suetonius, by an oracle delivered by a young prophet two centuries earlier, which predicted that a new ruler of the world would arise in Clunia.
Geography and political organisation
Borders and extent
At its greatest extent, the province Hispania Tarraconensis covered about two thirds of the Iberian Peninsula. The Pyrenees mountains to the north formed the border with Gaul. The border with Lusitania to the southwest ran from the Cale (modern Porto, Portugal) along the Douro river and then the Tormes river. The border with Baetica ran from Castulo (modern Linares), through Acci (Guadix), to the bay of Almería.
With a surface area of around 380,000 km2 (150,000 sq mi) and an estimated population of 3–3.5 million (giving an average population density of 8–9 people/km2), at the date of its creation, Tarraconensis was probably the largest province in the Roman empire.
Administrative organisation
Under Augustus' division of the provinces in 27 BC, Tarraconensis was an Imperial province like Lusitania, while Baetica was a Senatorial province. Tarraconensis was of consular rank, while the other two were praetorian. The governor was entitled legatus Augusti pro praetore, who was a senator of consular rank. The capital of the province was the colonia of Tarraco. In the time of Augustus and Tiberius, according to Strabo, the province was garrisoned by three legions – subsequently reduced to two by Caligula, and to one by Nero.
Because of the scale of the province, at some point between the reigns of Tiberius and Claudius, the province was divided into seven conventos iuridicos, 'assize districts', each managed by a legatus iuridicus appointed by the Emperor directly. These districts were:
Tarraconensis, with its capital at Colonia Tarraco (Tarragona).
Carthaginensis, with its capital at Colonia Carthago Nova (Cartagena).
Caesaraugustanus, with its capital at Colonia Caesar Augusta (Zaragoza).
Cluniensis, with its capital at Colonia Clunia Sulpicia (Coruña del Conde).
Asturicensis, with its capital at Municipium Asturica Augusta (Astorga).
Lucensis, with its capital at Lucus Augusti (Lugo).
Bracarensis, with its capital at Municipium Bracara Augusta (Braga).
In each of the conventus capitals there was an Imperial cult centre, dedicated to the Genius Augusti and the deified emperors, with its own male and female priests, the flamen Augusti and flamenica Augusti, who were chosen by the elites of the privileged communities of the province (the coloniae and municipia). Each year, they chose one of their number to be the flamen and flamenica (they were not required to be married to one another) of the Imperial cult for the whole province, discharging their functions in the provincial forum in Tarraco.
Urban framework
The lowest level of administration in the province were the cities (Latin: civitates), organised politically in the Roman manner (coloniae and municipia) or in a traditional mode retaining institutions that preceded the Roman conquest but operating under the direct supervision of the provincial governors. These communities – both Roman and indigenous – generally enjoyed a high level of autonomy, administering themselves without excessive intervention from the governors. Over time, the indigenous communities tended to adapt their institutions of self-government to match the model of the Roman municipia and coloniae. The principal difference between the two types of community was the application of Roman law to them. For citizens of coloniae and muncipia it was obligatory, while for non-Romans it was optional, except in interactions with the Imperial authorities and with individual Roman citizens, in which case Roman law over-ruled local legal systems.
According to Strabo, Pliny the Elder (who served as procurator the province), and Claudius Ptolemy, there was a substantial number of cities in Tarraconensis, especially in the Ebro Valley and on the Mediterranean coast, but fewer in number in the north and northwest, along the Cantabiran coast and in Galicia.
Excepting the communities on the Balearic Islands, Pliny states that:
Now, the whole province is divided into 7 conventus: Carthaginiensis, Tarraconensis, Caesaraugustus, Clunienis, Asturus, Lucensis, and Bracarus... The province itself contains (aside from the 293 communities that are subordinate to others) 179 cities, among which there are 12 coloniae, 13 cities of Roman citizens, 18 of old Latins, 1 city of foederati, and 135 cities subject to tax.
All free inhabitants of Roman coloniae held Roman citizenship. The coloniae in the province, established by Julius Caesar, the Second Triumvirate, or Augustus, both coloniae and municipia belonged to the Roman tribe of Galeria, except for Caesaraugusta, which was in that of Aniensis. All free men who served as municipal magistrates (duoviri or aediles) in municipia would obtain Roman citizenship, being assigned to the tribe Quirina.
According to Pliny the Elder, the Emperor Vespasian extended Latin citizenship to all other inhabitants of Hispania, which meant that they were legally permitted to conduct business under Roman law (ius commercii) and marry Roman woman (ius conubii). The date of this grant is disputed, perhaps falling shortly after his accession to power in AD 69 or in AD 74. The concession of this right was used by many tributary and subordinate communities in Tarraconensis to transform themselves into municipia, e.g. Nova Augusta (Lara de los Infantes, Burgos), Bergidum Flavium (Torre del Bierzo, El Bierzo, León), Segovia, Duratón (Segovia), and Aqua Flaviae (Chaves, Portugal).
Roman military garrisons
In order to guarantee order and security in the province after the Cantabrian Wars (26–19 BC), three legions were established in the province:
Legio VI Victrix, in Leon until transferred to Germania Inferior;
Legio X Gemina in Petavonium until transferred to Pannonia in AD 63;
Legio IV Macedonica in Pisoraca until transferred to Germania in AD 43.
These legions were supported by various auxiliary units, like the Ala Parthorum and the Cohors IV Gallorum, but it is very difficult to tell exactly where and when these units were garrisoned in the peninsula.
In AD 68, according to Suetonius, Galba removed one legion, the Legio VI Vitrix, two cavalry alae, and three infantry cohortes. In order to reinforce these troops, a new legion was recruited, the future Legio VII Gemina and a number of similar auxiliary units, notably the Vascones cohortes, but all these units joined Galba when he invaded Italy to seize the Imperial throne.
In AD 69, Vitellius ordered the Legio X Gemina to be dispatched to the Iberian peninsula, accompanied by the Legio I Adiutrix. We do not know exactly where they were stationed; it may have been in Baetica and the southeastern part of Tarraconensis to prevent a possible invasion from North Africa, which was controlled by Lucius Clodius Macer. In any case, both legions and the Legio VI Victrix abandoned Vitellius and declared their support for Vespasian, who quickly sent them to Germania Inferior to suppress the revolt of Gaius Julius Civilis.
Subsequently, in AD 74, Vespasian ordered the Legio VII Gemina to be garrisoned in Leon at the site of the old camp of the Legio VI Victrix. The Legio VII Gemina continued to garrison the province until the beginning of the 5th century AD.
The Legio VII Gemina dispatched vexillationes to the following parts of the provinces in Hispania: