The origin of the wordHispania is disputed. The evidence for the various speculations is based merely upon what are at best mere resemblances, likely to be accidental, and suspect supporting evidence. The most commonly held theory holds it to be ofPunic origin, from thePhoenician language of colonizingCarthage.[2] Specifically, it may derive from a Puniccognateʾī šāpān (𐤀𐤉 𐤔𐤐𐤍) of Hebrewʾī šāfān (Hebrew:אִי שָׁפָן) meaning literally 'island of therabbit', referring to theEuropean rabbit (Phoenician-Punic and Hebrew are bothCanaanite languages and therefore closely related to each other).[3][4]
Some Roman coins of the Emperor Hadrian, born in Hispania, depict Hispania and a rabbit. Others derive the word fromPhoenicianspan, meaning 'hidden', and make it indicate "a hidden", that is, "a remote", or "far-distant land".[5]
Other theories have been proposed.Isidore of Sevilla consideredHispania ofIberian origin and derived it from the pre-Roman name forSeville,Hispalis.[6] This was revived for instance by the etymologistEric Partridge (in his workOrigins) who felt that this might strongly hint at an ancient name for the country of*Hispa, presumably anIberian orCeltic root whose meaning is now lost.Hispalis may alternatively derive fromHeliopolis (Greek for 'city of the sun'). However, according to modern research by Manuel Pellicer Catalán, the name derives from Phoenicianspal 'lowland'.[7][8] Occasionally Hispania was calledHesperia ultima 'farthest western land' by Roman writers since the nameHesperia 'western land' had already been used by the Greeks to refer to the Italian peninsula.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, Jesuits scholars like Larramendi andJosé Francisco de Isla tied the name to theBasque wordezpain 'lip', but also 'border, edge', thus meaning the farthest area or place.[9][10]
During Antiquity and Middle Ages, the literary texts derive the termHispania from an eponymoushero namedHispan, who is mentioned for the first time in the work of the Roman historianGnaeus Pompeius Trogus, in the 1st century BC.
AlthoughHispania is theLatin root for the modern nameSpain, the wordsSpanish forHispanicus orHispanic, orSpain forHispania, are not easily interchangeable, depending on context. TheEstoria de España ('The History of Spain') written on the initiative ofAlfonso X of CastileEl Sabio ('the Wise'), between 1260 and 1274, during theReconquista ('reconquest') of Spain, is believed to be the first extended history of Spain inOld Spanish using the wordsEspaña ('Spain') andEspañoles ('Spaniards') to refer to Medieval Hispania. The use of LatinHispania, CastilianEspaña,CatalanEspanya andOld FrenchEspaigne, among others, to refer to Roman Hispania or Visigothic Hispania was common throughout all theLate Middle Ages.
A document dated 1292 mentions the names of foreigners from Medieval Spain asGracien d'Espaigne.[11] Latin expressions usingHispania orHispaniae (e.g.omnes reges Hispaniae) were often used in the Middle Ages, while theSpain Romance languages of theReconquista use theRomance version interchangeably.[clarification needed] In theJames Ist ChronicleLlibre dels fets, written between 1208 and 1276, there are many instances of this.[a] The borders of modern Spain do not coincide with those of theRoman province of Hispania or of theVisigothic Kingdom, and thus medieval Spain and modern Spain exist in separate contexts.
You are, OSpain, holy and always happy mother of princes and peoples, the most beautiful of all the lands that extend far from the West toIndia. You, by right, are now the queen of all provinces, from whom the lights are given not only the sunset, but also the East. You are the honor and ornament of the orb and the most illustrious portion of the Earth ... And for this reason, long ago, the goldenRome desired you
In modern history,Spain andSpanish have become increasingly associated with the Kingdom of Spain alone, although this process took several centuries. After the union of the central peninsularKingdom of Castile with the eastern peninsularKingdom of Aragon in the 15th century under theCatholic Monarchs in 1492, onlyNavarra andPortugal were left to complete the whole peninsula underone monarchy. Navarre followed soon after in 1512, and Portugal, after over 400 years as an independent and sovereign nation, in 1580. During this time, the concept ofSpain was still unchanged. It was after the restoration of Portugal's independence in 1640 when the concept ofSpain started to shift and be applied to all the Peninsula except Portugal.
Latin was the official language of Hispania during Roman rule, which exceeded 600 years. By the empire's end in Hispania around 460 AD, all the original Iberian languages, except the ancestor of modern Basque, were extinct.[citation needed] Even after thefall of Rome and the invasion of theGermanicVisigoths andSuebi, Latin was spoken by nearly all of the population,[citation needed] but in its common form known asVulgar Latin, and the regional changes which led to the modern Iberian Romance languages had already begun.
TheNeolithic brought changes to the human landscape of Iberia (from the 5th millennium BC onwards), with the development ofagriculture and the beginning of theEuropean Megalith Culture. This spread to most ofEurope and had one of its oldest and main centres in the territory of modernPortugal, as well as theChalcolithic andBeaker cultures.
During the 1st millennium BC, in theBronze Age, the first wave of migrations into Iberia of speakers ofIndo-European languages occurred. These were later (7th and 5th centuries BC) followed by others that can be identified asCelts. Eventually urban cultures developed in southern Iberia, such asTartessos, influenced by thePhoenician colonization of coastalMediterranean Iberia, with strong competition from theGreek colonization. These two processes defined Iberia's cultural landscape – Mediterranean towards the southeast and Continental in the northwest.
Hispania under Caesar Augustus's rule after theCantabrian Wars in 29 BC
Roman armies invaded the Iberian peninsula in 218 BC and used it as a training ground for officers and as a proving ground for tactics during campaigns against theCarthaginians, theIberians, theLusitanians, theGallaecians and otherCelts.[citation needed] It was not until 19 BC that the Roman emperorAugustus (r. 27 BC–AD 14) was able to complete the conquest (seeCantabrian Wars). Until then, much of Hispania remained autonomous.
Romanization proceeded quickly in some regions where there are references to the togati, and very slowly in others, after the time ofAugustus, and Hispania was divided into three separately governed provinces, and nine provinces by the 4th century. More importantly, Hispania was for 500 years part of a cosmopolitan world empire bound together by law, language, and theRoman road. But the impact of Hispania on the newcomers was also substantial.Caesar wrote that the soldiers from the Second Legion had become Hispanicized and regarded themselves ashispanici.[citation needed]
Some of the peninsula's population were admitted into the Roman aristocratic class and they participated in governing Hispania and the Roman Empire, although there was a native aristocracy class who ruled each local tribe. Thelatifundia (sing.,latifundium), large estates controlled by the aristocracy, were superimposed on the existing Iberian landholding system.
The Romans improved existing cities, such asLisbon (Olissipo) andTarragona (Tarraco), establishedZaragoza (Caesaraugusta),Mérida (Augusta Emerita), andValencia (Valentia), and reduced other native cities to mere villages. The peninsula's economy expanded under Roman tutelage. Hispania served as a granary and a major source of metals for the Roman market, and its harbors exportedgold,tin,silver,lead,wool,wheat,olive oil,wine,fish, andgarum. Agricultural production increased with the introduction of irrigation projects, some of which remain in use today. The Romanized Iberian populations and the Iberian-born descendants of Roman soldiers and colonists had all achieved the status of full Roman citizenship by the end of the 1st century. The Iberian denarii, also calledargentum oscense by Roman soldiers, circulated until the 1st century BC, after which it was replaced by Roman coins.
Hispania was separated into two provinces (in 197 BC), each ruled by apraetor:Hispania Citerior ("Hither Hispania") andHispania Ulterior ("Farther Hispania"). The long wars of conquest lasted two centuries, and only by the time ofAugustus didRome manage to control Hispania Ulterior. Hispania was divided into three provinces in the 1st century BC. In the imperial era, three Roman emperors were born in Hispania:Trajan (r. 98–117),Hadrian (r. 117–138), andTheodosius (r. 379–395).
In the 4th century,Latinius Pacatus Drepanius, a Gallic rhetorician, dedicated part of his work to the depiction of the geography, climate and inhabitants of the peninsula, writing:
This Hispania produces tough soldiers, very skilled captains, prolific speakers, luminous bards. It is a mother of judges and princes; it has givenTrajan,Hadrian, andTheodosius to the Empire.
Christianity was introduced into Hispania in the 1st century and it became popular in the cities in the 2nd century. However, little headway was made in the countryside, until the late 4th century, by which time Christianity was the official religion of the Roman Empire. Someheretical sects emerged in Hispania, most notablyPriscillianism, but overall the local bishops remained subordinate to thePope. Bishops who had official civil as well as ecclesiastical status in the late empire continued to exercise their authority to maintain order when civil governments broke down there in the 5th century. The Council of Bishops became an important instrument of stability during the ascendancy of theVisigoths. The last vestiges of (Western·classical) Roman rule ended in 472.
Iberian Peninsula (AD 530–AD 570)The Iberian Peninsula in the year 560 AD
The undoing of Roman Spain was the result of four tribescrossing the Rhine in 406. After three years of depredation and wandering about northern and western Gaul, theGermanicBuri,Suevi andVandals, together with theSarmatianAlans moved into Iberia in September or October 409 at the request ofGerontius, a Roman usurper. The Suevi established a kingdom in Gallaecia in what is today modernGalicia and northernPortugal. The Alans' allies, theHasdingi Vandals, also established a kingdom in another part of Gallaecia. TheAlans established a kingdom inLusitania – modernAlentejo andAlgarve, inPortugal. TheSilingi Vandals briefly occupied parts of South Iberia in the province ofBaetica.
In an effort to retrieve the region, the Western Roman emperor,Honorius (r. 395–423), promised the Visigoths a home in southwest Gaul if they destroyed the invaders in Spain. They all but wiped out the Silingi and Alans. The remnant joined the Asding Vandals who had settled first in the northwest with the Sueves but south to Baetica. It is a mystery why the Visigoths were recalled by patrician Constantius (who in 418 married Honorius' sister who had been married briefly to the Visigothic king Ataulf). The Visigoths, the remnants of the two tribes who joined them and the Sueves were confined to a small area in the northwest of the peninsula. The diocese may even have been re-established with its capital at Mérida in 418.[13] The Roman attempt under General Castorius to dislodge the Vandals from Cordoba failed in 422.
The Vandals andAlans crossed over to North Africa in 429, an event which is considered to have been decisive in hastening the decline of the Western Roman Empire. However, their departure allowed the Romans to recover 90% of the Iberian peninsula until 439. After the departure of the Vandals only the Sueves remained in a northwest corner of the peninsula. Roman rule which had survived in the eastern quadrant was restored over most of Iberia until the Sueves occupied Mérida in 439, a move which coincides to the Vandaloccupation of Carthage late the same year. Rome made attempts to restore control in 446 and 458. Success was temporary.
After the death of emperor Majorian in 461 Roman authority collapsed except in Tarraconensis the northeastern quadrant of the peninsula. The Visigoths, aGermanic people, whose kingdom was located in southwest Gaul, took the province when they occupied Tarragona in 472. They also confined the Sueves who had ruled most of the region to Galicia and northern Portugal. In 484 the Visigoths establishedToledo as the capital of their kingdom. Successive Visigothic kings ruled Hispania as patricians who held imperial commissions to govern in the name of the Roman emperor. In 585 the Visigoths conquered theSuebic Kingdom of Galicia, and thus controlled almost all of Hispania.
A century later, taking advantage of a struggle for the throne between the Visigothic kingsAgila andAthanagild, theByzantine emperorJustinian I sent an army under the command ofLiberius to take back the peninsula from the Visigoths. This short-lived reconquest recovered only a small strip of land along the Mediterranean coast roughly corresponding to the ancient province ofBaetica, known asSpania.
Under the Visigoths, culture was not as highly developed as it had been under Roman rule, when a goal of higher education had been to prepare gentlemen to take their places in municipal and imperial administration. With the collapse of the imperial administrative super-structure above the provincial level (which was practically moribund) the task of maintaining formal education and government shifted to the Church from the old ruling class of educated aristocrats and gentry. The clergy, for the most part, emerged as the qualified personnel to manage higher administration in concert with local powerful notables who gradually displaced the old town councils. As elsewhere in early medieval Europe, the church in Hispania stood as society's most cohesive institution. The Visigoths are also responsible for the introduction of mainstream Christianity to the Iberian peninsula; the earliest representation ofChrist in Spanish religious art can be found in a Visigothic hermitage,Santa Maria de Lara. It also embodied the continuity of Roman order. Native Hispano-Romans continued to run the civil administration andLatin continued to be the language of government and of commerce on behalf of the Visigoths.[14]
Religion was the most persistent source of friction between theChalcedonian (Catholic) native Hispano-Romans and theirArian Visigothic overlords, whom the former considered heretical. At times this tension invited open rebellion, and restive factions within the Visigothic aristocracy exploited it to weaken the monarchy. In 589,Recared, a Visigothic ruler, renounced hisArianism before the Council of Bishops at Toledo and acceptedChalcedonian Christianity (Catholic Church), thus assuring an alliance between the Visigothicmonarchy and the native Hispano-Romans. This alliance would not mark the last time in the history of the peninsula that political unity would be sought through religious unity.
Court ceremonials – fromConstantinople – that proclaimed the imperial sovereignty and unity of the Visigothic state were introduced at Toledo. Still, civil war, royal assassinations, and usurpation were commonplace, and warlords and great landholders assumed wide discretionary powers. Bloody family feuds went unchecked. The Visigoths had acquired and cultivated the apparatus of the Roman state but not the ability to make it operate to their advantage. In the absence of a well-defined hereditary system of succession to the throne, rival factions encouraged foreign intervention by theGreeks, theFranks, and finally theMuslims in internal disputes and in royalelections.
According toIsidore of Seville, it is with theVisigothic domination of Iberia that the idea of a peninsular unity is sought after, and the phraseMother Hispania is first spoken. Up to that date,Hispania designated all of the peninsula's lands. InHistoria Gothorum, the VisigothSuinthila appears as the firstmonarch under whose rule Hispania is dealt with as aGothic nation.
During the first stages of Romanization, the peninsula was divided in two by the Romans for administrative purposes. The closest one to Rome was calledCiterior and the more remote oneUlterior. The frontier between both was a sinuous line which ran from Cartago Nova (nowCartagena) to theCantabrian Sea.
Administrative division of Hispania by Augustus in 27 BC
The emperorAugustus in that same year returned to make a new division leaving the provinces as follows:
Provincia Hispania Ulterior Baetica (orHispania Baetica), whose capital wasCorduba, presently Córdoba. It included a little less territory than present-day Andalusia—since modernAlmería and a great portion of what today isGranada andJaén were left outside—plus the southern zone of present-dayBadajoz. The riverAnas orAnnas (Guadiana, from Wadi-Anas) separated Hispania Baetica from Lusitania.
Provincia Hispania Citerior (orTarraconensis), whose capital wasTarraco (Tarragona). After gaining maximum importance this province was simply known asTarraconensis and it comprisedGallaecia (modernGalicia and northernPortugal) andAsturias.
By the 3rd century the emperorCaracalla made a new division which lasted only a short time. He split Hispania Citerior again into two parts, creating the new provincesProvincia Hispania Nova Citerior andAsturiae-Calleciae. In the year 238 the unified provinceTarraconensis orHispania Citerior was re-established.
In the 3rd century, under the Soldier Emperors, Hispania Nova (the northwestern corner of Spain) was split off from Tarraconensis, as a small province but the home of the only permanent legion in Hispania,Legio VII Gemina.
Diocese of Hispania after AD 293, highlighting its ecclesial metropolitan sees and their suffragan dioceses.
Before the Punic Wars, Hispania was a land with much untapped mineral and agricultural wealth, limited by the primitive subsistence economies of its native peoples outside of a few trading ports along theMediterranean. Occupation by the Carthaginians and then by the Romans for its abundantsilver deposits developed Hispania into a thriving multifaceted economy. Several metals, olives, oil from Baetica, salted fish andgarum, and wines were some of the goods produced in Hispania and traded throughout the Empire. Gold mining was the most important activity in the north-west parts of the peninsula. This activity is attested in archaeological sites asLas Médulas (Spain) and Casais (Ponte de Lima, Portugal).[15]
Precipitation levels were unusually high during the so-calledIberian–Roman Humid Period. Roman Spain experienced its three phases: the most humid interval in 550–190 BC, an arid interval in 190 BC–150 AD and another humid period in 150–350.[16] In 134 BC the army ofScipio Aemilianus in Spain had to march at night due to extreme heat, when some of its horses and mules died of thirst[17] (even though earlier, in 181 BC, heavy spring rains prevented theCeltiberians from relieving the Romansiege of Contrebia).[17] Through the 2nd century AD warm temperatures dominated particularly in themountains along the north coast, punctuated by further cool spells fromc. 155 to 180.[18] After about 200 the temperatures fluctuated, trending toward cool.[18]
Alarcão, Jorge,O Domínio Romano em Portugal, Publicações Europa-América, 1988. (In Portuguese.)
Altamira y Crevea, RafaelHistoria de España y de la civilización española. Tomo I. Barcelona, 1900. Altamira was a professor at the University of Oviedo, a member of the Royal Academy of History, of theGeographic Society of Lisbon and of the Instituto de Coimbra. (In Spanish.)
Aznar, José Camón,Las artes y los pueblos de la España primitiva. Editorial Espasa Calpe, S.A. Madrid, 1954. Camón was a professor at the University of Madrid. (In Spanish.)
Bosch Gimpera, Pedro;Aguado Bleye, Pedro; and Ferrandis, José.Historia de España. España romana, I, created under the direction of Ramón Menéndez Pidal. Editorial Espasa-Calpe S.A., Madrid 1935. (In Spanish.)
García y Bellido, Antonio,España y los españoles hace dos mil años (según la Geografía de Estrabón). Colección Austral de Espasa Calpe S.A., Madrid 1945 (1st ed. 8-XI-1945). García y Bellido was an archeologist and a professor at the University of Madrid. (In Spanish.)
Mattoso, José (dir.),História de Portugal. Primeiro Volume: Antes de Portugal, Lisboa, Círculo de Leitores, 1992. (in Portuguese)
Melón, Amando,Geografía histórica española Editorial Volvntad, S.A., Tomo primero, Vol. I Serie E. Madrid 1928. Melón was a member of the Royal Geographical Society of Madrid and a professor of geography at the Universities of Valladolid and Madrid. (In Spanish.)
Pellón, José R.,Diccionario Espasa Íberos. Espasa Calpe S.A. Madrid 2001. (In Spanish.)
Urbieto Arteta, Antonio,Historia ilustrada de España, Volumen II. Editorial Debate, Madrid 1994. (In Spanish.)
El Housin Helal Ouriachen, 2009, La ciudad bética durante la Antigüedad Tardía. Persistencias y mutaciones locales en relación con la realidad urbana del Mediterraneo y del Atlántico, Tesis doctoral, Universidad de Granada, Granada.
Other classical sources have been accessed second-hand (see references above):
Strabo,Geographiká. Book III, Iberia, written between the years 29 and 7 BC and touched up in AD 18. The most prestigious and widely used edition isKarl Müller's, published in Paris at the end of the 19th century, one volume, with 2 columns,Greek andLatin. The most reputedFrench translation is Tardieu, París 1886. The most reputedEnglish translation (with Greek text) is H.L. Jones, vol. I–VIII, London 1917ff., ND London 1931ff.
Ptolemy (Greek astronomer of the 2nd century)Geographiké Hyphaégesis, geographic guidebook.
Lucius Anneus Florus (between 1st and 2nd century).Compendium of Roman History andEpitome of the History of Titus Livius (Livy). The relevant texts ofLivy have been lost, but we can read them via Florus.
Abad Casal, Lorenzo, Simon Keay, and Sebastián F. Ramallo Asensio, eds. 2006.Early Roman Towns in Hispania Tarraconensis. Portsmouth, RI: Journal of Roman Archaeology.
Bowes, Kim, and Michael Kulikowski, eds. and trans. 2005.Hispania in Late Antiquity: Current Perspectives. Medieval and Early Modern Iberian World 24. Leiden, The Netherlands, and Boston: Brill.
Curchin, Leonard A. 1991.Roman Spain: Conquest and Assimilation. London and New York: Routledge.
Curchin, Leonard A. 2003.The Romanization of Central Spain: Complexity, Diversity, and Change in a Provincial Hinterland. Routledge Classical Monographs. London and New York: Routledge.
Jesús Bermejo Tirado and Ignasi Grau Mira, ed. (2022).The Archaeology of Peasantry in Roman Spain. De Gruyter.ISBN978-3-11-075741-5.
Keay, Simon J. 2001. "Romanization and the Hispaniae." InItaly and the West: Comparative Issues in Romanization. Edited by Simon Keay and Nicola Terrenato, 117–144. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
Keay, Simon, ed. 1998.The Archaeology of Early Roman Baetica. Portsmouth, RI: Journal of Roman Archaeology
Kulikowski, Michael. 2004.Late Roman Spain and its Cities. Ancient Society and History. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press.
Lowe, Benedict. 2009.Roman Iberia: Economy, Society and Culture. London: Duckworth.
Mierse, William E. 1999.Temples and Towns of Roman Iberia: The Social and Architectural Dynamics of Sanctuary Designs from the Third century B.C. to the Third century A.D. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press.
Richardson, J. S. 1996.The Romans in Spain. History of Spain. Oxford: Blackwell.
^When it talks about the different Kings, "los V regnes de Espanya" ("The 5 Kingdoms of Spain"); when it talks about a military fort built by the Christians saying that it is "de los meylors de Espanya" ("from the best of Spain"); when it declared thatCatalonia, one of the integral parts of theCrown of Aragon, is "lo meylor Regne Despanya, el pus honrat, el pus noble" ("the best kingdom of Spain, the most honest, the most noble"); when it talks about the conflict that has existed for long "entre los sarrains e los chrestians, en Espanya" ("between Saracens and Christians, in Spain").[12]
^Living floors: The animal world in the mosaics of Israel and its surroundings / Ami Tamir,(Tel-Aviv, 2019),131;רצפות חיות: עולם החי בפסיפסי ארץ ישראל וסביבתה
^Conrad Malte-Brun,Précis de la géographie universelle, vol. 4 (Paris: Buisson, 1810–29), 318.
^SPAL: Revista de prehistoria y arqueología de la Universidad de Sevilla. Secretariado de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Sevilla. 1998. p. 93. Retrieved8 February 2013.La presencia de fenicios en la antigua Sevilla parece constatada por el topónimo Spal que en diversas lenguas semíticas significa "zona baja", "llanura verde" o "valle profundo"
^Kulikowski, M. "The Career of the 'comes Hispanarum' Asterius",Phoenix, 2000a, 54: 123–141.
^E.A. Thompson,The Visigoths in Spain, 1969, pp. 114–131.
^Encadré 5.2 de Silva, A. J. M. (2012), Vivre au-delà du fleuve de l'Oubli. Portrait de la communauté villageoise du Castro do Vieito au moment de l'intégration du NO de la péninsule ibérique dans l'orbis Romanum (estuaire du Rio Lima, NO du Portugal), Oxford, Archaeopress.
^abLeonard A Curchin (2004).The Romanization of Central Spain: Complexity, Diversity and Change in a Provincial Hinterland. Routledge. p. 7.ISBN978-1134451128.
As found in theNotitia Dignitatum. Provincial administration reformed anddioceses established byDiocletian,c. 293. Permanentpraetorian prefectures established after the death ofConstantine I. Empire permanently partitioned after 395. Exarchates ofRavenna andAfrica established after 584. After massive territorial losses in the 7th century, the remaining provinces were superseded by thetheme system in c. 640–660, although inAsia Minor and parts of Greece they survived under the themes until the early 9th century.
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