Hispano-Roman Society and Pre-Roman Peoples

Posted on Dec 8, 2024 in Geography

Hispano-Roman Society

Social Groups of Romanized Hispania

• Not uniformly organized.
• Complex social aspects.
• Division of social classes based on economic, political, judicial, and ideological factors.

Distinction Between Freemen and Slaves

• Roman society was divided into two groups: freemen and slaves.
• Only free men could participate in the state.
• Importance of slave labor led to the legal division between manual and non-manual work.
• Slaves performed manual labor in agriculture, mining, and industry.
• Free men had different powers based on their social and political situation.
• Differences existed among slaves, depending on their master.

The Roman Family

• Patriarchal: the father possessed supreme authority and power over all family members.
• Among these settlers, social, economic, and legal differences existed.
• The indigenous aristocracy intermingled with the Romans in the afternoon.
• These groups included the senatorial and equestrian classes (Romans mixed with indigenous people).
• The indigenous aristocracy became part of the municipal oligarchy.

Groups of Freemen

Divided into groups with rights and duties according to rank:

1. Senatorial Order: Merged with the city of Rome and the imperial government (highest fees and administration).
2. Equestrian Order: Wealth based on money over investment in land; they became landowners.
3. Decuriones: Members of the municipal oligarchy, i.e., the wealthiest members of the municipalities.
4. The Mob: Free men with legal rights, divided into two types: urban and rustic. They could participate in political affairs, enlist in the army, etc.

Relationship Between Social Groups in Hispania During the High Empire

Changes in relations between social groups and the new social situation during the Late Empire:

• The High Empire transitioned to the Low Empire due to the 3rd-century AD crisis.
• Changes in social organization occurred.
• The economy affected cities and ruined members of the municipal oligarchy.
• This was due to growth in the unemployed population that could not be sustained.
• Slaves lost their social status.

The Hispano-Roman City

Fundamental Political-Administrative Unit

• Slaves could not vote; they had no legal status. Only people who formed the curia could vote, and they voted by popular vote.
• The city was ruled by judges (duoviri) and a council (curia).
• Two aediles (a type of councilman) were responsible for the order of the city, markets, public order, and paying taxes (especially during economic crises).

Pre-Roman Peoples

• The major problem of indigenous peoples was their lack of unity due to differences in organization, economy, and culture.
• Greeks and Phoenicians traded and colonized the east and south of the peninsula.
• Some Indo-European peoples, mostly Celts, entered through the Pyrenees and settled in Catalonia, moving to the Plateau (north of the peninsula).
• This led to a significant population increase in the central Spanish plateau.
• These Indo-Europeans mixed with the people of the Late Bronze Age cultural phase.
• In the first half of the 1st millennium BC, differences emerged, dividing them into:

• Iberians (eastern)
• Celtiberians (interior)

Peoples of the South of the Peninsula

• Southern region centered in the Guadalquivir valley and the south coast.
• In prehistoric times, highly developed populations emerged compared to others on the peninsula.
• In the first half of the 1st millennium BC, the Tartessos pursued an expansive policy to subdue the peoples of the mining regions of the south and southeast.
• When the Tartessian Empire appeared, it was divided into many peoples with differences among them.
• This area was very commercial, with constant exchanges by sea and land.
• Economy: agriculture, livestock, mining, and metalwork.
• Mines were exploited by slaves.
• The southern part of the peninsula was well-organized, with main cities like Seville, Cordoba, and Cadiz.
• This area was ruled by kings, and cities exercised sovereignty over several cities simultaneously.
• In addition to monarchs, there were councils, popular assemblies, and magistrates.

Peoples of the East of the Peninsula

• Very similar to those of the south.
• Their culture was influenced by the Greeks, and the southern part was influenced by the Phoenicians and Carthaginians.
• These eastern peoples extended from Cartagena to the Ebro River (the most important).
• The south was more advanced than the north.
• The Ebro Valley had little trade.
• Communications of the inhabitants of the east coast with external peoples were by sea and land, using the interior valleys of rivers and mountain passes.
• Social organization was composed of landowners, industrialists, and merchants.
• They knew the Roman coin.
• The political organization of the coastal areas was the city-state, with governing bodies (assemblies, magistrates, and senates).
• More extensive territories were governed by a monarchy (power centered on a king).

Peoples of Central and Western Iberian Peninsula

• Increased resistance to the Romans.
• Comprised: Celts, Celtiberians, Arevaci, Lusones, and Pelendones (also called Celtiberians).
• In Palencia and Segovia, the Vacceos were present.
• In the southern plateau, the most important people were the Carpetanos, associated with the Vettones.
• All these villages were formed by tribes and clans, possessing fortified centers for refuge in times of danger and to protect livestock.
• Some areas could be considered cities (with an economy based on agriculture and livestock).
• The Vacceos killed those who did not divide the harvest.
• Territorial power was linked to the maintenance of land.
• Trade was conducted through barter or, rarely, with silver foil.
• The organization was based on peoples (tribes) and gentilitates (people who joined the tribes).
• Among some groups, an important role was played by the hospitium (a hospitality pact that allowed individuals or groups to acquire rights from other groups).
• Political Organization: elders, judges, etc.
• Colloquialisms (gated community/family) and gens (groups isolated from each other).
• A widespread practice among the people was the military clientele, where a group of people joined a leader, either from their community or outside. Outsiders would join the leader in his community.
• Bandits existed due to a lack of resources and significant social inequality; they robbed the people.

Peoples of the North of the Iberian Peninsula

• Less developed standard of living (politically, economically, and socially).
• These peoples were born of Celtic influence.
• Economic organization: very primitive, based on food gathering and farming.
• Men engaged in looting (theft) as the main source of sustenance for their groups.
• Social and political organization was difficult, with many differences between people.
• Social organization was based on family (gentile groups) and fortified tribal centers.
• Women participated in wars, cultivated fields, inherited the house, and cared for their husbands.

Peoples of the North of the Iberian Peninsula

• Peoples of the north of the peninsula were the least developed in economics, sociology, and politics.
• These people were born of Celtic influence.
• Economic organization: very primitive, no agriculture, food gathering, and farming. They engaged in looting (theft).
• Social organization: family ties (gentile group), tribes, fortified centers.
• Women were involved in wars, cultivated fields, and were responsible for inheriting the house and caring for their husbands.

Settlements and Routes of Metals

Plantations

• First half of the first millennium BC by the Greeks and Phoenicians.
• The eastern and southern towns were transformed by the influence of sailors entering the Mediterranean.
• The Phoenicians and Greeks wanted to reach the area of metals (west), as this would open the way for the whole peninsula.
• The Greeks settled in the south of the coast but were evicted by the Punics, who ensured the trade route by forming factories. This change left the southern coast in the hands of the Carthaginians and the east coast in the hands of the Phoenicians.

Punic Colonization (Phoenicians and Carthaginians)

• The Phoenicians settled on the Mediterranean coast for trade and captured the city of Carthage.
• The Carthaginians conquered Ibiza, where they founded a salted fish company.
• Economic organization: barter was used in trading.

Greek Colonization

• They traded with the Greek towns of southern Spain, but the Carthaginians tried to stop them, forcing them to trade to the east (north), where they would create the most important settlement.
• They used coins before the Phoenicians.

Result of Colonization

• The natives imitated the Greeks and Phoenicians in art forms and writing.
• They learned new techniques of agriculture and livestock farming.
• The settlements ended with the arrival of the Tartessos Empire.
• Exploitation of slaves.

Problems with Romanization

• Difficult adaptation of peninsular peoples to Roman customs, laws, and language.

Ideological Elements of Romanization

• Problem of Romanization: change of socio-economic structures.
• They gave cohesion and justification to the new economic realities.
• Latin as a general language.

City Life, a Fundamental Element of Romanization

• Changes within indigenous societies; the better assimilated indigenous forms of organization in Rome.
• Slaves were excluded from participation in city life.
• Legal-political organization: division of people into two groups: free (with land) and slaves (with no rights).

Problem of Land, Land Distribution, and the Expansion of Urban Life

• Clash between the Romans and bandits during Romanization.
• The bandits (Celtic people) stole due to a lack of land.
• The bandits disappeared with the distribution of land, and the Romans were able to introduce their organization in the city (stronger military settlement).

Influence of the Roman Army

• Legions were assigned to explore an area near the camp.
• A population was located next to the camps as if it were a municipality.

Consequences of Structural Change

• During the war, indigenous lives changed.
• The establishment of a stable administration and the creation of provinces forced the Indians to organize similarly.

Sources of Wealth

• Hispania was the main source of cereal. Wheat was exported to Rome for food.
• Olive, grape, flax (textiles), and irrigation were present. Agriculture and livestock were very important, as were the exploitation of forests and mines.

Economic Forms

• Land in private ownership (land division and colony formation) and state-owned lands.
• Estates (extensions of land from private owners) belonging to members of the senatorial class.

Trade

• Local trade: agricultural products of the territory (grapes, salt, butter, etc.).
• Foreign trade: exports (Hispania: raw materials and metal) and imports (luxury items and manufactured products).