Romanization of Hispania: Urbanization, Military & Roads
The Romanization of Hispania: Key Factors
1. Urban Development
The Roman people were primarily urban dwellers. They lived on estates, a population model exported throughout the Empire. Civilization, as they understood it, thrived in cities. Those who settled in the provinces (veterans, migrants from Rome, Italy) did so in cities, often created expressly for them (the colonies). From the first, Italica, founded by Scipio in 26 BC, the creation of this kind of new town or near town centers incumbent was constant, especially at the time of Caesar and Augustus. In them lies the origin of many Spanish cities such as Merida, Barcelona, Zaragoza, Cáceres, Valencia, Palma, Tarragona, Elche, etc.
In addition, the Romans fostered the growth of existing cities, granting many of them the privileged legal status of municipium. In some cases, this involved granting Roman citizenship to its inhabitants. Their aim was that Hispanics abandon their villages and concentrate in cities, thus more easily integrating into the Roman way of life and becoming easier to control. Ancient Roman municipalities include present-day Lerida, Huesca, Sagunto, Tortosa, Calatayud, Calahorra, etc.
In cities, the Hispano was steeped in Roman culture: learning the Latin language, practicing official religious cults (the cult of Rome and the Emperor), benefiting from public services (water supply, drainage, markets, etc.), and enjoying typical Roman entertainment (theater, chariot and horse races, gladiator fights), for which the Romans built magnificent venues in major cities. They could also send their children to school and participate in institutions (in assemblies and, if they were rich, in the Senate and the Judiciary), etc.
The effectiveness of urbanization as a romanization factor is evident in the fact that where urban concentration was higher, romanization was earlier and more intense.
2. The Military’s Role
From different perspectives, the army was a crucial factor in cultural Romanization, besides being the main instrument of control and domination of the provinces. First, the legionnaires were the first and most abundant type of Roman to come into contact with the indigenous population during the time of the conquest.
Their headquarters attracted marginalized sectors of the indigenous population. Mixed couples were abundant, and settlements formed around these military cities.
The Roman army veterans, who received licensed houses and land to settle, were also an important factor in Romanization. This was the case of the two major cities of Hispania: Italica, for veterans (socii Italian) of the Second Punic War, and Merida for the Cantabrian Wars.
The army contributed most to the assimilation of the poorest and least civilized Hispanics through employment as mercenaries. Having gained peace on the peninsula, but especially from the civil wars and the beginning of the Empire, the quotas increased because the Romans needed them for their wars of conquest and to maintain the boundaries of the Empire. For Hispanics, it was a way to earn a living and obtain Roman citizenship. Once Romanized, these soldiers and veterans returned to their land and became the focus of romanization.
3. The Communications Network
The Romans maintained a dense network of roads throughout the empire, reinforced by bridges and tunnels. The motives for this effort were strategic, economic, and political.
In Spain, the major roads (modern-day motorways) included the Via Augusta, en route from Cadiz to the Valle del Guadalquivir to the Mediterranean coast, and continuing to Gaul (and then to Rome), and those linking the capitals of the provinces, such as the Via de la Plata, which linked Astorga, Merida, and Seville. Apart from the major roads, there were many roads that crossed the conventus of each province from one side to the other. The remains of its distinctive cobblestones can be found throughout Spain, close to or below our roads and highways. Some of the bridges are still holding current traffic, such as those in Córdoba or Andújar.
The abundant remains of these public works are one of the most distinctive, eloquent, and enduring features of our Roman heritage.