The Romans in Spain

The Romans were present in the Iberia peninsula for for over 600 years, from 218 BC to AD 409.
Hispania was the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula and its provinces and this was the origin of the present name for Spain which is España. 

The Romans met enormous resistance when they tried to conquer what is now Spain and Portugal. It took over 200 years to fully complete the conquest. At that time the population was divided into tribal groups and each one had to the conquered. By comparison it only took 10 years to conquer Gaul (modern France) and 50 years to conquer Britain. 

Six hundred years of Roman presence in the Iberian Peninsula left many traces. One of the most important is the Latin language. Latin became the lingua franca of the Iberian Peninsular and enabled all the people  to communicate with each other. There is virtually no trace left of the many  languages that existed before the Romans. The languages which exist at the present time Castilian Spanish (castellano), Portuguese, Catalan and  Galician (Gallego) – are descendants of the Latin that was spoken during Roman times (except for Basque, or Euskera). 

The Aqueduct in Segovia. 

The Spanish legal system is a civil law system based on the Roman-Germanic tradition. The Spanish system is hierarchical so that laws of a lower jurisdiction in conflict with laws of a higher jurisdiction are invalid.

There are many Roman remains that are possible to visit today:

The Roman walls of Lugo: City walls of over 2km which surround the  the historic centre of Lugo in Galicia. click

The Aqueduct of Segovia:  One of the best-preserved elevated Roman aqueducts click

Italica: Well preserved ruins of an elaborate Roman city in the province of Hispania Baetica 9 km northwest of Seville. It was the birthplace of Roman Emperor Trajan, most likely that of Hadrian and possibly that of Theodosius. 

Ruins of Bolonia: Baelo Claudia was the name of an ancient Roman town, located 22 kilometres  outside of Tarifa, near the village of Bolonia, in southern Spain. Well preserved ruins which makes it easy to understand the daily life of the town. Bath houses, communal toilets, sewerage system, ampitheatre, temples etc. This Roman town was prosperous mainly because if the export of a salty fermented fish paste called Garum and its strategic location. click

The Roman theatre in Merida.

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Last Modified on June 20th, 2024
Created on September 9th, 2022
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