The same period saw a progressive reduction in the number of Roman troops stationed in the peninsula. During the Cantabrian War under Augustus the number of legions rose to seven or eight, but those were reduced to three by the reign of his successor, Tiberius, and to one by the time of Galba’s accession. From Vespasian’s time to the end of the empire, the legionary force in Spain was limited to the VII Gemina Felix legion, stationed at Legio (León) in the north. Both that legion and the other auxiliary units in Spain seem to have been recruited increasingly from the peninsula itself, and recruits from Spain served throughout the Roman world, from Britain to Syria. From the time of Vespasian onward, military activity in Spain itself was restricted in scope and occasional, such as the repulsion of an attack by the Mauri (probably Imazighen [Berbers]) from Africa in the 170s and raids by barbarians during the chaotic period of the later 3rd century, which, according to some late sources, involved the sack of Tarraco. It seems probable that the legion VII Gemina was split in the late 3rd or 4th century, with one part being transferred to the comitatenses, the mobile army that accompanied the emperor. Certainly the remaining forces in Spain, further reduced by the removal of soldiers to fight in the civil war that followed the attempt by the usurper Constantine to seize power from the emperor Honorius in 406, were unable to provide much resistance to the Vandals, Suebi, and Alani, who swept across the Pyrenees in 409. Administration
From the time of Augustus, the work of the provincial governors, who under the Roman Republic had been commanders in military areas, became more focused on the administration of their provinces. Baetica, the most thoroughly pacified of the three Augustan provinces, was governed by a proconsul chosen by the Senate in Rome, whereas Tarraconensis and Lusitania had governors appointed directly by the emperor (legati Augusti). Those provincial divisions continued to be used down to the time of the emperor Diocletian (284–305 ce), who subdivided Tarraconensis into three sections—Gallaecia, Tarraconensis, and Carthaginiensis. In Baetica financial matters were handled by another magistrate (quaestor), as had been the case under the republic, whereas in Augustus’s provinces that work was done by imperial agents (procuratores Augusti). The administration of law, which had always been the responsibility of the provincial commanders, was undertaken at a number of centres, each of which had a district (conventus) attached to it: in Baetica those were Corduba, which was the provincial capital, Astigi (Ecija), Gades (Cádiz), and Hispalis (Sevilla); in Tarraconensis, Tarraco itself, Caesaraugusta (Zaragoza), Nova Carthago (Cartagena), Clunia (Peñalba de Castro), Asturica (Astorga), Lucus Augusti (Lugo), and Bracara Augusta (Braga); and, in Lusitania, Scallabis (Santarém), Pax Iulia (Beja), and the provincial capital, Emerita Augusta. The larger number in Tarraconensis, the result of the larger geographic size of that province, led to the appointment of an additional official (the legatus iuridicus) to help with the work, at least from the time of the emperor Tiberius (14–37 ce) onward. The extent to which the governor was regarded as the source of law in the province can be seen from the requirement set forth in the charters issued to municipia that local magistrates should post, at the place where they dispensed justice, a copy of the governor’s edict specifying which categories of legal suits he was prepared to hear.
Economy
The economy of Roman Spain, as throughout the ancient world, was primarily agricultural. In addition to the food grown for local consumption, there was a considerable export trade in agricultural products, which has been demonstrated by the investigation of shipwrecks and amphorae found in Spain and elsewhere in the Roman world. Particularly important are the amphorae from Monte Testaccio, a hill in Rome, still some 160 feet (50 metres) high, that is composed mostly of the remains of amphorae in which olive oil had been carried from Baetica to Rome in the first three centuries ce. Wine from Baetica and Tarraconensis, even though not highly regarded in Rome, was shipped in quantity from the 1st century bce to the mid-2nd century ce. Spain also was famous for the production of piquant fish sauces, made especially from tuna and mackerel, of which the most reknowned was garum. Glass, fine pottery, and esparto grass (for making ropes and baskets) were also exported from Spain. Mining was another highly important economic activity; Spain was one of the most-important mining centres in the Roman world. Religion
Religion in Spain was shaped by the spread of Roman control. Along the eastern coast and in the Baetis valley, the anthropomorphic deities of the Romans absorbed or replaced earlier nonanthropomorphic gods, particularly in the Romanized towns and cities. In areas of Greek and Phoenician colonization, local gods were readily identified with Roman ones, the most-striking example being the cult of Hercules/Melqart at Gades. In the north and west, native deities survived longer. In the imperial period the worship of the emperor was widespread, especially in the provincial capitals, where it provided a focus for expressions of loyalty to the emperor, and priesthoods in the imperial cult were an important part of the careers of local dignitaries. Mystery religions from the eastern Mediterranean appeared in the 1st and 2nd centuries ce, particularly that of the Egyptian goddess Isis. Christianity became established in the 2nd century, and the extent of its organization is attested not only by accounts of martyrdoms during the 3rd century but also by the records of one of the earliest councils at Elvira, about 306. It is noteworthy that Hosius (Ossius; c. 257–357), bishop of Corduba, acted as religious adviser to the emperor Constantine after his conversion in 312. Roman remains
Monumental remains of the Roman occupation can be seen throughout Spain, of which some of the most remarkable are the city walls of Tarragona and Lugo, the aqueducts at Segovia, Mérida, and Tarragona, the reservoir, theatre, and public buildings at Mérida, the bridges at Alcántara and Córdoba, and the towns of Italica and Ampurias (Emporion). Particularly fine collections of Roman art and remains can be seen in the National Archaeological Museums in Madrid and Tarragona and the provincial archaeological museums in Mérida, Sevilla, Zaragoza, and Barcelona, as well as in Conimbriga (in Portugal). John S. Richardson Visigothic Spain to c. 500
Roman rule in Spain, and elsewhere in the Western Empire, was undermined during the 5th century by the migrations of Germanic tribes that had settled along the Roman frontier and that came under pressure from expansion by the Huns. One such group, subsequently known as the Visigoths, a people that lived along the Danube River and converted to Arian Christianity, was authorized by the emperor Valens to settle in the empire in 376. Mistreatment by local officials and the failue of the empire to uphold its end of the bargain caused the Goths to revolt. In the subsequent Battle of Adrianople in 378, Valens was killed and his armies were destroyed by the Goths. Despite the extent of their victory, the Goths came to terms with the emperor Theodosius I and settled in the empire as foederati (“federated allies”). Theodosius’s heirs, however, were less successful at containing the various Germanic peoples that had moved into the empire. In 406 the Ostrogoths attempted to invade Italy, and the efforts to stop them allowed the Vandals, Alans, and Suebi (Suevi) to enter Gaul and then Spain. After ravaging the country for two years, the Suebi and the Asding Vandals settled in the northwestern province of Galicia (Gallaecia). The Siling Vandals occupied Baetica in the south, and the Alans, an Iranian people, settled in the central provinces of Lusitania and Carthaginiensis. For the time being, only Tarraconensis remained entirely under Roman control.