Coinage and Identity in the Roman Provinces: Spain

Abstract

Abstract The Ethnic and Cultural Composition of Iberia was not uniform before the Romans arrived; literary sources and archaeological research provide evidence of different influences over several Late Bronze Age strata. An account of the groups there previously is an essential first step before assessing the impact of Roman intervention, so that we can determine the extent to which the arrival and dominion of the Romans modified existing traditions. Before the coming of the Romans, the foreign peoples who principally influenced native Iberians were Phoenicians and Greeks (Map 6.1). The Greek colonies at Emporion and Rhode in north-east Iberia played an important role in the trade of commodities and the spread of ideas along the Mediterranean coast. In the south, the Phoenicians had settled early on, and created the great centralized settlements in this area, which includes part of what is now Portugal, and several villages commercially attached to the coast. The south and Mediterranean coast included the most Hellenized native towns, villages, and peoples; the Late Bronze Age populations evolved towards a culture that is generally speaking labelled as Iberian, and owed many features to their contacts with Greeks and Phoenicians. However, important variations in settlement patterns, religion, artistic traditions, and social organization can be recognized. Some of the most important settlements developed urban models. The inhabitants spoke a pre-Indo-European language and had their own writing. The eastern part of the inner Iberian Peninsula was inhabited by Celtiberians, throughout a wide territory that extended over the lands located south of the river Ebro and on the eastern part of both Mesetas. They had been developing a form of urban organization since the fourth century bc, and their material culture shows some indirect Greek influences from contacts with coastal Iberians. Their language belongs to the Indo-European family. The central and western parts of Iberia were inhabited by peoples with few Mediterranean influences, and with a strong presence of their own Late Bronze Age traditions. There are no signs of urban development, as seen in the Greek, and later Roman, worlds, until the Late Republican period.

Cite this

Pere Pau Ripollès i Alegre (2005). Coinage and Identity in the Roman Provinces: Spain. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199265268.003.0011

@article{i2005coinage,
  title  = {Coinage and Identity in the Roman Provinces: Spain},
  author = {Alegre, Pere Pau Ripollès i},
  year   = {2005},
  doi    = {10.1093/oso/9780199265268.003.0011}
}

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References