Viriathus - Conquest of Lusitania By Rome

Conquest of Lusitania By Rome

In the 3rd century BC, Rome started its conquest of the Iberian Peninsula. The Roman conquest of Iberia began during the Second Punic War, when the senate sent an army to Iberia to block Carthaginian reinforcements from helping Hannibal in the Italian Peninsula. This began Roman involvement in 250 years of subsequent fighting throughout the Iberia resulting in its eventual conquest in 19 BC with the end of the Cantabrian Wars. The Lusitanian War is one of the most well documented episodes of the conquest. However Rome's dominion of Iberia met with much opposition. In 197 BC, Rome divided south eastern coast of Iberia into two provinces, Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior, and two elected praetors were assigned to command the legions. Like in many other tribes of Iberia, the inhabitants of the Lusitanian castros, or citanias, would have been granted peregrina stipendiaria. but remaining an autonomous (Greek: αὐτονόμων) country through treaties (foedus).

Lusitania's rich land was praised by ancient authors. Polybius in his Histories "speaking of the natural wealth of Lusitania, tells us that owing to the favorable climate both men and animals are very prolific, and the land is constantly productive."

The Romans charged the native tribes with heavy taxes: a fixed vectigal or land-tax, the tributum and a certain quantity of cereals. Taxes were not the only source of income, mine exploitation and peace treaties were a source of denarius as well as war spoils and war prisoners that were sold as slaves. The indigenous towns had to deliver their own treasures to the Romans, which left them only with the yearly earnings to pay the taxes. Between 209 and 169 BC, the Roman army collected 4 tons of gold and 800 tons of silver looting the native tribes of the Iberian peninsula. The governors extorted as much as they could from the tribes. In 174 BC, when Publius Furius Philus was accused of paying very little for the cereals that Iberia was compelled to deliver to Rome, Cato defended the interests of the native tribes. The exploitation and extortion reached such an extreme degree in the provinces that Rome had to create a special tribunal and laws, like the Lex Calpurnia created in 149 BC. Also as part of the payment, it was required a certain number of men to serve in the Roman army.