Hispania citerior

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Roman provinces
Map of the provinces Hispania citerior and Hispania ulterior, after Heinrich Kiepert , 1861

Hispania citerior ("the nearer Hispania") or this- sided Spain is the name of one of the two provinces, in which the Romans in the year 197 BC. BC divided the part of the Iberian Peninsula that they ruled at that time . The other province was Hispania ulterior ("the more distant Hispania"). The Hispania Ulterior comprised the south and west, the Hispania Citerior the East. The north-west (the area between the western end of the Pyrenees and Galicia and northern Portugal) was slowly conquered by the Romans; only Caesar and Augustus completed the subjugation of the peoples there. The northwest, including northern Portugal to the Douro River , whose lower reaches west of Zamora formed the provincial border, was incorporated into the Hispania citerior after its conquest . Provincial governor was a propraetor .

Under Emperor Augustus , Hispania citerior became an imperial province . Since the seat of the governor was in Tarraco , today's Tarragona in Catalonia , this province began to be called Hispania Tarraconensis during the imperial period . The official name in the title of the governor was still Hispania citerior .

For the further history of the province see Tarraconensis .

The most important cities of Hispania citerior in Republican times were Tarraco and Carthago Nova ( Cartagena ). In the older research it was assumed that originally Carthago Nova was the governor's seat and only Augustus changed this in favor of Tarraco; According to more recent research, however, Tarraco was the official seat from the beginning. The important cities of the province also included Saguntum ( Sagunto north of Valencia ) and Ilerda south of today's city of Lleida inland.

literature

  • Géza Alföldy : Fasti Hispanienses. Senatorial officials and officers in the Spanish provinces of the Roman Empire from Augustus to Diocletian. Steiner, Wiesbaden 1969 (pp. 3–130, 230–252 on the officials of Hispania citerior ).
  • Tilmann Bechert : The provinces of the Roman Empire. Introduction and overview. von Zabern, Mainz 1999, ISBN 3-8053-2399-9 , pp. 65-71.
  • Franz Braun: The development of the Spanish provincial borders in Roman times (= sources and research on ancient history and geography. Vol. 17, ISSN  0259-7055 ). Weidmann, Berlin 1909.
  • Rudolf Haensch : Capita provinciarum. Governor's seat and provincial administration in the Roman Empire (= Cologne research. Vol. 7). von Zabern, Mainz 1997, ISBN 3-8053-1803-0 .
  • Walter Trillmich , Annette Nünnerich-Asmus (ed.): Monuments of the Roman era (= Hispania Antiqua ). von Zabern, Mainz 1993, ISBN 3-8053-1547-3 .

Coordinates: 41 °  N , 0 °  W