Hispania

Hispania was the Roman^[a] name for the Iberian Peninsula and its provinces. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior.

Hispania
218 BC–472
Timeline of the Roman conquest of Hispania (220 BC–19 BC), with Roman provincial boundaries shown
Capital	Baetica: Corduba Ulterior: Emerita Augusta Citerior: Tarraco 40.21°N 4.35°W / 40.21; -4.35
Common languages	Latin, various Paleohispanic languages
Religion	Traditional indigenous and Roman religion, followed by Christianity
Government	Autocracy
Emperor
• AD 98 – AD 117	Trajan
• AD 117 – AD 138	Hadrian
• AD 379 – AD 395	Theodosius I
Legislature	Roman Senate
Historical era	Classical antiquity
• Established	218 BC
• Disestablished	472
Population
•	5,000,000 or more
Preceded by Succeeded by Carthaginian Iberia Visigothic Kingdom Kingdom of the Suebi

At the start of the Roman Empire, Hispania Ulterior was split into two new provinces, Baetica and Lusitania, while Hispania Citerior was renamed Hispania Tarraconensis.

Conquests

Roman conquest

The Roman invaded the Iberian Peninsula in 218 BC and used it as a training ground for tactics against the Carthaginians, the Iberians, the Lusitanians, the Gallaecians and other Celts.

Roman emperor Augustus was not able to complete the conquest until 19 BC. Much of Hispania remained autonomous until the end of the Cantabrian Wars.

Germanic conquest

Iberian Peninsula (AD 530–AD 570)

In late 409 AD, the Germanic Buri, Suevi and Vandals moved into Iberia together with the Sarmatian Alans. The Suevi created a kingdom in Gallaecia and the Alans created a kingdom in Lusitania.

There were conflicts between the Chalcedonian natives and the Arian Visigoths. In 589, Recared renounced his Arianism and accepted Chalcedonian Christianity, this created an alliance between the Visigothic monarchy and the native Hispano-Romans.

Umayyad conquest

Main articles: Umayyad conquest of Hispania and Al-Andalus

Umayyad Hispania in 719 AD

On April 711, Berber Umayyad governor Tariq ibn Ziyad led around 1,700 soldiers and invaded southern Hispania from North Africa.^[1] The North Africans defeated the Visgothic army in the Battle at Guadalete in 712.

Notes

1. The name Hispania was also used in the period of Visigothic rule.