Spanish History and Culture

Ancient History

17th February – 4th March

Elena Sol Jiménez
Ancient History of the Iberian Peninsula
Pre-roman Iberian Peninsula and the Roman Conquest
1. Geography and Chronology of the Ancient IP
2. Documentary resorces available
3. Roman Presence in the IP
The romanisation: the IP under the Roman Empire
1. Hispania in the High Roman Empire
2. Hispania in the Low Roman Empire
The end of Roman Hispania: the Barbarian invasions
1. Visigoths in Hispania
 The romanisation: the IP
under the Roman Empire
1. Hispania in the High Roman Empire (1st-2nd centuries AD)
2. Hispania in the Low Roman Empire (3rd-5th centuries AD)
Antonine dynasty

• “Golden age” of the Roman Empire (2nd century)

• Succession based on capacities, not kinship
• Lack of direct offspring of every emperor except Marcus Aurelius
• Moment of maximum expansion of the Empire (Trajan)
• Internal political stability
• Expansion of oriental cults (Mitraism, Christianism, Cibeles…)
Trajan (98-117 AD)
• Family origin in Italica (Baetica)
• Administration of the empire: provincial
procuratores
• Active epistolar correspondence with provinces:
Plinius theYoung, governor of Bitinia

• Promotion through war and conquer

Trajan (98-117 AD)
• Citizenship granted to those enrolling the Roman legions (centre-
north Hispania peoples fought in Trajan’s expansion)
• Dacia (101-102) (105-106)
→ Arabia Petrea (105)
• War against the Parthian Empire → Armenia, Mesopotamia and
Asiria (116)
Trajan (98-117 AD)

Puente de Alcántara Acueducto de Segovia

Tower of Hercules (A Coruña) Trajan’s column (Rome)
[…] I have never participated in trials of Christians. I therefore do not know
what offenses it is the practice to punish or investigate, and to what
extent. […] whether the name itself, even without offenses, or only the
offenses associated with the name are to be punished.
Meanwhile, in the case of those who were denounced to me as Christians,
I have observed the following procedure: I interrogated these as to
whether they were Christians; those who confessed I interrogated a
second and a third time, threatening them with punishment; those who
persisted I ordered executed. […] There were others possessed of the
same folly; but because they were Roman citizens, I signed an order for
them to be transferred to Rome. […]
Pliny, Letters 10.96-97
An anonymous document was published containing the names of
many persons. Those who denied that they were or had been
Christians, when they invoked the gods in words dictated by me,
offered prayer with incense and wine to your image, which I had
ordered to be brought for this purpose together with statues of the
gods, and moreover cursed Christ--none of which those who are really
Christians, it is said, can be forced to do--these I thought should be
discharged. […] They all worshipped your image and the statues of the
gods, and cursed Christ.
Accordingly, I judged it all the more necessary to find out what the
truth was by torturing two female slaves who were called
deaconesses. But I discovered nothing else but depraved, excessive
superstition. […]
Pliny, Letters 10.96-97
You observed proper procedure, my dear Pliny, in sifting the cases of
those who had been denounced to you as Christians. For it is not
possible to lay down any general rule to serve as a kind of fixed
standard. They are not to be sought out; if they are denounced and
proved guilty, they are to be punished, with this reservation, that
whoever denies that he is a Christian and really proves it--that is, by
worshiping our gods--even though he was under suspicion in the past,
shall obtain pardon through repentance. But anonymously posted
accusations ought to have no place in any prosecution. For this is
both a dangerous kind of precedent and out of keeping with the spirit
of our age.
Pliny, Letters 10.96-97
Hadrian (117-138)
• Trajan did not (tecnically) adopt him…

• Born in Italica, relative of Trajan

• Without expansionist intentions
• Defensive boundaries: “Hadrian’s wall” in
Britannia, Rhin, Africa…

• Growing importance of the Eastern part of

the Empire
• Hadrian’s Wall in Scotland
Hadrian (117-138)
• He traveled around the Empire: filo-greek
tendencies (vs. Jewish religion)
• Intellectual and philosopher emperor

• Religious curiosity
• He was initiated in the Eleusian mysteries
(Greek religious tradition)
• Promotion of imperial cult: temples to godess
Venus and Rome
• He divinized his lover Antinoo
The crisis of the rd
3 Century

• After Commodus assasination, the Empire falls into deep political

inestability.
• Migratory movements from centre-north Europe since 2nd century:
goths (ostrogoths, visigoths, alamans, suevi…)
• Growing power of military leaders in the provinces → loss of power
of the Emperor
• Authoritarian leaders that gain power again, achieved in some cases
(Septimius Severus, Aurelianus…)
The crisis of the rd
3 Century
• Political power begins to be concentrated on each province.
• The Empire focuses on the East part.

• Change of mentality and society in a context of political and

economical crisis: expansion of mystery cults from the East
• Mythraism
• Manicheaism
• Christianism
• Cibeles cult…
• Syncretism of philosophical and religious ideas
Christian persecutions
DECIUS (249-251) VALERIAN (253-260)
• Context of bubonic plague from • Persecution of christians in 257
the East and 258
• Institutional persecution in 250: • Focuses in Christian hierarchy
• Prisioners if they did not sacrify to (economical reasons)
the Emperor
• Citizens could be tortured
• Few deaths (only one year of
action) → martyrs
Diocletian (284-305)
• Military leader, he designs a new reality in the Roman
Empire.
• Administrative reformation: new provinces and
leadership
TWO “AUGUSTUS” TWO “CAESARS”
CONSTANTIUS
DIOCLETIAN MAXIMIAN GALERIUS
CLORUS

Prefecture of the Prefecture of Prefecture of Prefecture of

East Italy-Africa Illirya Galliae

Three Diocesis Three Diocesis Three Diocesis Three Diocesis

Several Provinces Several Provinces Several Provinces Several Provinces

The “Tetrarchy”
 218 BC
Evolution of the
provinces of Hispania

19 AD

284 AD
Persecution of Christians by Diocletian (303)
• Systematically organized
• Specially agressive in the East
• Press depended on the political leaders: lower virulence in the West,
even less under Constantius Clorus (fewer presence of Christians)
• Persecution of manichaeans too
• Religious unification of the whole Empire

→ Galerius’ Edict of toleration in 311

Constantine (324-337)
• Battle of the Milvian Bridge (312)
• Constantine supossedly had a vision of a sign from
the Christian God → conversion to Christianity?
• Edict of Milan (313): freedom of religion
• Context of Christian dissensions: Arrius (318)

• Arrianism: the Son is inferior to the Father,

Christ is neither divine nor human
• Helena, mother of Constantine, was
Christian.
• She travelled to Jerusalem to find any
remaining of the life of Jesus (his
memory had been lost)
Constantine (324-337)
• Council of Nicaea (325)
• The Son has the same nature as the Father
• Meeting of bishops against arrianism

• Constantine was finally baptized in his deathbed by an arrian bishop.

→ Expansion of arrianism during the 4th century, specially among

goths
Theodosius (379-395)
• Born in Coca (Segovia)

• Creation of foedus for goth populations: “a nation inside a nation”

• Independent law of a certain population inside the Roman Empire
• In exange, foederati had to fight for the Emperor

• Decreet of Thessalonica (380): only Nicene Christianity is the true

one (“Catholic”)
• Decrees against pagan traditions and against manichaeans
Theodosius (379-395)
Priscillianism
• Priscillian, religious leader in Hispania (maybe from Lusitania or
Baetica)
• Religious movement that focuses on asceticism
• Council of Caesaraugusta (380) against pagan traditions (and
priscillianists?)
• Political disagreement among bishops of each city: followers or
enemies of Priscillian fight for power
• Teachings agaisnt arrianism, popular in Hispania
• Condemned to death at the Council of Treveris
Consequences of priscillianism in Hispania

• First intervention of civil power on a religious issue

• Social and political characteristics of the movement (asceticism,
leadership competition…)
• The popularity of the movement grew in the Gallaecia province
• Adscription to one or another Christian faith will determine politics of
goth populations in the provinces of Hispania.
The end of Roman Hispania:
the Barbarian invasions
The end of Roman Hispania: the barbarian
invasions

• 409 three groups pass through

the Pyrenees:
• Suebi → Gallaecia
• Vandals → Baetica
• Alans → Lusitania and
Carthaginensis
Visigoths

• Arrian confession
• 411 foederati of the Roman Empire
• Settlement in Gaul, Aquitaine → conflicts
in Hispania
• 456 Theodoricus II defeats the Suebi
kingdom and stablishes the visigoths in
Hispania
• 507 visigoth kingdom of Toulouse