CHAPTER V.

HISPANIA.

A.G. Plate. III.

SPAIN was divided by the Romans at first into two provinces, called Hispania Citerior, or nearer, and Hispania Ulterior, or farther Spain. Hispania Citerior was afterwards called Tarraconensis, from Tarraco its capital, and extended from the foot of the Pyrenees to the mouth of the Durius, or Douro, on the Atlantic shore, comprehending all the North of Spain, together with all the South as far as a line drawn below Carthago Nova, or Carthagena, and continued, in an oblique direction, to the Durius, above Salmantica, now Salamanca. Hispania Ulterior was divided into two provinces, Bætica, or the South of Spain, between the river Anas, or Guadiana, and Hispania Citerior; and above it, Lusitania, corresponding in great measure, but not entirely, to our Portugal. Hispania Citerior, or Tarraconensis, contained many nations. The Ceretani, Cosetani, Lace

tani, and Ilergetes, occupied what is now Catalonia. Here was Barcino, or Barcelona, Tarraco, or Tarragona, the capital of the province, and Ilerda, the capital of the Ilergetes, now Lerida, celebrated for the resistance it made against Cæsar, under the Lieutenants of Pompey, Afranius, and Petreius. Nort-westward, at the foot of the Pyrenees, were the Jacetani. The Vascones were seated in the kingdom of Navarre; whose chief city was Pompelo, or Pompeluna. The Cantabri* possessed Biscay, and part of Asturias, and held out against the Roman power for many years. Among them were the Concani, whose ferocity is also celebrated by Horacet. Next to the Cantabri were the Astures, or inhabitants of Asturias, whose capital Asturica is still called Astorga. The station of the seventh legion gave name to the colony of Legio, or Leon. Still Westward, the Callæci or Calliaci inhabited the country now called Gallicia. Here was the promontory of Artabrum, or Cape Finisterre, North-east of which was Brigantium, Betancos near Corunna. At the mouth of the Durius is the port of Calle, which having been corrupted into Portugal, has given a modern name to the ancient province of Lusitania. South-east of the Astures are the Vaccæi, and South-east of them the Arevaci, in Leon and Castile. Among the Vaccæi, was Palentia; and East of it was Numantia, among the Pelendones, which resisted the Roman armies fourteen years, and was utterly destroyed by Scipio Africanus Minor, B.C. 133, A.U.C. 621. It was situated near the sources of the

* Cantabrum indoctum juga ferre nostra. Cantaber sera domitus catena.

† Et lætum equino sanguine Concanum.

Hor. Od. II. 6. Hor. Od. III. 8.

Hor. Od. III. 4.

Douro. Below the river Iberus, or Ebro, were the Celtiberi, a great and powerful people, in part of Arragon and Valencia, who long resisted the Romans. Among them we may notice the city of Bibilis, Southeast of Numantia, the birth-place of the poet, Martial. East of the Celtiberians, below the Iberus, were the Edetani, in the other part of Arragon and Valencia, whose Northern boundary was the Iberus, and Southern the Sucro, or Xucar. Their capital, Cæsar Augusta, has been corrupted into Sarragossa. North-west of which is Callagurris, now Callahorra, memorable for the dreadful sufferings of the army of Sertorius, when beseiged there by Pompey and Metellus, A.U.C. 679. B.C. 75. (See Juv. Sat. XV. 92.) A little above the Southern boundary of the Edetani, was Valentia, and above it the famous city of Saguntum, by the seige of which Hannibal began his first attack on the Romans, which was the commencement of the second Punic war, B.C. 219, A.U.C. 535. Hannibal took it after a siege of four months, and the inhabitants burnt themselves and their effects that they might not fall into his hands. It was afterwards re-built, and some remains of it are still to be seen, under the name of Murviedro, a corruption of Muri Veteres. North-west of Saguntum was Segobriga, now Segorbe. East of the Edetani, near the mouths of the Iberus, were the Ilercaones. At the back of the Celtiberi, below the Arevaci, were the Carpetani, in New Castile, occupying the centre of Spain. Their principal city was Toletum, now Toledo, and North-east of this, Complutum, now Alcala. West of Toletum was Libora, now Talavera, on the Tagus. Below the Carpetani were the Oretani, about La Mancha; East of whom on

the coast, were the Contestani, in the kingdom of Murcia. Their capital was the celebrated city of Carthago Nova, or Carthagena. The shore of this country was called the Spartarius Campus, from the quantity of rushes growing there.

In Hispania Exterior, the province of Bætica, was so called from the river Bætis, or Guadalquiver. It is now known by the name of Andalusia, a corruption of Vandalitia, from the Vandals, who in the decline of the Roman empire were settled there. Along the Southern shore were the Phoenician Bastuli, occupying part of the Kingdom of Granada*. North-west of these were the Turdetani, in part of Seville, towards the mouth of the river Bætis. North of them was Bæturia, below the river Anas or Guadiana in part of Estremadura and the kingdom of Seville. Below them were the Turduli, in Cordova; and Eastward the Bastitani, in Jaen. Among the Bastuli was Malaca, now Malaga; and a little South-west of it is Munda, celebrated for the victory of Cæsar over the younger Pompey, March 17, B.C. 45, A.U.C. 709. At the Fretum Herculeum stood Calpe, or Gibraltar, celebrated for one of the pillars of Hercules; the other was at Abila, on the African coast. These pillars are said to have been erected by Hercules as the limits of the Western World. Gibraltar is a cor

*Hence we may fully understand Horace, when he says

Latius regnes avidum domando

Spiritum, quam si Libyam remotis

Gadibus jungas, et uterque Pœnus

Alluding to the Carthagenians, or African Pœni, and the Bastuli Pœni,

in whose country Gades was situated.

ruption of Gibel Tarik, the Mountain of Tarik, a Moorish general, who first led the Moors into Spain, A.D. 710. On the Atlantic side of the straits is Junonis Promontorium, the ever-memorable Cape Trafalgar. Above it is Gades, slightly corrupted into Cadiz; and Tartessus, an island formed by the two mouths of the Bætis, one of which is now dried up. Among the Turdetani was Hispalis, now Seville; and not far from it, Italica, the birth-place of the Emperor Trajan. Among the Turduli was Corduba, now Cordova, the birth-place of both the Senecas and Lucan.

In Lusitania the principal nation was that of the Lusitani, between the Durius and Tagus; which latter river, though called the Tajo by the Portuguese, still retains its name in general use. Below the Durius was Conimbriga, now Coimbra, on the Munda or Mondego; and considerably below it, on the Tagus, was Scalabis, afterwards called St. Irene, and now corrupted into Santarem. At the mouth of the Tagus was Olisippo, fabled to have been founded by Ulysses, the name of which is now corrupted into Lisbon. The Vettones occupied the pro

vince of Estremadura. On the frontier of the Lusitani is Lancia Oppidana, now La Guarda, near the source of the Munda; and North-east of it Lancia Transcudana, or Lancia beyond the Cuda, now Ciudad Rodrigo. On the frontier of the Arevaci is Salmantica, now SalamanAbout the middle of Lusitania, on the Tagus, was Norba Cæsarea, now Alcantara. Below it, on the North bank of the Anas, is Emerita Augusta, now Merida. On the South part of Lusitania were the Celtici, in Alontejos: their principal town was Pax Julia, or Beja; and below them the extreme Southern part of Lusitania

ca.