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Home , Hispania, Iberians, Iberian Peninsula, Province of Granada, Sagunto, Votive crown

“A Country of Immigrants”: ’s Early History

The people of the Iberian joined European history as the rivalry between the and the Phoenicians, two nations blessed with a high degree of cultural development, played itself out on Spanish soil. This rivalry was eventually brought to an end when es- tablished superior forms of urban living and civilization in - the name of the peninsula - and tied it forevermore to the known western world.

The Most Ancient Peoples: Assuming the authenticity and dating of the fossil discovered in in the province of is correct, the most ancient human in walked this land around one and a half million years ago. Other proof of human habitation exists all over Spain, such as the marvellous caverns of Altamira in , which were only discovered in 1879, and are of- ten compared to the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican in Rome. The paintings in these deep caves are naturalistic and polychrome and depict many of the animals found in this northern part of Spain at this time. The function of the paintings, beyond their aesthetic value, may have been religious or served some other symbolic purpose.

Other sites of also exist in Spain such as the black and ochre stick figure drawings found at the mouth of other caves in south-eastern Spain. Unlike the Altamira paint- ings, these drawings include human figures and are narrative in nature. Again, their function is unknown.

The Catalan drawings, such as these from the cave of Cogull, belong to the Palaeolithic era. The clothed female figures appear to be part of a religious dance. The was attractive to many other prehistoric peoples because of its agricultural and mineral resources. By the middle of the fourth millennia BC, agriculturalists from the East brought sedentary to the Mediterranean coastlines of Spain. Their ex- ample was followed a thousand years later by metalworkers who worked in brass and . They established their around Almeria, one of the first urban centres in Spain.

From the beginning of the first millennia BCE, groups of Celtic peoples who knew how to work steel established themselves in the north of the peninsula. It is believed that they were the first to domesticate horses. By 800 BCE, they occupied a large portion of the land. At the same time, Phoenicians and Greeks came into contact along the eastern and southern coasts. Cadiz, founded by the Phoenicians in 1100 BCE, is the longest inhabited city in Spain.

The Dama de Baza (seen here) and the Dama de , both now found in the Museum of Archaeology in , are examples of Iberian art. The function of these life-size statues is unknown. The Phoenicians and the Greeks had originally come to the Peninsula for commercial reasons, and were also attracted by her mineral wealth, especially , from which brass is made. Neither group came to Spain as settlers. Both peoples established commercial areas along the coasts, such as the town of Ampurias. Their presence was not felt in the interior of the Peninsula.

Pre-Roman Peoples in Iberia:

The native Iberian peoples were divided by , religious beliefs, culture and language. This division made them susceptible to foreign invasion and occupation.

Classical authors refer to their war-like spirit and their individualism which may be at- tributed to poverty and the need to survive by banditry and war. These qualities them to value heroism and loyalty to a single warlord. Such hero-worship might explain the tragic end of the 8000 inhabitants of the walled city of Numancia (near modern day ) where all the men of the city, after 3 lengthy sieges over a 20 year period, murdered their wives and children and committed suicide, some 4000 people in total, rather than submit to the Romans. This trag- edy was commemorated by Cervantes in his play, La Numancia.

Iberian people believed in many deities and in an afterlife. Their gods included a war- rior god, a heavenly “lord of the horses” and a female deity who was not only a symbol of fer- tility but ruled over life and death. Their art owes a great deal to Greek and Phoenician influ- ences and is especially obvious in their sculpture. The most notable examples are the Dama de Elche whose solemnity and serenity seems idealized, the Dama Ofrente from Cerro de los San- tos who appears to have held a ritual offering in her hands and the seated Dama de Baza who is richly clothed and naturalistic. Other human and animal figurines are not so imposing but equally beautiful. They were usually left as offerings in places of worship that were common to many different Iberian tribes, such as the Cerro de los Santos. Their artists were also well- known as ceramicists and metalworkers.

The - whose name may derive from the basque word iber meaning river - had a form of which was derived from the Greek and Phoenician but which has yet to be deciphered. They were responsible for the irrigation system that would later be improved upon by the Romans and the .

The Iberians occupied most of southern Spain (Andalucia) and the coastal . They managed to cross the and spread well into southern . The rest of the Peninsula was inhabited by the culturally underdeveloped . The only proof of their art are the bull shaped figures (Los toros de Guisando) found in the modern province of Ávila. Contact be- tween the two peoples can be found in Celtiberia - the central regions between the two areas of habitation.

The Carthaginians, who came from in North , displaced both the Celts and the Iberians and established their own towns, such as Cartagena. As agriculturalists and in- ternational merchants, they brought Iberia - the Greek name of the Peninsula - into the mone- tary world of the time.

The Greek and Phoenician presence in the Peninsula is responsible for the many ad- vances they brought with them: the , methods of mineral extraction, dyes, salt preserva- tion of fish, new plants and trees, especially grapes and olive trees and a monetary economy. Most importantly, they prepared the Peninsula for the arrival of Roman culture. The Greek his- torian gave the name Hesperos to Spain, meaning the west.

Some ancient classical sources refer to a mysterious and far away civilization that was said to exist beyond the Pillars of (the Straights of ). Archaeological remains found in the valley of the river prove that a culture did exist in this area. It was probably the first example of the mixing of native peoples with Greek and Phoenician peoples into a political organization, probably based on their monopoly of the trade in tin. These people may have disappeared around the end of the fourth century BCE, when the Carthaginians began to establish themselves.

Funereal stella belonging to a Hispano- Roman tavern keeper. The realism is self evident. Now in the National Museum of Roman Art in Mérida :

The rivalry begun between the Phoenicians and the Greeks over the control of the mineral wealth of Spain spread to the Carthaginians and the Romans in the . In 219 BC, the Carthaginian general destroyed the Iberian city of (near modern-day Valen- cia), which had allied itself to Rome. As a result of this attack, the Romans decided to under- take the final conquest of the Peninsula which would take some two hundred years. The con- quest of Hispania was successful thanks to famous war strategists such as Caesar , who personally directed the last battles against native resistance.

Due to a decisive process of cultural transformation, Hispania - or ancient Iberia - would quickly be incorporated into the Roman world and would be part of its historical destiny, despite some eight hundred years of Muslim presence in the Peninsula. The Iberians, now called “Hispanos”, were aware that they belonged to a world that was larger than their own small territory. From Rome, besides a sense of self-importance, they acquired a universal lan- guage, religion, and system of laws.

Hispano-Roman Society:

Hispano-Roman society was organized along hierarchical lines. The “seniores” or “potentiores” were owners of large properties called “latifundios”, and held political and eco- nomic power. Civil servants formed local administrative and municipal elites. Free citizens who did not own land, the “humiliores”, and the slaves formed the under classes.

After 197 BCE, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Citerior and Ulterior. For ad- ministrative reasons and so as to exploit natural resources more efficiently, the Peninsula was further subdivided into Betica and (modern day ). Imperial and indigenous administrations coexisted for centuries until Vespasian brought Roman law to the Peninsula in 70 CE and, especially in 212 CE, when citizenship was awarded to all freemen living in the Ro- man empire.

Basic economic activities in Hispano-Roman society consisted of agriculture, livestock and mining. Wheat, grapes and olives were the greatest crops and the largest exports. By the use of large hydraulic works, the Romans further developed the irrigation system that favoured cit- rus and other fruit and vegetable crops.

The latifundio was the most used agricultural system and consisted of large tracts of land that were worked by slave labour. After the economic and social crisis in the third century AD which greatly increased the price of slave labour, work was performed more and more by free labourers who were paid with small parcels of land. They also received protection from their lords in return for their services. These ties of dependency between worker and landlord would become so strong as time passed that eventually the worker was “tied” to the land, be- coming a serf, neither a slave nor a free man.

Hispania and Classical Culture:

Hispania contributed a large number of authors and philosophers to Latin culture. Some of these are Seneca, an eminent playwright and stoic philosopher; , the author of Phar- salia, a work which brought about a renewal in classical literature; and , a composer of epigrams, one of which is the famous “live for today for tomorrow may be too late.”

Roman architects and builders of great construction projects left many bridges and roads, thereby facilitating communication. They also built temples, circuses, amphitheatres, theatres, thermal baths and other examples of civil engineering in Spain. One example is the theatre of Mérida which has a magnificent stage that would have sat over five thousand specta- tors. The bridge at Alcántara spans a depth of fifty meters while the great aqueducts, such as those of Segovia and Mérida, brought water over long distances.

Christianity was a new religion in Roman times. It spread very quickly throughout the Empire, including Hispania, where it took root. By the beginning of the third century CE, there were already three Episcopal sees in Spain: in , Mérida and Astorga. Hispano-Roman authors contributed to early Church literature.

The Segovia aqueduct is one of the most important Hispano-Roman civil engineering works. Built with large granite blocks, it measures 728 meters in length and reaches a maxi- mum height of 29 meters. It pro- vided water to the city of Segovia from the first century CE until well into the twentieth century. Germanic Spain:

Germanic tribes began to invade the by the middle of the third century, causing a profound crisis. Economic activities were paralyzed and city dwellers sought refuge in the countryside, sometimes becoming serfs. The pervasive insecurity provoked a loss of faith in traditional beliefs and people looked for solutions in mysterious eastern religions and in . Among the many Germanic tribes who came to Spain were the . These people were more like immigrants than invaders because they came in peace to aid the Romans in their fight against other Germanic tribes. In the sixth century, after more than two centuries in Spain, the Visigoths decided to create their own state with its capital in Toledo. This decision created some ill will among the remaining Hispano-Romans because it was rightfully seen as Visigoth Leovigildo’s attempt to create a centralized and unified kingdom.

By the time the Visigoths reached the Iberian Peninsula they had come into contact with and absorbed Roman culture. They spoke a variant of Latin, sometimes referred to as “vulgar” Latin, and left no written trace of their native language. The name Hispania continued to be used in preference to Gothia, the Visigoth term.

Latin was the language used by philosophers such as San Isidoro (570 - 636), bishop of and author of a large number of books, including the Las Etimologías, a vast encyclope- dia. His History of the maintained that they were a separate part of the Roman Empire which they had replaced. San Isidoro frequently praises his native land in his Laudes His- paniae:

Hispania ... is located between Africa and Gaule, closed on the north by the Pyre- nees and surrounded on all the other sides by the sea. It is a rich land because of its clear skies, its fertile soil that produces all types of fruits and provides abun- dant gem stones and minerals. (Fragment from Las Etimologías by San Isidoro)

The Visigoths, originally a military elite of fewer than 200,000 men, respected Roman rule and identified themselves with the local ruling élites. Although Christians, as Arians they did not share the prevailing Roman Catholic religious beliefs because their faith was considered heretical in that it denied the Roman Catholic dogma of the Trinity and the divinity of Christ.

Each religious community lived by its own laws and intermarriage was forbidden. This separation and animosity did not disappear even when the Visigoths converted to Roman Ca- tholicism (Nicean) after the Council of Toledo in 589 CE, nor after the legal code, the Liber Iudiciorum or Fuero Juzgo, was proclaimed and by which all judicial differences were set aside. Even after their conversion to the Roman rite, the Visigoths had their own form of wor- ship, called the Visigoth liturgy. It was maintained in Al-Andaluz by (Christians liv- ing in Spain), survived royal opposition at the hands of Alfonso VI who tried to sup- press it, and, in the sixteenth century, was officially recognised and protected when a chapel in the cathedral of Toledo was dedicated exclusively to this ancient liturgy. To this day, a daily mass is sung there using its prayers. This antipathy between Romans and Visigoths may well explain why some Hispano-Romans did not resist or may even have supported the Muslim in- vasion of the Peninsula when it came in 711 CE. Visigothic Art:

Visigothic art did not break with its classical Roman and Byzantine models. The horse- shoe arch is an important architectural and decorative feature of Visigoth art. This same feature will reappear in Hispano-Arabic architecture. The Bisagra gate, the main gate to the city of Toledo, is one of the few examples of Visigoth civil architecture.

Visigoth art is mostly remembered because of the many churches that were built in the seventh century, such as San Juan de Baños, Santa Comba de Bande and San Pedro de la Nave. Some of these churches were decorated with sculpted columns. With the exception of the miniatures which decorate religious manuscripts, no Visigoth painting remains. That they were magnificent jewellers can be seen in the treasuries of Guarrazar and Torredonjimeno.

The votive of Recesvinto is a mag- nificent example of the art of the goldsmith. It is part of the treasury of Guarrazar and is now in the Museum of Archaeology in Ma- drid Santa Comba de Bande is one of the few surviving Visigoth churches.

Chronology

1,300,000 years: The probable age of the Orce Man 1,250,000 to 40,000 BCE: sapiens 40,000 to 10,000 BCE: Homo sapiens sapiens 10,000 to 5,000 BCE: cultures Fourth millennia BCE: agriculture extends along the Iberian Mediterranean coasts Third millennia BCE: the Iberian Peninsula is a meeting place for many cultures From 1,700 BCE: The Iberian Peninsula is one of the first urban cultures in Europe First millennia: Steel allows the Celtic peoples to make powerful weapons as they occupy the north of Spain Ninth century BCE: the first contact between Phoenicians and Greeks occurs on the eastern coasts of Spain 654 BCE: the Carthaginians occupy the island of 533 BCE: the Carthaginians are victorious over the Greeks and prohibit their southern entry into Spain 218 BCE: the Romans arrive at Ampurias 133 BCE: the Romans are victorious over the Iberians at Numancia 19 BCE: Cesar Augustus pacifies Hispania From the third century CE: Christianity reaches Hispania Third century CE: the First Germanic tribes arrive in Hispania 385 CE: the first example of religious intolerance as Prisciliano is killed by order of Maximilian in Germany 409 CE: arrival of Germanic tribes in Hispania 576 CE: Toledo is chosen as the capital of Visigoth Spain

Topics for Discussion:

1. Why was Spain of interest to generations of immigrants from all over Europe? 2. What contributions did these immigrants make to what we know today as Spain? 3. Why is it at least possible that the Muslim invasion of 711 was not rejected by some people in Spain at this time?

Bibliography:

Arribas, A. The Iberians. Carpenter, R. The Greeks in Spain. Crow, J.A. Spain: The Root and the Flower Tovar, A. Historia de la Hispania romana. www.spainview.com-prehistory.html