“We Trace out All the Veins of the Earth”1

The Springs Graduate History Journal

“We trace out all the veins of the earth”1 Iberian Mining, Labor, and the Industrial Foundation of the Roman Empire: An Interdisciplinary Approach Donald Unger Abstract: By combining the critical analysis of ancient literature with archaeology and modern atmospheric data, this paper explores the limitations of ancient source material treating the topic of mining in Roman Spain from the beginning of third century B.C. during the outbreak of the second major Punic War (c. 218-201 BC) until the end of the first-century CE. By evidencing that historical treatments by ancient authors writing on the topic of mining were sparse and devoid of detail, this paper argues that an interdisciplinary approach combining ancient with modern empirical data is a viable method which can and should be used to overcome ancient source limitations on the topic of mining. Ultimately, this study supports the empirically founded notion that, in the case of the Roman mining enterprise, a proto-industrial revolution occurred at about 100 B.C. in Spain that would not be rivaled in size and scope until the modern industrial revolution. —Introduction— When Hannibal crossed the Mediterranean for the first time in 235 BC at the age of nine, he travelled North with his father Hamilcar Barca to Spain.2 After shoring up his position in North Africa following a mercenary revolt and the loss of the strategic isle of Sicily in the first Punic War against the Romans, the most pressing order of business for Hannibal’s father was to secure his position in Southern Iberia so as to gain control of the peninsula's resources. The first Punic War had been a triumph for Rome and a disaster for Carthage, and the struggle for power in the Mediterranean was far from resolved. Hamilcar needed Spain for its resources, specifically metallurgic resources needed to produce the war debt now owed to Rome as a result of Carthage’s defeat. In his discussion of the causes of the second Punic War, Polybius writes that in the wake of defeat at Sicily, “[Hamilcar Barca] at once threw all his energies into the conquest of Spain with the object of using these resources to prepare for a war against Rome. The success of the Carthaginian enterprise in Spain must be regarded as the third cause of the [second Punic] war, for it was the assurance which they drew from this increase in their strength which enabled them to embark on the war with confidence.”3 This move, 1 Pliny. Historia. 4.3. 2 Polybius. Rise of the Roman Empire. (New York: Penguin Classics, 1980). 3.11 and 1.26. Polybius is apt to point out that Hamilcar Barca is a different person entirely than Hamilcar the Carthaginian General who replaced the famed Carthaginian General Hanno after the defeat of Agrigentum in Sicily around 262 BCE at the end of the 1st Punic War. While Polybius only mentions Hamilcar Barca twice—once in reference to Hannibal’s upbringing in Spain, and on the other occasion—Polybius characterizes Barca’s role in instilling hatred for Rome into Hannibal and his brothers at an early age due to the eindemnities forced upon Carthage following the defeat of the 1st Punic War. Hannibal’s brothers Magon and Hasdrubal were known for their exploits in the 2nd Punic War. 3 Ibid.

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thought Hamilcar, ensured Carthaginian dominance in the greater Mediterranean, especially in a period of rapid expansion for the Roman Empire.4

Figure 1 The areas in blue represent Carthage and its allies during the 2nd Punic War. The areas in red represent Rome and its allies. Made by Javier Fernandez-Vina of Florida International University in 2011. Accessed through Wikimedia Commons. Creative Commons—Attribution, Share Alike. Off the southern coast of Iberia, on the island of Gades (modern-day Cadiz, Spain) Hamilcar Barca quickly established Carthaginian dominance on the Iberian peninsula, securing his interests in the region in preparation for the upcoming contest with Rome.5 Here at Gades, he and young Hannibal lived for nearly a decade whilst working fervently to expand Carthage’s grasp on the Iberian mainland until Hamilcar’s untimely death c. 229.6 Even though Hamilcar would never live to see the second and third Punic engagements, Gades and greater Iberia were important to Hamilcar not only because of their geopolitical value in the Mediterranean, but also because they contained abundant metallurgical resources that he needed to sustain Carthaginian wealth and dominance in Iberia and abroad.7 Especially amidst the rise of Roman power in the Mediterranean, Hamilcar’s presence near the Iberian silver mines assuaged the massive

4 Henceforth, we will refer to modern-day Spain and Portugal as Iberia. See fig. 1 for a visual illustration of the region prior to Roman conquest. See Appian. The Foreign Wars. 1.3. “This fruitful land, abounding in all good things, the Carthaginians began to exploit before the Romans. A part of it they occupied and another part they plundered, until the Romans expelled them from the part they held, and immediately occupied it themselves 5 Stanley Arthur Cook, F. E. Adcock, and M. P. Charlesworth, eds., The Cambridge Ancient History. 218-133 B.C., vol. VIII (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1965), 115, 311, 323-25. 6 Ibid. 7 Polybius, Ian Scott-Kilvert, and F. W. Walbank, The Rise of the Roman Empire (London: Penguin, 2003).

64 The Springs Graduate History Journal war debt Carthage owed to Rome, while at the same time positioning the Carthaginians for the upcoming second and third Punic Wars (218-146 BC). As the second century Greek historian Appian recounted regarding the Carthaginian expectations of material gain from the territory: “The Carthaginians, enjoying the gains they had received from Spain, sent another army thither and appointed Hasdrubal, the son-in-law of Hamilcar [Barca], who was still in Spain, commander of all their forces there. He had with him in Spain Hannibal, the son of Hamilcar and brother of his own wife, a young man zealous in war, beloved by the army, and who soon after became famous for his military exploits.”8 Hamilcar’s understanding of the value of Iberian metallurgy as essential for sustained military dominance and societal wealth, would be a lesson young Hannibal soon learned as he struggled to maintain Carthaginian control over the Iberian peninsula against the onslaught of Roman encroachment during the second Punic War (218-201 BC).9 Even though Sicily would be the first strategic Roman province outside of Latium following Carthage’s defeat, in terms of Rome’s long-term dominance and sustained wealth in the Mediterranean, Iberia was much more valuable to Rome because of its metallurgic abundance.10 Using the limited ancient sources extant, this paper will examine the ancient writing on the enterprise of mining in Iberia from the first Punic War to the end of the Roman Republic.11 First, I will illustrate how aristocratic Roman discourse concerning mining has continued to influence our understanding of the value of the mining industry to the ancients, and second, I will present new empirical data which helps to reconcile shortcomings of the ancient literature on this topic.12 As we shall discuss, this topic has been distorted by reliance (almost exclusively) on Pliny the Elder to recreate events. The impact of this unchecked reliance on Pliny has been the silencing of the history of the impact of the enterprise in Iberia and the perpetuation of a bias against the labor-class and the mining enterprise in the region. This will help to shed light on a subject which, as we shall discuss, has been distorted by reliance (almost exclusively) on Pliny the Elder to recreate events. The impact of this unchecked reliance on Pliny has been the silencing of the history of the impact of the enterprise in Iberia and the perpetuation of a bias towards the labor-class and the mining enterprise in the region.

8 Appian. Foreign Wars: 2.6 9 The History of Rome, p. 137-81 10 Shepherd, Robert. Ancient Mining. London: Elsevier Applied Science for the Institution of Mining & Metallurgy. (U.K: Cambridge Univ. Pr.: 1993). 11 The Punic Wars occurred in three major phases from 264 B.C. to 146 B.C. and ultimately led to the sack of Carthage and the rise of Rome as hegemon in Mediterranean for the next six centuries.

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In conclusion, I will discuss the effect the industry must have had on the people and the environment while ultimately refuting the notion that mining was an ancillary enterprise that had little effect on the people or the environment at this time. I believe this ground-level approach, which Marie Grace Brown very effectively expressed as paying “attention to that which is closest in gives new shape to large, familiar stories,” is critical in understanding the impact of mining on society in Iberia.13 Borrowing from Brown for this analysis, I preface this argument by stating that, while considering the archaeological evidence from this time and space is critical to understanding what occurred at mining sites throughout the region during this Roman occupation, it is certainly not the only source of reliable information on the topic.14 In addition, using numismatic research, atmospheric data, and literary evidence, I will also look at the structure of the Roman mining enterprise over the course of its rise and fall from 200 BC until roughly 500 CE.15 In sum, analysis of ancient source material with empirical evidence in this manner has implications which reveal the need for new interdisciplinary historiographic methods concerning this subject, especially with the considerable empirical data now available.16 In addition to the approach I advocate, I contend that contrary to what our ancient sources alone reveal “or dismiss” both Carthaginian and Roman mining enterprises were widely perceived by rulers as necessary for the sustained vitality of the metropole because the industry was so necessary for these empires to sustain themselves.17 As I shall discuss, the evidence for such a claim lies in the conclusions gleaned from modern empirical research discussed below in section IV. I posit that this empirical evidence supports the notion that the mining industry was so widespread that anyone living in Iberia would have come to this conclusion logically, based on the sheer size of the mining enterprise in the territory and the effects this must have had on one’s daily life due to various types of exposure to the mines and smelting facilities. Furthermore, at least during the republic, it is plausible to assume a successful mining enterprise was the primary agent of military dominance in Iberia. Mining was

13 Forster, Michael N., and Kristin Gjesdal, eds. The Cambridge Companion to Hermeneutics. Cambridge Companions to Philosophy. (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Pr., 2018.). For a contemporary use of hermeneutics, see Brown, Marie Grace. Khartoum at Night: Fashion and Body Politics in Imperial Sudan. (Redwood City, CA: Stanford University Press, 2017), 6. 14 According to Shepherd (1993), it is apparent from archeological surveys that Iberia was just one of many regions mined as far back as pre-historic times for silex (stone), lead, silver, and copper during the enolithic era sometime in the 4th millennium BC. Also see Marín and Antonio, et al. (2013), and Friedman (2013) for more archeologically based studies.. 15 See Ørsted (2001), Marin and Antonio, et al (2013), and Tisseyre (2008) for some recent studies in interdisciplinary historical analysis utilizing numismatics and archeology. 16 While Tisseyre and Tussa et al (2001), Orsted (2001), Friedman (2017; 2013), Shepherd (1993; 1980), Marin and Antonio, et al (2013), Gowland (1920), and Rothenberg and Blanco-Frejeiro (1981) all utilize archeology, none surveyed thus far have used isotopic chemical analysis taken from ice and sediment core extraction studies as is suggested herein. 17 Pliny, Historia Naturalis, 4.3

66 The Springs Graduate History Journal not pragmatic realpolitik: for Rome and Carthage, it was preemptive policy: not only did elites like Hamilcar, his son Hannibal, and their Roman adversaries perceive the strategic value of Iberian mining, but so too did the common subject who worked and lived near the thousands of mines which dotted the landscape in Iberia.18 Just like our modern, industrial society, metal objects were extremely important in the ancient world, yet these very important details have been poorly treated by ancient writers. Pliny, for example, characterizes the striking of a gold ring as the gravest sin of man. Through an exploration of various empirical data sourced from outside the historical discipline, we will attempt to revisit the history of the ancient Roman mining enterprise in Iberia using ancient sources in order to consider the possibility that our understanding of its size, scope, and impact using only the ancient literature is insufficient. Ancient discourse on the topic of mining is laden with class-based bias and cannot provide enough accurate information to assess the realities of Roman mining in Iberia. To understand this ancient industry, I recommend a new approach, one that is inclusive of recent empirical data and archeological evidence from outside the historical discipline. My examination of secondary sources shows that, while modern historians have attempted to overcome this burden of bias using archaeological evidence, none have utilized atmospheric evidence in concert with ancient, and archaeological sources.19 It is important to restate that I will not forgo the ancient authors in my analysis nor will I omit the archaeological and empirical data. Instead, I ask that you consider the ancient literature with all of this new data. Lastly, I believe this approach is important as an

18 Plutarch, Lives: The Life of Sertorius. Vol. VIII: (Loeb Classical Librar, 1919),39.In 75 AD, Plutarch writes that just as the Romans and Carthaginians, Lusitanian-Iberian peoples also perceived the value of mining as an agent of dominance and so also sought this knowledge from the Roman, Quintus Servius prior to the Sertorian War (80 BC to 72 BC). Plutarch writes, “Sertorius was admired and loved by the Barbarians, and especially because by introducing Roman arms and formations and signals he did away with their frenzied and furious displays of courage, and converted their forces into an army, instead of a huge band of robbers. Still further, he used gold and silver without stint for the decoration of their helmets and the ornamentation of their shields, and by teaching them to wear flowered cloaks and tunics, and furnishing them with the means to do this, and sharing their love of beautiful array, he won the hearts of all.” 19 This data relays ancient mining pollutant data (isotopic chemical signatures) emitted from the mining enterprise into a verified chronology (often expressed in YBP). This data can also tell us much about size, scope, and impact on surrounding societies and the environment and as more studies are completed each year in different world regions, a greater determination of ancient events can be obtained. For a detailed report on the scientific methods used in sediment analysis see, United Nations Environmental Programme. Methods For Sediment Sampling and Analysis, (MED WG.282/Inf.5/Rev.1:Palermo, Italy: 2006), [http://sednet.org/download/wg-282-inf-5-rev-1.pdf.] A couple of classic texts using a similar methodology are J. Boardman’s, The Greeks Overseas: Their Early Colonies and Trade (London, Thames and Hudson: 1999) and R. Drews’, The End of the Bronze Age: Changes in Warfare and the Catastrophe Ca. 1200 B.C., (New Jersey, Princeton Univ. Pr:1995) and B. Cundliffe, The Ancient Celts. (Oxford, Oxford Univ. Pr: 1997). Also see Palmer, Richard. Hermeneutics. (Chicago, Northwestern Univ. Pr: 1979), 81-83.

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innovative methodology and may have the potential to augment other applicable narratives as well.20 —Ancient Sources— While it may be surprising to hear that both ancient and contemporary historians often disregard mining as an ancillary industry, the reality was quite the opposite. As C.S. Smith stated, “the mining industry in Iberia was such a vast and widespread enterprise that it likely affected almost every aspect of daily life for the ancients who occupied the Iberian mining regions dominating the peninsula.”21 Mining, at the very least, helped Rome to establish and maintain its dominance. Following Carthage’s ultimate demise at the end of the third Punic War, the hegemony Rome enjoyed throughout the Mediterranean would have most assuredly been less ubiquitous without a successful mining industry.22 Yet even though the Iberian mining industry was crucial to Roman hegemony at this time, ancient writers appear to address the topic with vagueness and contempt.23 Roman historian Velleius Paterculus verifies this when he remarks coyly: “During this epoch, the Tyrian fleet, which controlled the seas, founded Gadir at the end of Spain and at the end of the earth.”24 In another ancient reference, Strabo also described the land and peoples of Iberia in a discourse laden with a mild contempt of the societies in his Geography.25 As we can see from the passage below, Strabo’s tone is suspiciously desirous of the Iberian resources. He states, “Of the various riches of the aforenamed country, not the least is its wealth in metals: this everyone will particularly esteem and admire. Of metals, in fact, the whole country of the Iberians is full, although it is not equally fertile and flourishing throughout, especially in those parts where the metals most abound.” 26 Strabo’s passage has value in this research for 20 This analysis has been informed by both empirical data and broader conceptual approaches predominating in the field of history, these will be cited and discussed in detail in footnotes throughout the research. 21 Biringuccio, Pirotechnia (1540: xi). This introduction was given by Cyril Stanley Smith, University of Chicago, Institute for the Study of Metals in 1958. It is pertinent to mention here that C.S. Smith, and Martha Teach Gnudi provide excellent translation and additional explanatory notations throughout Biringuccio’s seminal 16th-century text on the technical details and history of and mineral and metallurgical extraction processes. However, the esoteric nature of alchemy in the early-modern period makes analysis of this literature problematic. For purposes of this study, a focus on ancient sources prior to the 2nd-century will take precedence over the early-modern sources. 22 See Femia (1981) for a treatment of Gramsci’s ideology, especially on his notions of hegemony. 23 Appian. Wars. 2 24 In Bierling, Marilyn R., et al. The Phoenicians in Spain: An Archaeological Review of the Eighth- Sixth Centuries B.C.E.: A Collection of Articles Translated from Spanish. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, (2002: 156). For his original work, see both works by Velleius Paterculus in Compendium of Roman History (trans. F. W. Shipley. 1924; Loeb Classical Library: Harvard University Press). I would also like to point out the language specifically designating Gadir as the “end of the earth” reflects the notion that this region in Iberia was considered a distant colony by inhabitants of Latium. 25 We will revisit the implicit meaning behind this message in our discussion of bias and contempt employed by Pliny in the Historia Naturalis. 26 The Roman citizen-historian Strabo was born c. 70 BC and lived throughout his life as a hellenistically trained scholar in Rome and Alexandria sympathetic to stoic philosophy. Strabo considered himself an elite and wrote a history, and a Geography, the latter being the work most cited by modern

68 The Springs Graduate History Journal two reasons: first, it tells us that elite opinions in Rome concerning the value of metals in Iberia were commonplace at a point when Roman power approached its zenith in the territory, and second, the fact Strabo uses the specific phrase, “everyone will admire,” to refer to the metallurgic richness of Southern Iberia confirms that Romans were proud of their hard-won Iberian territory. Strabo’s use of “everyone” in this context, meant all peoples regardless of class. In sum, Strabo’s account, while limited to an elite perspective, tells us that the 1st-century CE Roman attitude towards its territories in Iberia were boastful. Even though most people were illiterate at the turn of the millennium and could not have read Strabo’s writings, this knowledge was part of all class discourses which broached the brutal conflict during the Punic Wars in Iberia. In his brief discussion of Iberia, Roman historian Pliny the Elder discusses the massive scope of the mining enterprise when he surveys Roman holdings in the newly acquired province of Iberia during the first century BC. As Pliny recorded, “Nearly the whole of [Iberia] abounds in mines of lead, iron, copper, silver, and gold.” 27 While it is unclear why exactly this rumination on Iberia and the mining enterprise escaped the detail Pliny would apply to other topics, we can glean from his descriptions of the region that the material wealth gained from Rome’s mining activity in Iberia was vast, and, as will be discussed in section III, the effect of this industry on Iberian society and the environment was substantial despite the ancient authors vague references to the topic.28 Among the few ancient sources available in this research, the single most cited source for Iberian mining history is Pliny the Elder’s Historia Naturalis.29 The Historia Naturalis is a widely used compendium that scholars of the ancient humanities treat as a seminal encyclopedic resource in Roman studies.30 Written in the first-century A.D., the discursive hegemony Pliny enjoys in the field of ancient history is great, yet to understand the ancient mining industry in Iberia from only Pliny’s work is an impossibility. This is due to the prejudicial nature of his discourse on issues of manual

historians. Strabo, Geography, 3.2.9. In addition, see Dueck (2017), pp. 1-18, 51-54, for an excellent introductory analysis of Strabo’s works. 27 Pliny. Historia. 4.3. 28 Shepherd, 1993. Centuries before the Roman Republic understood the value of the Iberian resource extraction enterprise, it was a commonly held notion that the Iberian peninsula was a worthy possession for any metal-wielding empire seeking dominance in the Mediterranean. Even before the Carthaginian conquest of the island of Gadir in the 3rd century B.C., the nearby Iberian mainland had been prized for its metallurgic resources by existing inhabitants and this awareness prevailed amongst rulers and subjects alike until long after the fall of the Republic. 29 Along with Pliny, the research also utilizes Diodorus Siculus, Appian, Polybius, and Strabo. 30 Prior, during, and after Pliny’s birth in 23 AD, Iberia was a greatly valued imperial possession. This is evidenced than by the very nature and ferocity by which the Punic engagements were fought. As we have discussed, this intensity was often corroborated in ancient sources like Strabo and Appian. During Pliny’s lifetime, Roman colonization of Iberia evolved to the point that Rome granted citizenship to Romanized Iberians. Pliny’s implicit support of Roman hegemony in this specific region during the post- Punic war period highlighted his elitist position and perception of Iberia as a Roman possession. This, he determined, was wrought out of Roman victory over the Carthaginians following the culmination of the conflict.

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labor. Among the few ancient sources available in this research the single most cited source for Iberian mining history is Pliny’s Historia Naturalis. Excerpts of the Historia Naturalis, written in the first century B.C. show us Pliny’s preference for farming the land as opposed to mining it: “We trace out all the veins of the earth, and yet, living upon it, undermined as it is beneath our feet, are astonished that it should occasionally cleave asunder or tremble: as though, forsooth, these signs could be any other than expressions of the indignation felt by our sacred parent! We penetrate into her entrails, and seek for treasures in the abodes even of the Manes, as though each spot we tread upon were not sufficiently bounteous and fertile for us!”31 In the above passage, Pliny looks upon mining as an act of hubris, while at the same time promoting agriculture and the positionality of elite farmer-statesman like himself. Moreover, this rumination reveals Pliny’s contempt for what he would have agreed was the laborious and reckless enterprise of mining. Given the impact of Pliny in contemporary historiography, the effect of his class-bias towards the mining enterprise is an aspect this research must treat if we are to understand the historical limitations of Pliny’s treatment on the subject.32 Despite the Historia Naturalis’ limitations as an elite text whose audience was exclusively Patrician (i.e. elite), Pliny was merely writing for his era, as a Roman historian and statesman who was proud of the successes wrought through Roman expansion before and also during his lifetime.33 As such, Pliny was not writing for the common person who experienced the enterprise directly, but instead for literate elites who, like him, had entirely different experiences than did laborers and slaves working the mines and smelting facilities.34 Strabo uses the same language of dominance as Pliny

31 Plin. Nat. 33.1 32 Of the modern authors surveyed in this project, many agreed that the limitations of discovery using only the ancient sources are substantial. See Shepherd, 1993, 186-91 and Friedman (2013), pp. 307-322. 33 Just as modern colonial statesman have shown centuries after with their descriptions and founding of cities like New Amsterdam or states like New Mexico, so too from Pliny’s prior statement and elite perspective do we see a clear implication of the importance of Rome as the central dominant power in Iberia. There is a “Plinian” tendency of sympathy towards Roman dominance as evidenced from Pliny’s use of the term “Novo Carthage.” In the following passage we can see how Pliny’s analysis of the Iberian other cannot be taken as an accurate account of events as his position as a noble, or landed farmer causes him to prize a top-down narrative over that of a critical recounting of events as experienced by the lower classes. “New Carthage,” was a term Rome (and Pliny) used to imply its colonial dominance over its Iberian territory. 34 Consider this statement in Plin. Nat. 4.3: “The ancient form of the Nearer Spain, like that of many other provinces, is somewhat changed, since the time when Pompey the Great, upon the trophies which he erected in the Pyrenees, testified that 877 towns, from the Alps to the borders of the Farther Spain, had been reduced to subjection by him.”

70 The Springs Graduate History Journal and as these two ancient authors are the most ubiquitous sources in the secondary literature, the impact of this bias should be examined rather than downplayed.35 In sum, it is extremely difficult for the mining historian to use Strabo (or Pliny) to uncover specific information concerning the extraction of resources. Like Pliny’s Historia, Strabo’s Geography offers historians little direct evidence of the mineral wealth, the perceived value, and the overall impact of the mining enterprise. 36 In any case there is a plausible argument behind the notion mining knowledge was a State secret. Thus, relying solely on Strabo and Pliny as accurate sources of information for Iberian mining history neglects the advances of modern science, and thus, cannot hold up to modern historical scrutiny. Ancient writings on mining history in the Roman Republic were not only elitist, they were vague, sparse and devoid of technical details. As I have attested, the few ancient historians whom we have discussed write on mining not with accurate detail, but instead with vague statements and this has left mining historians with more questions as to the exigencies and agencies of the mining industry in Iberia. While Pliny’s elite position as Roman farmer-statesman may have inspired his lack of treatment and apparent bias, the widespread use of Pliny and the overall gravity of his discourse in the historiography had a lasting and tangible effect not only on later writings on the topic but also upon our modern historical understanding. Roman elites and Iberian subjects alike understood technical mining knowledge as crucial to attain and maintain power. During the relative calm following the Roman conquest of Iberia in the second Punic War, its newfound dominance was judiciously maintained by elites who took their cues from the status quo in Rome. For these elites, the health of the Iberian mining enterprise was proportionate to the viability of

35 For Pliny and Strabo, the celebration of Pompey and Mettulus’ rapid subjection of Lusitanian society during the Sertorian War during the early-to-mid- first-century B.C, was also the celebration of Roman power. A critical recounting of the same events by the Iberians under Roman subjection most certainly would have sounded less triumphant. In Strabo’s coverage of the colonization of Iberia, he states, “The very names of many of the towns at present, such as Pax Augusta amongst the Keltici, Augusta-Emerita amongst the Turduli, Cæsar-Augusta amongst the Celtiberians and certain other colonies, are proof of the change of manners I have spoken of.” Strabo. Geography. 3.2.15. Here “manners” refers to the hegemonic nature of Roman power in Iberia following the decline of Carthaginian power in the same territory. Like Pliny, Strabo writes in a braggadocious manner concerning Roman dominance over Iberian territory and resources. Yet in Strabo’s treatment of Iberian colonization, there is a palpable sense from the text that he either intentionally obfuscates his discussion of the metallurgical resources in region here or he is aloof of the technical details concerning the enterprise and/or only interested in the economic aspects. For the seminal treatment of the limitations of elitist historical narratives, See Said, Edward. Orientalism. (NY: Vintage, 1979). 36 In Strabo’s defense, he does mention the mineral wealth of the region, in Geography (3.2) he stated, “There is much silver found in the parts about Ilipas and Sisapo.” In the same place, he also stated, “There are copper and gold about the Cotinæ.” Furthermore, see Strabo (3.2) for one of the only ancient treatments of the technical aspects of mine production and smelting in Iberia extant from a 1st-century AD author.

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hegemony the metropole enjoyed. Yet another reason for lack of ancient treatment on mining was because Roman elites sought to control the flow of this information: writings on this topic were viewed as privileged information. Elites like Pliny and Strabo well understood the value of this knowledge as well as the necessity of mining in warfare, so they guarded this knowledge with jealousy just as had the Carthaginians, the Phoenicians, the Athenians, and the Spartans who all colonized the Iberian territory before Rome accomplished the feat in the mid-second century BC.37 —Early Modern Sources— For the ancient mining historian seeking technical details, the earliest, most comprehensive classical-era treatments of the topic come from two sources: G. Agricola (1556) and from V. Biringuccio (1540). While these two sources were written over twelve-hundred years after the advent of the Roman mining enterprise in Iberia, they are seminal texts in the pre-modern discipline of mining history and it must be understood that these are widely utilized in the historiography of ancient mining. In the Foucauldian interpretation of texts, the discursive persistence of the ancient writings of Pliny, Strabo, and Polybius in these respective works is substantial.38 This was due to Early-Modern and Classical-era writings on mining relying heavily on Pliny. Classical sixteenth-century treatments on the topic of mining, like Pliny’s 1st -century BC work were crafted as encyclopedic resources and they are characterized as more concerned with conquest and dominance than completeness of detail. For example, drawing on Polybius, and speaking of the silver mines of New Carthage (SE Iberia), Strabo tells us, “they are extremely large, distant from the city about 20 stadia, and occupy a circuit of 400 stadia, that there are 40,000 men regularly engaged in them, and that they yield daily to the Roman people [a revenue of] 25,000 drachmæ. The rest of the process I pass over, as it is too long…” 39 Biringuccio and Agricola’s recounting of events in ancient Iberia, and their texts’ reliance on questionable ancient source material makes these works unreliable because their treatment of the topic merely restates the elitism and bias extant in the ancient sources. Furthermore, Biringuccio and Agricola were literate elites who, as products of the class structures of their eras, disdained the wretched labor of the destitute as did Pliny and Strabo before. Despite this, the De Re Metallica (1568) and Pirotechnia (1540) are the first technical treatments of the topic to appear in the historiography and so are critical texts which connect the ancient and modern sources. —Modern Sources—

37 Shepherd, 1993, 194-96. 38 Gnaeus Agricola, De Re Metallica. Translated by C.S.S Smith and Martha Teach-Gnudi for the Engineering and Mining Journal, (New York: American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, 1954), 608. 39 Strabo, Geography, 3.2, this report, Strabo tells us (via Polybius), occurred around 7 BCE.

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With knowledge suppression and bias permeating the few ancient sources extant, we turn now to explore scientific methods that lead to a different perspective from the discourse of ancient sources. For the archeological study of southern Iberian mining during the Republic, a seminal resource comes from the Huelva Archaeo-Metallurgical Survey. This study examined the archeological record at mine-sites in southwestern Spain and Portugal along the Iberian Pyrite Belt and the Mediterranean coast in Iberia. The evidence revealed from this expansive study is, in the words of the authors, “a first synthesis of the history of mining and metal production within the framework of the archaeological chronology of the Huelva province.”40 The authors mapped out the mining structures which occurred in the region. Ultimately, this nodal study of mine- sites in Southwest Iberia illustrates that mining in Iberia was a massive enterprise. The study also evidences that “the overwhelming importance of metal in the history of the province can be appreciated by the very scale and extent of the remains of extractive metallurgy.”41 The archeological record details the extent of pre-Roman mining, which helps establish a starting point for the overall chronology.42 Thus, at least in southern Iberia, the mining industry, according to Shepherd, existed in a constant state of flux and evolution long before the Roman occupation.43 Moreover, Shepherd argued that following the advent of silex (stone) mining in pre-historic times, copper and tin mining began later during the enolithic era, the transitional phase between pre-historic stone tool-use, and the early use of copper tools. According to prevailing theory, in Iberia, this occurred around 5000 BC and is also known as the Chalcolithic period. As Shepherd states, “some of the most famous ancient copper mines of the world are located near Huelva...the pyrite deposits [there] were never worked by prehistoric man.44 To overcome the limitations of ancient texts discussed earlier, another option is to study ancient lead ingots for answers.45 In a recent analysis of lead ingots found in a shipwreck off the coast of Sicily, researchers discovered that the lead’s source was Cartagena in southeastern Iberia along the Mediterranean coast and that the ingots revealed evidence of Roman trade prior to the Imperial period (prior to 31 BC). As they state: “Epigraphic and isotopic analysis of the lead ingots recovered from a shipwreck off 40 Beno and Blanco-Frejeiro (1981), p.163. 41 Ibid. 42 Shepherd argues the mines in the Rio Tinto district are likely the “longest worked mines in the western world” Shepherd, Prehistoric Mining, 194-96. 43 Ibid,194-97. 44 The pyrite deposits allowed for mining of silver, lead, copper, and gold. While tin was unavailable until about 3000 BC, the mining activities in Iberia occurred much earlier. Ibid, 194-99. 45 It is important to understand the value of lead in the Roman Republic as a product produced as the result of smelting silver ore. As a by-product of silver production, this lead was utilized widely in the Republic in various capacities such as plumbing, wine preservative, and its most salient application for this research, as a method for securing and identifying refined silver. For a valid discussion of the topic of silver mining and the lack of persistence of the pure metal over time, see Tisseyre (2008). Also see Gowland (1920).

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Capo Pasero (in Sicily) in mid-2006 suggests that the ingots were produced in Spain...The wreck is estimated to have occurred around 38 BC, at the beginning of the Hispanic era. This provides more evidence that the Romans were trading lead [and therefore silver] throughout the Mediterranean sea.”46 In the context of this research, this discovery is important to for two reasons: one, the findings corroborate ancient accounts of the size of the industry and its geopolitical importance to Rome, and two, they confirm and connect the modern empirical data discussed in this section with the ancient literature we have covered thus far. Erik Magntorn’s argument for a massive gold mining enterprise, in his archeological study of Roman Gold mines in Northwest Iberia, revises the historiography on the topic by focusing on the archaeological record which speaks to the massive size and scope of the gold mining enterprise.47 Magntorn’s research attempts to reconcile the archeological evidence with the literary evidence of Pliny and Strabo to understand the logistics behind the refinement process known as “Ruina-Montium,” or as he defines it, the “way of breaking down immense, compact deposits of gold bearing sand.”48 Magntorn struggles to reconcile the discrepancies created by comparing the archaeological record to Pliny and his concluding analysis points to Pliny’s limitations and the importance of the archaeological record to overcome them. In another archeological study of Iberian mining, the article, “Ancient and Medieval Mining Engineering in Southwest Iberia” refutes the traditional understanding of the industry as espoused by ancient authors by proposing the notion that technical knowledge of the Iberian mining enterprise was preserved through medieval times not as a result of technical documentation, but instead as orally transmitted knowledge gleaned from observation and analysis of existing ancient mines worked centuries earlier. Moreover, this article concludes that mining techniques have improved and been systematized by the archeological site observations of both ancient and modern peoples interested in mining in Iberia. Lastly, it is important to note that the activities of the modern mining industry in Iberia destroy evidence that can illuminate the ancient enterprise. As mentioned in Studies in Ancient Mining and Metallurgy in South-West Spain: Explorations and Excavation in the Province of Huelva, much of the archaeological record was destroyed by the modern mining industry. Especially in the Rio Tinto mining district, active mining operations have repurposed many ancient sites, often times re-smelting slag

46 Tisseyre, Philippe, et.al. “The Lead Ingots of Capo Pasero: Roman Global Mediterranean Trade.” Oxford Journal of Archaeology. (Blackwell Publishing. Massachusetts: 2008), pp. 315-23. 47 Magntorn, Eric. “Ruina Montium: A Case Study of Roman Gold-Mining in North-West Spain.” Roman Gold and the Development of Early Germanic Kingdoms: Aspects of Technical, Socio-Political, Artistic, and Intellectual Development (Vol 27-33. Stockholm: 2001), pp. 27-33. 48 Ibid.

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heaps that Roman mining operations left behind.49 In her structural analysis of the a mine-site in the Faynan, a Roman copper-producing region in southwest Jordan, Hannah Friedman’s work uncovered reasons why the archaeological record allows for analysis of the labor situation at a mine-site.50 This work is important here because, as I have argued, ancient sources do not give us details of peasant life in and around the mines. Arguing that slaves and freemen worked the mines in the Faynan, Friedman gives shape to a complex industry, using empirical evidence which cannot be gleaned from only the ancient sources on the topic. What’s more, Friedman reveals that under Roman management, being sent to work the mines was tantamount to a death-sentence; most mining laborers lived, labored, and died underground. That is, they died in the mine which they worked. Arguing that the observed structure of the mine, size of the mine entrance, and location of the observation tower on the mine-site are telling clues as to the nature of the labor force and the methods of forced labor at a mine site. In the context of this methodology, Friedman’s insights provide an approach for us to follow, but, as I have discussed prior, her insights do not go far enough. While Friedman’s research alludes to the limitations of the ancient source material, it fails to use all the evidence available. The geochemical data I discuss next is the missing link needed to uncover the realities of life and labor at a mine-site for elite and common participants and the key connection between the ancient and modern evidence.51 Most importantly, the data discussed next tells us, with a remarkable degree of accuracy, about the size, scope, and impact of the enterprise across Iberia and the northern hemisphere. —Atmospheric Research— Sediment and ice core data sets give us a better idea of the size and scope of ancient mining works in Iberia and it connects other modern methods (archeological, epigraphic, and numismatic) together so as to definitively unveil the realities of the Roman mining enterprise. Secondly, it overcomes the limitations of bias in the primary sources which obfuscated the enterprise in the ancient world as it is based on numerical data rather than personal observation. Third, this atmospheric data allows researchers to analyze trace elements which tell us about the type of mining and smelting occurring as well as the methods used. Sediment and ice core data, in this particular research, also tells us more about the size and scope of ancient mining works in Iberia than does the

49 Smelting is the process by which a metallic ore is heated (using wood and charcoal) and refined into a base element such as lead, silver, copper, iron, or gold. The smelting process requires an enormous amount of heat energy and requires a substantial knowledge of smelting process and ore properties. See the Huelva Survey (1981) for a description of how the archaeological record captured the evolution of smelting knowledge and how this analysis is used to determine the particular civilization undertaking mining operations on a given mine-site. Slag is the byproduct of smelting ore. The type of slag indicates the level of technological proficiency of the mining-operation and the people running it. 50 Friedman. (2008), pp. 1-11 and also see Friedman (2013), pp. 307-322. 51 See Rubincam, David and Catherine Reid. The Terminology of Power in the Early Roman Empire. (Cahiers Des Études Anciennes N° 26, 1991), pp. 155-71, for an additional treatment of Roman power and labor using a structural analysis similar to Friedman’s approach.

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ancient literary sources.52 As a result of this lack of ancient sources, I propose scholars use new methods that include archeological, epigraphic, and numismatic data sets so to (1) unveil the realities of the enterprise and (2) overcome the limitations of ancient bias and technical knowledge suppression. As such, the information I have amalgamated from these new empirical studies can be repurposed for use in the historical conversation concerning mining in Iberia.53 The article “Greenland Ice Evidence of Hemispheric Lead Pollution Two Millennia Ago by Greek and Roman Civilizations” refutes the traditional interpretation of mining history as a subdued, ancillary enterprise by showing “that lead [was] present at concentrations four times as great as natural values from about 2500 to 1700 years ago (500 B.C. to 300 A.D.).” What’s more, the authors of the aforementioned article reported, “ [that] these results show that Greek and Roman lead and silver mining and smelting activities polluted the middle troposphere of the Northern Hemisphere on a hemispheric scale two millennia ago, long before the Industrial Revolution.”54 In essence, this tells us that the Iberian mining enterprise during the Roman era was large enough to have a substantial effect on the environment long before the European industrial revolution. Furthermore, this data confirms the few ancient reports about the size of the industry extant we have discussed. Prior to the release of this data in the late 1970’s, only the field of archeology was able to corroborate such claims. According to the authors, “The history of human lead production began about six millennia ago” and “then rose continuously during the copper, bronze, and iron ages, stimulated by the introduction of silver coinage (during those times, lead was as much as a 300-to-I byproduct of silver).”55 The illustration above (fig. 3) reveals that mining activity during Roman times was a massive enterprise. So much so that the pollution recorded in the ancient ice-core data was comparable to levels reached during the industrial revolution. In a brief analysis, this data is as important as it is surprising. Firstly, it tells us that humans have been mining the earth on a hemispheric scale long before the industrial revolution and even millenia prior to the Roman conquest of Iberia. Second, it tells us 52 Isotopic analysis of heavy metal particles (specifically Pb) in the studies that we will be discussing are focused on the long-range transmission of metal particles that occur as a result of mining activities. More specifically these heavy metals are transmitted when an ore is processed and frozen and trapped in the ice or sediment far from the site of pollution. Hong and Candelone, et al (1994) posit that this can be used for triangulation “Further evidence of this hemispheric-scale pollution by Greco-Roman civilization might be found in other archives, such as sea sediments in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Mediterranean Sea. Analysis of lead isotopes could fingerprint the relative contributions of the different ancient mining districts to this pollution.” 53 While Atmospheric data is a new field, much of the atmospheric data taken from the ice in Greenland and Antarctica is concerned with other topics located much further back in the distant past (i.e. paleo-environmental studies). In addition, atmospheric studies of the climate are politically contentious and as a result academic researches on the topic have been slow to utilize the data for fear of retribution. 54 Hong, S., J.-P. Candelone, C. C. Patterson, and C. F. Boutron. "Greenland Ice Evidence of Hemispheric Lead Pollution Two Millennia Ago by Greek and Roman Civilizations." (Science 265, no. 5180: 1994), 1841-843. doi:10.1126/science.265.5180.1841 55 Ibid.

76 The Springs Graduate History Journal that the scale by which they were operating was much greater than the ancients discussed. Put simply, a study based on only ancient sources cannot provide us with the detail needed to treat the topic definitively. What’s more, using only the empirical data in such analysis prevents us from capturing the human element underneath the story of mining in Iberia. Furthermore, while the ancient source material only begins to describe the size and scope of the ancient enterprise, and the gift of hindsight allows modern historians the ability to analyze these ancient events from the perch of dispassion, a combined, interdisciplinary approach is essential for a complete synthesis. In sum, the methodological approach I am advocating for here combines the empirical data introduced in this section, with the ancient evidence from section II in order to get a definitive picture of events regarding the mining enterprise an Roman held Iberia.56 In a similar approach to Hong, Candelone, Patterson, and Boutron (see fig. 3), the geochemical analysis of isotopic data in Spain by Irabien and Cearreta, et al extends the timeline of Roman industrial operations like mining well beyond that which is traditionally postulated by Roman historians following the decline of the empire in 500 AD. Irabien and Cearreta, et al argue the mining enterprise continued in Iberia even after Roman power declined in the territory. As they state: “The beginning of Roman mining activities is recorded by a marked increase in Pb concentrations. However, the maximum value appears later in time (after 660 cal AD). Although this enrichment could be related to the reworking upstream of previously polluted materials, recently obtained archaeological data suggest that episodes of historically non-documented mining activities could have taken place in the surrounding area after Roman times.”57 This important study by Irabien and Cearreta et al. not only extends the timeline of mining activities well beyond the care of Roman control in the 6th-century, it postulates and confirms that mining activities were occurring as undocumented events Irabien and Cearreta, et al. concluded their study with a final analysis that speaks to this research, vindicating the method to an extent. As they stated, “The multidisciplinary approach used in this work, combining micropaleontological, geochemical and archaeological information, has proven to be successful in providing an accurate picture of the environmental conditions of the Bidasoa estuary during Roman times.”58 Marín, Antonio, and Ariño, in an article examining the structure of the Roman mining apparatus in southeastern Iberia, also advocate for an interdisciplinary approach in the field of mining at the turn of the millennium in Iberia. Here it is important to note the similarity in criticism of the ancient sources as has been discussed in this paper:

56 One which is consistent with the modern praxis of interdisciplinary historical research advocated by I. Wallerstein and E. Boyer. 57 Irabien and Cearreta, et al. 2012. (Journal of Archaeological Science 39, 2012), p. 2368. 58 Ibid.

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“We know very little about the organisation of mining, the processing of the mineral and subsequent exportation. The ancient authors gave little importance to these aspects. They merely refer to the mass influx of Italic peoples in the 2nd century BCE looking for the economic benefits provided by mining or the large number of hands who worked in the mines. We need to turn to epigraphy and archaeology for a better understanding of these questions.”59 Like Irabien and Cearreta’s paper, the above conclusion by Marín, Antonio, and Ariño reveals the nature of expansion during the early phase of the Roman mining enterprise, and it corroborates my introductory argument: that colonizing Romans, just as the Carthaginians prior, knew full well the value of this region. Furthermore, they recognized that controlling this territory assured a continuous flow of metallurgical resources for the imperial machine and the armies. For the ancient Romans, long-term imperium in the Mediterranean required a successful mining enterprise. Atmospheric data taken from sediment cores around Iberia also helps build an empirically-based ontology which can be used to overcome the ancient source limitations discussed above. These sediment cores, unlike the ice cores used by Hong, S., J.-P. Candelone, C. C. Patterson, and C. F. Boutron (see fig. 3) are extracted out of swamp-like peat bogs and from varved lake sediments but the data equally applies in this analysis. Renberg, Bindler, and Brannvall interpreted sediment core data from Iberia and from across Europe as information that can be set into a chronology.60 The authors found that not only could this data be used to triangulate ancient pollution sites, but that “the Roman peak in atmospheric lead-pollution fallout [occurred] c. ad 0 (100 bc to ad 200).”61 Taking the approach advocated in this paper a step further, we can then apply Irabien and Cearreta’s argument that the mining enterprise continued (albeit undocumented) well after the “fall” of the Roman empire. Irabian and Cearreta’s study, as we discussed, used atmospheric data to prove the Roman mining industry was large enough to emit lead particulates into the air which travelled thousands of miles away. Moreover, all of the long-range transmission of pollutants stipulated by Irabien and Cearreta et Al, occurred well after the traditionally agreed upon decline of the Roman Empire in at the end of the 4th-century CE.62 If pollutants could reach Greenland in

59 Antolinos Marín, Juan Antonio, and Borja Díaz Ariño. "The Organisation of Mining and Metal Production in Carthago Nova between the Late Republic and Early Empire." (Athenaeum: Studi Periodici Di Letteratura E Storia Dell’Antichità 101, no. (2) 2013), p.536. 60 Renberg, Bindler, and Brannvall (2001), pp. 511-16. 61 Ibid. 62 The implication Gowland (1920) made was based heavily on ancient literary sources and also on archaeological/numismatic evidence. I posit, he would have reconsidered this contention had he had access to Olías and Nieto (2015). As Gowan stated, “But with the advent of the Romans in the third century and their subsequent conquests the mines passed into their possession and were exploited by them on a very extensive scale until the fall of the Empire.” As for the “fall of the Roman Empire,” the sack

78 The Springs Graduate History Journal ancient times, then pollution was a tangible impact of this ancient enterprise, especially for people living in Iberia. How could the the ancient sources like Pliny and Polybius, Strabo and Appian, forgo such a detail as a dense smog emitted from a massive smelting operation in their ruminations? In that vein, how could these same authors have forgotten to mention the deforestation of Iberia for purposes of mining? More importantly, would they have omitted this fact intentionally. For pollution to travel thousands of miles from smelting production sites in Iberia, to swampy bogs in Sweden, or to the ice of Antarctica and Greenland, this enterprise had to be equally as massive as the 17th-century European incarnations of the industry (see fig. 3). Given the use of technology during the Industrial revolution which drastically reduced the labor needed while still increasing output. The size, scale and scope of the Roman mining operations must have been much greater in ancient times in order to have a similar impact. 63 Cortizas, Martínez, López-merino, et al, in their study entitled, "Atmospheric Pb Pollution In N Iberia During The Late Iron Age/Roman Times Reconstructed Using The High-resolution Record Of La Molina Mire (Asturias, Spain)" use sediment core data to argue that the forests around the Asturias mountains reached a state of no return after 180 AD “due to intense anthropogenic impact.” What this means, is that the forests in North Iberia were depleted before the the sack of Rome at the end of the 5th-century CE. This study also provides concrete proof of the environmental degradation I argue was ever present in the daily lives of those who lived in Iberia at the time. Returning to my suggested approach, we must ask how the ancients missed this in their various works on the topic. This data helps to overcome this particular historical limitation. Olías and Nieto’s approach was similar to Cortizas, Martínez, López-merino, et Al. in that it also utilized sediment core data from Iberia. Olías and Nieto’s article, "Background Conditions and Mining Pollution throughout History in the Río Tinto (SW Spain)" interprets mining in southwest Iberia as a process which is still polluting the environment in Spain. In their treatment of environmental history of the Rio Tinto river basin, they posit “The arrival of the Roman Empire (second century BC) gave a strong impetus to mining, exploration, extraction, drainage systems and metallurgy. Roman technology made possible the exploitation of deposits on a hitherto unknown scale.”64 While this statement does indeed corroborate the notion Roman elites knew the value of the Iberian peninsula in terms of its richness of resources, Olías and Nieto’s work posits Roman mining had a lasting legacy on the land which reaches into today in the form of damage to the river basin. People utilizing these water sources on a daily basis in this region must have certainly noticed such pollution. By “using numerous geologic, of Rome and it burning by the Vandals in the mid-fifth century CE is the date usually regarded as the official end of Roman power in the Mediterranean. 63 The size, scale, and scope was much greater in ancient times given the advances of technology. Modern works utilize technology that has reduced the labor needed drastically while still increasing output. 64 Olías and Nieto (2015), p. 299.

79 Fall 2018 Vol. 1, No. 1 archaeological and historical records, [Olías and Nieto] conclude that the present quality of the Río Tinto is the result of mining activities [rather than natural processes].” What’s more, they posit this pollution was a result of Roman mining activities. Using isotopic data taken from lake sediment cores in multiple locations in and around the Rio Tinto, their report concluded that, “The maximum [mining/smelting] activity in this period occurred in the first century AD. After the second century, AD mines went into a gradual decline and, with the arrival of the Visigoths to the Iberian Peninsula (405 AD), the exploitation was abandoned.”65 Olías and Nieto’s work prompts the astute historian familiar with the ancient literary sources on this topic to reconcile a major discrepancy by answering an important question: if the foundation of Roman power rested on the successful extraction of Iberian metals, if the size and the scope of the enterprise was massive enough to emit pollution across the hemisphere, then why is it so poorly treated by ancient authors in Roman Empire like Pliny and Strabo? Above all, the research discussed in the above section recognizes the need for a multi-faceted, and interdisciplinary approach to solve these problems of ancient vagueness and bias this paper has highlighted. On one hand, the empirical and archeological data is vital to a comprehensive study of mining activities in Iberia. By relying only on the ancient source material, historians are not only perpetuating a class- based bias prevailing during Pliny’s lifetime (1st-century BC), they are crafting a one- dimensional account of events which only serves to obfuscate an enterprise as did the ancient authors. On the other hand, by relying only on the empirical data, historians risk excluding valuable discourse that tells us about life at the Iberian mines under Roman control. To paraphrase interdisciplinary scholar of Roman power David Mattingly here, “we must not throw the baby out with the bathwater.” That is, in historical research in the ancient world, we must be inclusive of all the data or we must exclude all it entirely. This paper advocates the former approach. Therefore, to revise the topic of Romano- Iberian mining with all the evidence in congress, one must synthesize all the resources I have discussed to account for the gaps and silences extant just as I have advocated throughout this paper.66 —Conclusion— Despite the bias and lack of ancient detail on the topic, Iberia was widely known for its rich metallic ore by ancient civilizations from afar and in fact, a cursory Google search for “mining in Spain” reveals that this region is commonly understood today as

65 Ibid. 66 While it was mentioned that it was not until the 1980’s that isotopic research began to be applied in the historical discipline, the first study to use ice cores to prove the existence of long range transmission of heavy metal particles (as a result of mining production) was undertaken by analyzing lead in an ice core from Greenland in 1980 by C.C. Patterson, in an article entitled "Lead in the Human Environment," this was a report prepared by the Committee on Lead in the Human Environment (National Academy of Sciences, Wash- ington, DC, 1980), pp. 265-349.

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one of the most metallurgically rich regions in the world. As C.S. Smith noted, “Gold, silver, copper, and iron have all been found in archeological excavations of sites dated earlier than 3000 B.C. … the alloy bronze dates from about 2000 B.C…. Many objects of art and implements for warlike and domestic use that have been excavated in Egypt, Greece, and Rome show that considerable skill was possessed by the metalworkers of these civilizations.” I believe Smith’s point implies that metallurgical knowledge was known throughout the Mediterranean world where these civilizations flourished and travelled. Especially in Iberia, I submit that even the slave who contemplated his shackles understood that this knowledge was prized by all in the ancient world: aesthetically, through jewelry and decorative items, and functionally via farm implements, weaponry, and other tools. An examination of the funerary remains left in the archaeological record from 200 BC to 500 AD from each civilization mentioned above proves this point beyond a doubt.67 From the very limited ancient source material extant, it is clear that, aside from the local Turdetanian, Celtic, Gallic, and Lusitanian (Celtiberian) cultures (see fig. 1 and 2 above) that mined their resource-rich homeland, others, like the Phoenicians, the Carthaginians, the Greeks, and the Romans, came from afar to pursue these valued resources from as early as 1100 BC and this massive enterprise has continued to this day.68 While mining history may often be ensconced in technical details and overshadowed by “nobler deeds”, its agency in the progress of western civilization should not be underestimated as it has been. This research attempts to ameliorate this understatement to show that empirical data is indispensable in a contemporary study of ancient mining activities, and that mining has been the very foundation of the all colonial project’s in Iberia from the time of Novo Carthage to the epoch of today’s modern Cadiz. In addition, this paper explored how empirical evidence reveals detail about the Roman mining economy and even more about the larger structures which channeled these resources and wealth back to the Roman mainland than can be gleaned from the ancient sources. By analyzing the site evidence obtained from ancient smelting operations and examining their impact in relation to the site of production, future studies might use more empirical data that is being published to triangulate the locations of this enterprise in the ancient world, with more data to be assessed from various location across Europe, we can understand more about the technological underpinnings of these ancient metalworkers and with it, of empire itself.

67 Biringuccio, Vannoccio. Pirotechnia. 1540. This introduction was given by Cyril Stanley Smith, University of Chicago, Institute for the Study of Metals in 1958 (xi). It is pertinent to mention here that C.S. Smith, and Martha Teach Gnudi provide excellent translation and additional explanatory notations throughout Biringuccio’s seminal 16th-century text on the technical details and history of and mineral and metallurgical extraction processes. 68 Shepherd, Robert. Ancient Mining.1993, 186-91.

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Archeological data evidences how mining operations were schematically designed to address what the layout of a mining and smelting operation meant about the dynamics of power at the production sites. Analyzing the empirical evidence against ancient and contemporary sources which treat the history of Iberia under Roman control from 146 B.C. to 25 B.C. exploring how ancient mining processes impacted the historical landscape, the society, and the environment brings forth a new narrative. This study has implications for how we interpret the ecologic impact of mining activities during Rome’s tenure as hegemon in Iberia. It follows then that mining in Iberia during this period of Roman rule affected culture, environments, and the day-today lives of everyday people in the Mediterranean, and abroad.69 Finally, the analysis gleaned from this paper’s engagement with ancient sources unearthed what amounted to attempts to downplay the agency of mining technology as a task for the wretched poor (i.e. class-based bias). Because the limitations of these sources, this study, above all, vindicates the philosophy of interdisciplinary research. Given the advances of technology in related and pertinent disciplines, and the understatement of the mining enterprise’s agency in Roman imperial historiography, a new treatment on the history of ancient mining is long overdue and needed. I hope this paper serves as the catalyst in this process. While this study of Roman mining activities is a ground-level study, it has a larger outlook. Understanding the true impact of ancient mining is important to environmental historians discussing larger impacts of Rome on society and ecosystems. It is also important to the historical structuralists studying frameworks of Roman power in the ancient Mediterranean. To historical monumentalists who might object to such a seemingly ‘Marxist’ interpretation of Roman power, let it be a small token of amelioration that every legionnaire’s shining sword was wrested from the hands of toil and forged from the technology of destruction. No definitive nor plausible history of Roman power should be complete without an understanding of both these aspects, no matter how apparently inglorious or ignoble.

69 As the isotopic data from the sediment records across Europe, the ice core from Greenland and Antarctic data attests.

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