Reviews

Temples and Towns in Roman Iberia

William E. Mierse (Berkeley: Univ. of California Press, 1999) 346 pp., $65.00

“After Italy I would judge Spain next,” wrote Pliny the Elder (23–79 A.D.) in praise of the western province: “Spain rich in fruit, oil, wine, horses, and metals of every kind.”

Occupied by the Romans in 205 B.C. after the war with Hannibal, Spain became the empire’s most romanized and latinized province. Romanization of the Iberian peninsula began when veterans of Rome’s many wars in Spain remained behind or were purposely settled there in newly organized cities, to be joined over the years by other colonists from Italy as well as native inhabitants.

Until the 17th century Spanish scholars and antiquarians paid little attention to the Roman ruins in their midst. Excavation of Roman archaeological sites, mostly by enthusiasts searching for museum pieces, did not begin until the end of the 19th century, and systematic field work by professional Spanish archaeologists did not get seriously underway until after the Spanish Civil War.