From Intervention, To Insurgency, To Peace: How the Roman Approach to Interacting with the Tribes in Iberia Almost Lost the Province

Abstract

This thesis looks at Roman Spain, from the initial intervention against the Carthaginians during the Punic Wars in the mid-third century BC to the rebellion of Sertorius in the first. It attempts to answer the question of why the Romans had such trouble pacifying the various tribes in the region, even though they were militarily inferior to Rome. The conclusion to this query is that mismanagement on the part of the vast majority of Roman magistrates assigned to the region resulted in the aggravation of those tribes. The subsequent mishandling of which created situations that almost resulted in the loss of the peninsula altogether. A positive example of Roman governance of the province, aside from the occasional crisis point, is found in the rebellious governor Sertorius, who demonstrated, via the employment of adaptive politics, cultural assimilation, and intentional Romanization, the most effective way to govern Hispania.