In 83 bc Q. Sertorius was sent to govern Hispania Citerior. He became very
popular with the Spanish natives by relieving tax and billeting requirements.
In 81 bc, Sertorius was replaced but was called back to the province by the
Lusitanians to command them and their allies in a campaign against the Ro- man establishment. Many disaffected tribes as well as Romans rallied to him.
In 77 bc, the young Cn. Pompeius (better known to us as Pompey) was cho-
sen by the Senate in addition to the consul already in place in Ulterior, Q. Caecilius Metellus Pius, to destroy Sertorius’ forces. Sertorius shifted to guer- rilla warfare. Eventually cut off from his allies, he was assassinated at Osca (Huesca), after which most of the natives surrendered to Pompey. It was during this campaign that Pompey founded a native settlement at Pompaelo (Pamplona) and Metellus, the Roman settlement at Caecilia Metellinum (most likely Medell´ın) (see Richardson 1996, 95-100).
In 68bc, C. Iulius Caesar was sent to Hispania Ulterior as quaestor under
C. Antistius Vetus, where his task was to travel about the province hearing
cases (Suetonius, Div. Caes. 7; Richardson 1996, 105). Caesar returned in
61 bc as proconsul and was active in both military and civilian matters. He
counterattacked the Lusitanians after they had made several raids into the Baetis river valley and used this as an excuse to push north into modern
Galicia.5
In 55 bc, Pompey, as consul, was given all of Spain as his command as part of the political arrangement of the First Triumvirate, during which time
he captured the hill stronghold of Clunia (Pe˜nalba de Castro) during a revolt
the Vaccaei (Cassius Dio, 39.33,54). When the Triumvirate broke down and the civil war between Pompey and Caesar began, Spain was a source of great concern to Caesar. Though Pompey abandoned Rome for Greece, there were
three commanders and seven legions in Spain loyal to him (Caesar, De Ballo
Civili 1.29-30,38; Richardson 1996, 108). Caesar himself went to Spain and
engaged his enemies at Ilerda (Lleida). After hard going and failed manoeu- vring in the territory of sympathetic tribes, the Pompeian forces surrendered
(Caesar, B.C. 1.37,41,61-84; Richardson 1996, 110-111). The final Pompeian
commander, Varro, had stationed himself in the south at Gades. As news of Caesar’s northern victory spread, a great multitude of the populace went over to him with the towns of Corduba, Carmo (Carmona), and eventually Gades expelling the Pompeian forces. Varro surrendered, and Caesar returned to Rome via Tarraco and Massilia, where he learned that he had been proclaimed
dictator (Richardson 1996, 111-112; Caesar,B.C. 2.20-21).
Unfortunately for Caesar, the deputy he left behind in Spain, Q. Cassius Longinus, was extremely unpopular with the inhabitants and the army. The
unrest led to a resurgence of the Pompeian cause. In 46bc, Cnaeus Pompeius,
son of the now dead Pompey, besieged Carthago Nova. By the end of the year, Caesar returned to Spain to engage Cnaeus and his brother Sextus. The broth- ers consolidated their forces in the Baetis valley, besieging Ulia and Corduba. Cnaeus did little to ingratiate himself with the population, slaughtering every- one in the town of Ucubi (Espejo) for the belief that they were sympathetic to Caesar. Caesar crushed the Pompeians, and eventually Cnaeus’ head was dis- played at Hispalis (Sevilla). Despite Sextus’ eluding capture, Caesar left Spain for Rome at the end of the following spring (see Richardson 1996, 112-116).
In these last stages of the civil war, several municipal and Romanising de- velopments arose. Contrebia (Botorrita) and Azaila, though destroyed during the conflict, had Roman-style buildings, as did Hispalis and Corduba (Richard- son 1996, 118). Caesar gave Roman citizenship to the peoples of Gades in 49
bc, gaining official recognition as a Roman municipium at some point in the
following six years (Livy, ep. 110; Cassius Dio, 41.24; Richardson 1996, 119).
Olisipo (Lisbon) may also have been honoured with such a status, though it is possible it took this honour upon itself (Richardson 1996, 119). Caesar
also established several official coloniae of Roman citizens as a policy of re-
settlement: Tarraco (Tarragona), Carthago Nova (Cartagena), Hasta (Mesa de Asta), Hispalis (Sevilla), Urso (Osuna), Ucubi (Espejo), and the unidenti- Richardson 1996, 106.
fied Itucci. With the exception of Tarraco and Carthago Nova (and possibly Itucci), all of these settlements were in the Baetis river valley (Richardson
1996, 120). Thesecoloniae must have significantly contributed to the Roman-
isation of the Mediterranean coast as well as the Baetis and Ebro river valleys (Richardson 1996, 124-125).
In 41 bc, Octavian (C. Iulius Caesar), took control of Spain following
M. Aemilius Lepidus (Cassius Dio, 48.1). From the beginning of Octavian’s command in Spain to his acceptance of the title ‘Augustus’, details of the military activity in Spain is far from detailed (Richardson 1996, 130). The
Cerretani tribe of northern Spain near the Pyrenees was defeated in 39 bc
(Cassius Dio, 48.42). In 29 bc, the proconsul T. Statilius Taurus was engaged
with the Vaccaei, Cantabri, and Astures in north-central Spain near the Durius (Douro) river. At least two settlements are thought to have been founded during this period: Celsa (Velilla de Ebro) and Norba Caesarina (C´aceres). Celsa was originally founded as Victrix Iulia Lepida, though its name was shortened and eventually changed after the fall of Lepidus. It is located in the Ebro valley to the east of modern Zaragoza (see Richardson 1996, 132-133).