Historical Events - The Romans in Spain

209 B.C.: Decline of Hannibal's army in Italy and beginning of the great Roman conquest of Spain. Rome annexes the country and divides it into two provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior.

143 to 139 B.C.: Viriatus and the Lusitanians fight the Roman legions.

133 B.C.: The inhabitants of Numantia prefer to die in the flames of their city rather than surrender to Roman general Scipio Aemilianus.

27 B.C.: The Romans pacify the Peninsula once and for all and divide it into three provinces: Tarraconense, Baetica and Lusitania. The Roman presence in Hispania lasted for seven centuries and left a legacy of social and cultural characters such as the family, language, religion, law and municipal government, all of which placed the Peninsula within the Greco-Latin and later the Judeo-Christian worlds.

98 A.D.: Beginning of rule of Trajan, the first Roman emperor of Spanish origin.

264 A.D.: Franks and suevi invade the country and temporarily occupy Tarragona.

411 A.D.: The Barbarian tribes sign an alliance with Rome, which enables them to establish military colonies within the Empire.

568-586.: The Visigoth king Leovigild expels the imperial civil servants and attempts to unify the Peninsula. The end of the Roman empire in Spain.