396 
SPAIN. 
It formed what is called Andalusia, containing the king¬ 
doms of Seville, Jaen, Cordova, and Granada; it also in¬ 
cluded a part of modern Estremadura, and extended as far 
as Badajoz, which was within its boundaries. 
Hispania Tarraconensis comprehended all the other parts 
of Spain, and was the same with that called Citerior 
Spain. 
The division of Spain, now stated, underwent some altera¬ 
tions under the last Roman emperors, and was totally changed 
after the invasion of the northern nations. The Aborigines 
of Spain were doubtless a Celtic tribe, which probably passed 
into this peninsula from the adjoining continent of Gaul, 
though at a very early period they appear to have been mixed 
with a colony of Mauritani, or Moors from the coast of Africa. 
The Celtic inhabitants, or Celtiberi, seem to have possessed 
the north-east of the peninsula, while the Mauritani occupied 
the southern and south-western districts. 
Nothing certain is known respecting the early state of Spain 
till the commencement of the first Punic war between the 
Romans and the Carthaginians, in the middle of the third 
century before Christ. Not long before this date, probably 
at the beginning of the century, the latter people had possess¬ 
ed themselves of Catalonia, when their general Hamilcar 
Barcas is said to have founded the city of Barceno, the mo¬ 
dern Barcelona. The Carthaginian colony, however, seems 
to have been rather a mercantile than a warlike settlement, 
and the Celtiberi were more the allies than the subjects of their 
African neighbours. Of the contest carried on between the 
Carthaginians and the Romans, till the final subjugation of 
the former, and the consequent occupation of all their terri¬ 
tories by the Roman republic, we have given an account 
under the articles Carthage and Rome. We shall here 
briefly consider the state of Spain at the time of its occupation 
by the Romans, and relate the events to which that occupa¬ 
tion gave rise, and which are less connected with the more 
immediate transactions of the Punic wars. 
At the time of the Roman conquest, Spain, though prodi¬ 
gious quantities of silver had been carried out of it by the Car¬ 
thaginians and Tyrians, was yet a very rich country. In the 
most ancient times, indeed, its riches are said to have exceed¬ 
ed what is related of the most wealthy country in America. 
Aristotle assures us, that when the Phenicians first arrived in 
Spain, they exchanged their naval commodities for such im¬ 
mense quantities of silver, that their ships could neither con¬ 
tain nor sustain its load, though they used it for ballast, and 
made their anchors and other implements of silver. When 
the Carthaginians first came to Spain, they found the quan¬ 
tity of silver nothing lessened, since the inhabitants at that 
time made all their utensils, and even mangers, of that pre¬ 
cious metal. In the time of the Romans this amazing plenty 
was very much diminished; however, their gleanings 
were by no means despicable, since in the space of nine 
years they carried off 111,542 pounds of silver, and 4095 
of gold, besides an immense quantity of coin and other 
things of value. The Spaniards were always remarkable for 
their bravery, and some of Hannibal’s best troops were 
brought from thence ; but as the Romans penetrated farther 
into the country than the Carthaginians had done, they 
met with nations whose love of liberty was equal to their 
valour, and whom the whole strength of their empire 
was scarcely able to subdue. Of these the most for¬ 
midable were the Numantines, Cantabrians, and Astu- 
ans. 
In the time of the third Punic war, one Viriathus, a ce¬ 
lebrated hunter, and afterwards the captain of a gang of 
banditti, took upon him the command of some nations who 
had been in alliance with Carthage, and ventured to oppose 
the Roman power in that part of Spain called Lusitania, 
now Portugal. The praetor, named Vetilius, who com¬ 
manded in those parts, marched against him with 10,000 
men; but was defeated and killed, with the loss of 4000 of 
his troops. The Romans immediately dispatched another 
prator with 10,000 foot and 1300 horse: but Viriathus 
having first cut off a detachment of 4000 of them, engaged 
the rest in a pitched battle; and having entirely defeated 
them, reduced great part of the country. Another praetor, 
who was sent with a new army, met with the same fate; so 
that, after the destruction of Carthage, the Romans thought 
proper to send a consul named Quintus Fabius, who defeat¬ 
ed the Lusitanians in several battles, and regained two im¬ 
portant places which had long been in the hands of the 
rebels. After the expiration of Fabius’s consulate, Viriathus 
continued the war with his usual success, till the senate 
thought proper to send against him the consul Q. Caecilius 
Metullus, an officer of great valour and experience. With 
him Viriathus did not choose to venture a pitched battle, 
but contented himself with acting on the defensive; in con¬ 
sequence of which the Romans recovered a great many cities, 
and the whole of Tarraconian Spain was obliged to submit 
to their yoke. The other consul, named Servi/ianus, did 
not meet with the same success; his army was defeated in the 
field, and his camp was nearly taken by Viriathus. Not¬ 
withstanding the good fortune of Metellus, however, he could 
not withstand the intrigues of his countrymen against him, 
and he was not allowed to finish the war he had begun with 
so much success. In resentment for this he took all ima¬ 
ginable pains to weaken the army under his command : 
he disbanded the flower of his troops, exhausted the ma¬ 
gazines, let the elephants die, broke in pieces the arrows 
which had been provided for the Cretan archers, and threw 
them into a river. Yet, after all, the army which he gave 
up to his successor Q. Pompeius, consisting of 30,000 foot 
and 2000 horse, was sufficient to have crushed Viriathus, if 
the general had known how to use it. But, instead of op¬ 
posing Viriathus with success, the imprudent consul pro¬ 
cured much more formidable enemies. The Termantians 
and Numantines, who had hitherto kept themselves inde¬ 
pendent, offered very advantageous terms of peace and 
alliance with Rome; but Pompeius insisted on their deliver¬ 
ing up their arms. Upon this war was immediately com¬ 
menced. The consul with great confidence invested Numan- 
tia; but being repulsed with considerable loss, he sat down 
before Termantia, where he was attended with still worse 
success. The very first day, the Termantines killed 700 of 
his legionaries; took a great convoy which was coming to 
the Roman camp; and having defeated a considerable body 
of their horse, pushed them from post to post till they came 
to the edge of a precipice, where they all tumbled down, 
and were dashed to pieces. In the mean time Servilius 
who had been continued in his command with the title 
of proconsul, managed matters so ill, that Viriathus sur¬ 
rounded him on all sides, and obliged him to sue for 
peace. The terms offered to the Romans were very mode¬ 
rate ; being only that Variathus should keep the country 
he at that time possessed, and the Romans remain masters 
of all the rest. This peace the proconsul was very glad to 
sign, and afterwards procured its ratification by the senate 
and people of Rome. 
The next year Q. Pompeius was continued in his com¬ 
mand against the Numantines in Farther Spain, while Q. 
Servilius Caepio, the new consul, had for his province Hither 
Spain, where Viriathus had established his new state. Pom¬ 
peius undertook to reduce Numantia by turning aside the 
stream of the Durius, now the Douro, by which it was sup¬ 
plied with water; but, in attempting this, such numbers of 
his men were cut off, that, finding himself unable to contend 
with the enemy, he was glad to make peace with them on 
much worse terms than they had offered of their own accord. 
The peace, however, was ratified at Rome ; but in the mean 
time Caepio, desirous of showing his prowess against the 
renowned Viriathus, prevailed on the Romans to declare war 
against him without any provocation. As Caepio com¬ 
manded an army greatly superior to the Lusitanians, Viriathus 
thought proper to sue for peace; but finding that Caepio 
would be satisfied with nothing less than a surrender at dis¬ 
cretion, he resolved to stand his ground. In the mean time, 
the latter having bribed some of the intimate companions of 
Viriathus to murder him in his sleep, he by that infamous 
method put an end to a war which had lasted 14 years, very 
little to the honour of the republic. 
After 
