other · Iberia

Hispania Citerior

197 BCE – 27 BCE · capital Tarraco

Rome's province of Nearer Spain, from the Ebro and the east coast into the Meseta, the base for Rome's long wars against the Celtiberians.

Origins

Hispania Citerior was created in 197 BCE as one of the two Roman provinces in Iberia, covering the Mediterranean coast from the Pyrenees to beyond Carthago Nova. It grew from Rome's wartime base at Tarraco, established after Gnaeus Scipio's landing in 218 BCE.

Rule and society

A praetor or consul governed from Tarraco or Carthago Nova, leading near-constant campaigns. Cato crushed the north-eastern revolt in 195 BCE, and Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus made treaties with the Celtiberians in 179 BCE. The silver mines around Carthago Nova were among the richest in the Roman world. The province steadily pushed inland, taking Numantia in 133 BCE.

Decline and legacy

It was the main theatre of Sertorius' war from 80 to 72 BCE, ended by Pompey, and of Caesar's victory at Ilerda in 49 BCE. In 27 BCE Augustus enlarged it as Hispania Tarraconensis, adding the north-west after the Cantabrian Wars.

Lineage

Balearic Islanders 1000 BCE – 123 BCE Emporion 575 BCE – 195 BCE Bergistani 500 BCE – 195 BCE Lacetani 500 BCE – 195 BCE Indigetes 500 BCE – 195 BCE Cerretani 500 BCE – 150 BCEHispania CiteriorHispania Tarraconensis 27 BCE – 472 CE

Connections (10)

Barcid Iberia was conquered by Hispania Citerior206 BCE
Ilergetes was conquered by Hispania Citerior205 BCE
Hispania Citerior was a province of Roman Empire197 BCE – 27 BCE
Suessetani was conquered by Hispania Citerior184 BCE
Celtiberians was conquered by Hispania Citerior133 BCE – 72 BCE
Arevaci was conquered by Hispania Citerior133 BCE
Belli was conquered by Hispania Citerior133 BCE
Titti was conquered by Hispania Citerior133 BCE
Lusones was conquered by Hispania Citerior133 BCE
Pellendones was conquered by Hispania Citerior133 BCE

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Cite this page

APA: The Epoch Institute. (2026). Hispania Citerior. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/hispania-citerior
MLA: “Hispania Citerior.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/hispania-citerior. Accessed .
Chicago: The Epoch Institute. “Hispania Citerior.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/hispania-citerior.
Harvard: The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Hispania Citerior’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/hispania-citerior (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻