THE ?ROMANISATION?of TURDETANIA

Abstract

Turdetania was one of the Iron Age cultural blocks which emerged after the disintegration of Tartessos in the later 6th century BC. It corresponded largely to the lower Guadalquivir valley of southern Spain. From the early 2nd century BC it formed the heart of the Roman province of Hispania Ulterior and, from the later 1st century BC, Hispania Baetica. This paper sets out to examine the Romanisation of the region from an indigenous perspective rather than a Romano-centric viewpoint. Until the mid-first century BC Roman impact was negligble and merely served to reinforce the Turdetanian prestige goods economy. Subsequently, however, the foundation of coloniae and a consequent increase in commercial activity were catalysts for rapid change. A new hierarchy of dominant and dependent centres arise and, by the early 1st century AD, the agricultural wealth of the region was being more directly exploited for Rome's benefit. This relatively ‘delayed’Romanisation is interpreted as native resistance to cultural change.