Editing History of Catalonia (section)

== Ancient history ==
=== Rise of the Iberian culture ===
[[File:Iberia 300BC-en.svg|thumb|right|Ethnology of Iberia before the Roman conquest, c. 300 BC]]
[[File:Silver plate - Tresor de Tivissa - Museu d'Arqueologia de Catalunya - Barcelona 2014.JPG|thumb|left|upright|Ancient silver vessel from the Tivissa Treasure, c. 500 BC. Archaeology Museum of Catalonia]]
An iron-using culture first appeared in eastern Iberia in the 8th century BC. By the 5th century BC, the Iron Age [[Iberians|Iberian civilization]] had become consolidated on the eastern side of the Iberian Peninsula. What is now the Catalan territory was home to several distinct [[tribe]]s of Iberians: the [[Indigetes]] in [[Empordà]],<ref name="smith">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O59BAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA52 |title=Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography |editor-first=William |editor-last=Smith |page=52 |publisher=Walton and Maberly |date=1857 |volume=2}}</ref> the [[Ceretani]] in [[Cerdanya]] and the [[Airenosins]] in the [[Val d'Aran]]. Some urban agglomerations became relevant, including Ilerda (Lleida) inland, Hibera (perhaps Amposta or Tortosa) or Indika ([[Ullastret]]). The settlement of Castellet de Banyoles in [[Tivissa]] was one of the most important ancient Iberian settlements. This, situated in the northeast of the peninsula, was discovered in 1912. Also, the 'Treasure of Tivissa', a unique collection of silver Iberian votive offerings was found here in 1927.<ref>{{cite web |title=El Tresor de Tivissa |trans-title=The Treasure of Tivissa |language=ca |url=http://turismetivissa.com/ca/castellet-de-banyoles/ |access-date=2023-07-22 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327035747/http://turismetivissa.com/ca/castellet-de-banyoles/ |archive-date=2023-03-27 |website=Tivissa – Muntanyes d'histórica}}</ref>

Iberian society was divided into different classes, including kings or chieftains, nobles, priests, artisans and slaves. Iberian aristocracy, often called a "senate" by the ancient sources, met in a council of nobles. Kings or chieftains would maintain their forces through a system of obligation or vassalage that the Romans termed "fides".

The Iberians adopted [[wine]] and [[olives]] from the Greeks; [[Horse breeding]] was of particular importance to the Iberian nobility. [[Mining]] was a major contributor to the economy, from which fine metalwork and high-quality iron weapons could be produced.

The [[Iberian language]] was a [[Paleohispanic language]]. The oldest inscriptions are dated from the end of the 5th century BC, and the most recent of the end of the first century BC, even at the beginning of the 1st century AD, after being gradually replaced by Latin. In its different variants, the Iberian language was spoken in a broad coastal strip stretching from southern Languedoc to Alicante.

[[Archaic Greece|Greeks]] arrived to the Iberian coasts by the late 7th century BC.{{Sfn|Blázquez|1988|p=11}} The trading colony of [[Empúries]] (in [[Greek language|Greek]] ''Emporion'', meaning "market", in [[Latin]] ''Emporiae''), was founded on the northern coast of current Catalonia by the Greek city of [[Phocaea]] in the 6th century BC.{{Sfn|Blázquez|1988|p=11}} Situated on the coastal commercial route between Massalia ([[Marseille]]) and [[Tartessos]] in the far south of Hispania, the city became a center of economic and commercial activity. Another known Greek colony was Rhode ([[Roses]]), located on the coast at the northern end of the [[Gulf of Roses]].

=== Roman times (200 B.C–400 A.D) ===
[[File:Arco de Barà.jpg|thumb|[[Arc de Berà]] ([[Roda de Berà]], Tarragona)]]
Romanization brought a second, distinct stage in the ancient history of Catalonia. [[Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus]] arrived in Empúries in 218 BC, with the objective of cutting off the sources of provisions of [[Hannibal]]'s Carthaginian army during the [[Second Punic War]]. After the Carthaginian defeat, and the defeat of various Iberian tribes who rose up against Roman rule, 195 BC saw the effective completion of the Roman conquest of the territory that later became Catalonia. [[Romanization]] of the region began in earnest. The various tribes were absorbed into a common Roman culture and lost many distinct characteristics, including differences of language. Most local leaders were later admitted into the Roman aristocratic class.<ref name="country">{{cite web |last=Rinehart |first=Robert |author2=Seeley, Jo Ann Browning | title = A Country Study: Spain – Hispania |publisher=Library of Congress Country Series |year=1998 |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/estoc.html |access-date=2008-08-09}}</ref>

Most of what is now Catalonia first became part of the [[Roman province]] of [[Hispania Citerior]]; after 27 BC, they became part of [[Tarraconensis]], whose capital was Tarraco (now [[Tarragona]]). Other important cities of the Roman period are Ilerda (Lleida), Dertosa (Tortosa), Gerunda (Girona) as well as the ports of Empuriæ (former Emporion) and Barcino (Barcelona). As for the rest of Hispania, Latin law was granted to all cities under the reign of [[Vespasian]] (69-79 AD), while [[Roman citizenship]] was permitted to all free men of the Empire by the [[Edict of Caracalla]] in 212 AD (Tarraco, the capital, was already a colony of Roman law since 45 BC). It was a rich agricultural province (olive oil, vine, wheat), and the first centuries of the Empire saw the construction of [[Roman roads|roads]] (the most important being the [[Via Augusta]], parallel to Mediterranean coastline)<ref>{{cite book|author=Joseph F. O'Callaghan|title=A History of Medieval Spain|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xVMJAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT33|date=15 April 2013|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=978-0-8014-6871-1|page=33}}</ref> and infrastructure like [[Aqueduct (water supply)|aqueducts]].

The [[Crisis of the Third Century]] affected the whole Roman Empire, and gravely affected the Catalan territory, where there is evidence of significant levels of destruction and abandonment of Roman [[villa]]s. This period also provides the first documentary evidence of the arrival of Christianity. Conversion to Christianity, attested in the 3rd century, was completed in urban areas in the 4th century. The first Christian communities in the ''Tarraconense'' were founded during the 3rd century, and the [[Diocese of Tarragona|diocese of ''Tarraco'']] was already established by 259, when the [[bishop]] [[Saint Fructuosus]] (Fructuós) and the [[deacon]]s Augurius and Eulogius were burned alive on the orders of the governor Aemilianus, under an edict issued by the emperor [[Valerian (emperor)|Valerian]].<ref name="ButlerBurns1995">{{cite book|author1=Alban Butler|author2=Paul Burns|title=Butler's Lives of the Saints|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z6gVpEhXFhUC&pg=PA149|year=1995|publisher=Burns & Oates|isbn=978-0-8146-2377-0|page=149}}</ref>  Although Hispania remained under Roman rule and did not fall under the rule of Vandals, Swabians and Alans in the 5th century, the main cities suffered frequent sacking and some deurbanization. While archaeological evidence shows the recovery of some urban nuclei, such as Barcino (later [[Barcelona]]), Tarraco (later Tarragona), and Gerunda (later [[Girona]]), the previous situation was not restored: the cities became smaller, and constructed [[defensive wall]]s.<ref name="Balil1961">{{cite book|author=Alberto Balil|title=Las murallas bajoimperiales de Barcino|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uFQaAAAAIAAJ&q=Romano|year=1961|publisher=Consejo superior de investigaciones científicas, Instituto español de arqueología "Rodrigo Caro"|page=124}}</ref>