Editing Carthago Nova (section)

=== Conquest by Rome and Republican period === 
[[File:Altar of Jupiter (Roman theatre, Cartagena).jpg|thumb|240px|Altar of Jupiter discovered in the Roman theatre. Roman Theatre Museum.]] Undoubtedly, the first Roman interest in [[Hispania]] was extracting profit from its legendary mineral wealth, especially the mining deposits of the [[Sierra minera de Cartagena-La Unión|Cartagena]] and Mazarrón region, then under [[Carthage|Carthaginian]] control.

The Roman general [[Scipio Africanus]] took Qart Hadasht in 209 BC, renaming it Cartago Nova as a ''civitas stipendaria'' (tributary community).<ref>{{Cite book|page=32|chapter=Cartagena y su término de la Edad Media al siglo XIX|first=Ángel Luis|last=Molina Molina|title=Estudios sobre Desarrollo Regional|year=2008|publisher=Universidad de Murcia |isbn=978-84-8371-794-3|url=https://dialnet.unirioja.es/descarga/articulo/2754227.pdf}}</ref> Later, it received [[Latin Right|Latin rights]] under [[Julius Caesar]] and became a [[Roman colony]] in 44 BC.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.regmurcia.com/servlet/s.Sl?sit=a,75,c,373,m,1871&r=ReP-7509-DETALLE_REPORTAJESPADRE|title=Historia de Cartagena- Antigüedad - Región de Murcia Digital|language=es|access-date=2020-02-01}}</ref> The settlement developed into one of the most important Roman cities of Hispania. Administratively, it belonged to the Roman province of [[Hispania Citerior]].