Editing History of Spain (section)

==Roman Hispania (2nd century BC – 5th century AD)==
{{Main|Hispania}}
{{Further|Roman conquest of Hispania}}
{{Further|Romanization of Hispania}}

[[File:Prima tetrarchia Diocletianus.PNG|thumbnail|right|[[Roman Empire]], 3rd century]]

''[[Hispania]]'' was the name used for the Iberian Peninsula under [[Ancient Rome|Roman rule]] from the 2nd century BC. The population was gradually culturally [[Romanization (cultural)|Romanized]],<ref>Great estates, the ''[[Latifundia]]'' (sing., ''latifundium''), controlled by a land owning aristocracy, were superimposed on the existing Iberian landholding system.</ref> and local leaders were 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>

The Romans improved existing cities, such as [[Tarragona]], and established others like [[Zaragoza]], [[Mérida, Spain|Mérida]], [[Valencia]], [[León, Spain|León]], [[Badajoz]], and [[Palencia]].<ref>The Roman provinces of Hispania included ''Provincia Hispania Ulterior Baetica ([[Hispania Baetica]])'', whose capital was [[Córdoba, Spain|Corduba, presently Córdoba]], ''Provincia Hispania Ulterior Lusitania'' ([[Hispania Lusitania]]), whose capital was Emerita Augusta (now [[Mérida, Spain|Mérida]]), ''Provincia Hispania Citerior'', whose capital was [[Tarraco]] (Tarragona), ''Provincia Hispania Nova'', whose capital was [[Tingis]] (Tánger in present Morocco), ''Provincia Hispania Nova Citerior'' and ''Asturiae-Calleciae'' (these latter two provinces were created and then dissolved in the 3rd&nbsp;century AD).</ref> The peninsula's economy expanded under Rome. Hispania supplied Rome with food, olive oil, wine and metal. The emperors [[Trajan]], [[Hadrian]], and [[Theodosius I]], the philosopher [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]], and the poets [[Martial]], [[Quintilian]], and [[Lucan (poet)|Lucan]] were born in Hispania. Hispanic bishops held the [[Council of Elvira]] around 306.

After the fall of the [[Western Roman Empire]] in the 5th century, parts of Hispania came under the control of the Germanic tribes of [[Vandals]], [[Suebi]], and [[Visigoths]].

The collapse of the [[Western Roman Empire]] did not lead to the same wholesale destruction of classical society as happened in areas like [[Roman Britain]], [[Gaul]] and [[Germania Inferior]] during the [[Early Middle Ages]], although the institutions and infrastructure did decline. Spain's languages, its religion, and the basis of its laws originate from this period.