Roman Legacy in Hispania and the Discovery of America

The Survival of the Roman Cultural Legacy in Hispanic Culture

For more than six centuries (from the 5th century BC to the 5th century AD), the Iberian Peninsula belonged to the Roman Empire. Hispania was one of the most Romanized provinces and, therefore, has an abundant cultural heritage.

The principal legacy is Latin, the basis of most current languages (Castilian, Catalan, and Galician). Hispania also gave the Empire philosophers like Seneca and writers such as Quintilian and Martial.

In second and third place, we find Roman law (the concept of the state) and Christianity. Although Christianity spread in later dates, it achieved the rank of official religion under Emperor Constantine (313 AD). Indeed, the Church retained Roman law, administrative distribution, and tradition long after the fall of the Empire.

From a material standpoint, the most significant contributions are civil engineering constructions: the network of roads, aqueducts (Segovia), and bridges (Alcántara). We also have many urban areas because many Spanish cities were created or remodeled during the Empire: Mérida (Augusta Emerita), Zaragoza (Caesaraugusta), Tarragona (Tarraco), Seville, and Segovia, among others.

From these cities, we preserve urban layouts, many public buildings, theaters, amphitheaters, temples, and memorial arches. We also have mosaics and sculptures representing gods and emperors, some of Hispanic origin, such as Trajan and Hadrian, and funerary elements (stelae, tombs, etc.).

The Discovery of America

Christopher Columbus, a Genoese navigator, proposed a project to find a new route to India by sailing west across the ocean. The Portuguese rejected Columbus's proposal because it was based on miscalculations about the Earth's actual dimensions.

Columbus then offered his project to the Catholic Monarchs, who, after initial reluctance, agreed to sponsor the expedition. This was Castile's only way to access the land of spices, as a treaty with Portugal forbade navigation along the African coast.

Overseas Empire Expansion and Creation of the Colonial Empire

The expedition, consisting of three ships, sailed from Palos and reached the first American land, the island of Guanahani, on October 12, 1492. Subsequently, Columbus made three other voyages, which led him to discover the Caribbean islands (Cuba, Santo Domingo, Puerto Rico, and Jamaica). Columbus never knew he had reached a new continent; he was convinced that the new territories belonged to Asia (in Spain, they were always called the Indies).

The findings forced the signing of a treaty with Portugal, which established a new demarcation line between the areas of Portuguese and Spanish influence: the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494).