This thesis explores two key themes: (1) the social, cultural and economic changes in the Roman provinces of Spain during the last half of the first century BC and the early first century AD, and the direct effect that Augustus had in driving these developments; (2) the significance that the provinces of Spain had for Augustus and Rome. Initially we assess the exploitation of the Cantabrian War for the military image of Augustus, suggesting that the conflict played a crucial role in bolstering the position of the princeps following the Civil Wars and the constitutional arrangements reached with the senate up to 27. From here in turn we consider the manner in which Augustan action within Iberia impacted upon the literary and visual depictions of the peninsula. The thesis also highlights the fiscal imperatives that acted as a driving force behind the growth in urbanisation, the widespread promotion of privileged status and the provincial reorganisations of Augustus. Following this, the surge in monumentalisation across Hispania’s towns and cities is treated, placing a renewed emphasis on the role of the Augustan regime in encouraging, if indirectly, these processes. An assessment of the impact of Augustan rule on the upward mobility of the Spanish elites follows, highlighting patronage and wealth as the twin pillars of Spanish advancement and suggesting that the first princeps is instrumental in laying the groundwork for the expanding promotion of Spaniards during the reigns of his immediate successors. Finally, the thesis concludes with an overview of the nascent imperial cult in Spain, suggesting in the first instance that the imposition of the cult in the north-west aided the suppression of the recalcitrant tribes and may very well have impacted upon Augustan policies in similarly unstable areas such as Germany and Gaul; and secondly, that whilst direct compulsion cannot be countenanced, Augustus’ dissemination of civic organisation created a framework within which elite competition ensured the rapid proliferation of the imperial cult throughout the towns and cities of Spain and the western provinces.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:617448 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Griffiths, David |
| Contributors | Gibson, Bruce; Harrison, Thomas |
| Publisher | University of Liverpool |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/16353/ |
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