The Mediterranean coast of Spain had been colonized by the ancient Phoenicians, and through the third century B.C. was part of the Carthaginian Empire. Spain was the base from which Hannibal launched his overland attack against Rome in 218 B.C. After the Second Punic War ended in disaster and defeat for Carthage, title to the peninsula was transferred to Rome.
The native Iberians did not, however, bow easily to the Roman yoke. The arid, mountainous terrain of the Iberian peninsula made it easy for rebels to strike Roman targets and slip away into hiding, and very difficult for Rome to control, especially in the western and northern regions remote from the civilized coast. The silver mines of Spain were a source of incredible wealth to Rome, but also a symbol of Roman oppression. The mines were death traps for millions of slaves, and the smoke that rose night and day from them was so thick that their traces are still visible in thick layers of lead found in the ice of Greenland's glaciers. Rebellion was endemic in Spain for centuries.
Nevertheless, by the first century A.D., Rome had finally managed to civilize even the remotest regions. Spain became a center of Latin culture and learning that endured long into the middle ages and was preserved under Visigoth and later Muslim rule.