Spanish History
Spanish History
- Prehistory and Protohistory
- Ancient History
- From Carthage to Roman Hispania
- Visigothic Spain
- Muslim Spain and the Reconquest
- Lower Middle Ages
- Imperial Spain
- Discovery of the Americas
- 18th Century Spain
- Effects of the French Revolution
- The Second Republic and Civil War
- Restoration to Democratic Rule
Ancient History with the Phoenicians and the Greeks
In the 11 B.C., the sea faring Phoenicians reached the coasts of Spain, making them the first people of the Mediterranean to do so. They soon set up a number of trading posts along the coast, Cadiz being the most important Phoenician colony. Soon after, traders from Rhodes and Greece came and began establishing settlements such as Rosas, Ampurias and Sagunto along the Mediterranean coast of the peninsula. A struggle between the Greeks and Phonecians ensued, with the latter eventually calling on Carthage for assistance.
In 237 B.C, under the orders of Carthaginian general Hamilcar Barca, a large part of the peninsula (the south and south east) was conquered. The city of Barcelona , Akra Leuke (Alicante) and Cartago Nova (Cartagena), among several other colonies, were founded.