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The Empire

High Empire

Between 29 and 19 BC Augustus concluded the “taming” of the Iberian Peninsula by conquering Asturias and Cantabria and installed Pax Romana in the whole empire.
On his trip to the Iberian Peninsula which took place between the years 16 and 13 BC, Augustus reorganised the administration of this territory by forming three provinces: Terraconensis, Baetica and Lusitania. The land which lie south of the Douro river on the present map of Portugal were integrated in the Province of Lusitania. In the administrative structure of the time, each province was divided into Conventus and Civitas. This fact marks the beginning of the administrative division of the Portuguese territory.

From the time of Augustus, the Iberian Peninsula ceased to be a land of exploration to become one of colonisation.

This transformation in Roman politics became obvious through the changes in citizenship visible in Lusitania through the distribution of land and the founding of colonies with war veterans and population from Italy. In the province of Lusitania, the cities of Emerita Augusta (Merida - Spain and capital of Lusitania) and Pax Iulia (Beja, capital of Conventus).
In the region of Costa Azul this is probably the case of Troia.

At the same time as the local populations were juridical englobed (either in Latin or Roman law)and administratively (in Provinces, Conventus, Civitas and Vicus) they adopted both language and Roman customs.

However, information about social and economic development is scarce both in Lusitania and the High Empire. Available data refers that during the reign of Augustus (27 BC to 14 BC) there was an effective policy of fixation, in order to create a cultural homogeneity and a dominance of Roman tradition.

During the dynasties of the Flavius’ (69-96) and the Antonius’ (96-192), the civilisation of the High Empire was at his auge. The cities became autonomous administratively, receiving Romans rights at the same time that local elite with great economic power, generated from commercial and industrial activities appeared. Commercial activity came from local and interprovincial exchange, industrial, for example in the case of Tróia and Setúbal with the fish industry or minerals (as may be the case of Miróbriga).

These factors contributed for urban renovation of the towns by constructing enormous buildings of benefit to the public (some of these have survived through to our days as is the case of aqueducts, roads, places of worship, as well as bridges and reservoirs. These were paid for by the new Roman elite or Romans with a great economic power. There is evidence of this process in cities like Miróbriga.

Low Empire

For the era following the Antoninus dynasty (192 AD) there are few traces available about political, economical and social evolution. It was a period of enormous political instability and as a result, military instability as well. At the same time the pressure from the Germanic peoples on the northern borders was increased.

Between 192 and 284 AD, the year in which Dioclesianus became Emperor, he was followed by 25 further emperors.
Dioclesianus was responsible for a reform in the succession of imperial purple but it failed.

In 306 Constantinus became Emperor. He made Byzantine the Imperial capital , this city later became known as Constantinople. In 313 the Christians were declared free to worship their beliefs.

In 395, the Empire is definitely divided by the two sons of Teodosius, the western part designated to Honorius.

After a prolonged period of civil war , Honorius made a pact with the Alanic people and handed Lusitania over to them, thus ending the Roman administration south of the Tejo. The administrative organisation introduced by the Romans is still used today.

Alcácer do Sal, for its excellent defensive position became important to the region. Other cities such as Miróbriga, Tróia and Setúbal are abandoned in the V century because of lack of security or the fact that there were not economically viable.

However, in the archaeological findings and known writings from the time, a period extending from the V to the XII century (during which time the region was occupied by Alanos, Visigoths and Arabs), little can be found about the Costa Azul region.

The Population and Territory of the Costa Azul Region in Ancient Times

One of the oldest references to what is now Portuguese land was mentioned by Strabo in a geographical text. It tells of military campaigns of Decius Junius Brutus from 138 BC against the Lusitanians.

In this military operation (as it was already mentioned), the Roman general fortified Lisbon where he made a military stronghold and headed north.

The important fact to highlight here, is the fact that the southernmost military base inaugurated by Decius Junius Brutus was Lisbon which leads us to believe that the Setúbal peninsula, Sado valley and the Alentejan coast would probably have been under Roman political and military influence.

As far as the local populations go, references to them and what is actually known is scarce. The two sources of information are archaeological findings and texts written by ancient authors. From Pilinius we find out the name of the people: Celtici (Celts).
Archaeological data tells us that they were here in the time around the VII-VI century BC, in an area which tallies largely with the Alentejo. They crafted iron, incinerated their dead and stamped their ceramics. They lived, largely in fortified towns like Alcácer do Sal (Bevipo until the year 45 BC and then Salacia), Setúbal (Caetobriga)or Miróbriga until the year 1 AD With the administrative reform of Augustus, the land of the Region of Tourism of the Costa Azul was integrated on the Province of Lusitania, in Conventus of Pax Iullia (Beja) and with Alcácer do Sal and Miróbriga as the Civitus. The south bank of Tejo was part of Conventus of Santarém and Lisbon as the Civitas.

In the History of roman Empire, Lusitania, in particular the region of the estuaries of the Sado and Tejo rivers were important because of the highest concentration of industry of fish salting in the whole of the Empire.