This peninsula is divided into three separate provinces: Lusitania (west), Baetica (south), Tarracones (east and north). Roman conquest began with the capture of the Carthaginian (south) possessions and ending with the last resistance in the northwest in 19 BC. Southern Spain soon became Romanized with a network of roads connecting towns and cities and crossing major rivers. Ibrian (check that word) cities including Merida (check that word), Cordoba, Seville, and Cartagena became trappings of urbanized Roman life.
At the end of the 1st century AD, Trajan was the Roman emperor of provincial origin, born near modern Seville. Hadrian was also of Spanish origin. Families like those of Trajan and Hadrian drew their wealth from the agricultural produce of southern Spain. Spain exported fish sauce (garum) along south coast, and metals such as gold (north west) copper and silver (south west). In the Rio Tinto, there is evidence of Roman hydraulic capabilities.