Wildflower blooming at the Forum in the Sant Martí district

Information about the period from 218 BC until the 1st century BC is scarce: the Roman Republic contested the Carthaginian control of the area, and eventually set out to conquer the whole of the Iberian peninsula in the Cantabrian Wars, a conquest which was declared complete by Caesar Augustus in 19 BC; the north-east of the peninsula was the first region to fall under Roman control, and served as a base for further conquests – while Barcelona was settled by the Romans during this period under the name of Barcino, it was considerably less important than the major centers of Tarraco and Caesaraugusta, known today as Zaragoza