Spain, or the Spains, as the Romans knew it, was one of Rome’s earliest overseas possessions. Rome inherited the Mediterranean coast of Spain from Hannibal. Northern Spain was then secured by the Elder Cato and grew into one of the richest and most prosperous parts of the empire. Our tour takes in its well-preserved monumental capital, Tarragona; one of the first cities founded by Rome on the peninsula and the last to be lost. Its surviving amphitheatre bears witness to martyrdoms and power politics, and we also see how sport in the form of chariot racing was carefully blended with political power in the form of the imperial cult. Along the coast, underground remains in Barcelona reveal the working economy that made the province so wealthy and its late Roman town walls the determination of Rome to hang on to Spain as her power declined. Prior to the arrival of Rome, the Greeks too were interested in Spain and at Ampurias, “the market place”, we visit the only surviving remains of Greek settlement in Spain. Prior to the arrival of either of these two groups the local Iberians had developed an advanced urban culture of their own and we visit several of their settlements, including the massively fortified stronghold of the Indicetes tribe at Ullastret.