The Mining of the Romans in Spain

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Abstract
During the Republican Period a number of mining districts were exploited in the territory that the Romans annexed. Mines in conquered countries that had belonged to the former rulers became the property of the Roman people, and others were acquired by confiscation or forced purchase from private owners. But the industry was not entirely a State monopoly: on the contrary, a number of mines remained in private hands, more particularly those yielding the base metals—copper, lead and tin—whereas those that yielded the precious metals—gold and silver—were retained by the State. Under the Empire the mines became a special object of bureaucratic concern: as mineral wealth had been the spoil of conquest, so in due course it became the prize of usurpation.

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