Abstract:

Although the identification of the toponyms Hibera and Dertosa with the current Tortosa has been accepted for a long time, it has not been thoroughly investigated. On the other hand, until very recent times, archaeological research has not yielded enough results to be able to understand the transition process between the Iberian nucleus and the Roman civitas of Dertosa. However, the work of recent years allows us to make an approximation that, although it does not rule out the creation of an entirely new city at the foot of the hill of La Suda, it seems much more likely that the Roman city was the result of the process of Romanization of the indigenous city of Hibera, in a very similar process to that of the not very distant cities of Iltirta‑Ilerda and Arse‑Saguntum.