ABSTRACT
After the second Punic War during which Rome had perforce become a major power in Spain, the confederations of the Lusitani and Celtiberians were a constant source of trouble and expenditure to the Republic. The persistence in hostility to Rome of these groups in the period after the Hannibalic war can be considered as the military factor which more than any other brought about the transformation of the Roman army from citizen levies into a professional fighting force (Toynbee 1965:2.61).
