ABSTRACT
After compiling the list of self-governing communities, the fourth chapter turns to the settlements that could have functioned as central places and, as such, could be considered ‘town-like.’ These settlements functioned as hubs providing services to the outskirts in larger territories. These central places with a secondary function to the primary centre are often considered ‘small towns’ or secondary agglomerations. Since the debate on secondary agglomerations in Portuguese and Spanish research is practically non-existent, the debates from France and Britain will be used to get a hold on this settlement type. In the case of the Iberian Peninsula, the category of secondary agglomerations comprises a wide variety of settlements, such as civitates contributae, port settlements, mining settlements and the spas. The mansiones and mutationes mentioned in the itineraries will also be considered. In order to understand the relations of all these settlement types, a network analysis will be made.
