Los templos politeístas de Hispania: instrumentos de poder, espacios privilegiados de comunicación religiosa y lugares de encuentro social

This paper analyses, through a series of case studies, the role played by pagan sanctuaries as spaces of social interaction and of power construction in the societies of Roman Hispania. It examines the conditions that explain the proliferation of monumental temples and how these spaces served as epicentres of urban life throughout the Early Imperial period. To this end, this paper explores how the temples became places of power and of both individual and collective memory, shaped by the accumulated religious practices of devotees. Furthermore, it examines how these temples functioned as genuine economic centers, hosting market activities and serving as custodians of public and private goods. Additionally, some cases are presented that demonstrate how the temples served as political and administrative centres, temporarily or permanently hosting decurional assemblies, and as places where extraordinary sensory experiences occurred, where the body and consciousness became fundamental tools of learning, allowing community members to understand their situation in the world. Finally, this paper addresses the circumstances leading to the premature abandonment of the temples in Hispania and the possible causes of their disappearance, emphasising the precarious economic bases that supported them throughout the Early Imperial period, and the ideological changes that altered the activities of the Iberian elites from the third century onwards.