The territory of modern-day Portugal was Romanized following the events of the Second Punic War (3rd century BCE), through the Roman conquest of the Iberian Peninsula.

The Romans founded cities and Romanized some previously existing settlements. Generally, cities with names ending in -briga are believed to have predated the Romanization of the territory, although there are exceptions. For instance, Augustobriga, near Cáceres, Spain, is named after Augustus, suggesting that some -briga names might have been given to cities during Roman rule.^[1]

Out of the 32 mansiones in Lusitania mentioned in ancient Itinerarium sources, only about half have been identified.^[2]

During the era of Augustus, the Iberian Peninsula was divided into the provinces of Lusitania, Baetica, and Tarraconensis.^[3] These provinces were further subdivided into conventūs.^[4] The province of Lusitania was divided into the conventūs of Augusta Emerita (modern-day Mérida, in Spain), Pax Julia (Beja, Portugal), and Scalabis (Santarém, Portugal).^[4] However, Roman cities held more significance than conventūs in the Peninsula.^[3]

The primary types of Roman cities were the coloniae (Roman settlements established by order of the Roman government) and the municipia (settlements that typically existed before Romanization).^[3] In the Iberian Peninsula, the terms municipia and civitātes are used interchangeably.^[3]

In 73/74 CE, the lex Flavia municipalis enacted by Vespasian granted all urban centres in modern-day Portugal Latin rights, and over time, the distinction between urban centres (including municipia and coloniae) lessened following this law.^[3] Everyday administration was carried out by aediles, qaestores and duumviri, who communicated with the imperial government.^[3]

Villae were settlements engaged in producing agricultural goods for local markets, encompassing multiple buildings such as residential houses, barns, and gardens.^[4] In Lusitania, most villae were situated around a few cities (Olisipo, Ebora Liberalitas Julia, and Augusta Emerita) or dispersed along the southern coast.^[4]