 These were Hispania Citerior (Nearer Spain) along most of the east coast (an area roughly corresponding to the modern Spanish autonomous communities of Valencia, Catalonia and part of Aragon) and Hispania Ulterior (Further Spain) in the south, roughly corresponding to modern Andalusia.Over the next 170 years, the Roman Republic slowly expanded its control over Hispania.This was a gradual process of pacification, rather than the result of a policy of conquest.