Lusitania Lusitania Lusitania (; ; ) or Hispania Lusitana was an ancient Iberian Roman province located where modern Portugal (south of the Douro river) and part of western Spain (the present autonomous community of Extremadura and a part of the province of Salamanca) lie. It was named after the Lusitani or Lusitanian people (an Indo-European people). Its capital was "Emerita Augusta" (currently Mérida, Spain), and it was initially part of the Roman Republic province of Hispania Ulterior, before becoming a province of its own in the Roman Empire. Romans first came to the territory around the mid-2nd century BC. A war
RMS Lusitania 202nd trans-Atlantic crossing. In the early 20th century German shipping lines were aggressive competitors in the transatlantic trade. In the face of the competition, Cunard responded by trying to outdo them in speed, capacity, and luxury. Cunard used assistance from the British Admiralty to build Lusitania, with the convit that the ship was available as a light merchant cruiser in time of war. Lusitania had gun mounts for deck cannons, but no guns were ever installed. Both "Lusitania" and "Mauretania" were fitted with revolutionary new turbine engines that enabled them to maintain a service speed of . They were equipped