Lusitania of the strait. 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
RMS Lusitania ammunition for years. The fact that "Lusitania" had been carrying shells and cartridges was not made known to the British public at the time. In the 27-page additional manifest, delivered to U.S. customs 4–5 days after "Lusitania" sailed from New York, and in the Bethlehem Steels papers, it is stated that the "empty shells" were in fact 1,248 boxes of filled 3" shell, 4 shells to the box, totaling 103,000 pounds or 50 tonnes. President Woodrow Wilson refused to immediately declare war. During the weeks after the sinking, the issue was hotly debated within the U.S. government, and correspondence was