Barbarian Europe

It was about the mid-third century BC when the 'Celtiberian Confederation' was founded as a response to increasing imperial incursions into the Iberian peninsula.

The history of the Celts during the Iberian Iron Age - not to be confused with the term 'Celtiberian', which is the name given to one very powerful tribal confederation - is closely interwoven with that of the Romans. The Iberian Celts gave them far more trouble than the rest of the Celts in Europe, around two centuries of incessant warfare.

Nevertheless, Celtiberians were Celts of a sort. They had been formed out of mid-first millennium BC Celtic migrations into Iberia which had intermixed with native Iberians to produce this specific hybrid group.

The main backers were the Arevaci of north-western Iberia, supported by their neighbours, the Lusones, Belli, and Titi. Numantia was the confederation's capital.

During the Second Punic War the confederation kept itself neutral, although Celtiberian mercenaries are known to have fought for both sides - Rome and Carthage - on a number of occasions.

The First Celtiberian War

Then came the Celtiberian Wars, with the Arevaci being involved in all three of them. The first broke out between 197-179 BC when the Celtiberians with an army of twenty thousand attacked a Roman army near Ilitiguris and, two years later, joined the Turduli in their own fight against Rome.

An army under the command of Consul Cato 'the Elder' was sent out to deal with them but with little success. For a while fortunes fluctuated on both sides until the arrival in 182 BC of Quintus Fulvius Flaccus. He took a hard line, imposing a number of defeats on the confederation and ravaging the countryside as part of his policy for total surrender.

He was succeeded by Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus. He was also successful but took a more placatory line towards his defeated enemy. Even so, it was not until the final battle, Mons Chaunus during which the Celtiberians endured losses they could no longer sustain, that finally hostilities ceased.

Gracchus negotiated with the tribal leaders, only imposing a tax which was known as the vincesima, a five percent contribution of the grain harvest. The Celtiberians also had to agree to provide auxiliary troops and, while the could refortify their old towns, they were not allowed to build any new.

At the same time, Gracchus carried out a number of administrative measures which included issuing rights to mine, mint coins, and the construction of roads. Such were the measures and treaties which were imposed in order to ensure peace in the conquered territory for the next quarter of a century.

Apart from a few minor episodes, Iberia remained quiet until the outbreak of the Lusitanian War (155-150 BC), and the Second Celtiberian War (154-151 BC).

The Iberian peninsula prior to the Carthaginian invasion and partial conquest was a melange of different tribal influences (click or tap on map to view full sized)

Continued in Part 2

Main Sources

Martin Amalgro Gorbea - War and Society in Celtiberia (E-Keltoi UWM)

Franciso Burillo Mozota - Los Celtiberos, etnias y estados

Alberto Lorrio Alvarado - Los Celtiberos

Ángel Montenegro et allii - Historia de España 2 - colonizaciones y formación de los pueblos prerromanos (1200-218 a.C (BC))

Text and maps copyright © Trish Wilson & P L Kessler. An original feature for the History Files.