Barbarian Europe

The Second Celtiberian War

A generation of old tribal heroes had passed and a new one was ready for a fight. This war broke out between 154-152 BC because, according to Appian, the Belli of the town of Segeda (near Zaragoza) persuaded the people of some of the smaller towns to settle there.

The Belli were building a circuit of walls around the town which totalled seven kilometres in length. In Rome's eyes this was an act which broke the treaty terms. The Belli argued quite accurately that they were not building a new town, merely refortifying an old one.

Rome demanded tribute and the provision of a contingent for the Roman army in accordance with the stipulations of the Gracchus treaty. The Segedans stated - again accurately - that they had subsequently been released by Rome from the requirement to provide tribute and a military contingent. The senate argued that when it granted such exemptions it always specified that they were to continue only at its pleasure.

The senate must have decided to withdraw those exemptions in this case as there was some concern that Segeda's new fortifications were helping to create a too-powerful city in the land of the Celtiberians, who had a history of rebellions. Rome prepared for war.

Polybius took another view, claiming that the real reason for this second outbreak of war was due to the maladministration of Roman governors.

In 153 BC the praetor, Quintus Fabius Nobilitor, arrived in Iberia with a force of nearly thirty thousand men. Segeda's wall had not been completed so the town's population fled to seek refuge amongst the Arevaci.

The Arevaci welcomed them and chose as their commander Carus, a Segedan. He prepared twenty thousand infantry and five hundred mounted warriors for an ambush in a thick forest. The Titti were now also part of the war effort. The Romans were attacked as they filed through the forest.

The River Henares, shown here to the immediate north-east of Madrid, is a less impressive watercourse farther north, in the former territory of the Uraci

The battle was long but the Celtiberian troops were victorious. Six thousand Romans were killed, although so was Carus and six thousand of his own men. They had been chasing down fleeing Roman infantry when they were caught off guard by Roman cavalry which had been guarding the baggage.

Nevertheless, the battle was a disaster for the Romans and, from then on, they would not engage in battle on the day of the festival of the god Vulcan because this defeat had occurred on that very day.

The Arevaci assembled at the town of Numantia which had strong natural defences. There they selected Ambo and Leuco as their leaders. Three days later Nobilitor encamped four kilometres from the town. He was joined by three hundred cavalry and ten elephants which had been sent by Massinia, ruler of Numidia, a Roman ally in Africa.

Before the ensuing battle, Nobilitor placed the elephants out of sight at the rear and then divided his army in two. During the battle he brought the elephants into view, frightening an enemy which had never seen such animals. They fled into the town which Nobilitor immediately attacked.

Fierce fighting followed, during which an elephant was hit by a large falling stone. Its surprised bellow scared the other elephants which rampaged, trampling Romans who took to disorderly flight.

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)

Numantine troops rushed out of the town to kill four thousand Romans and three elephants. Nobilitor withdrew to regroup and attack the town of Axinium which was storing the enemy supplies. Nothing of note was achieved in that attack. He lost many men and returned to camp at night.

Nobilitor sent his cavalry commander to seek an alliance with a neighbouring tribe and request cavalry assistance. He was given some horsemen, but an ambush was prepared against him when he was on his way back. In the resultant fighting the allied horsemen fled and the Roman commander and many of his troops were killed.

These Roman disasters encouraged the town of Ocilis (Medinaceli in the modern province of Soria) to defect to the Celtiberians. The Roman provisions were kept in this town, so Nobilitor was forced to withdraw to winter camp where his men suffered food shortages in heavy snowstorms and frost, and many died.

Marcus Claudius Marcellus, consul for the third time, took over the command in 152 BC, bringing eight thousand infantry and five hundred cavalry to Iberia. An ambush against him was prepared, but by being cautious he avoided it. He encamped in front of Ocilis, subsequently seizing the town, granting it a pardon, taking hostages, and imposed a fine of thirty talents.

Protracted peace talks

His moderation encouraged the people of Nertobriga (a town of the Belli, in the modern province of Zaragoza) to ask for peace. Marcellus requested a hundred mounted warriors and they agreed. However, in the meantime the Roman rear guard was attacked and a good deal of booty was taken.

Roman military tactics may have owed something to the Samnites, with this efficient and seasoned warrior force matching the Romans and bettering them in the fourth century BC

When the promised mounted warriors arrived, their leaders stated that the attack had been undertaken by those who did not know about the agreement with the Romans.

Marcellus chained the horsemen, sold their horses, plundered the countryside, and began to besiege the town, which again requested peace. Marcellus refused to grant peace unless the Arevaci, Belli, and Titti requested it in unison.

The Nertobriges sent ambassadors to these tribes, asking Marcellus for leniency and for the renewal of the treaty which had been made with Gracchus. This was opposed by some rural people who had been incited to war. Marcellus sent envoys from each party to Rome to carry on their dispute there and sent private letters to the senate urging peace.

Appian wrote that the envoys of the friendly faction were treated as guests in the city, whereas those of the hostile faction were lodged outside the city walls, as was customary. Polybius specified that it was the Belli and Titti who had taken the side of Rome. It was their envoys who were admitted into the city while those of the Arevaci, as they were enemies, were ordered to encamp on the other side of the River Tiber.

The senate heard the friendly envoys first. They said that if the rebels were not punished properly they would soon take up arms again and make the whole of Iberia inclined to rebel. They asked either that the Roman army should remain in Iberia and that it should be commanded by a consul to provide a check against Arevaci malpractices or, if the troops were to be withdrawn, that Rome should inflict an exemplary punishment on them.

According to Polybius, when the envoys of the Arevaci were heard, they came across as not being willing to submit or to accept defeat. Instead they gave the impression that they thought they had fought more brilliantly than the Romans. They said that they would pay a penalty, should it be imposed on them, but demanded that the Romans should revert to the terms of the treaty of Tiberius Gracchus.

To be continued...

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.