European Kingdoms

Early Iberia (Roman Conquest)

Iberian Tribes Aquitani Tribes Celtic Tribes (Intro) Celtic Tribes Post-Roman States of Iberia Rome

Iberia is the largely sun-drenched south-western peninsula of Europe. It comprises the modern countries of Portugal and Spain, plus the principality of Andorra and Gibraltar. The peninsula has experienced conquest and re-conquest, and centuries of struggle. This process entered the historical record in the first millennium BC, during the Castro culture period. Indo-European Iberia - which was anything but entirely Celtic - began to be dominated by Carthage from the sixth and fifth centuries BC.

The Carthaginians, though, never conquered the entire peninsula, or even much of it. And then their dominance was ended when power in the Mediterranean switched to Rome following the two Punic wars. The Latin-speaking Romans had already come to dominate much of the Italian peninsula and its general population of Italic-speaking peoples.

Romans were related to other Italics through their shared Indo-European heritage, but it was Latin speech which eventually became the common language throughout Italy. In Iberia the 'kw' sound (such as 'qu') was the same as in Latin, making the transition here very easy after Rome's conquest. Thanks to this, even today the Portuguese and Spanish languages are very similar to Italian and their mutual mother, Latin, with all of them being based on, or related closely to, the Q-Celtic of the Hallstatt culture.

In France (ancient Gaul) the old tongue altered more thanks to Germanic influence - even prior to Germanic conquest of Gaul in the fourth to sixth centuries AD. The result was that the Gaulish version of Latin was rather strange-sounding thanks to this and to the P-Celtic of the La Tène culture). Naturally not all linguists accept this version of the situation, but it remains popular while also making very good sense.

(Information by Peter Kessler and Trish Wilson, with additional information by Edward Dawson, from A Genetic Signal of Central European Celtic Ancestry, David K Faux, from Investigating Archaeological Cultures: Material Culture, Variability, and Transmission, Benjamin W Roberts & Marc Vander Linden (Eds), and from External Links: Mesolithic Culture of Europe (PDF, Vidya Mitra Integrated E-Content Portal), and The Mesolithic of Iberia (Encyclopaedia.com), and The Works of Julius Caesar: Gallic Wars, and First modern human settlement recorded in the Iberian hinterland (Scientific Reports), and Celtiberia.net (in Spanish), and Gran Enciclopedia Aragonesa (in Spanish), and A misty history of Roman Portugal (The Portugal News), and Euskomedia (in Spanish).)

231 - 225 BC

Rome has been informed of a forthcoming war with the Boii and Insubres tribes of northern Italy, so it hurries to assemble the legions. Even its ongoing conflict with the Carthaginians takes second place, and a treaty is hurriedly agreed with Hasdrubaal, commander in Iberia, which virtually confirms Carthaginian dominance there.

An idealised illustration of Gauls on an expedition, from A Popular History of France From The Earliest Times Volume I by Francois Pierre Guillaume Guizot

221 - 219 BC

Hannibal assumes command and spends two years consolidating Carthage's conquest of Iberia south of the Ebro. The Carpetani are amongst the first to be attacked by them. Rome perceives this as a threat and makes an alliance with the Edetani city of Saguntum (near modern Valencia), south of the Ebro.

This is a clear violation of Hasdrubaal's treaty so, assisted by the Turboletae, Hannibal besieges the city until it surrenders eight months later. Rome affects outrage and demands justice from Carthage. Instead, Hannibal is supported and the Second Punic War begins. Hannibal benefits from assistance which is provided by Iberian Mercenaries.

181 - 179 BC

The Celtiberian wars between these dates comprise two serious phases of fighting. The First Celtiberian War sees the Celtiberian tribes (principally the Arevaci, Belli, Lusones, Pelondones, and Titti) push back against the new and somewhat aggressive Roman presence in formerly-Carthaginian territories at the conclusion of the Second Punic War. Rome wins the conflict and draws up treaties with several tribes in the region.

154 - 151 BC

The Second Celtiberian War occurs when Rome declares war on the Belli for building a circuit of walls around their town of Segeda. The Arevaci and Titti join the Belli to win a few initial victories, but Consul Marcus Claudius Marcellus delivers Rome's final victory.

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)

154 - 133 BC

The Numantine War is the final major conflict in the Celtiberian Wars. It is triggered in 154 BC when the Celtiberians of Numantia revolt against Roman domination. The Lusitanian War takes place alongside it (155-139 BC).

A lull occurs between 151-143 BC before the Numantine War flares up again. The Arevaci are the principle participants but in the end it is largely a case of unified Celtiberians against Romans, both being helped along by large numbers of Iberian Mercenaries.

In 137 BC when a combined Cantabri-Vaccaei contingent is on its way to counter a siege of Numantia (primarily the home of the Pelondones), such is the panic in the Roman lines that the commander, Consul Gaius Hostilius Mancinus, is forced to surrender on humiliating terms.

However, the final, now-hopeless siege of Numantia sees many of the Celtiberian defenders commit suicide rather than surrender. Soon afterwards, in 123 BC, the Balearic Islands are similarly subdued.

105 - 101 BC

The Cimbri and Teutones have ventured so far south into Gaul by this time that they break into Italy, coming up against the Roman republic. The resultant Cimbric War sees initial Teuton and Cimbri success against tribes which are allied to Rome, and a huge Roman army is destroyed at the Battle of Arausio in 105 BC.

Consul Gaius Marius rebuilds the Roman forces, also employing numbers of Iberian Mercenaries, while the Cimbri raid into Iberia. In 102 BC the weakened Teutones are defeated and enslaved. The Cimbri are similarly destroyed, at the Battle of Vercellae in 101 BC (potentially the home of the Libici Gauls).

An illustration depicting the Teutones wandering in Gaul, part of a large-scale migration from modern Denmark into northern Italy in the second century BC

1st century BC

The Lobetani may have escaped integration into the collection of Celtiberians who lie to their immediate north. Instead, at the beginning of the first century BC, they are absorbed by their Edetani neighbours, and are subsequently Romanised by the wider sweep of Latin civilisation.

80 - 72 BC

The Sertorian War (80-72 BC) in Hispania causes the Mediterranean Gauls to be subjected to troop levies and forced requisitions in order to support the military efforts of Metellus Pius, Pompeius, and other Roman commanders against the rebels.

In Iberia the Berones and Autrigones oppose Quintus Sertorius until he is driven out of Iberia. Celtiberian tribes also take part, such as the Arevaci, Lusones, and Pelondones.

However, some Celtic La Tène polities which include, remarkably, the Helvii, support Sertorius and they pay the price for their support after his assassination. The Helvii and Volcae Arecomisci are forced to cede a portion of their territory to the Greek city state of Messalina. Caesar mentions this land forfeiture but does not provide any details of the Helvii actions against Rome.

This artist's impression depicts a selection of Carpetani warriors in various designs of armour and costume, some bearing influences which are Carthaginian or Roman

56 BC

When war flares up again in La Tène territory (modern France), triggered by Publius Licinius Crassus and the Seventh Legion in the territory of the Andes, Caesar has to turn back from his journey to Illyrium to handle the problem.

Crassus is sent to Aquitania to subdue the tribes there and prevent an all-out war against stretched Roman troops. Subduing the Petrocorii along the way, he recruits auxiliaries from the Gaulish regions of Tolosa, Carcaso, and Narbo (which includes the tribes of the Bebryces, Sordones, and Volcae) before entering the territory of the Sotiates.

That tribe has gathered together a large force which attacks the Romans in a drawn-out and vigorously-contested engagement. The Romans are only just victorious, having outlasted their hot-headed Celtic opponents in terms of stamina.

The tribe's oppidum is besieged and they eventually surrender, despite an attempt by their king, Adcantuannus, to lead his personal retinue into a death or glory attack and other Celts undermining the siege towers (thanks to the presence of copper in the region these Celts and their Aquitani neighbours are expert miners).

The Garonne in south-western France provided a defining line between the lands of the Gauls to the north and those of the Aquitani to the south, although by the first century BC this definition had blurred somewhat

Crassus marches into the territories of the Vocates and Tarusates. They prove to be a rather more tricky opponent. The campaign against the Sotiates has given them time to raise troops from northern Iberia, many of which had fought with Quintus Sertorius, the rebellious governor of Hispania who defied Rome for a decade, and they have learned a great deal from that experience.

They outnumber Crassus perhaps by ten-to-one and hold a very strong position which prevents him from gathering supplies for his men. The only option (aside from an unthinkable retreat) is to engage them in battle, despite the odds.

Pinning them down at the front, he sends cavalry around to their rear to scout out any weakness. Their entirely unguarded rear is attacked and, with Romans pressing from two sides, the Aquitani are forced to surrender with heavy casualties.

When news of this defeat spreads, the majority of the tribes of Aquitania surrender to Crassus, including the Ausci, Bigerriones, Cocosates, Elusates, Garites, Garumni, Preciani, Suburates, Tarbelli, Tarusates, and 'Vocasates'. With this action, southern Gaul and Aquitania have been brought under Roman domination, and the history of its population of Celts is tied to that of the Roman empire.

The territory into which the Garites had settled was typical of the Aquitani region, which was made up mostly of rugged foothills of the kind that border peoples normally use to survive invasions by later arrivals - the Welsh and early Scots held onto similar territory in Britain to enable them to survive the Anglo-Saxon invasion

29 - 19 BC

In the matter of the Cantabrian Wars, the last onslaught between the Iberian Celts of the north-west (principally the Astures and Cantabri) and the Roman forces which are headed by Augustus, the Vascones remain neutral.

In 27 BC, Augustus creates the new province of Hispania Citerior Tarraconense, with a capital at Tarraco (Tarragona), into which the territory of the Vascones is incorporated. Rome now fully controls Iberia.