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<!--this article has used the convention BC since dates were first introduced to the text--> <!--This article uses the convention BCE because the entire history of the Celtiberians predates Christianity, which is thus not relevant in any way. -->
] ]
The '''Celtiberians''' were ]-speaking people of the ] in the final centuries BC. These tribes spoke the ].<ref name=strabo>{{cite book|last=Strabo|title=Geography|pages=Book III Chapter 4 verses 5 and 12|url=http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/3D*.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Koch | first = John | authorlink = | coauthors = |title = Celtic Culture: a historical encyclopedia | publisher = ABC-Clio | year = 2005 | location =Santa Barbara, Cal.| pages = 363–364 | url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=f899xH_quaMC&pg=PA364&lpg=PA364&dq=koch+celtiberian+origin#v=onepage&q=koch%20celtiberian%20origin&f=false | doi = | isbn = 978-1-85109-440-0 | accessdate = June 12, 2011}}</ref> Extant tribal names include the ''], ], ], ]'', and '']''. The '''Celtiberians''' were ]-speaking people of the ] in the final centuriesBCE. These tribes spoke the ].<ref name="strabo">{{cite book|last=Strabo|title=Geography|pages=Book III Chapter 4 verses 5 and 12|url=http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/3D*.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Koch | first = John | authorlink = | coauthors = |title = Celtic Culture: a historical encyclopedia | publisher = ABC-Clio | year = 2005 | location =Santa Barbara, Cal.| pages = 363–364 | url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=f899xH_quaMC&pg=PA364&lpg=PA364&dq=koch+celtiberian+origin#v=onepage&q=koch%20celtiberian%20origin&f=false | doi = | isbn = 978-1-85109-440-0 | accessdate = June 12, 2011}}</ref> Extant tribal names include the ''], ], ], ]'', and '']''.


Archaeologically, the Celtiberians participated in the ] in what is now north-central ]. The term ''Celtiberi'' appears in accounts by ],<ref>].]</ref> ]<ref>Appian of Alexandria, ''Roman History''.</ref> and ]<ref>] was the birthplace of Martial.</ref> who recognized intermarriage between Celts and Iberians after a period of continuous warfare, though ] says 'this has the ring of guesswork about it';<ref>{{cite book|last=Cunliffe|first=Barry|title=The Celts: a very short introduction|year=2003|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0-19-280418-9|page=52}}</ref> ] just saw the Celtiberians as ] and recognised them as a branch of the ''Celti''.<ref name=strabo/> Pliny considers the Celts from Iberia to have migrated from the territory of Lusitania's ] which he appears to regard as the original seat of the whole Celtic population of the Iberian peninsula including the Celtiberians, on the ground of an identity of sacred rites, language, and names of cities.<ref></ref> Archaeologically, the Celtiberians participated in the ] in what is now north-central ]. The term ''Celtiberi'' appears in accounts by ],<ref>].]</ref> ]<ref>Appian of Alexandria, ''Roman History''.</ref> and ]<ref>] was the birthplace of Martial.</ref> who recognized intermarriage between Celts and Iberians after a period of continuous warfare, though ] says 'this has the ring of guesswork about it';<ref>{{cite book|last=Cunliffe|first=Barry|title=The Celts: a very short introduction|year=2003|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0-19-280418-9|page=52}}</ref> ] just saw the Celtiberians as ] and recognised them as a branch of the ''Celti''.<ref name="strabo" /> Pliny considers the Celts from Iberia to have migrated from the territory of Lusitania's ] which he appears to regard as the original seat of the whole Celtic population of the Iberian peninsula including the Celtiberians, on the ground of an identity of sacred rites, language, and names of cities.<ref></ref>


The ] is one of the ] (a.k.a. Iberian Celtic) languages that were spoken in pre-Roman and early Roman Iberia. The ] is one of the ] (a.k.a. Iberian Celtic) languages that were spoken in pre-Roman and early Roman Iberia.


==History== ==History==
] ]
] cites ]'s belief that there were Celts in the Iberian peninsula as far as ],<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|author=Strabo|encyclopedia= The Geography of Strabo; with an English translation by Horace Leonard Jones |edition=Loeb Classical Library |volume=II, book IV, chapter 4|year=1923|publisher=Heinemann |location=London |url=http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/4D*.html}}</ref> bringing aspects of ] in the 6th to 5th centuries BC, adopting much of the culture they found. This basal Indo-European culture was of seasonally ] cattle-raising pastoralists protected by a warrior elite, similar to those in other areas of ], centered in the hill-forts, locally termed ], that controlled small grazing territories. These settlements of circular huts survived until Roman times across the north of Iberia, from Northern ], ] and ] through ] and northern ] to the ].<ref>{{cite book | last = Koch | first = John | authorlink =John T. Koch |coauthors = |title = Celtic Culture : A Historical Encyclopedia | publisher = ABL-CIO | year = 2005 | location =| pages = 950 | url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=f899xH_quaMC&pg=PA950&lpg=PA950&dq=castros+celtic&source=bl&ots=p-VCfbDrYI&sig=M2pka1eLpYAsA6TsmudAxnvVJeg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=WmpiUJKzKqORigeZrIGwAw&ved=0CGEQ6AEwDTgK#v=onepage&q=castros%20celtic&f=false | doi = | isbn = 978-1-85109-440-0 | accessdate = June 9, 2010}}</ref> ] cites ]'s belief that there were Celts in the Iberian peninsula as far as ],<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|author=Strabo|encyclopedia= The Geography of Strabo; with an English translation by Horace Leonard Jones |edition=Loeb Classical Library |volume=II, book IV, chapter 4|year=1923|publisher=Heinemann |location=London |url=http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/4D*.html}}</ref> bringing aspects of ] in the 6th to 5th centuriesBCE, adopting much of the culture they found. This basal Indo-European culture was of seasonally ] cattle-raising pastoralists protected by a warrior elite, similar to those in other areas of ], centered in the hill-forts, locally termed ], that controlled small grazing territories. These settlements of circular huts survived until Roman times across the north of Iberia, from Northern ], ] and ] through ] and northern ] to the ].<ref>{{cite book | last = Koch | first = John | authorlink =John T. Koch |coauthors = |title = Celtic Culture : A Historical Encyclopedia | publisher = ABL-CIO | year = 2005 | location =| pages = 950 | url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=f899xH_quaMC&pg=PA950&lpg=PA950&dq=castros+celtic&source=bl&ots=p-VCfbDrYI&sig=M2pka1eLpYAsA6TsmudAxnvVJeg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=WmpiUJKzKqORigeZrIGwAw&ved=0CGEQ6AEwDTgK#v=onepage&q=castros%20celtic&f=false | doi = | isbn = 978-1-85109-440-0 | accessdate = June 9, 2010}}</ref>


Celtic presence in Iberia likely dates to as early as the 6th century BC, when the ''castros'' evinced a new permanence with stone walls and protective ditches. Archaeologists ] and Alvarado Lorrio recognize the distinguishing iron tools and extended family social structure of developed Celtiberian culture as evolving from the archaic ] which they consider "proto-Celtic". Celtic presence in Iberia likely dates to as early as the 6th centuryBCE, when the ''castros'' evinced a new permanence with stone walls and protective ditches. Archaeologists ] and Alvarado Lorrio recognize the distinguishing iron tools and extended family social structure of developed Celtiberian culture as evolving from the archaic ] which they consider "proto-Celtic".


Archaeological finds identify the culture as continuous with the culture reported by Classical writers from the late 3rd century onwards (Almagro-Gorbea and Lorrio). The ethnic map of Celtiberia was highly localized however, composed of different tribes and ''nationes'' from the 3rd century centered upon fortified '']'' and representing a wide ranging degree of local assimilation with the autochthonous cultures in a mixed Celtic and Iberian stock. Archaeological finds identify the culture as continuous with the culture reported by Classical writers from the late 3rd century onwards (Almagro-Gorbea and Lorrio). The ethnic map of Celtiberia was highly localized however, composed of different tribes and ''nationes'' from the 3rd century centered upon fortified '']'' and representing a wide ranging degree of local assimilation with the autochthonous cultures in a mixed Celtic and Iberian stock.
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The cultural stronghold of Celtiberians was the northern area of the central '']'' in the upper valleys of the ] and ] east to the ''Iberus'' (]) river, in the modern provinces of ], ], ] and ]. There, when Greek and Roman geographers and historians encountered them, the established Celtiberians were controlled by a military aristocracy that had become a hereditary elite. The dominant tribe were the ], who dominated their neighbors from powerful strongholds at Okilis (]) and who rallied the long Celtiberian resistance to Rome. Other Celtiberians were the ] and ] in the ] valley, and the ] to the east. The cultural stronghold of Celtiberians was the northern area of the central '']'' in the upper valleys of the ] and ] east to the ''Iberus'' (]) river, in the modern provinces of ], ], ] and ]. There, when Greek and Roman geographers and historians encountered them, the established Celtiberians were controlled by a military aristocracy that had become a hereditary elite. The dominant tribe were the ], who dominated their neighbors from powerful strongholds at Okilis (]) and who rallied the long Celtiberian resistance to Rome. Other Celtiberians were the ] and ] in the ] valley, and the ] to the east.


Excavations at the Celtiberian strongholds ''Kontebakom-Bel'' ], ''Sekaisa'' ], Tiermes<ref>, official website</ref> complement the grave goods found in Celtiberian cemeteries, where aristocratic tombs of the 6th to 5th centuries BC give way to warrior tombs with a tendency from the 3rd century BC for weapons to disappear from grave goods, either indicating an increased urgency for their distribution among living fighters or, as Almagro-Gorbea and Lorrio think, the increased urbanization of Celtiberian society. Many late Celtiberian ''oppida'' are still occupied by modern towns, inhibiting archaeology. Excavations at the Celtiberian strongholds ''Kontebakom-Bel'' ], ''Sekaisa'' ], Tiermes<ref>, official website of the on-going excavation</ref>{{Clarify|date=February 2013|reason=This is not a proper reference citation. Use Template:Cite web or similar to provide source details.}} complement the grave goods found in Celtiberian cemeteries, where aristocratic tombs of the 6th to 5th centuriesBCE give way to warrior tombs with a tendency from the 3rd centuryBCE for weapons to disappear from grave goods, either indicating an increased urgency for their distribution among living fighters or, as Almagro-Gorbea and Lorrio think, the increased urbanization of Celtiberian society. Many late Celtiberian ''oppida'' are still occupied by modern towns, inhibiting archaeology.


] representing a warrior (3rd–2nd century BC)]] ] representing a warrior (3rd–2nd centuryBCE)]]


Metalwork stands out in Celtiberian archaeological finds, partly from its indestructible nature, emphasizing Celtiberian articles of warlike uses, horse trappings and prestige weapons. The two-edged sword adopted by the Romans was previously in use among the Celtiberians, and Latin ''lancea'', a thrown spear, was a Hispanic word, according to ]. Celtiberian culture was increasingly influenced by Rome in the two final centuries BC. Metalwork stands out in Celtiberian archaeological finds, partly from its indestructible nature, emphasizing Celtiberian articles of warlike uses, horse trappings and prestige weapons. The two-edged sword adopted by the Romans was previously in use among the Celtiberians, and Latin ''lancea'', a thrown spear, was a Hispanic word, according to ]. Celtiberian culture was increasingly influenced by Rome in the two final centuriesBCE.


From the 3rd century, the ] was superseded as the basic Celtiberian political unit by the '']'', a fortified organized city with a defined territory that included the ''castros'' as subsidiary settlements. These ''civitates'' as the Roman historians called them, could make and break alliances, as surviving inscribed hospitality pacts attest, and minted coinage. The old clan structures lasted in the formation of the Celtiberian armies, organized along clan-structure lines, with consequent losses of strategic and tactical control. From the 3rd century, the ] was superseded as the basic Celtiberian political unit by the '']'', a fortified organized city with a defined territory that included the ''castros'' as subsidiary settlements. These ''civitates'' as the Roman historians called them, could make and break alliances, as surviving inscribed hospitality pacts attest, and minted coinage. The old clan structures lasted in the formation of the Celtiberian armies, organized along clan-structure lines, with consequent losses of strategic and tactical control.


The Celtiberians were the most influential ethnic group in pre-Roman Iberia, but they had their largest impact on history during the ], during which they became the (perhaps unwilling) allies of ] in its conflict with ], and crossed the ] in the mixed forces under ]'s command. As a result of the defeat of Carthage, the Celtiberians first submitted to Rome in 195 BC; ] spent the years 182 to 179 pacifying (as the Romans put it) the Celtiberians; however, conflicts between various semi-independent bands of Celtiberians continued. After the city of ] was finally taken and destroyed by ] the younger after a long and brutal siege that ended the Celtic resistance (154 - 133 BC), Roman cultural influences increased; this is the period of the earliest ]; later plaques, significantly, are inscribed in Latin. The ], 80 - 72 BC, marked the last formal resistance of the Celtiberian cities to Roman domination, which submerged the Celtiberian culture. The Celtiberians were the most influential ethnic group in pre-Roman Iberia, but they had their largest impact on history during the ], during which they became the (perhaps unwilling) allies of ] in its conflict with ], and crossed the ] in the mixed forces under ]'s command. As a result of the defeat of Carthage, the Celtiberians first submitted to Rome in 195BCE; ] spent the years 182 to 179 pacifying (as the Romans put it) the Celtiberians; however, conflicts between various semi-independent bands of Celtiberians continued. After the city of ] was finally taken and destroyed by ] the younger after a long and brutal siege that ended the Celtic resistance (154 - 133BCE), Roman cultural influences increased; this is the period of the earliest ]; later plaques, significantly, are inscribed in Latin. The ], 80 - 72BCE, marked the last formal resistance of the Celtiberian cities to Roman domination, which submerged the Celtiberian culture.


]: one of four bronze plates with inscriptions.]] ]: one of four bronze plates with inscriptions.]]
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The Celtiberian presence remains on the map of Spain in hundreds of Celtic ]. The archaeological recovery of Celtiberian culture commenced with the excavations of ], published between 1914 and 1931. The Celtiberian presence remains on the map of Spain in hundreds of Celtic ]. The archaeological recovery of Celtiberian culture commenced with the excavations of ], published between 1914 and 1931.


A Roman army auxiliary unit, the Cohors I Celtiberorum, is known from Britain, attested by 2nd century AD discharge ].<ref>] ''Eagles over Britannia: the Roman Army in Britain''. Stroud: Tempus, 2001 ISBN 0-7524-1923-4; p. 241.</ref> A Roman army auxiliary unit, the Cohors I Celtiberorum, is known from Britain, attested by 2nd century CE discharge ].<ref>] ''Eagles over Britannia: the Roman Army in Britain''. Stroud: Tempus, 2001 ISBN 0-7524-1923-4; p. 241.</ref>


==See also== ==See also==
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*] *]


==Notes==
⚫ {{reflist}}


==References== ==References==
⚫ {{reflist}}
{{more footnotes|date=February 2013}}
{{refbegin}}
* Antonio Arribas, ''The Iberians'', London: Thames & Hudson, 1964 * Antonio Arribas, ''The Iberians'', London: Thames & Hudson, 1964
* Francisco Burillo Mozota, ''Los Celtíberos, etnias y estados''. Crítica, 2007 * Francisco Burillo Mozota, ''Los Celtíberos, etnias y estados''. Crítica, 2007
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* J. P. Mallory, ''In Search of the Indo-Europeans''. London: Thames & Hudson, 1989 ISBN 0-500-05052-X * J. P. Mallory, ''In Search of the Indo-Europeans''. London: Thames & Hudson, 1989 ISBN 0-500-05052-X
*Jesús Martín-Gil, Gonzalo Palacios-Leblé, Pablo Martín-Ramos and Francisco J. Martín-Gil, "Analysis of a Celtiberian protective paste and its possible use by Arevaci warriors". ''e-Keltoi'' '''5''', pp.&nbsp;63–76. *Jesús Martín-Gil, Gonzalo Palacios-Leblé, Pablo Martín-Ramos and Francisco J. Martín-Gil, "Analysis of a Celtiberian protective paste and its possible use by Arevaci warriors". ''e-Keltoi'' '''5''', pp.&nbsp;63–76.

⚫ ==External links==
⚫ {{commonscat-inline|Celtiberia|Celtiberians}}

* {{cite journal |url=http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_11/gamito_6_11.html|first=Teresa Júdice|last=Gamito|journal=e-Keltoi| volume= 6: ''The Celts in the Iberian Peninsula''|title=The Celts in Portugal|year=2005|month=September|pages=571–605|publisher=Center for Celtic Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee}} * {{cite journal |url=http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_11/gamito_6_11.html|first=Teresa Júdice|last=Gamito|journal=e-Keltoi| volume= 6: ''The Celts in the Iberian Peninsula''|title=The Celts in Portugal|year=2005|month=September|pages=571–605|publisher=Center for Celtic Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee}}
* {{cite journal |url=http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_4/lorrio_zapatero_6_4.html|first=Alberto J.|last=Lorrio|coauthors=Gonzalo Ruiz Zapatero|journal=e-Keltoi|title=The Celts in Iberia: An Overview| volume= 6: ''The Celts in the Iberian Peninsula''|year=2005|month=February|pages=167–254|publisher=Center for Celtic Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee}} * {{cite journal |url=http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_4/lorrio_zapatero_6_4.html|first=Alberto J.|last=Lorrio|coauthors=Gonzalo Ruiz Zapatero|journal=e-Keltoi|title=The Celts in Iberia: An Overview| volume= 6: ''The Celts in the Iberian Peninsula''|year=2005|month=February|pages=167–254|publisher=Center for Celtic Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee}}
* {{cite web|url=http://www.webpersonal.net/jrr/index.htm|first=Jesus Rodriquez|last=Ramos|title=Iberian Epigraphy Page|publisher=Jesus Rodriquez Ramos|date=March 17, 2006|accessdate=2008-11-29}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.univie.ac.at/indogermanistik/quellentexte.cgi?4 |title=Botorrita 1 |accessdate= 30 November 2008 |year=2002 |work=Quellentexte |publisher=*indegermanistik wien: Institutsteil des Instituts für Sprachwissenschaft der Universität Wien |location=Vienna|language=German, Celtiberian}} * {{cite web |url=http://www.univie.ac.at/indogermanistik/quellentexte.cgi?4 |title=Botorrita 1 |accessdate= 30 November 2008 |year=2002 |work=Quellentexte |publisher=*indegermanistik wien: Institutsteil des Instituts für Sprachwissenschaft der Universität Wien |location=Vienna|language=German, Celtiberian}}
* {{cite journal |url=http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_2/gorbea_lorrio_6_2.pdf|first=Martín|last=Almagro-Gorbea|coauthors=Alberto J. Lorrio|journal=e-Keltoi| volume= 6: ''The Celts in the Iberian Peninsula''|title=War and Society in the Celtiberian World|year=2004|month=October|pages=73–112|publisher=Center for Celtic Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee}} * {{cite journal |url=http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_2/gorbea_lorrio_6_2.pdf|first=Martín|last=Almagro-Gorbea|coauthors=Alberto J. Lorrio|journal=e-Keltoi| volume= 6: ''The Celts in the Iberian Peninsula''|title=War and Society in the Celtiberian World|year=2004|month=October|pages=73–112|publisher=Center for Celtic Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee}}
{{refend}}
*: an on-going excavation

⚫ *
⚫ ==External links==
⚫ *
⚫ {{commonscat-inline|Celtiberia|Celtiberians}}
⚫ * in the ''Encyclopædia Romana'' at the University of Chicago
⚫ *


{{Celts}} {{Celts}}

Revision as of 13:00, 5 February 2013

File:Ethnographic Iberia 200BCE.PNG
Ethnology of the Iberian Peninsula c. 200 BCE, based on the map done by Portuguese archeologist Luís Fraga

The Celtiberians were Celtic-speaking people of the Iberian Peninsula in the final centuriesBCE. These tribes spoke the Celtiberian language. Extant tribal names include the Arevaci, Belli, Titti, Lusones, and Berones.

Archaeologically, the Celtiberians participated in the Hallstatt culture in what is now north-central Spain. The term Celtiberi appears in accounts by Diodorus Siculus, Appian and Martial who recognized intermarriage between Celts and Iberians after a period of continuous warfare, though Barry Cunliffe says 'this has the ring of guesswork about it'; Strabo just saw the Celtiberians as Celts and recognised them as a branch of the Celti. Pliny considers the Celts from Iberia to have migrated from the territory of Lusitania's Celtici which he appears to regard as the original seat of the whole Celtic population of the Iberian peninsula including the Celtiberians, on the ground of an identity of sacred rites, language, and names of cities.

The Celtiberian language is one of the Hispano-Celtic (a.k.a. Iberian Celtic) languages that were spoken in pre-Roman and early Roman Iberia.

History

Main language areas of pre-Roman Iberia, ca. 300 BCE, according to epigraphy and toponymy, based on Fraga's map

Strabo cites Ephorus's belief that there were Celts in the Iberian peninsula as far as Cadiz, bringing aspects of Hallstatt culture in the 6th to 5th centuriesBCE, adopting much of the culture they found. This basal Indo-European culture was of seasonally transhumant cattle-raising pastoralists protected by a warrior elite, similar to those in other areas of Atlantic Europe, centered in the hill-forts, locally termed castros, that controlled small grazing territories. These settlements of circular huts survived until Roman times across the north of Iberia, from Northern Portugal, Asturias and Galicia through Cantabria and northern Leon to the Ebro River.

Celtic presence in Iberia likely dates to as early as the 6th centuryBCE, when the castros evinced a new permanence with stone walls and protective ditches. Archaeologists Martín Almagro Gorbea and Alvarado Lorrio recognize the distinguishing iron tools and extended family social structure of developed Celtiberian culture as evolving from the archaic castro culture which they consider "proto-Celtic".

Archaeological finds identify the culture as continuous with the culture reported by Classical writers from the late 3rd century onwards (Almagro-Gorbea and Lorrio). The ethnic map of Celtiberia was highly localized however, composed of different tribes and nationes from the 3rd century centered upon fortified oppida and representing a wide ranging degree of local assimilation with the autochthonous cultures in a mixed Celtic and Iberian stock.

Territory of the Celtiberi tribe with the probable locations of its sub-groups

The cultural stronghold of Celtiberians was the northern area of the central meseta in the upper valleys of the Tagus and Douro east to the Iberus (Ebro) river, in the modern provinces of Soria, Guadalajara, Zaragoza and Teruel. There, when Greek and Roman geographers and historians encountered them, the established Celtiberians were controlled by a military aristocracy that had become a hereditary elite. The dominant tribe were the Arevaci, who dominated their neighbors from powerful strongholds at Okilis (Medinaceli) and who rallied the long Celtiberian resistance to Rome. Other Celtiberians were the Belli and Titti in the Jalón valley, and the Lusones to the east.

Excavations at the Celtiberian strongholds Kontebakom-Bel Botorrita, Sekaisa Segeda, Tiermes complement the grave goods found in Celtiberian cemeteries, where aristocratic tombs of the 6th to 5th centuriesBCE give way to warrior tombs with a tendency from the 3rd centuryBCE for weapons to disappear from grave goods, either indicating an increased urgency for their distribution among living fighters or, as Almagro-Gorbea and Lorrio think, the increased urbanization of Celtiberian society. Many late Celtiberian oppida are still occupied by modern towns, inhibiting archaeology.

Bronze Celtiberian fibula representing a warrior (3rd–2nd centuryBCE)

Metalwork stands out in Celtiberian archaeological finds, partly from its indestructible nature, emphasizing Celtiberian articles of warlike uses, horse trappings and prestige weapons. The two-edged sword adopted by the Romans was previously in use among the Celtiberians, and Latin lancea, a thrown spear, was a Hispanic word, according to Varro. Celtiberian culture was increasingly influenced by Rome in the two final centuriesBCE.

From the 3rd century, the clan was superseded as the basic Celtiberian political unit by the oppidum, a fortified organized city with a defined territory that included the castros as subsidiary settlements. These civitates as the Roman historians called them, could make and break alliances, as surviving inscribed hospitality pacts attest, and minted coinage. The old clan structures lasted in the formation of the Celtiberian armies, organized along clan-structure lines, with consequent losses of strategic and tactical control.

The Celtiberians were the most influential ethnic group in pre-Roman Iberia, but they had their largest impact on history during the Second Punic War, during which they became the (perhaps unwilling) allies of Carthage in its conflict with Rome, and crossed the Alps in the mixed forces under Hannibal's command. As a result of the defeat of Carthage, the Celtiberians first submitted to Rome in 195BCE; Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus spent the years 182 to 179 pacifying (as the Romans put it) the Celtiberians; however, conflicts between various semi-independent bands of Celtiberians continued. After the city of Numantia was finally taken and destroyed by Scipio Aemilianus Africanus the younger after a long and brutal siege that ended the Celtic resistance (154 - 133BCE), Roman cultural influences increased; this is the period of the earliest Botorrita inscribed plaque; later plaques, significantly, are inscribed in Latin. The Sertorian War, 80 - 72BCE, marked the last formal resistance of the Celtiberian cities to Roman domination, which submerged the Celtiberian culture.

Botorrita plaque: one of four bronze plates with inscriptions.

The Celtiberian presence remains on the map of Spain in hundreds of Celtic place-names. The archaeological recovery of Celtiberian culture commenced with the excavations of Numantia, published between 1914 and 1931.

A Roman army auxiliary unit, the Cohors I Celtiberorum, is known from Britain, attested by 2nd century CE discharge diplomas.

See also


References

  1. ^ Strabo. Geography. pp. Book III Chapter 4 verses 5 and 12.
  2. Koch, John (2005). Celtic Culture: a historical encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, Cal.: ABC-Clio. pp. 363–364. ISBN 978-1-85109-440-0. Retrieved June 12, 2011. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  3. Celtiberian manners and customs in Diodorus Siculus v. 33-34; Diodorus relies on lost texts of Posidonius.
  4. Appian of Alexandria, Roman History.
  5. Bilbilis was the birthplace of Martial.
  6. Cunliffe, Barry (2003). The Celts: a very short introduction. Oxford University Press. p. 52. ISBN 0-19-280418-9.
  7. Sir William Smith (1854), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, Volume 2, Boston: Little, Brown and Company.
  8. Strabo (1923). The Geography of Strabo; with an English translation by Horace Leonard Jones. Vol. II, book IV, chapter 4 (Loeb Classical Library ed.). London: Heinemann http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/4D*.html. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  9. Koch, John (2005). Celtic Culture : A Historical Encyclopedia. ABL-CIO. p. 950. ISBN 978-1-85109-440-0. Retrieved June 9, 2010. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  10. "The Celtiberian and Roman city of Tiernes", official website of the on-going excavation
  11. Guy de la Bedoyere Eagles over Britannia: the Roman Army in Britain. Stroud: Tempus, 2001 ISBN 0-7524-1923-4; p. 241.
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (February 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
  • Antonio Arribas, The Iberians, London: Thames & Hudson, 1964
  • Francisco Burillo Mozota, Los Celtíberos, etnias y estados. Crítica, 2007
  • Barry Cunliffe, 'Iberia and the Celtiberians' in "The Ancient Celts". London: Penguin Books, 1997 ISBN 0-14-025422-6
  • Alberto J. Lorrio, Los Celtíberos, Murcia: Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 1997 ISBN 84-7908-335-2
  • Alberto J. Lorrio and Gonzalo Ruiz Zapatero, "The Celts in Iberia: an Overview" in e-Keltoi 6
  • J. P. Mallory, In Search of the Indo-Europeans. London: Thames & Hudson, 1989 ISBN 0-500-05052-X
  • Jesús Martín-Gil, Gonzalo Palacios-Leblé, Pablo Martín-Ramos and Francisco J. Martín-Gil, "Analysis of a Celtiberian protective paste and its possible use by Arevaci warriors". e-Keltoi 5, pp. 63–76.
  • Gamito, Teresa Júdice (2005). "The Celts in Portugal". e-Keltoi. 6: The Celts in the Iberian Peninsula. Center for Celtic Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee: 571–605. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  • Lorrio, Alberto J. (2005). "The Celts in Iberia: An Overview". e-Keltoi. 6: The Celts in the Iberian Peninsula. Center for Celtic Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee: 167–254. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  • "Botorrita 1". Quellentexte (in German and Celtiberian). Vienna: *indegermanistik wien: Institutsteil des Instituts für Sprachwissenschaft der Universität Wien. 2002. Retrieved 30 November 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  • Almagro-Gorbea, Martín (2004). "War and Society in the Celtiberian World" (PDF). e-Keltoi. 6: The Celts in the Iberian Peninsula. Center for Celtic Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee: 73–112. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)

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