TheCeltici (inPortuguese,Spanish, andGalician languages,Célticos) were aCeltic tribe or group of tribes of theIberian Peninsula, inhabiting three definite areas: in what today are the regions ofAlentejo and theAlgarve inPortugal; in theProvince of Badajoz and north ofProvince of Huelva inSpain, in the ancientBaeturia; and along the coastal areas ofGalicia. Classical authors give various accounts of the Celtici's relationships with theGallaeci,Celtiberians andTurdetani.
Several classical sources, Greek and Roman, mentioned the Celtici.
Strabo (3, 1, 6) echoed Poseidonius when he mentioned the Keltikoi as the main inhabitants of the region located between the riversTagus andGuadiana, approximately where theAlentejo (Portugal) stands today.[1]
The Celtici were not considered a barbarian people. On the contrary, they were what the Greeks considered a civilized people, almost in the same degree as theTurdetani.
They shared the same 'gentle and civilized' character of theTurdetani.Strabo put this down to the fact that they were neighbouring populations, and Polybius proposed that they were related, 'although the Celtici are less [civilized] because they generally live in hamlets (Str., 3, 2, 15)'.[1]
Their main cities were Lacobriga (probablyLagos in the Algarve), Caepiana (in Alentejo), Braetolaeum,Miróbriga (nearSantiago do Cacém), Arcobriga, Meribriga, Catraleucus, Turres, Albae and Arandis (nearCastro Verde andOurique). Other important cities were Nertobriga, Turobriga, Segida,Ebora, Caetobriga and Eburobrittium (Óbidos), among other settlements.
Their most famous city wasConistorgis (Str., 3, 2, 2), which, according to different sources, belonged to the Cunetes orConii (App., Iber. 56-60). Similarly, Strabo (3, 2, 15) indicated that the Celtici established colonies, such asPax Julia (Beja).[1]
The origin of the Baeturian Celts was, according to Pliny, from the Celtici of Lusitania and were also kin to theGallaeci:[2]
Latin:Celticos a Celtiberis ex Lusitania advenisse manifestum est sacris, lingua, oppidorum vocabulis, quae cognominibus inBaetica distinguntur.[3]
The Celtici from Guadiana had blood links with the Galician Celts, since there had been large-scale migration to the northwest of these Celts along with the Turduli (Str., 3, 3, 5).[1]
...[Pliny considers the Celtici who extend into Baetica] to have migrated from Lusitania which he appears to regard as the original seat of the whole Celtic population of the Iberian peninsula including theCeltiberians, on the ground of an identity of sacred rites, language, and names of cities.[4]
These migratory patterns have persisted on the same axis until modern times, supporting a centuries-old traditional and seasonal farming and animal husbandrytranshumance along the ancient Roman or CarthaginianSilver road that served for its rich mines production transport, and for theAstorga region peddlers and wagoneers, theMaragatos.
Pliny also noted that already in Roman times the inhabitants ofMiróbriga (one of the Celtic cities of the region, near Santiago do Cacém) used the surname ofCeltici: "Mirobrigenses qui Celtici cognominantur".[5] In the sanctuary of Miróbriga a resident leaves their Celtic origin recorded:
D(IS) M(ANIBUS) S(ACRUM) / C(AIUS) PORCIUS SEVE/RUS MIROBRIGEN(SIS) / CELT(ICUS) ANN(ORUM) LX / H(IC) S(ITUS) E(ST) S(IT) T(IBI) T(ERRA) L(EVIS)[6]
Traditional theories hold that the Celtici were a group that included severalpopuli, namely theSaefes and the Cempsii, of unknown origin, which according to modern research possibly belonged to one of the first settlements of Celtic origin; and initially perhaps also the possibleproto-Lusitanians (theLigus,Lusis orLycis), all mentioned in theOra Maritima ("Sea Coasts") ofAvienius,[7][8] and possibly reinforced with subsequent waves.
The main Eburones’ cities were their presumed capitalEbora (Évora),Segovia (archeological site nearCampo Maior,Elvas), the coastal town ofMirobriga Celticorum (archeological site nearSantiago do Cacém), and five other towns within Alentejo. Around the 3rd Century BC they managed to push southwards towards the westernAlgarve coast where they founded the port ofLaccobriga (Monte Molião, nearLagos) inConii territory.[9] In Baeturia, the Bituriges set their capital atNertobriga (Cerro del Coto, Fregenal de la Sierra –Badajoz) whilst the Turones placed theirs atTurobriga (Llanos de La Belleza, nearAroche –Huelva) and both peoples controlled six other cities.
InBaetica the Celtici held or had a presence in some city-states, namelyCelti (Peñaflor – Seville),Urso (Osuna – Seville),Obulco/Obulcula (Castillo de la Monclova,Fuentes de Andalucía – Seville; Iberian-type mint:Ipolca),Tribola (Baena –Córdoba),Munda (Montilla? – Córdoba),Tucci/Itucci (Los Martos, nearJaén – Córdoba),Turobriga (Turón – Granada),Cartima (Cártama – Málaga),Arunda (Ronda – Málaga) andAcinipo (Ronda la Vieja – Málaga).
Further North inGallaecia, another group of Celtici[10] dwelt the coastal areas. They comprised severalpopuli, including the Celtici proper: thePraestamarci south of theTambre river (Tamaris), theSupertamarci north of it, and theNeri by the Celtic promontory (Promunturium Celticum), whomStrabo considered related to the Celtici of Lusitania, settled in Gallaecia after a military campaign held jointly with theTurduli Veteres.Pomponius Mela affirmed that all the inhabitants of the coastal regions, from the bays of southern Gallaecia and up to theAstures, were also Celtici: "All (this coast) is inhabited by the Celtici, except from theDouro river to the bays, where the Grovi dwelt (…) In the north coast first there are the Artabri, still of the Celtic people (Celticae gentis), and after them the Astures."[11] He also mentioned the fabulous isles of tin, theCassiterides, as situated among these Celtici.[12]
The Celtici Supertarmarci have also left a number of inscriptions,[13] as the Celtici Flavienses did.[14] Several villages and rural parishes still bear the nameCéltigos (from LatinCelticos) in Galicia. This is also the name of an archpriesthood of the Catholic Church, a division of the archbishopric ofSantiago de Compostela, encompassing part of the lands attributed to the Celtici Supertamarci by ancient authors.[15]
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Archaeology[which?] confirms that the material culture of the southwestern Celtici was deeply influenced by theArevaci ofCeltiberia and beyond, as their metalwork shows strong parallels with south-centralGaul,Liguria,Etruria, and central Italy. The Baetic Celtici soon fell under the cultural influence of their IberianTurdetani neighbors, as well as receiving Hellenistic elements from the Carthaginians.
Submitted toCarthaginian rule just prior to theSecond Punic War, the Celtici of Alentejo and Beturia recovered their independence in 206 BC whereas their Baetic counterparts simply shifted their allegiance fromCarthage to theRoman Republic. In 197 BC theUltima Celtiberia was included in the newHispania Ulterior Province, though they were only conquered by the UlteriorPraetorTiberius Gracchus in 179 BC.
The Beturian Celtici tribes however, rose in support of aTurdetanian rebellion soon afterwards,[16] and allied with theLusitani andVettones, promptly began to raid the lands of the Roman Hispanic allies inBaetica and theCyneticum throughout the 2nd Century BC. They proved to be the most reliable allies of the Lusitani – whose chieftainViriathus used western Beturia as a rear base for its military operations on the south – in deep contrast to the Celtici city-states of Baetica, who frequently changed sides according to circumstances.[17]
When the tide turned against the Lusitani in 141 BC, the Beturian Celtici were subjected to the punitive campaigns conducted in the Iberian southwest by ConsulQuintus Fabius Maximus Servilianus, who invaded eastern Beturia and plundered five towns allied with Viriathus.[18]The Celtici were later defeated and included in H. Ulterior by theProconsulPublius Licinius Crassus in the wake of his campaign against them and their Lusitani neighbors in 93 BC.[19]
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