The Cantabri ( ‹See Tfd› Greek : Καντάβροι , Kantabroi ) or Ancient Cantabrians were a pre- Roman people and large tribal federation that lived in the northern coastal region of ancient Iberia in the second half of the first millennium BC. These peoples and their territories were incorporated into the Roman Province of Hispania Tarraconensis in 19 BC, following the Cantabrian Wars .
56-640: Cantabri is a Latinized form of a local name, presumably meaning "Highlanders" and deriving from the reconstructed root * cant - ("mountain") in Ancient Ligurian . During the High and Late Middle Ages, as well as Modern Period, the name refers usually to the Basques. Cantabria , the land of the Cantabri, originally comprised much of the highlands of the northern Spanish Atlantic coast, including
112-565: A Vaccaei anti-Roman revolt in 29 BC, ultimately led to the outbreak of the First Cantabrian Wars , which resulted in their conquest and partial annihilation by Emperor Augustus . The remaining Cantabrian population and their tribal lands were absorbed into the newly created Transduriana Province under the suffect consul Lucius Sestius Albanianus Quirinalis . Nevertheless, the harsh measures devised by Augustus and implemented by his legate Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa to pacify
168-428: A factor again, given that Hispania was the main front of the war. Upon Hamilcar Barca 's arrival to Hispania in 237 BC, he succeeded at conquering multiple Hispanic tribes and drawing reinforcements from them, employing alliances, payment and hostages depending on the case. His son Hannibal continued his effort after his death with plans to lead an expeditionary army to Italy . As mentioned earlier, in this case it
224-765: A playful element of punning. Such names could be a cover for humble social origins. The title of the " Wilhelmus ", national anthem of the Netherlands , preserves a Latinised form of the name of William the Silent . In English, place names often appear in Latinised form. This is a result of many early text books mentioning the places being written in Latin. Because of this, the English language often uses Latinised forms of foreign place names instead of anglicised forms or
280-529: A strong Celtic element along with an almost equally strong "Para-Celtic" element (both Indo-European) and thus disproves the idea of a substantial pre-Indo-European or Basque presence in the region. This supports the earlier view that Untermann considered the most plausible, coinciding with archaeological evidence put forward by Ruiz-Gálvez in 1998, that the Celtic settlement of the Iberian Peninsula
336-697: A tough decision for the Roman side, as their intrusion in the Celtiberians's lands would put them against Rome again, making them join Indibilis and Mandonius 's Iberian Ilergete revolt. Anyhow, Mago managed to flee with 2,000 survivors to Gadir. After the Battle of Ilipa , he sent a prefect also named Hanno to gather yet another Celtiberian contingent, but the resultant Battle of the Guadalquivir ended
392-476: A tribal confederacy with the town of Aracillum (Castro de Espina del Gallego , Sierra del Escudo – Cantabria), located at the strategic Besaya river valley, as their capital. Other important Cantabrian hillforts included Villeca/Vellica ( Monte Cildá [ es ] – Palencia), Bergida (Castro de Monte Bernorio – Palencia) and Amaya/Amaia ( Peña Amaya [ es ] – Burgos). A detailed analysis of place-names in ancient Cantabria shows
448-551: Is again difficult to differentiate between true mercenaries and conscripted vassals: it can only be inferred that they would work for a payment whenever their origin was not of conquered regions, as apparently Hannibal himself only distinguished among his Hispanics by the form and degree of their allegiance. Thus, in 218, before departing from Cartagena , he sent 16,000 Bastetani , Oretani and Olcade serfs to garrison Carthage in exchange for 15,200 African javelin throwers, seeking to prevent any possible rebellion of any of them due to
504-731: The Aquitani tribes of south-eastern Gaul against the legate Publius Crassus , the son of Marcus Crassus serving under Julius Caesar , who succeeded in overpowering and destroying the combined Cantabri-Aquitani force of 50,000 men in their own camp and slaughtered 38,000 of them. Under the leadership of the chieftain Corocotta , the Cantabri’s own predatory raids on the Vaccaei , Turmodigi and Autrigones whose rich territories they coveted, according to Florus , coupled with their backing of
560-836: The Astures ' at the Battle of the Metaurus , and later Cantabrian war-bands fought for the Vaccaei and Celtiberians in the Celtiberian Wars of the 2nd century BC. Another author, Cornelius Nepos , claims that the Cantabrian tribes first submitted to Rome upon Cato the Elder 's campaigns in Celtiberia in 195 BC. In any case, such was their reputation that when a battered Roman army under consul Gaius Hostilius Mancinus
616-408: The Iberian Peninsula around the 4th Century BC, and were said by them to be more mixed than most peninsular Celtic peoples. By the 1st century BC they comprised eleven or so tribes— Avarigines , Blendii [ es ] , Camarici or Tamarici, Concani , Coniaci or Conisci , Morecani , Noegi , Orgenomesci , Plentuisii , Salaeni , Vadinienses , and Vellici or Velliques —gathered into
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#1732765190628672-728: The Peloponnesian War , with Alcibiades bringing some with him to the Peloponnesian League after a recruitment campaign in Sicily. The latter conflict also saw the participation of Hispanics in the Athenian coup of 411 BC , helping the oligarchs under the orders of Aristarchus of Athens . In 396 BC, after the Carthaginian general Himilco abandoned all his mercenaries to their fate upon leaving Sicily in
728-553: The Second Punic War . Differentiating literal mercenaries from foreign vassals, brought to the battlefield through pacts or hostages instead of payment, is often difficult in ancient chronicles. Similarly, the exact provenience of Hispanic mercenaries is usually difficult to ascertain, as the terms used to refer to inhabitants of the Iberian peninsula are frequently vague, often using the generic Iberian to mean not only
784-736: The Sicilian Wars (460–307 BC), where they were part of the Carthaginian military serving in Sicily. While the Iberians may have been on the Carthaginian payroll as early as 535 BC, during the campaigns in Sardinia , their first substantial employment occurred in the Battle of Himera in 480, when Diodorus and Herodotus tell they were part of the expedition of Hamilcar I against the Greek forces of Gelo and Theron . Hispanics were
840-574: The Spartans in the siege of Corinth , which they did with great effectivity. They also captured the territory of Sicyon before sailing back to Sicily. When Plato visited his apprentice Dionysius II in 361 BC, he witnessed a brief rebellion by the king's mercenaries due to his attempts to reduce their payment. They marched towards the acropolis chanting their war paean , scaring Dionysius II so much that he relented and gave them even more than they reclaimed. Balearic slingers were also present in
896-527: The Third Sicilian War , the mercenary peninsular forces were the only not to be annihilated. According to Diodorus, they banded up in battle formation and offered Dionysius I of Syracuse their services, impressing Dionysius into hiring them as a personal guard. Later, in 368, his son Dionysius II sent a contingent of those Celts and Iberians to the Theban–Spartan War in order to assist
952-643: The Cantabri to initially side with Quintus Sertorius during the Sertorian Wars , but at the final phase of the conflict they shifted their allegiance to Pompey , continuing to follow the Pompeian cause until the defeat of their generals' Lucius Afranius and Marcus Petreius at the battle of Ilerda ( Lérida ) in 49 BC. In between, the Cantabri had unsuccessfully intervened in the Gallic Wars by sending in 56 BC an allegedly 40,000-strong army to help
1008-401: The Cantabri, though there is enough evidence for the existence of an organized priestly class who performed elaborated rites, which included ritual steam baths , festive dances, oracles , divination , human and animal sacrifices. In this respect, Strabo mentions that the peoples of the north-west sacrificed horses to an unnamed God of War , and both Horace and Silius Italicus added that
1064-531: The Carthaginian side in the 311 Battle of the Himera River . In 274 BC, Hiero II of Syracuse ended the traditional mercenary presence in Sicily in order to prevent more mutinies. He pitted them against the Mamertines , a body of Italian marauders, in the river Cyamosorus near the city of Centuripa , and then left them to their fate. Withholding his own citizen troops in order to stack the odds against
1120-474: The Concani had the custom of drinking the horse’s blood at the ceremony. Latinisation of names Latinisation (or Latinization ) of names , also known as onomastic Latinisation , is the practice of rendering a non - Latin name in a modern Latin style. It is commonly found with historical proper names , including personal names and toponyms , and in the standard binomial nomenclature of
1176-801: The Roman Imperial army for decades, and these troops participated in Emperor Claudius ' invasion of Britain in AD 43–60 . The Cantabri re-emerged, as did their neighbors the Astures, amid the chaos of the Migration Period of the late 4th century. Thenceforward the Cantabri started to be Christianized and were violently crushed by the Visigoths in the 6th century. However, Cantabria and the Cantabri are heard of many decades later in
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#17327651906281232-622: The Roman general even if they would not turn against him out of principles. The result was Scipio and his brother being killed near of Ilorci in 211 BC. The same year, possibly inspired by a desertion of Numidians and Hispanics to Marcus Claudius Marcellus after the Battle of Nola in 215, Celtiberians commanders Moericus and Belligenus betrayed the Punic-allied Syracusians and joined Marcellus's entourage. Another defection happened in Arpi , where 1,000 Hispanics chose to join
1288-598: The Roman side, although this might have been an exchange to get 5,000 Africans out of the city and back with Hannibal. Those seem to have been the only exceptions to the Hispanic mercenaries' loyalty. Hispanics seemingly held their Carthaginian masters in high regard, addressing them as their supreme commanders , and in many cases, such as during the defeats of Hasdrubal and Hanno, died fighting with suicidal determination for their leaders. Hannibal considered his peninsular fighters to be among his most valuable forces, almost at
1344-800: The Romans founded colonies and established military garrisons at Castra Legio Pisoraca (camp of Legio IIII Macedonica – Palencia ), Octaviolca (near Valdeolea – Cantabria) and Iuliobriga ( Retortillo – Reinosa ), Cantabria never became fully romanized and its people preserved many aspects of Celtic language , religion and culture well into the Roman period. The Cantabri did not lose their warrior skills either, providing auxiliary troops ( Auxilia ) that served in two identified infantry cohorts ( cohortes quingenariae peditatae – Cohors I Cantabrorum , Cohors II Cantabrorum ) and in some cavalry units ( Ala Hispanorum , Ala I Augusta , Ala Pannoniorum , Ala Batavorum or Baetasiorum , Cohors I Latobicorum ) to
1400-557: The ancient Iberian peninsula Mercenary life is recorded as a custom of Iron Age Spain , particularly in the central area of the Iberian Peninsula . Departing from the native tribe and applying to serve in others was a way for economically disadvantaged youth to escape poverty and find an opportunity to use their fighting skills. Starting from 5th century BC, mercenary life would become a true social phenomenon in Hispania, with great numbers of fighters from distant lands coming to join
1456-547: The armies of Carthage , Rome and Hellenic countries . Important centers of recruitment were Gadir , Empúries , Castulo , Baria (modern day Villaricos ) and the Balearic Islands . Hispanic mercenaries were sought after for their toughness, discipline and skills, aside from their weapons, and not least of all for their ferocity; it being believed abroad that these peninsular warriors even practiced cannibalism . The first mentions of Spanish mercenaries come from
1512-570: The armies of Carthage , Rome , Sicily and even Greece , as well as other Hispanic peoples. They are repeatedly described by authors like Strabo and Thucydides as being among the best fighting forces in the Mediterranean Sea area, as well as, according to Livy , the most elite unit in Hannibal 's army ( id roboris in omni exercitu ). Polybius cites them as the reason for the Carthaginian victory in several battles during
1568-569: The army, including Vettones , Gallaecians (combined with the Lusitanians in a single battalion), Cantabrians , Astures , and Vascones , although authors have doubted of such diversity. In any case, Celtiberians and Lusitanians probably were the main bodies of mercenaries, as Hannibal's spiel addressing them before the Battle of Ticinus attests. Other Celtiberians fought against Carthage after their pact with Rome, defeating Hasdrubal Barca 's forces in 217 BC. Four years later, they became
1624-591: The coastal Iberian tribes, but any other people of Hispania. However, there is evidence that Hispania developed as a rich source of mercenary work during the early Iron Age . The reasons for this were mainly economic, as departing from the native tribe and serving in another, wealthier faction was a way for economically disadvantaged youth to escape poverty in their local lands, which were commonly subjected to sharp economic inequality . The main examples were found in Lusitania and Celtiberia , where cultivable terrains
1680-726: The context of the Visigoth wars against the Vascones (late 7th century). They only became fully Latinized in their language and culture after the Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula in the 8th century. According to Pliny the Elder Cantabria also contained gold, silver, tin, lead and iron mines, as well as magnetite and amber, but little is known about them; Strabo also mentions salt extraction in mines, such as
1736-603: The distance from their home lands. He also released, before crossing the Pyrenees , many Carpetanians who did not wish to leave Hispania. As a consequence of those moves, Hannibal kept only those with a bond of devotion to him, which would presumably include mercenaries and the most loyal vassals. It is estimated that between 8,000 and 10,000 Hispanics, counting the sum of their many peninsular peoples, reached Italy with Hannibal. The majority of them might have been still alive and serving when he returned to Carthage in 202, proving
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1792-613: The early 19th century, Europe had largely abandoned Latin as a scholarly language (most scientific studies and scholarly publications are printed in English), but a variety of fields still use Latin terminology as the norm. By tradition, it is still common in some fields to name new discoveries in Latin. And because Western science became dominant during the 18th and 19th centuries, the use of Latin names in many scholarly fields has gained worldwide acceptance, at least when European languages are being used for communication. Mercenaries of
1848-543: The first mercenaries employed by Rome, as Publius Cornelius Scipio was forced to hire them to retain their allegiance. According to Livy and Appian, he sent 200 to Italy in order to try to convince their countrymen in Hannibal's army into deserting. This endeavor had little success, but it might have helped to undermine Hannibal's trust on them. In turn, Hasdrubal capitalized on his superior familiarity with Hispanic tribes to bribe Scipio's mercenaries, who agreed to abandon
1904-402: The level of his African compatriots, and contrasting especially with the more expendable and undisciplined Gauls and Ligurians . In 209 BC, after gathering large contingents of Celtiberian and Cantabrian mercenaries, Hasdrubal departed Hispania for Italy in order to meet with Hannibal. His army arrived in 207 only to be discovered and defeated in the Battle of the Metaurus , where Hasdrubal
1960-761: The life sciences. It goes further than romanisation , which is the transliteration of a word to the Latin alphabet from another script (e.g. Cyrillic ). For authors writing in Latin, this change allows the name to function grammatically in a sentence through declension . In a scientific context, the main purpose of Latinisation may be to produce a name which is internationally consistent. Latinisation may be carried out by: Humanist names, assumed by Renaissance humanists , were largely Latinised names, though in some cases (e.g. Melanchthon ) they invoked Ancient Greek . Latinisation in humanist names may consist of translation from vernacular European languages, sometimes involving
2016-551: The line. Lusitanians are mentioned as having served as mountain troops , possibly playing the role of both skirmishers and heavy cavalry along with Celtiberians. Their combined force, composed of around 2,000 horsemen, was praised by Livy over their more numerous and famous Numidian homologues. Finally, Balearics, ranging between 1,000 and 2,000, excelled as skirmishing infantry, being armed with fibre or sinew slings capable of throwing heavy shot into enemy ranks with devastating effect. Silius Italicus speaks of even more tribes in
2072-515: The mercenaries knew the Roman general would not spare them a second time. Consequently, when the mercenaries found themselves being characteristically the last Carthaginian force still standing in the battle, most of them chose to fight to the end and died in their posts. There were further attempts to bring new Hispanic fighters to Carthage, but the Saguntines captured the Carthaginian recruiters and sold them to Rome. In 202 BC, Hannibal brought
2128-555: The mercenaries transported to Africa to be paid off and discharged. There the foreign warriors rebelled against the Carthaginians when the latter were unable to pay their emolument, due to the economic sanctions imposed by Rome. This led to the Mercenary War and the destruction of the rebels by loyal Carthaginian forces led by Hamilcar Barca . It would be in the Second Punic War , though, that Iberian peninsulars become
2184-529: The mercenaries, Hiero saw them being defeated and decimated. However, it is likely he continued hiring Hispanic mercenaries anyway, as Livy mentions them as auxiliars in the army of his grandson Hieronymus . Carthaginian peninsular mercenaries did not return to Sicily until the First Punic War in 264, this time in the army commanded by Hanno . When Carthage lost the war the Hispanics were amongst
2240-525: The ones existent around Cabezón de la Sal , and describes a post-childbirth ritual in which the mother had to get up and the father go to bed, to be cared for by the mother. Literary and epigraphic evidence confirms that, like their Gallaeci and Astures neighbors, the Cantabri were polytheistic, worshipping a vast and complex pantheon of male and female Indo-European deities in sacred oak or pine woods, mountains, water-courses and small rural sanctuaries. Druidism does not appear to have been practiced by
2296-494: The only Punic to regroup after the battle to defend the camp, inflicting heavy losses on the Greek until Theron's counterattack forced them to flee for the beached ships. Contingents of Iberians reappear again in the captures of Selinus and Himera , where they headed the final assaults to the cities, and the battles of Akragas , Gela and Camarina , as well as the siege of Syracuse . However, possibly influenced by their success, Greeks started to employ Hispanics themselves in
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2352-691: The original names. Examples of Latinised names for countries or regions are: Latinisation is a common practice for scientific names . For example, Livistona , the name of a genus of palm trees, is a Latinisation of Livingstone . During the age of the Roman Empire , translation of names into Latin (in the West) or Greek (in the East) was common. Additionally, Latinised versions of Greek substantives , particularly proper nouns , could easily be declined by Latin speakers with minimal modification of
2408-651: The original word. During the medieval period , after the Empire collapsed in Western Europe , the main bastion of scholarship was the Roman Catholic Church , for which Latin was the primary written language. In the early medieval period, most European scholars were priests and most educated people spoke Latin, and as a result, Latin became firmly established as the scholarly language for the West. By
2464-524: The peninsular custom of mercenary life survived. Between 197 and 195 BC, the Turdetanians employed 30,000 Celtiberians as elite troops during the Iberian revolt , while in 147 BC the Romans themselves sent them unsuccessfully against the Lusitanians led by Viriathus . Julius Caesar would also use Balearic slingers in the Gallic Wars . The employment of Balearic slingers as mercenaries continued in
2520-502: The province in the aftermath of the campaign only contributed to further instability in Cantabria. Near-constant tribal uprisings (including a serious slave revolt in 20 BC that quickly spread to neighboring Asturias) and guerrilla warfare continued to plague the Cantabrian lands until the early 1st century AD, when the region was granted a form of local self-rule upon being included in the new Hispania Tarraconensis province. Although
2576-543: The reliability that had moved the Punics to hire them. The variety and provenience of the mercenaries is not faithfully recorded, other than Celtiberians , Lusitanians and Balearics , which Hannibal would arrange and use for their particular talents. The first served as heavy cavalry , in contrast to the lighter, skirmishing Numidian cavalry , though they were also entrusted the front lines as infantry in battles like Cannae , where they stood out for their ability to hold
2632-484: The remnant of his veteran mercenaries from Italy and united them to those of Mago, who had died in the sea while returning to Africa. They faced Scipio again in the Battle of Zama , being ultimately defeated and witnessing the end of the war. The loss of Carthage saw the end of the Punic mercenary tradition, as it was specifically written among the conditions imposed by Rome. Despite the withdrawal of Carthage from Hispania,
2688-598: The territorial defense of Carthage, firstly in a brief intervention after the Battle of Utica . Shortly after, taking command of 4000 Celtiberians from the Ilergete revolt previously sent by Mago, Hasdrubal Gisco and Syphax clashed with the invading Romans led by Scipio in the Battle of the Great Plains . The encounter was bitter to both the Celtiberians and Scipio, as the former had shown mercy to them in Hispania despite their allegiance to Indibilis and Mandonius, so
2744-548: The texts of ancient historians such as Livy and Polybius , who mention Cantabrian mercenaries in Carthaginian service in the late 3rd century BC. During the 2nd Punic War , a Cantabrian mercenary contingent is mentioned in Hannibal 's army, whilst another Cantabri mercenary band led by a chieftain named Larus was recruited by Mago and fought in Celtiberia against the propraetor Marcus Junius Silanus in 207 BC. That same year, other Cantabrian mercenaries fought alongside
2800-478: The third and final attempt to maintain a large scale native army. The remnant mercenaries, now 12,000 after the last levies, were placed by Mago in an improvised fleet, which finally sailed towards Italy after having unsuccessfully attempted to retake Cartagena, but not without hiring other 2,000 Balearics on the way. The last great deployments of peninsular mercenaries in the Second Punic War were in
2856-442: The warrior character of their societies. However, their destinations were not always abroad, but also merely nearby regions of Hispania with a better economical profile, like Turdetania or Bastetania . Important southern war chiefs like Indortes , Istolatius and possibly Audax, Ditalcus and Minurus were Celts hired by the Turdetanians. Nevertheless, the most important roles played by Hispanic mercenaries in ancient story were in
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#17327651906282912-465: The whole of modern Cantabria province, eastern Asturias , nearby mountainous regions of Castile and León , the northern of province of Palencia and province of Burgos and northeast of province of León . Following the Roman conquest , this area was, however, much reduced, making up only Cantabria and eastern Asturias . The ancestors of the Cantabri were thought by the Romans to have migrated to
2968-592: Was besieging Numantia in 137 BC, the rumor of the approach of a large combined Cantabri- Vaccaei relief force was enough to cause the rout of 20,000 panic-stricken Roman legionaries, forcing Mancinus to surrender under humiliating peace terms. In the early 1st century BC, the Cantabri began to play a double game by lending their services to individual Roman generals on occasion but, at same time, supported rebellions within Roman Spanish provinces and carried out raids in times of unrest. This opportunistic policy led
3024-861: Was concentrated among a few landowners, leaving mercenary life as the only alternative to banditry . However, the long history of tribal warfare and warrior culture between tribes in Hispania cannot be discarded as another factor in their choice. Natives from Balearic Islands and mountain folk from Cantabria were also recognized to have a strong mercenary tradition. Hispanic mercenaries would not work individually, but in small-sized units formed by friends and relatives, managed by their own chiefs and retaining their own cultural traits, including armament and tactics. Mercenaries having left Hispania did not always return to their countries, and some of them, like Balearics, were known for spending all their gained money during their service, but they would be met with prestige and fame among their countrymen if they did, given
3080-402: Was killed among the peninsulars, the last Punic forces to fall. Some Celtiberians managed to cut their way out and reach Hannibal. The same year, generals Mago Barca and Hanno moved to Celtiberia to collect another army, but a new Roman attack, this time by Marcus Junius Silanus behind local guides and under orders from Scipio Africanus , ended it before they could depart too. This would be
3136-716: Was made by people who arrived via the Atlantic Ocean in an area between Brittany and the mouth of the River Garonne , finally settling along the Galician and Cantabrian coast. Regarded as savage and untamable mountaineers, the Cantabri long defied the Roman legions and made a name for themselves for their independent spirit and freedom. Indeed, Cantabri warriors were regarded as being tough and fierce fighters, suitable for mercenary employment , but prone to banditry. The earliest references to them are found in
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