Misplaced Pages

#442557

43-586: Also designated Vaccaenas in the ancient sources, the Vaccaei were probably largely of Celtic descent and probably related to the Celtiberians . Their name may be derived from the Celtic word vacos , meaning a slayer , since they were celebrated fighters. However, some scholars have reasoned that the name ‘Vaccaei’ may actually derive from ‘Aued-Ceia’, a contraction of Ceia , the presumed ancient name of

86-605: A March 2019 genetic study published in Science , three Celtiberians buried at La Hoya, Alava (in Beron territory) between 400 BC and 195 BC were examined. They had high levels of north - central European ancestry compared to non-Celtic populations of Iberia. One of the males examined was found to be a carrier of the paternal haplogroup I2a1a1a . Odra (Spain) 42°41′11″N 4°06′11″W  /  42.6864°N 4.1031°W  / 42.6864; -4.1031 The Odra

129-624: A last time in 29 BC, just prior to the Astur-Cantabrian wars , only to be subdued by Consul Titus Statilius Taurus . The Vaccaei were later aggregated to the new Hispania Terraconensis province created in 27 BC by Emperor Augustus . Later during the imperial era, the Vaccei seemed to have provided recruits for the Ala II Flavia Hispanorum civium romanorum , an auxiliary cavalry unit raised after AD 63 and cantoned in

172-761: A period of continuous warfare, though Barry Cunliffe says "this has the ring of guesswork about it." Strabo just saw the Celtiberians as a branch of the Celti . Pliny the Elder thought that the original home of the Celts in Iberia was the territory of the Celtici in the south-west, on the grounds of an identity of sacred rites, language, and the names of cities. Strabo cites Ephorus 's belief that there were Celts in

215-604: A thrown spear, was a Hispanic word, according to Varro . Celtiberian culture was increasingly influenced by Rome in the two final centuries BC. From the 3rd century, the clan was superseded as the basic Celtiberian political unit by the oppidum , a fortified organized city with a defined territory that included the castros as subsidiary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

258-540: A wide-ranging degree of local assimilation with the autochthonous cultures in a mixed Celtic and Iberian stock. 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,

301-621: The Hispano-Celtic (also known as Iberian Celtic) languages that were spoken in pre-Roman and early Roman Iberia. Archaeologically, many elements link Celtiberians with Celts in Central Europe, but also show large differences with both the Hallstatt culture and La Tène culture . There is no complete agreement on the exact definition of Celtiberians among classical authors, nor modern scholars. The Ebro river clearly divides

344-779: The Roman province of Hispania Citerior . The subjugated Celtiberians waged a protracted struggle against the Roman conquerors, staging uprisings in 195–193 BC, 181–179 BC , 153–151 BC , and 143–133 BC . In 105 BC, Celtiberian warriors drove the Germanic Cimbri from Spain in the Cimbrian War (113–101 BC) and also played an important role in the Sertorian War (80–72 BC). The term Celtiberi appears in accounts by Diodorus Siculus , Appian and Martial who recognized intermarriage between Celts and Iberians after

387-686: The Second Punic War the Celtiberians served most often as allies or mercenaries of Carthage in its conflict with Rome, and crossed the Alps in the mixed forces under Hannibal 's command. Under Scipio Africanus , the Romans were able to secure alliances and change the allegiances of many Celtiberian tribes, using these allied warriors against the Carthaginian forces and allies in Spain. After

430-636: The Celtiberian areas from non-Indo-European speaking peoples. In other directions, the demarcation is less clear. Most scholars include the Arevaci , Pellendones , Belli , Titti and Lusones as Celtiberian tribes, and occasionally the Berones , Vaccaei , Carpetani , Olcades or Lobetani . In 195 BC, part of Celtiberia was conquered by the Romans , and by 72 BC the entire region had become part of

473-439: The Celtiberian strongholds Kontebakom-Bel Botorrita , Sekaisa Segeda , Termantia 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,

SECTION 10

#1732773185443

516-493: The Federico Wattenberg Center of Vaccean Studies. The Vaccei were considered by the Romans to be the most cultivated people west of the Celtiberians , and were distinguishable by a special collectivist type social structure, which enabled them to exploit successfully the wheat- and grass-growing areas of the western plateau. Diodorus Siculus records that "of the nations neighbouring upon the Celtiberians

559-510: The Iberian peninsula as far as Cádiz . 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 Martín Almagro Gorbea and Alberto José Lorrio Alvarado recognize the distinguishing iron tools and extended family social structure of developed Celtiberian culture as evolving from

602-486: The Roman Legionary Fortress ( castrum ) of Petavonium ( Rosinos de Vidriales , Santibanez de Vidriales – Zamora ). The Basques came to be called mistakenly Vaccaei and Vacceti by several early medieval chronicles and authors. Celtiberians The Celtiberians were a group of Celts and Celticized peoples inhabiting an area in the central-northeastern Iberian Peninsula during

645-816: The Vaccaei from the Astures in the northwest, while a line traced between the Esla and the Pisuerga rivers was the border with the Cantabri . To the east, the Pisuerga and Arlanza rivers marked the frontier with the Turmodigi , and a little farther south, the Arevaci were their neighbors and allies. On the south and southeast lay the Vettones in an area that roughly corresponds to the distribution of verracos around

688-427: The Vaccaei, Celtiberians , Vettones , Lusitani , Cantabri , Astures and Callaeci . The Vaccean civilization was the result of a process of local evolution, importing elements from other cultures, whether by new additions of people or cultural and trading contacts with neighbouring groups. It is also believed that it was from the Vaccei that the warlike Arevaci stemmed from around the late 4th Century BC to conquer

731-531: The Vacceian capital Pallantia, setting on fire its adobe brick walls and stormed Cauca. Defeated in 73 BC by Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius and Pompey, the Vaccaei rose again in 57-56 BC in a joint uprising with the Turmodigi and northern Celtiberians, which was crushed by the Proconsul of Citerior Quintus Caecilius Metellus Nepos Iunior . Pressured by Astures ' and Cantabri raids, the Vaccaei rebelled

774-407: 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 nations from the 3rd century centered upon fortified oppida and representing

817-534: The banks of the river Autra ( Odra ), seized from the Autrigones in the late 4th century BC – to name but a few. Although its borders are difficult to define, and shifted from time to time, it can be said to have occupied all of the province of Valladolid , and parts of León , Palencia , Burgos , Segovia , Salamanca and Zamora . By the time of the arrival of the Romans , the Cea and Esla rivers separated

860-512: The central Meseta in 179 BC. Allies of the Arevaci during the Celtiberian Wars , the Vaccaei assumed a more important role by supporting their neighbors, despite being subjected to the punitive campaigns meted out by the Roman consul Lucius Licinius Luculus (151-150 BC), proconsul Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus in 142 BC, and consuls Marcus Popilius Laenas (139-138 BC) and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus Porcina in 137 BC. After

903-512: The conflict, Rome took possession of the Punic empire in Spain, and some Celtiberians soon challenged the new dominant power that loomed in the borders of its territory. Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus spent the years 182 to 179 pacifying the Celtiberians. Gracchus boasted of destroying over 300 Celtiberian settlements. In 155 BC, a raid into Hispania Ulterior (Farther Spain) by the Lusitani and

SECTION 20

#1732773185443

946-502: The consul was late in arriving and ambushed soon after, with 6,000 Romans slain. A siege of Numantia several days later, where the Segedans had taken refuge, was no more successful. Three elephants were brought up against the town walls but became frightened and turned on the Romans, who retreated in confusion. There were other setbacks, and the hapless Nobilior was obliged to withdraw to camp, where more men suffered frostbite and died of

989-753: The corpses of warriors slain in battle to the vultures, which were regarded as sacred animals, as described by Claudius Aelianus . The Vaccean homeland extended throughout the center of the northern Meseta, along both banks of the Duero River . Their capital was Pallantia (either Palencia or Palenzuela ) and Ptolemy lists in their territory some twenty towns or Civitates , including Helmantica/Salmantica (Salamanca), Arbucala (Toro), Pincia or Pintia ( Padilla de Duero – Valladolid), Intercatia ( Paredes de Nava – Palencia), Cauca ( Coca – Segovia), Septimanca ( Simancas ), Rauda ( Roa ), Dessobriga ( Oserna ) and Autraca or Austraca – located at

1032-481: The defeat of two successive Roman praetors encouraged the town of Segeda in Hispania Citerior (Nearer Spain) to rebel. The following year, it refused to pay tribute or provide a military contingent to Rome but formed instead a confederacy with neighboring towns and began the construction of a defensive wall. Quintus Fulvius Nobilior was sent against the Celtiberians in 153 BC, with nearly 30,000 men. But

1075-572: The destruction of Numantia in 134-133 BC, the Vaccaei were technically submitted and included into Hispania Citerior province; however, during the Sertorian Wars they lent their support to Quintus Sertorius , with several Vacceian towns remaining loyal to his cause even after his death. In 76 BC, Sertorius' sent one of its cavalry commanders, Gaius Insteius, to the Vacceian country in search of remounts for its battered mounted troops. The backlash came in 74 BC when Proconsul Pompey besieged

1118-463: The eastern meseta. Archeology has identified the Vaccei with the 2nd Iron Age ‘Douro Culture’ – which evolved from the previous early Iron Age ‘ Soto de Medinilla ’ (c. 800-400 BC) cultural complex of the middle Douro basin –, being also affiliated with the Turmodigi . This is confirmed by the stratigraphic study of their settlements, where have been found elements of the Vaccean culture on top of

1161-558: 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

1204-659: The fall of Salmantica and Arbucala to the Carthaginians, who defeated them at the battle on the Tagus . The Vaccaei appear to have taken no part in the 2nd Punic War , though in 193-192 BC they joined the combined force of Carpetani, Vettones , and Celtiberians that was defeated by Consul Marcus Fulvius at the battle of Toletum . Alongside the Lusitani , they were again beaten by the Praetor of Hispania Ulterior Lucius Postumius Albinus during its first incursion into

1247-533: The final centuries BC. They were explicitly mentioned as being Celts by several classic authors (e.g. Strabo ). These tribes spoke the Celtiberian language and wrote it by adapting the Iberian alphabet , in the form of the Celtiberian script . The numerous inscriptions that have been discovered, some of them extensive, have enabled scholars to classify the Celtiberian language as a Celtic language, one of

1290-512: 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 Iberia when the Mediterranean powers ( Carthage and Rome ) started their conquests. In 220 BC, the Punic army was attacked when preparing to cross the Tagus river by a coalition of Vaccei , Carpetani and Olcades . Despite these clashes, during

1333-461: The freedom of their country. But Scipio would accept only deditio (surrender). Hearing this demand for absolute submission, the Numantines, "who were previously savage in temper because of their absolute freedom and quite unaccustomed to obey the orders of others, and were now wilder than ever and beside themselves by reason of their hardships," slew their own ambassadors. After eight months,

Vaccaei - Misplaced Pages Continue

1376-475: The highlands of Ávila and Salamanca and Aliste ( Zamora ), between them and the Lusitanians . It is likely that there was some contact with the latter to the west of Zamora. Described by Paulus Orosius as a "harmless and submissive nation", the Vaccaei were actually a warrior people that participated in the 5th century BC Celtici migrations alongside off-shots of the Arevaci and Lusones to settle in

1419-436: The increased urbanization of Celtiberian society. Many late Celtiberian oppida are still occupied by modern towns, inhibiting archaeology. 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 ,

1462-526: The last formal resistance of the Celtiberian cities to Roman domination, which submerged the Celtiberian culture. 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 AD discharge diplomas . In

1505-567: The modern river Cea , prefixed by the Indo-European root *aued- (water). They often acted in concert with their neighbours, the Celtiberi, suggesting that they may have been part of the Celtiberian peoples. They had a strict egalitarian society practising land reform and communal food distribution. This society was part of an Hispano-Celtic substrate, which explains the cultural, socio-economic, linguistic and ideological affinity of

1548-413: The most advanced is the people of the Vaccaei, as they are called; for this people each year divides among its members the land which it tills and making the fruits the property of all they measure out his portion to each man, and for any cultivators who have appropriated some part for themselves they have set the penalty as death". Like the Arevaci , they also practiced the rite of excarnation by exposing

1591-517: The remains of earlier cultures. For example, at Pintia (modern-day Padilla de Duero – Valladolid ), there is evidence of continuous human settlement since Eneolithic times to the Iron Age , when the Vaccean period arose. The necropolis at Pintia is currently being excavated by an international field school students’ team every summer under the supervision of the University of Valladolid and

1634-414: The starving population was reduced to cannibalism and, filthy and foul smelling, compelled to surrender. But, "such was the love of liberty and of valour which existed in this small barbarian town," relates Appian , that many chose to kill themselves rather than capitulate. Families poisoned themselves, weapons were burned, and the beleaguered town set ablaze. There had been only about 8,000 fighting men when

1677-578: The war began; half that number survived to garrison Numantia. Only a pitiable few survived to walk in Scipio's triumph. The others were sold as slaves and the town razed to the ground, the territory divided among its neighbors. After Numantia was finally taken and destroyed, Roman cultural influences increased; this is the period of the earliest Botorrita inscribed plaque ; later plaques, significantly, are inscribed in Latin . The Sertorian War (80–72 BC) marked

1720-565: The west and southwest regions of the Iberian Peninsula . In the early 3rd Century BC they aided the smaller Turmodigi people in their liberation from the rule of the Autrigones . The Vaccaei enter the historical record around the late 3rd century BC, when in 221-220 BC they allied themselves with the Carpetani and Olcades to thwart Hannibal 's offensive into their respective territories, only to be brought into submission after

1763-404: The winter cold. Nobilior lost over 10,000 men in his campaign. In 137 BC, the Celtiberians forced the surrender of a 20,000-man Roman consular army led by Gaius Hostilius Mancinus . In 134 BC, the consul Scipio Aemilianus took charge of the demoralized Roman troops in Spain and laid siege to Numantia . Nearby fields were laid waste and what was not used burned. The stronghold of Numantia then

Vaccaei - Misplaced Pages Continue

1806-457: Was circumvallated with a ditch and palisade, behind which was a wall ten feet high. Towers were placed every hundred feet and mounted with catapults and ballistae . To blockade the nearby river, logs were placed in the water, moored by ropes on the shore. Knives and spear heads were embedded in the wood, which rotated in the strong current. Allied tribes were ordered to send reinforcements. Even Jugurtha , who later would revolt from Rome, himself,

1849-571: Was sent from Numidia with twelve war elephants. The Roman forces now numbered 60,000 men and were arrayed around the besieged town in seven camps. The Numantines, "ready though they were to die, no opportunity was given them of fighting". There were several desperate attempts to break out but they were repulsed. Nor could there be any help from neighboring towns. Eventually, as their hunger increased, envoys were sent to Scipio, asking if they would be treated with moderation if they surrendered, pleading that they had fought for their women and children, and

#442557