The Cantabri were an ancient confederacy of eleven tribes[1], perhaps Celtic, that inhabited the north coast of Hispania in the whole modern province of Cantabria, the eastern third of Asturias and the nearby mountainous regions of modern Castile-Leon. According to Strabo the Cantabrians were either formerly called Lusitanians or as according to Julius Caesar, they were a tribe of native origin. [2] Regarded as savage and untamable mountaineers, they long defied the Roman arms and made a name for themselves for their independent spirit and freedom. They were first attacked by the Romans about 150 BC. In his Gallic War[3] Julius Caesar describes how Crassus scored a victory over combined forces of Cantabri and Aquitanians, who are described as relatives, casting some doubt on the alleged Celticity of this nation. The tribe name Cantabri is a word of Ligurian origin meaning Highlanders, so the tribe may have had a different name prior to the arrival of the Romans. The names of some of the tribes and clans in their Mountains Confederation and some related traditions distinguished them from proper Celts in having elements of a previous and still strong local Culture, and by it local People, and as the classic observers noted, in common with others along the Pyrenees.
They were not subdued until Agrippa and Augustus— present in person on this campaign— had carried out a series of campaigns known as the Cantabrian Wars (29-19 BC), which ended in their partial annihilation.[4]
Thenceforward their land was part of the province of Hispania Tarraconensis, with some measure of local self-government. The remaining population was never fully Romanized, developed little town life and are rarely mentioned in history. Their culture was Latinised only after the Arab invasion to the Iberian Peninsula. They provided recruits for the Roman auxilia, like their neighbors to the west, the Astures.
Cantabria contained lead mines, of which, however, little is known.
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Notes
- ^ Kruta 2000 gives the Avarigines, Blendii (or Plentusii), Camarici, Concani, Coniaci, Moroecani, Noegi, Orgenomesci, Salaeni, Vadinienses and the Velliques.
- ^ Strabo, Geography, Book III, Chapter 4
- ^ iii.26.
- ^ Suetonius, Augustus, 21 Tiberius saw his first military experience in the campaign against the Cantabri of 25 BC, as a tribune of the soldiers. Tiberius, 9
See also
External links
References
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
- Venceslas Kruta, 2000. Les Celtes, histoire et dictionnaire, (Paris: Éditions Robert Lafont) ISBN 2-7028-6261-6
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