Cantabri

The Cantabri were an ancient confederacy of eleven tribes [Kruta 2000 gives the Avarigines, Blendii (or Plentusii), Camarici, Concani, Coniaci, Moroecani, Noegi, Orgenomesci, Salaeni, Vadinienses and the Velliques.] , either Celtic or pre-Indo European, 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. [ [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/3D*.html Strabo, Geography, Book III, Chapter 4] ] 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" [iii.26.] 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. [ 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]

Thenceforward their land was part of the province of Hispania Tarraconensis, with some measure of local self-government. The remaining population the 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.

Notes

ee also

*Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula

External links

* [http://www.arqueotavira.com/Mapas/Iberia/Populi.htm Detailed map of the Pre-Roman Peoples of Iberia (around 200 BC)]

References

*1911
*Venceslas Kruta, 2000. "Les Celtes, histoire et dictionnaire", (Paris: Éditions Robert Lafont) ISBN 2-7028-6261-6