When the Iberian Peninsula belonged to the Celts

In the pre -Roman Hispanic there were three great cultures that dominated the majority of the Peninsula: in the south the Tartessics, which the ancient sources consider the first Hispanic civilization;In the Levante the Iberian, through which many cultural elements of the Mediterranean East entered.The third and most numerous was the Celtic, who occupied a good part of the peninsular center and was the least permeable to the external elements during the majority of its history, which goes from the ninth to the II to II to.C.

The term Celtiberia can be confusing since its meaning varies according to sources.In a strict sense, it refers to the border territory with the Iberian world - the west of Aragon and the east of Castile - that, due to contact, even preserving its Celtic character had astonished some characteristics of the Iberians such as the use of thecoin and alphabet.However, in other sources - all the Roman era - it is used to refer to the entire peninsular territory of Celtic influence, a space that is also known as Celtic Hispana.

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A particular culture

This Hispanic Celtic shared many attributes of the Celtic cultures of the rest of Europe, but it was differentiated in some aspects imposed by the weather and geography: although their settlements were sedentary, they retained some features of their past nomad such as transhumance livestock, which complementeda subsistence agriculture.His customs were similar to those of the Celts of Gaul.

The main trait shared with the Celts of the rest of Europe was their ability in metallurgy, both the war and the one -oriented to everyday, as the agricultural tools: to them the dissemination of the plow in the peninsula is due, despitethat practiced an agriculture more oriented to their own consumption than to trade.To trade, they preferred to take advantage of their bronze and iron crafts, of which the undisputed masters were.

Cuando la península Ibérica pertenecía a los celtas

Unlike the other two great pre -Roman cultures of the Peninsula, the Celtic world was much less permeable to external influences.They did not know the alphabet, with the exception of the Celtiberians, who had adopted the Phoenician just like the Iberians.As a general rule they also did not use the currency, preferring barter and merchant among them, giving rise to a very self -sufficient economy.From the other native peoples they obtained almost only ceramics - a technology in which the Iberians surpassed them thanks to the use of lathe - luxury goods in exchange for weapons and metal tools.

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Great warriors

The domain of metallurgy was associated with another identity feature of Celtic culture in general: its warrior character, which manifested very diverse aspects such as the construction of its villages, walled and located in areas of easy defense;His social organization, dominated by a warrior elite and represented in the use of weapons as prestigious symbols in funeral trousseau;And the fact that part of its economy will be based on war and looting.

Like the Iberians, the Hispanic Celts were highly appreciated as mercenaries.Carthaginians already used them from the 5th century to.C.In their struggles with the Greeks for the control of Sicily and were a vital support for the expedition of Aníbal Barca during the Second Punic War, in the third century to.C.When Rome replaced Carthage as a foreign power, the Romans realized the convenience of subjecting those bellicose peoples: the two great motifs were, on the one hand, the threat they supposed for the already romantized populations;And on the other, guarantee the safety of trade routes, since from Hispania products such as wine, oil and silver were exported.

The conquest of the Hispanic Celtic was difficult and slow, it lasted about half a century and was completed without a complete victory, since the northern peoples resisted until Augustus.The so -called Celtibean wars had some famous episodes such as the siege of Numancia that, although they concluded with the Roman victory, contributed to spread the fame of the Spanish Celts as fierce warriors, a fame that would be worth many an occupation as auxiliary in the armyRoman.

Unlike the Iberian world, where Romanization was relatively simple and the local elite quickly adopted Roman customs, in Celtic territory the process was slower.This was largely due to the fact of being inside, what the less attractive Celtiberia did for settlers and for merchants.Rome invested great resources in the development of a road network and infrastructure, to promote immigration from other areas of the Peninsula and facilitate contact with the population already romantized.Hispania had been one of the longest and most difficult conquests in Rome, but also of the most profitable, and in imperial era it became one of the jewels of the empire.

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Trial

Daily life of the Iberia Pre -Rome.Customs, culture and traditions

Carlos Díaz Sánchez

Nowtilus editions, Madrid, 2019