Lusitanians

Lusitanians are understood to be the collective of diverse pre-Roman peoples of Indo-European origin, culturally and ethnically similar, who inhabited the west of the Iberian Peninsula, around the Portuguese district of Castelo Branco and extending towards the north to the banks of the Duero River (where they bordered the Galicians), to the east to the current Portuguese border with Extremadura, and to the south to the north of Alto Alentejo. Controversy persists among researchers regarding their Celtic nature, or whether they were a native people influenced by Central European currents. It does not seem that their territories reached the Atlantic coast, where sources and epigraphy place the Turdulo Celtics. The name of its territory would serve to name the Roman province of Lusitania.

Origin of the Lusitanians

It is generally considered that the word Lusitano would come from the root, presumably Celtic, Lus or Lusis, and from the gentile suffix -tanus, which with the variants -itanus and -etanus is repeated in multiple places in the western Mediterranean (gaditanus, malacitanus, ilicitanus, turdetanus, etc). This has led to thinking that it may be a suffix of Mediterranean, and even Iberian, origin, or perhaps a Latinization of the Greek suffix -etes, -ites, -otes: for example, an inhabitant of Massalia Greek was a massaliotes, while another from Roman Massilia was a massilitanus. Why a people like the Lusitano, who were not of Iberian origin, received this suffix, perhaps was due to analogy, since the Romans met them at the same time that they came into contact with the Iberian peoples, to whom they Greeks had applied the suffix -etes.

Its origin is controversial: some scientists assign it a Celtic or "Celtic" origin, postulating that they would have arrived in the region in the 6th century BC. C., while other historians, archaeologists and linguists assign it a proto-Celtic, Italic, or simply Indo-European ethnic origin.

The few preserved writings in the Lusitanian language, found in Portuguese and Spanish territory, also maintain controversy among historians as to whether it would be a Celtic or proto-Celtic language, or Italic, or simply Indo-European. The Italic origin is supported by Francisco Villar, Rosa Pedrero, Joaquín Gorrochategui and Blanca María Prósper. Some relate the Lusitanian culture to the arrival of the Bell Beaker culture (perhaps Indo-European). Later, with the arrival of the culture of the urn fields, this Indo-European substrate would be influenced by an already fully Celtic culture, and from this mixture, together with Atlantic and Mediterranean influences, would be where the Lusitanian culture emerged.

History

Among the numerous tribes that inhabited the Iberian Peninsula when the Romans arrived, there was, in the western part, the lusitani, considered by the Romans to be the most dangerous Hispanic tribe and the one that It took more effort for them to break. It is not known exactly what their origin is. Some authors also include the Galicians in the Lusitanians, who, for their part, had the Asturians and the Celtiberians as neighbors in the east. The Galicians appear documented for the first time as part of the army of the Lusitanian leader Viriato as war mercenaries, but the Galicians (castreños) north of the Duero would later be administered by Rome as an autonomous province in Gallaecia apart from Lusitania and Hispania Tarraconense. after being conquered by Decimus Junius Brutus the Galician.

Titus Livy, writer of the 1st century BC. C., mentions them incorporated as Hispanic mercenaries in Hannibal's army, crossing the Pyrenees on the way to Italy after the destruction of Saguntum. They participated in the Battle of Trebia and in subsequent skirmishes as cavalry, generally alongside Celtiberians, and helped Hannibal's Numidian cavalry in rough terrain through which they could not easily travel. They were probably also part of the Hispanic and Gallic heavy cavalry commanded by Hasdrubal in the battle of Cannae.

The Lusitanians were considered by historians to be skilled in guerrilla fighting, as they proved when, led by Viriathus, they escaped from the siege of Gaius Vetilius and pursued him to the defile near Ronda, where they defeated the Roman troops. It is also said that they washed in the Spartan style, using oil rubs and steam baths (throwing water on hot stones) followed by a cold bath, and that they ate only one main meal per day. They practiced human sacrifices, and when the priest When the prisoner was wounded in the belly, they made predictions based on the way the victim fell. They sacrificed not only prisoners, but also horses and goats. They practiced gymnastic exercises such as boxing and racing, simulated combat on foot or on horseback; they danced in dances that required great agility of limbs to jump and crouch, and each had only one wife. They used boats made of waxed leather, or a tree trunk.

The fights of the Lusitanians against the Romans began in 193 BC. C. In the year 150 BC. C. the praetor Servius Sulpicius Galba, after having inflicted great defeats on the Lusitanians, accepted peace on the condition that they surrender their weapons, so after he saw them unarmed he surrounded them with his entire army and ordered to attack them; about 9,000 were stabbed and more than 20,000 prisoners were sold into slavery in Gaul (150 BC). This further increased the revolt and for eight years the Romans suffered heavy casualties. This fight only ended with the treacherous murder of Viriatus by three companions bribed by Roman gold. But the fighting did not stop and to try to end it, Rome sent the consul Decimus Junius Brutus to Hispania, who fortified Olissippo (Lisbon), established the base of operations in Meron near Santarém, and marched towards the North, killing and destroying everything. which he found up to the edge of the Limia River. But even so, Rome did not achieve total submission and the dominion of the north of Lusitania was only achieved with the capture of Numancia, in Celtiberia that supported the forts of the Northwest.

During the years 61 to 60 BC. C. the propraetor Gaius Julius Caesar with an army of 20 cohorts (about 10,000 men) and 5,000 local auxiliaries definitively subdued the Lusitanians.

War

Greek and Roman authors described the Lusitanians as warlike, untamed men who preferred death rather than slavery or disarmament. Their skill in warfare, particularly guerrilla warfare, earned them the honor of Strabo. nickname of the most dangerous tribe of the Iberian Peninsula.

Their warrior equipment was light, compared by Livy to the Greek peltasts, as they wore little or no armor, in order to allow them maximum agility. Strabo reports that only some wore chain mail and the three-crested Celtiberian helmets, as they preferred hardened linen tunics and leather helmets, including greaves when fighting on foot. They used the javelin (soliferrum) as their main weapons. /i>), the double-edged Celtiberian sword (gladius hispaniensis) and the sling, along with the bronze-tipped spear, the dagger and the round shield (caetra i>). They were especially skilled in using the javelin, carried in large numbers, and the shield, with which they apparently had their own style of protecting themselves.

Using their mobility and knowledge of the terrain, they executed ambushes, chases, and skirmishes with skill, and let out howls and battle songs to frighten their enemies. Because their light armor made them ineffective in combat sustained, they launched lightning attacks and retreated with the same agility.

Their cavalry was also praised by the Romans, especially for the quality of their horses, which, in addition to surpassing the speed of the Italic steeds, were strong, resilient and well-trained. Their riders had experience in climbing mountains. and travel through rough terrain, and sometimes they dismounted to fight on foot if they saw it necessary, leaving the horses tied until the time to flee.

Lusitanian banditry

Classical sources describe the Lusitanians as brigands and thieves who looted their neighbors (Appianus, Titus Livy, Diodorus). Without ruling out that, indeed, banditry or certain predatory activity against more sedentary neighboring towns, which had of agricultural resources, could constitute the way of life of some small groups of the Lusitanian population, settled in inhospitable lands of the mountainous environment of the Central System, a detailed study of the sources, as well as the circumstances in which the conquest of the plateau took place on the part of the Roman Republic, it gives rise to thinking about whether the adjectives "bandits" and "thieves" could have been a label applied to people who did not submit to Rome easily. The stereotype that in Antiquity identified a shepherd with a bandit is found applied in several sources to Viriatus (Titus Livy and Orosius). A rereading of this stereotype leads one to think that the true dedication of many Lusitanian and Veton people, described as bandits by the Romans, was shepherding, and more specifically transhumant livestock farming. An episode narrated by Livy (XXXV, 1) about one of these Lusitanian incursions seems to contain a sample of the transhumant nomad. In 193 BC C., Scipio Nasica attacked a group of Lusitanians who were returning to his land after devastating Hispania Ulterior, according to the Latin historian. Despite a fight with an uncertain ending, the Romans achieved victory thanks to the fact that the Lusitanians were in a long column, with a large number of animals that made their movements difficult. A meticulous review of the circumstances of this episode, as well as other similar ones narrated by Latin historians, shows a very great similarity with the movements of cattle that would correspond to a transhumant cattle ranch. This model of livestock farming, which on the other hand we know has been regulated in the Iberian Peninsula since the Middle Ages, could very well have been the true way of life of those Lusitanians described as bandits by the Romans.

Religion

The Lusitanian people adopted Celtic and Roman cults while influencing these cultures with their own creeds. The supreme god was Endovelicus, god of the sun and health, although he formed a triumvirate with Ataegina, goddess of rebirth and nature, and Runesocesius, god of javelins.

It was customary among the Lusitanians to celebrate animal and human sacrifices in honor of their gods, and like so many other pagan cults of the time, the main purposes of their religion were to pray for health and protection for oneself and to curse to others.

• Ares: horse god. To avoid its confusion with other gods, such as the Greek or the Spartan, it is common for it to be called Ares Lusitani.

• Ataecina (Portuguese and Spanish 'Atégina'): goddess of rebirth (spring), fertility, nature and medicine; as well as of the moon in Lusitania. His name comes from the Celtic Ate + Genawhose meaning is "release."
  Counting on the goat as a sacred animal, he had a devotional cult invoked when someone needed a cure or wanted to throw a plague (or even lead to death) on another person.
  She was venerated in Lusitania and Bética, with dedicated shrines in Elvas (Portugal), and Mérida and Cáceres (Spain), highlighting her proximity to the Guadiana River. It was one of the main goddess worshiped in Myrtilis (today Mértola, Portugal), Pax Julia (Beja, Portugal) and especially in Turobriga (Aroche, province of Huelva), this in the southern border of the region called Baeturia Celticorum Or Celtic Beturia.
  During the period of Roman domination there was a relationship between this goddess and Proserpina, which is revealed in various inscriptions that pray ATAEGINA TURIBRIGENSIS PROSERPINA (laughs)Atégina, Proserpina turibrigense).

• Bandagona: of unknown domain, she was a goddess of the Lusitan Celts.

• Bormanico: god of hot water springs.

• Caricocecus: god of war, equivalent to the Roman Mars and the Greek Ares. It was customary among the Lusitans to cut off the right hand of the prisoners and consecrate it to Cariocecus; as well as executing human sacrifices, during which the priest would practice a cut in the victim's stomach to make predictions about the future through the appearance of the viscera, as well as observing the way the body fell to the ground after the sacrifice. The Greek Strabon confirms that they offered a goat, prisoners and horses.

• Duberdicus: god of fountains and water.

• Navia: goddess of rivers and water.

• Runesocesius: god of the Jabalins, possessor of a mysterious nature and a martial character.

• Sucellus or Sucellos: Celtic god of agriculture, forests and alcoholic beverages; husband of Nantosuelta.
  It is usually represented as a middle-aged barbudo man holding a long handle hammer, although it may be a ton of beer anchored to a stick. If he is represented alongside his wife, they are accompanied by various symbols associated with prosperity and domesticity.

Eleven inscriptions have been found that mention Sucellus, being assimilated to the god Silvanus in the one found in Augusta Rauricorum (current Augst):

In honor(em) /

d(omus) d(ivinae) deo

cello Silv(ano) /

Spart(us) l(ocus) d(atus) d(ecreto) d(ecurionum)

(In honor of the divine house, it was given to the god Sucelo-Silvano Esparto by decree of the decurions)
His name comes from the Gaelic -cellos (& # 39; the one who hits & # 39;), derived from *-kel-do-s ; from which also comes the Latin word per-cellere ('beat down'), the Greek klao ('break') and the Lithuanian kálti ('forge'). Adding the prefix su-, which means 'good' or 'good', its meaning would be 'he who strikes well', a very appropriate name for a god armed with a hammer.

• Tongoenabiagus: God of the source of promises.

• Trebaruna: home goddess, battles and death.

• TuriacusGod of power enters the tribe of the groves.
  Latin name TVRIACVS, the root "tur" (from "tor") suggests the meaning of "king" or "sir".

The Lusitanian dragon

Represented as a green dragon with a serpentine tail, the Lusitanian dragon was a sea creature as common in Portuguese iconography as the Napoleonic eagle would be in France, or the lion among English emblems. It seems that this symbol was carried by the Lusitanians, remaining as a legacy in Portuguese symbology.
Although it is not certain that it was ever used to decorate the sails of any ship, despite the fact that the dragon was a very popular monster in Portuguese mythology during the Age of Exploration, it did serve to decorate numerous maps (accompanying the legend hic sunt Dragons, here are the dragons) and epic stories. After a while, a pair of these dragons would adorn the royal coat of arms of Portugal.
Other theories, far from the Lusitanian origin, suggest that it appeared during the Middle Ages as part of the cult of Saint George, patron saint of Portugal and some regions of Extremadura, such as the city of Cáceres. Thus, the chronicles of the time say that the knights under the orders of General Nuno Álvares Pereira carried a banner with the green dragon to celebrate the battle of Aljubarrota in 1385 (occurred in the field of San Jorge), perhaps even having some relationship the icon with the Welsh archers that accompanied them.