Conistorgis was the main city of the Conii or Cynetes. In the Conii language it probably meant "city of the Conii". The

Celtici ] The Celtici (in Portuguese language, Portuguese, Spanish, and Galician languages, ) were a Celtic tribe or group of tribes of the Iberian peninsula, inhabiting three definite areas: in what today are the regions of Alentejo and the Algarve i ...

seem to have been present there.

Location

Conistorgis was located somewhere in the interior of the

Algarve The Algarve (, , ; from ) is the southernmost NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities ( ''concelhos'' or ''municípios'' in Portuguese). The region has its ...

, in southernmost

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal: :* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...

, although the exact location is unknown. Strabo places the land of the Conii between the river

Anas ''Anas'' is a genus of dabbling ducks. It includes the pintails, most teals, and the mallard and its close relatives. It formerly included additional species but following the publication of a molecular phylogenetic study in 2009 the genus was s ...

and Hieron Akroterion (sacred promontory), with the latter being the most extreme point of the known world. He places Conistorgis in Celtic territory. In 1990, the most likely location was considered to be Baixo Alentejo or

, northeast of Serra do Caldeirão. Some attempts have been made to identify Conistorgis with later, Roman sites. One suggestion is that Conistorgis would have been located in Beja, one of the few Portuguese cities not to have a preroman name. This hypothesis would interpret the name Conistorgis as having a Celtic origin and meaning waterless () hill () and that Julius Caesar would later rename Pax Julia. Another hypothesis is that Conistorgis would correspond to

Medellín Medellín ( or ), officially the Municipality of Medellín ( es, Municipio de Medellín), is the second-largest city in Colombia, after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Aburrá Valley, a central re ...

, Spain. None of these two suggestions are consensual among experts.

History

The Conii had made an alliance with the Romans during the conquest of the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

Appian Appian of Alexandria (; grc-gre, Ἀππιανὸς Ἀλεξανδρεύς ''Appianòs Alexandreús''; la, Appianus Alexandrinus; ) was a Ancient Greeks, Greek historian with Ancient Rome, Roman citizenship who flourished during the reigns of ...

mentions the city twice: once, between 155 and 152 BC, when the city is raided by the

Lusitanians The Lusitanians ( la, Lusitani) were an Indo-European speaking people living in the west of the Iberian Peninsula prior to its conquest by the Roman Republic and the subsequent incorporation of the territory into the Roman province of Lusitania ...

, led by Caucenus, during the

Lusitanian War The Lusitanian War, called ''Pyrinos Polemos'' ("the Fiery War") in Greek, was a war of resistance fought by the Lusitanian tribes of Hispania Ulterior against the advancing legions of the Roman Republic from 155 to 139 BC. The Lusitanians rev ...

against

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. The second time is when

Servius Sulpicius Galba Servius Sulpicius Galba may refer to: * Servius Sulpicius Galba (consul 144 BC) * Servius Sulpicius Galba (consul 108 BC) * Servius Sulpicius Galba (praetor 54 BC), assassin of Julius Caesar * Galba Galba (; born Servius Sulpicius Galba; 2 ...

retreats into the city around 150 BC, after his first battle against the Lusitanians.Appian's Roman History, Book VI. https://archive.org/details/appiansromanhist01appi/page/226/mode/2up Thus, the city was reconquered between 155 BC and 150 BC, probably by

Marcus Atilius Marcus, Markus, Márkus or Mărcuș may refer to: * Marcus (name), a masculine given name * Marcus (praenomen), a Roman personal name Places * Marcus, a Asteroid belt, main belt asteroid, also known as List of minor planets: 369001–370000#088, ( ...

, when he fights against the Lusitanians and

Vettones The Vettones (Greek: ''Ouettones'') were a pre-Roman people of the Iberian Peninsula of possibly Celtic ethnicity. Origins Lujan (2007) concludes that some of the names of the Vettones show clearly western Hispano-Celtic features. Reissued ...

. During the

Sertorian War The Sertorian War was a civil war fought from 80 to 72 BC between a faction of Roman rebels ( Sertorians) and the government in Rome (Sullans). The war was fought on the Iberian Peninsula (called ''Hispania'' by the Romans) and was one of th ...

, Conistorgis is again attacked. The Sertorian forces attack the Roman forces garrisoned in Conistorgis.

References

* Mattoso, José (dir.), História de Portugal. Primeiro Volume: Antes de Portugal, Lisboa, Círculo de Leitores, 1992. (in Portuguese) * * Strabo, Geographika
III, 2, 2
*Muñoz, Mauricio Pasto: ''Viriato, A Luta pela Liberdade'' Ésquilo, 2003 (third edition; ).

External links

Destroyed cities Roman towns and cities in Portugal History of the Algarve {{AncientRome-stub

Location

History

See also

References

External links