Gallaecia, also known as Hispania Gallaecia, was the name of a

Roman province The Roman provinces (, pl. ) were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was ruled by a Roman appointed as Roman g ...

in the north-west of

Hispania Hispania was the Ancient Rome, Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two Roman province, provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior. During the Principate, Hispania Ulterior was divide ...

, approximately present-day Galicia,

northern Portugal The North Region ( ) or Northern Portugal is the most populous region in Portugal, ahead of Lisbon, and the third most extensive by area. The region has 3,576,205 inhabitants according to the 2017 census, and its area is with a density of 173 inha ...

Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...

and

Leon Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...

and the later

Kingdom of Gallaecia The Kingdom of the Suebi (), also called the Kingdom of Galicia () or Suebi Kingdom of Galicia (), was a Germanic post-Roman kingdom that was one of the first to separate from the Roman Empire. Based in the former Roman provinces of Gallaecia ...

. The Roman cities included the port Cale (Porto), the governing centers

Bracara Augusta Braga (; ) is a city and a municipality, capital of the northwestern Portuguese district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality had a resident population of 201,583 inhabitants (in 2023), representing t ...

(Braga), Lucus Augusti (Lugo) and

Asturica Augusta Asturica Augusta was a Ancient Rome, Roman city corresponding to the Spanish city of Astorga, Spain, Astorga, in the province of León, Spain, León. Founded around 14 B.C. as a camp of the Legio X Gemina, at the beginning of the first century it ...

(Astorga) and their administrative areas Conventus bracarensis, Conventus lucensis and Conventus asturicensis.

Description

The Romans named the northwest part of Hispania or the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

''Gallaecia'' after the

Celtic tribes This is a list of ancient Celts, Celtic peoples and tribes. Continental Celts Continental Celts were the Celtic peoples that inhabited mainland Europe and Anatolia (also known as Asia Minor). In the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, Celts inhabited a la ...

of the area the

Gallaeci The Gallaeci (also Callaeci or Callaici; ) were a Celtic tribal complex who inhabited Gallaecia, the north-western corner of Iberia, a region roughly corresponding to what is now the Norte Region in northern Portugal, and the Spanish regions ...

or Gallaecians. The Gallaic make their entry into written history in the first-century epic ''Punica'' of

Silius Italicus Tiberius Catius Asconius Silius Italicus (, c. 26 – c. 101 AD) was a Roman senator, orator and epic poet of the Silver Age of Latin literature. His only surviving work is the 17-book '' Punica'', an epic poem about the Second Punic War and the ...

on the

First Punic War The First Punic War (264–241 BC) was the first of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the early 3rd century BC. For 23 years, in the longest continuous conflict and grea ...

(Book III pp. 344–347) "Rich Gallaecia sent its youths, wise in the knowledge of divination by the entrails of beasts, by feathers and flames—who, now crying out the
barbarian A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...
song of their native tongue, now alternately stamping the ground in their rhythmic dances until the ground rang, and accompanying the playing with sonorous " (a was a small type of
shield A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry like spears or long ranged projectiles suc ...
used in the region).

Gallaecia, as a region, was thus marked for the Romans as much for the Gallaeci's ''castros'', a system of

hillfort A hillfort is a type of fortification, fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late Bronze Age Europe, European Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, Iron Age. So ...

s, as it was for the lure of its gold mines. This culture extended over present day Galicia, the north of

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, the western part of

, the

Bierzo El Bierzo (; or ''El Bierzu''; ) is a ''comarca'' in the province of León, Spain. Its capital is the town of Ponferrada. Other major towns are Bembibre and Villafranca del Bierzo, the historical capital. The territory of El Bierzo includ ...

, and Sanabria and was distinct from the neighbouring Lusitanian culture to the south according to the classical authors

Pomponius Mela Pomponius Mela, who wrote around AD 43, was the earliest known Roman geographer. He was born at the end of the 1st century BC in Tingentera (now Algeciras) and died AD 45. His short work (''De situ orbis libri III.'') remained in use nea ...

and

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

.Among them the Praestamarci, Supertamarci, Nerii, Artabri, and in general all people living by the seashore except for the Grovi of southern Galicia and northern Portugal: 'Totam Celtici colunt, sed a Durio ad flexum Grovi, fluuntque per eos Avo, Celadus, Nebis, Minius et cui oblivionis cognomen est Limia. Flexus ipse Lambriacam urbem amplexus recipit fluvios Laeron et Ullam. Partem quae prominet Praesamarchi habitant, perque eos Tamaris et Sars flumina non-longe orta decurrunt, Tamaris secundum Ebora portum, Sars iuxta turrem Augusti titulo memorabilem. Cetera super Tamarici Nerique incolunt in eo tractu ultimi. Hactenus enim ad occidentem versa litora pertinent. Deinde ad septentriones toto latere terra convertitur a Celtico promunturio ad Pyrenaeum usque. Perpetua eius ora, nisi ubi modici recessus ac parva promunturia sunt, ad Cantabros paene recta est. In ea primum Artabri sunt etiamnum Celticae gentis, deinde Astyres.', Pomponius Mela, Chorographia, III. 7–9. At a far later date, the mythic history that was encapsulated in ''

Lebor Gabála Érenn ''Lebor Gabála Érenn'' (literally "The Book of Ireland's Taking"; Modern Irish spelling: ''Leabhar Gabhála Éireann'', known in English as ''The Book of Invasions'') is a collection of poems and prose narratives in the Irish language inten ...

'' credited Gallaecia as the point from which the Gaels sailed to conquer

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, as they had Gallaecia, by force of arms.

History

Pre-Roman Gallaecia

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

in his ''

Geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

'' lists the people of the northwestern Atlantic coast of Iberia as follows:

... then the Vettonians and the Vaccaeans, through whose territory the Durius ouroRiver flows, which affords a crossing at Acutia, a city of the Vaccaeans; and last, the Callaicans, allaicanswho occupy a very considerable part of the mountainous country. For this reason, since they were very hard to fight with, the Callaicans themselves have not only furnished the surname for the man who defeated the Lusitanians eaning Decimus Junius Brutus Callaicus, Roman general">Decimus_Junius_Brutus_Callaicus.html" ;"title="eaning Decimus Junius Brutus Callaicus">eaning Decimus Junius Brutus Callaicus, Roman generalbut they have also brought it about that now, already, most of the Lusitanians are called Callaicans.

Roman Gallaecia

After the Punic Wars, the Romans turned their attention to conquering Hispania. The tribe of the ''

'' 60,000 strong, according to Paulus Orosius, faced the Roman forces in 137 Anno Domini, BC in a battle at the river Douro (, , , ), which resulted in a great Roman victory, by virtue of which the Roman proconsul Decimus Junius Brutus Callaicus, Decimus Junius Brutus returned a hero, receiving the

agnomen An ''agnomen'' (; : ''agnomina''), in the Roman naming convention, was a nickname, just as the ''cognomen'' had been initially. However, the ''cognomina'' eventually became family names, and so ''agnomina'' were needed to distinguish between sim ...

''Callaicus'' ('conqueror of the Callaicoi', a Gallaecian tribe inhabiting the southernmost region of Gallaecia by the mouth of the Douro), his campaign followed the Atlantic coast all the way to the river

Limia ''Limia'' is a genus of livebearing fishes belonging to the Cyprinodontiform family Poeciliidae. It comprises 22 described species found in fresh, brackish, saltwater, and hypersaline habitats of the Greater Antilles islands in the Caribbea ...

, but no further than the river Miño. This campaign was largely a punitive one, in the context of the aftermath of the Lusitanian wars, as the capital of the Callaici (

Portus Cale Portus Cale was an ancient town and port in present-day northern Portugal, in the area of today's Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia. The name of the town eventually influenced the name of the subsequent country of Portugal, from the 9th century onward ...

) was only definitively occupied by Marcus Perpena in 74 BC. Further incursions in southern Gallaecia, included Publius Licinius Crassus's campaign of 96–94 BC. The first incursion into Northern Gallaecia happened in 61 BC, during Julius Caesar's consulship, a largely naval-based campaign across the entire Northern Hispanic coastline, defeating the Gallaecians a battle near Brigantium. The final conquest of Gallaecia happened during the

Cantabrian Wars The Cantabrian Wars (29–19 BC) (''Bellum Cantabricum''), sometimes also referred to as the Cantabrian and Asturian Wars (''Bellum Cantabricum et Asturicum''), were the final stage of the two-century long Roman conquest of Hispania, in what to ...

, fought under the Emperor

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

from 26 to 19 BC. The resistance was appalling: collective suicide rather than surrender, mothers who killed their children before committing suicide, crucified prisoners of war who sang triumphant hymns, rebellions of captives who killed their guards and returned home from

Gaul Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...

. For Rome, Gallaecia was a region formed exclusively by two —the and the —and was distinguished clearly from other zones like the Asturica, according to written sources: *Legatus iuridici to per ASTURIAE ET GALLAECIAE. *Procurator ASTURIAE ET GALLAECIAE. *Cohors ASTURUM ET GALLAECORUM. * Pliny: ASTURIA ET GALLAECIA In the 3rd century AD,

Diocletian Diocletian ( ; ; ; 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed Jovius, was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Diocles to a family of low status in the Roman province of Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia. As with other Illyri ...

created an administrative division which included the of Gallaecia, Asturica, and possibly Cluniense. This province took the name of Gallaecia since it was the most populous and important zone within the province. In 409, as Roman control collapsed, the

Suebi file:1st century Germani.png, 300px, The approximate positions of some Germanic peoples reported by Graeco-Roman authors in the 1st century. Suebian peoples in red, and other Irminones in purple. The Suebi (also spelled Suavi, Suevi or Suebians ...

conquests transformed Roman Gallaecia (convents Lucense and Bracarense) into the

Kingdom of Galicia The Kingdom of Galicia was a political entity located in southwestern Europe, which at its territorial zenith occupied the entire northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. In the early 10th century, the Kingdom of Galicia was formed following the div ...

(the recorded by

Hydatius Hydatius, also spelled Idacius () was a late Western Roman writer and clergyman. The bishop of Aquae Flaviae in the Roman province of Gallaecia (almost certainly the modern Chaves, Portugal, in the modern district of Vila Real), he was the author o ...

and

Gregory of Tours Gregory of Tours (born ; 30 November – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours during the Merovingian period and is known as the "father of French history". He was a prelate in the Merovingian kingdom, encom ...

Roman governors

Aconius Catullinus Philomatius Aconius Catullinus Philomatius ( 338–349 AD) was a Roman senator who held high state offices under the emperor Constans. Biography Aconius (or Aco) Catullinus was probably a son of the identically-named senator who served as governor of Afri ...

, before 338

Later Gallaecia

On the night of 31 December 406 AD, several Germanic barbarian tribes, the

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic people who were first reported in the written records as inhabitants of what is now Poland, during the period of the Roman Empire. Much later, in the fifth century, a group of Vandals led by kings established Vand ...

Alans The Alans () were an ancient and medieval Iranian peoples, Iranic Eurasian nomads, nomadic pastoral people who migrated to what is today North Caucasus – while some continued on to Europe and later North Africa. They are generally regarded ...

, and

, swept over the Roman frontier on the Rhine. They advanced south, pillaging

, and crossed the Pyrenees. They set about dividing up the Roman provinces of

Carthaginiensis Hispania Carthaginiensis or Carthaginensis (Latin for " Carthaginian Spain") was a province of the Roman Empire with its capital at Carthago Nova ("New Carthage", modern Cartagena). It covered the central Mediterranean coast of Spain around th ...

Tarraconensis Hispania Tarraconensis was one of three Roman provinces in Hispania. It encompassed much of the northern, eastern and central territories of modern Spain along with modern northern Portugal. Southern Spain, the region now called Andalusia, was t ...

, Gallaecia, and

Baetica Hispania Baetica, often abbreviated Baetica, was one of three Roman provinces created in Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula) in 27 BC. Baetica was bordered to the west by Lusitania, and to the northeast by Tarraconensis. Baetica remained one of ...

. The Suebi took part of Gallaecia, where they later established a kingdom. After the Vandals and Alans left for North Africa, the Suebi took control of much of the Iberian Peninsula. However,

Visigothic The Visigoths (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied barbarian military group united under the comman ...

campaigns took much of this territory back. The Visigoths emerged victorious in the wars that followed, and eventually annexed Gallaecia. After the Visigothic defeat and the annexation of much of Hispania by the

Moors The term Moor is an Endonym and exonym, exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslims, Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a s ...

, a group of Visigothic states survived in the northern mountains, including Gallaecia. In

Beatus of Liébana Beatus of Liébana (; ) was a monk, theologian, and author of the '' Commentary on the Apocalypse'', mostly a compendium of previous authorities' views on the biblical '' Book of Revelation'' or ''Apocalypse of John''. This had a local influenc ...

(d. 798), ''Gallaecia'' became used to refer to the Christian part of the

, whereas ''Hispania'' was used for the Muslim one. The emirs, preferring to focus on the task of consolidation of conquered territory, ultimately never expanded into these highly defended mountains, which the Romans before them also had taken generations to incorporate. In

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

's time, bishops of Gallaecia attended the Council of Frankfurt in 794. During his residence in

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

, he received embassies from Alfonso II of Gallaecia, according to the Frankish chronicles.

Sancho III of Navarre Sancho Garcés III ( 992–996 – 18 October 1035), also known as Sancho the Great (, ), was the King of Pamplona from 1004 until his death in 1035. He also ruled the County of Aragon and by marriage the counties of Castile, Álava and Monzón ...

in 1029 refers to

Bermudo III of León Bermudo III or Vermudo III ( 1015– 4 September 1037) was the king of León from 1028 until his death. He was a son of Alfonso V of León by his first wife Elvira Menéndez (died 1022), Elvira Menéndez, and was the last Astur-Leonese dynasty, s ...

as .

References

Bibliography

* Alföldy, Géza (2000), ''Provincia Hispania superior'', Heidelberg, . * Coutinhas, José Manuel (2006), ''Aproximação à identidade etno-cultural dos Callaeci Bracari'', Porto.

External links

Alfonso Carbonell Lombardero, "The Gaels in Gallaecia_1.00"

Alfonso Carbonell Lombardero, "The Gaels in Gallaecia"

Luís Magarinhos Igrejas, "Sobre a origem e significado das palavras Portugal e Galiza"

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060215213829/http://www.eixoatlantico.com/documentos/rutas.pdf Rutas Arqueolóxicas do Eixo Atlántico – Roteiro Arqueológico do Eixo Atlântico {{Celts Late Roman provinces History of Galicia (Spain) States and territories established in the 3rd century