The Titii or Tithii were a small and obscure Celtiberian people,Cremin, ''The Celts in Europe'' (1992), p. 57. whose lands were located along the middle Jalón and upper Tajuña valleys, somewhere between Alhama de Aragón in

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

and

Molina de Aragón Molina de Aragón is a municipality located in the province of Guadalajara, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. According to the 2009 census ( INE), the municipality had a population of 3,671 inhabitants. It held the record (−28.2 °C) for the lowes ...

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

provinces.

Origins

The Titii were of

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

origin, whose ancestors probably migrated to 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 ...

around the 4th Century BC, and part of the

Celtiberians The Celtiberians were a group of Celts and Celticized peoples inhabiting an area in the central-northeastern Iberian Peninsula during the final centuries BC. They were explicitly mentioned as being Celts by several classic authors (e.g. Strabo) ...

. There is an overwhelming amount of evidence that the ancestors of the Celtiberian groups were installed in the Meseta area of the

from at least 1000 BC and probably much earlier.

Culture

Spain Iberian-Celtic helmet of the Chalcidian type 02

Due to the lack of extensive archaeological surveys, no

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

settlements connected with this people were ever found in the area. Nevertheless, analysis of numismatic finds from the Jalón- Tajuña (ancient ''Tagonius'') area has led some archaeologists to relate the

mints A mint or breath mint is a food item often consumed as an after-meal refreshment or before business and social engagements to improve breath odor. Mints are commonly believed to soothe the stomach, given their association with natural byproducts ...

of three unknown Celtiberian towns – ''Aratis/Aratikos'', ''Titum'', and ''Titiakos'' – with the Titii, pointing Titum as their presumed capital. It was only in 2016 that the town of Aratis/Aratikos was rediscovered and identified with the

site of Castejón I – El Romeral at Aranda de Moncayo in Zaragoza province. Between 1993 and 2013, the five-

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...

site was plundered by Ricardo Granada Pérez, a local

retiree A pensioner is a person who receives a pension, most commonly because of retirement from the workforce. This is a term typically used in the United Kingdom (along with OAP, initialism of old-age pensioner), Ireland and Australia where someone of p ...

turned

treasure hunter Treasure hunting is the physical search for treasure. One of the most popular types of modern day treasure hunters are historic shipwreck salvors. These underwater treasure salvors try to find sunken shipwrecks and retrieve artifacts with both ...

who, by using

metal detector A metal detector is an instrument that detects the nearby presence of metal. Metal detectors are useful for finding metal objects on the surface, underground, and under water. A metal detector consists of a control box, an adjustable shaft, and ...

s and a GPR, illegally excavated 4,000 archeological artifacts dating from the 3rd to 1st centuries BC, including a set of eighteen celtiberian helmets of the Chalcidian type (a.k.a. Iberian-Celtic or Hispano-Chalcidian) that were smuggled out of Spain and sold at auctions held in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

Oberhaslach Oberhaslach is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. Population See also * Niederhaslach, a neighbouring commune * Communes of the Bas-Rhin department The following is a list of the 514 communes of t ...

in France. Out of this total, sixteen helmets were bought by the German building contractor and collector of antique weapons Axel Guttmann, who kept them on his private collection until his death in 2001.

History

Often mentioned in the ancient sources as allies or clients of the

Belli The Belli, also designated Beli or Belaiscos, were an ancient pre-Roman CelticCremin, ''The Celts in Europe'' (1992), p. 57. Celtiberian people who lived in the modern Spanish province of Zaragoza from the 3rd Century BC. Origins Apparently ...

, they were subjected to Turboletae raids in the 3rd century BC and seem to have submitted by

Carthage Carthage was an ancient city in Northern Africa, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classic ...

just prior to the

Second Punic War The Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) was the second of Punic Wars, three wars fought between Ancient Carthage, Carthage and Roman Republic, Rome, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC. For ...

, but what role they played in that conflict remains obscure. However, during the Celtiberian Wars of the 2nd century BC they sided with the

and

Arevaci The Arevaci or Aravaci (''Arevakos'', ''Arvatkos'' or ''Areukas'' in the Greek language, Greek sourcesPtolemy, ''Geographiké Hyphegésis'', II, 6, 55.), were a Celts, CelticCremin, ''The Celts in Europe'' (1992), p. 57. people who settled in the ...

against Rome, being recorded as one of the signatories of the peace treaty with Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus in 179 BC. In 147 BC they and the

initially supported Rome against the

Lusitani The Lusitanians were an Indo-European languages, Indo-European-speaking people living in the far west of the Iberian Peninsula, in present-day central Portugal and Extremadura and Castilla y Leon of Spain. It is uncertain whether the Lusitanians ...

led by

Viriathus Viriathus (also spelled Viriatus; known as Viriato in Portuguese language, Portuguese and Spanish language, Spanish; died 139 Anno Domini, BC) was the most important leader of the Lusitanians, Lusitanian people that resisted Roman Republic, Roma ...

, though three years later the Titii switched sides and alongside the

and Belli, they joined Viriathus' anti-Roman revolt. The Titii also retained their political autonomy until they were defeated alongside the Belli in 142 BC by Proconsul

Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus (c. 188 BC – 116 BC/115 BC) was a statesman and general of the Roman Republic during the second century BC. He was praetor in 148 BC, consul in 143 BC, the Proconsul of Hispania Citerior in 142 BC an ...

, being subsequently included into

Hispania Citerior Hispania Citerior (English: "Hither Iberia", or "Nearer Iberia") was a Roman province in Hispania during the Roman Republic. It was on the eastern coast of Iberia down to the town of Cartago Nova, today's Cartagena in the autonomous community of ...

province in 134 BC. During the

Sertorian War The Sertorian War was a civil war in the Roman Republic fought from 80 to 72 BC between two Roman factions, one led by Quintus Sertorius and another led by the senate as constituted in the aftermath of Sulla's civil war. The war was fough ...

s, the Titii sided with

Quintus Sertorius Quintus Sertorius ( – 73 or 72 BC) was a Roman general and statesman who led a large-scale rebellion against the Roman Senate on the Iberian Peninsula. Defying the regime of Sulla, Sertorius became the independent ruler of Hispania for m ...

and provided auxiliary troops to his army, but after the end of the war in 72 BC they merged with the Belli, Uraci and Cratistii tribes to create the Late Celtiberian people of romanized southern Celtiberia, losing their tribal identity in the process.Curchin, ''The Romanization of Central Spain: Complexity, Diversity and Change in a Provincial Hinterland'' (2004), pp. 35-36.

Notes

References

* Ángel Montenegro ''et alii'', ''Historia de España 2 - colonizaciones y formación de los pueblos prerromanos (1200-218 a.C)'', Editorial Gredos, Madrid (1989) * Alberto J. Lorrio, ''Los Celtíberos'', Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Murcia (1997) * Francisco Burillo Mozota, ''Los Celtíberos, etnias y estados'', Crítica, Barcelona (1998, revised edition 2007) * *Raimon Graells i Fabregat, Alberto José Lorrio Alvarado & Fernando Quesada Sanz, ''Cascos hispano-calcídicos: Símbolo de las elites guerreras celtibéricas'', Katalogue Vor- und Frühgeschichtlicher Altertümer, 46, Mainz, RGZM, Verlag des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums, Mainz (2014) *Raimon Graells i Fabregat, Alberto José Lorrio Alvarado & Fernando Quesada Sanz, ''Los cascos protohistóricos de Aranda de Moncayo: Una necesidad científica y patrimonial, VII Simposio sobre los Celtíberos, Nuevos Hallazgos, Nuevas Interpretaciones'', Teruel (2014) , pp. 213-221.

External links

*http://www.celtiberia.net {{Pre-Roman peoples in Spain Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula Celtic tribes of the Iberian Peninsula Ancient peoples of Spain