The Turduli Veteres, translated as "Ancient Turduli" or "Old Turduli" were an ancient pre-Roman tribe of present day Portugal, akin to the Calaicians or Gallaeci and

Lusitanians 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 ...

Location

The Turduli Veteres territory was located south of the estuary of the river

Douro The Douro (, , , ; ; ) is the largest river of the Iberian Peninsula by discharge. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in the Spanish Soria Province, province of Soria, meanders briefly south, then flows generally west through the northern par ...

, in the north of modern

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 ...

, being neighbors of the Paesuri. Their capital was ''Langobriga'' ( Fiães – Santa Maria da Feira); other Turduli Veteres' towns were '' Talabriga'' (situated either in the vicinity of Branca, Albergaria-a-Velha or Marnel, Lamas do Vouga – Águeda) and possibly ''Oppidum Vacca'' ( Cabeço do Vouga – Águeda). They also dwelt around Vila Nova de Gaia as evidenced by the two bronze plaques (''Tesserae Hospitales'') found in Monte Murado in Pedroso.

History

The Turduli Veteres appear to have originated as an off-shot of the Turduli of ancient south-west Iberia. Alongside the Celtici, the Turduli Veteres migrated northwards around the 5th century BC, before settling in a coastal region situated along the lower Douro and ''Vacca'' ( Vouga) river basins (i.e. north-western parts of present-day Beira Litoral). Unlike related and neighbouring peoples, the Turduli Veteres did not fell under Carthaginian rule during the later 3rd Century BC. Neither is there any evidence that they took part in 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 ...

. It is still not clear if they played any significant role in the Lusitanian Wars of the 2nd century BC. Moreover, the Turduli Veteres, unlike the Turduli Oppidani (located in the west coastal areas of modern Portugal), appear to have remained independent until the late 2nd century BC and to have resisted attempts by 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 ...

and Gallaeci to incorporate them into their respective tribal federations.

Roman incursions, dominance and Romanization

Being relatively unaccustomed to interaction with and dominance by other peoples, the Turduli Veteres (like the Lusitani and Gallaeci), bore the brunt of the first Roman forays into north-west Iberia. According to Roman accounts, the Veteres supported the Lusitani and in 138-136 BC, the Roman

Consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

Decimus Junius Brutus retaliated by temporarily occupying the Veteres' hillfort of Talabriga and laid waste to a significant proportion of the Veteres' lands. In 61-60 BC, the Veteres and the Oppidani were defeated and incorporated into

Hispania Ulterior Hispania Ulterior (English: "Further Hispania", or occasionally "Thither Hispania") was a Roman province located in Hispania (on the Iberian Peninsula) during the Roman Republic, roughly located in Baetica and in the Guadalquivir valley of moder ...

province by the

Propraetor In ancient Rome, a promagistrate () was a person who was granted the power via '' prorogation'' to act in place of an ordinary magistrate in the field. This was normally ''pro consule'' or ''pro praetore'', that is, in place of a consul or praet ...

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

Cassius Dio Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history of ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

, ''Romaïké istoría'', 37, 52-55. In 27-13 BC, the Turduli Veteres were in turn aggregated into the Roman province of

Lusitania Lusitania (; ) was an ancient Iberian Roman province encompassing most of modern-day Portugal (south of the Douro River) and a large portion of western Spain (the present Extremadura and Province of Salamanca). Romans named the region after th ...

during the reign of 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 ...

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 José Lorrio Alvarado, ''Los Celtíberos'', Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Murcia (1997) * Francisco Burillo Mozota, ''Los Celtíberos, etnias y estados'', Crítica, Barcelona (1998, revised edition 2007) * Jorge de Alarcão, ''O Domínio Romano em Portugal'', Publicações Europa-América, Lisboa (1988) * Jorge de Alarcão ''et alii'', ''De Ulisses a Viriato – O primeiro milénio a.C.'', Museu Nacional de Arqueologia, Instituto Português de Museus, Lisboa (1996) * Luis Berrocal-Rangel, ''Los pueblos célticos del soroeste de la Península Ibérica'', Editorial Complutense, Madrid (1992)

External links