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 in 2012 in softcover as . A Celtiberian origin has also been claimed. Organized since the 3rd Century BC, the Vettones formed a tribal confederacy of undetermined strength. Even though their tribes' names are obscure, the study of local epigraphic evidence has identified the Calontienses, Coerenses, Caluri,

Bletonesii The Bletonesii were one of the pre-Roman Celtic peoples of the Iberian Peninsula (the Roman Hispania, modern Spain and Portugal), dwelling around the city of ''Bletisa'' or ''Bletisama'', located in modern Ledesma in the province of Salamanca, Spa ...

and Seanoci, but the others remain unknown.

Culture

A predominately horse- and cattle-herder people that practiced transhumance,

archeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

has identified them with the local 2nd Iron Age ‘Cogotas II’ Culture, also known as the ‘Culture of the Verracos’ ('' verracos de piedra''), named after the crude granite sculptures representing pigs, wild boars and bulls that still dot their former region. These are one of their most notable enduring legacies today, the other possibly being the game of

Calva {{dablink, "Calva" may also refer to the Calva (river) in Romania. The term "calva" is also sometimes used to refer to the Calvaria (skull) or Calvados (brandy). Calva is a traditional sport played in certain parts of Spain. It has roots going ba ...

, which dates to the time of their influence. The Iron Age sites and respective cemeteries of Las Cogotas, La Osera, El Raso de Candeleda, La Mesa de Miranda and

Alcántara Alcántara is a municipality in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain, on the Tagus, near Portugal. The toponym is from the Arabic word ''al-Qanṭarah'' (القنطرة) meaning "the bridge". History Archaeological findings have atteste ...

have provided enough elements – weapons, shields, fibulae, belt buckles, bronze cauldrons, Campanian and Greek pottery – which attest the strong contacts with the Pellendones of the eastern meseta, the Iberian south and the Mediterranean.

Location

The Vettones lived in the northwestern part of the '' meseta''—the high central upland plain of the Iberian peninsula—the region where the modern Spanish provinces of

Ávila Ávila (, , ) is a city of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Ávila. It lies on the right bank of the Adaja river. Located more than 1,130 m a ...

and Salamanca are today, as well as parts of

Zamora Zamora may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Europe Spain * Zamora, Spain, a city in the autonomous community of Castilla y León * Province of Zamora, a province in the autonomous community of Castilla y León * Associated with the city and ...

Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Orur ...

, Cáceres and also the eastern border areas of modern Portuguese territory. Their own capital city, which the ancient sources mysteriously failed to mention at all, has not yet been found though other towns mentioned by Ptolemy were located, such as '' Capara'' ( Ventas de Cápara), ''Obila'' (

?), ''Mirobriga'' ( Ciudad Rodrigo?), ''Turgalium'' ( Trujillo, Cáceres), ''Alea'' ( Alía – Cáceres) and probably ''Bletisa'' / ''Bletisama'' ( Ledesma, Salamanca). Other probable Vettonian towns were ''Tamusia'' ( Villasviejas de Tamuja, near

Botija, Cáceres Botija is a municipality located in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain. According to the 2013 census ( INE), the municipality has a population of 193 inhabitants.Castelo Branco), ''Cottaeobriga'' ( Almeida) and ''Lancia'' (

Serra d’Opa Serra (Latin for " saw") may refer to: People * Serra (footballer) (born 1961), Portuguese footballer * Serra (surname) * Serra (given name) Cities, towns, municipalities Brazil * Serra, Espírito Santo, a city in the Greater Vitória area *Am ...

History

Traditional allies of the Lusitani, the Vettones helped the latter in their struggle against the advancing Carthaginians led by Hasdrubal the Fair and

Hannibal Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Puni ...

in the late 3rd century BC. At first placed under nominal Punic suzerainty by the time of the

Second Punic War The Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) was the second of three wars fought between Carthage and Rome, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC. For 17 years the two states struggled for supremacy, primarily in Ital ...

, the Vettones threw off their yoke soon after 206 BC. However, a mercenary contingent of Vettones accompanied Hannibal on his march to Italy, led by the chieftain Balarus.

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

, '' Punica'', III, 378-414. At the Lusitanian Wars of the 2nd century BC they joined once again the Lusitani under Punicus,

Caesarus Caesarus (known as ''Césaro'' in Portuguese and Spanish) was a chieftain of the Lusitanians, a proto-Celtic tribe from western Hispania. He followed and later replaced Punicus as their major military leader during the Lusitanian War. Biography ...

and Caucenus in their attacks on Baetica, Carpetania, the Cyneticum and the failed incursion on the North African town of ''Ocilis'' (modern Asilah, Morocco) in 153 BC. Although incorporated around 134-133 BC into Hispania Ulterior, the Vettones continued to raid the more romanized regions further south and during the Roman civil wars of the early 1st century BC, they even provided auxiliary troops to Sertorius' army in 77-76 BC. Crushed by the provincial '' propraetor''

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 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 a civil war, and ...

in 61 BC, they later rose in support of Pompey's faction and fought at the battle of Munda ( Montilla – Córdoba) in Baetica.

Romanization

In the 1st Century BC, the Romans began to establish military colonies throughout Vettonia, first at ''Kaisarobriga'' or ''Caesarobriga'' ( Talavera de la Reina –

) and ''Norba Caesarina'' (near Cáceres), latter followed by ''Metellinum'' (

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 ...

), and in around 27-13 BC the Vettones were aggregated to the newly created Roman province of

Lusitania Lusitania (; ) was an ancient Iberian Roman province located where modern Portugal (south of the Douro river) and a portion of western Spain (the present Extremadura and the province of Salamanca) lie. It was named after the Lusitani or Lusita ...

with ''Emerita Augusta'' ( Mérida) as the capital of the new province. Despite their progressive assimilation into the Roman world, the Vettones managed to retain their martial traditions, which enabled them to provide the Roman Army with an auxiliary cavalry unit ('' Ala''), the

Ala Hispanorum Vettonum Civium Romanorum Ala, ALA, Alaa or Alae may refer to: Places * Ala, Hiiu County, Estonia, a village * Ala, Valga County, Estonia, a village * Ala, Alappuzha, Kerala, India, a village * Ala, Iran, a village in Semnan Province * Ala, Gotland, Sweden * Alad, Seydu ...

, which participated in Emperor

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54) was the fourth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusu ...

' invasion of Britain in AD 43–60.

Namesake

The Vettones are not to be confused with the ''Vettonenses'', inhabitants of ''Vettona'' (today's Bettona) in Umbria.

Notes

Bibliography

*Aedeen Cremin, ''The Celts in Europe'', Sydney, Australia: Sydney Series in Celtic Studies 2, Centre for Celtic Studies, University of Sydney (1992) *Ángel Montenegro ''et alii'', ''Historia de España 2 - colonizaciones y formación de los pueblos prerromanos (1200-218 a.C)'', Editorial Gredos, Madrid (1989) *Christophe Bonnaud, ''Les castros vettons et leurs populations au Second Âge du Fer (Ve siècle-IIe siècle avant J.-C.), I: implantation et systèmes défensives'' in Revista Portuguesa de Arqueologia, pp. 209–242, volume 8, número 1, IPA Lisboa (2005) *Christophe Bonnaud, ''Les castros vettons et leurs populations au Second Âge du Fer (Ve siècle-IIe siècle avant J.-C.), II: l’habitat, l’économie, la société'' in Revista Portuguesa de Arqueologia, pp. 209–242, volume 8, número 2, IPA Lisboa (2005) *Eduardo Sánchez Moreno, ''Vetones: Historia y Arqueología de un pueblo prerromano'', Ediciones de la Universidad Autónoma, Madrid (2000) *Francisco Burillo Mozota, ''Los Celtíberos, etnias y estados'', Crítica, Grijalbo Mondadori, S.A., Barcelona (1998, revised edition 2007) *Isabel Baquedano Beltrán, ''La necrópolis vettona de La Osera (Chamartín, Ávila, España) – volumen I'', Zona Arqueológia número 19-I, Museo Arqueológico Regional, Alcalá de Henares (2016) *Isabel Baquedano Beltrán, ''La necrópolis vettona de La Osera (Chamartín, Ávila, España) – volumen II'', Zona Arqueológia número 19-II, Museo Arqueológico Regional, Alcalá de Henares (2016) *Manuel Salinas de Frías, ''Los vettones: indigenismo y romanización en el occidente de la meseta'', Ediciones Universidad Salamanca, Salamanca (2001) *Martín Almagro-Gorbea & Ana Maria Martín, ''Castros y Oppida en Extremadura'', Editorial Complutense, Madrid (1994) *Jesús R. Álvarez-Sanchís, ''Los vettones'', Real Academia de la Historia, Madrid (2003) *Jesús R. Álvarez-Sanchís, ''Los señores del ganado – Arqueología de los pueblos prerromanos en el occidente de Iberia'', Colección Arqueología, Editorial Akal, Madrid (2003) *Jonathan Edmondson, "A criação de uma sociedade provincial romana" in ''A Lusitânia Romana: fronteira do mundo antigo'', National Geographic História, edição especial, RBA Revistas S.L., Barcelona (2022), pp. 34-43. *Philip Matyszak, ''Sertorius and the struggle for Spain'', Pen & Sword Military, Barnsley (2013)

External links

Mapa del territorio vettón (Map of Vettonian Territory)
{{Pre-Roman peoples in Portugal Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula Celtic tribes of the Iberian Peninsula Ancient peoples of Spain Tribes conquered by Rome