The Celtiberians were a group of people who lived in the central-northeastern part of the Iberian Peninsula during the final centuries before the Common Era. Classical writers, such as Strabo, clearly described them as Celts. These tribes spoke the Celtiberian language and used the Iberian alphabet to write it, creating the Celtiberian script. Many writings found in the region, some quite long, have helped scholars determine that the Celtiberian language is a type of Celtic language. It belongs to the group of Hispano-Celtic (also called Iberian Celtic) languages spoken in Iberia before and during the early Roman period. Archaeological findings show that the Celtiberians shared similarities with Celts in Central Europe, but also had differences compared to the Hallstatt and La Tène cultures.
Scholars and classical authors do not all agree on the exact definition of the Celtiberians. The Ebro River clearly separates the Celtiberian areas from regions where people did not speak Indo-European languages. In other directions, the borders between Celtiberian and non-Celtiberian areas are less clear. Most scholars include the Arevaci, Pellendones, Belli, Titti, and Lusones as Celtiberian tribes, and sometimes include the Berones, Vaccaei, Carpetani, Olcades, or Lobetani.
In 195 BC, part of Celtiberia was conquered by the Romans. By 72 BC, the entire region became part of the Roman province of Hispania Citerior. The Celtiberians who were conquered fought long battles against the Romans, with uprisings occurring between 195–193 BC, 181–179 BC, 153–151 BC, and 143–133 BC. In 105 BC, Celtiberian warriors helped drive the Germanic Cimbri out of Spain during the Cimbrian War (113–101 BC). They also played an important role in the Sertorian War (80–72 BC).
Etymology
The word "Celtiberi" is mentioned in writings by Diodorus Siculus, Appian, and Martial. These writers believed that Celts and Iberians married each other after many years of fighting. However, Barry Cunliffe suggested that this idea might not be certain. Strabo viewed the Celtiberians as a group connected to the Celti. Pliny the Elder believed the Celts originally lived in the area of the Celtici in southwest Iberia. He based this on similarities in religious practices, language, and city names.
History
Strabo mentions that Ephorus believed Celts lived in the Iberian Peninsula as far as Cádiz.
Celtic people may have lived in Iberia as early as the 6th century BC. At that time, settlements called castros showed a new type of permanence with stone walls and protective ditches. Archaeologists Martín Almagro Gorbea and Alberto José Lorrio Alvarado note that the iron tools and extended family structure of developed Celtiberian culture evolved from an earlier castro culture they call "proto-Celtic."
Archaeological discoveries show that Celtiberian culture continued the traditions described by Classical writers from the late 3rd century onward. However, the ethnic map of Celtiberia was very local, made up of many tribes and nations from the 3rd century. These groups lived in fortified settlements called oppida and showed different levels of blending with local Iberian cultures.
The main area of Celtiberian culture was in the northern part of the central meseta, in the upper valleys of the Tagus and Douro rivers east of the Ebro River, in modern-day provinces of Soria, Guadalajara, Zaragoza, and Teruel. When Greek and Roman writers met the Celtiberians, they were ruled by a military aristocracy that became a hereditary elite. The dominant tribe was the Arevaci, who controlled their neighbors from strongholds at Okilis (Medinaceli) and led long resistance against Rome. Other tribes included the Belli and Titti in the Jalón valley and the Lusones to the east.
Excavations at Celtiberian strongholds like Kontebakom-Bel Botorrita, Sekaisa Segeda, and Termantia support findings from cemeteries. Aristocratic tombs from the 6th to 5th centuries BC were replaced by warrior tombs. By the 3rd century BC, weapons were no longer buried with the dead, possibly because they were needed by living fighters or because Celtiberian society became more urbanized. Many late Celtiberian oppida are still occupied by modern towns, making archaeology difficult.
Metalwork is common in Celtiberian finds because metal lasts a long time. It highlights weapons, horse gear, and items used for war. The two-edged sword later used by the Romans was already in use among the Celtiberians. The Latin word lancea, meaning a thrown spear, came from the Iberian language, according to Varro. Celtiberian culture became more influenced by Rome in the last two centuries of the BC era.
Starting in the 3rd century BC, the clan became less important as the political unit. Instead, fortified cities called oppida became central, with castros as smaller settlements. Roman historians called these cities civitates, which could form alliances and even mint coins. However, old clan structures remained in the organization of Celtiberian armies, leading to problems with strategy and control.
The Celtiberians were the most influential group in Iberia when Mediterranean powers like Carthage and Rome began their conquests. In 220 BC, a Punic army preparing to cross the Tagus River was attacked by a coalition of Vaccei, Carpetani, and Olcades. Despite these clashes, during the Second Punic War, Celtiberians often fought as allies or mercenaries for Carthage against Rome. They joined Hannibal’s forces when he crossed the Alps. Under Scipio Africanus, Romans secured alliances and used Celtiberian warriors against Carthaginian forces in Spain. After the war, Rome took control of the Punic empire in Spain, and some Celtiberians resisted the new Roman power. Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus spent 182 to 179 BC pacifying the Celtiberians, claiming to destroy over 300 settlements.
In 155 BC, a raid by the Lusitani and the defeat of two Roman generals encouraged the town of Segeda to rebel. The next year, Segeda refused to pay tribute or provide soldiers to Rome, instead forming a confederacy with neighboring towns and building a defensive wall. Quintus Fulvius Nobilior was sent in 153 BC with nearly 30,000 men, but he arrived late, was ambushed, and lost 6,000 soldiers. A siege of Numantia failed, with elephants turning on Roman troops. Nobilior’s campaign resulted in over 10,000 Roman deaths. In 137 BC, Celtiberians forced a 20,000-man Roman army led by Gaius Hostilius Mancinus to surrender. In 134 BC, Scipio Aemilianus took command of Roman forces in Spain and laid siege to Numantia.
To blockade the town, nearby fields were destroyed, and the city was surrounded by a ditch and palisade. A ten-foot-high wall was built, with towers every hundred feet and weapons like catapults and ballistae. Logs were placed in rivers to block movement, and knives and spearheads were embedded in the wood. Allied tribes sent reinforcements, including war elephants from Numidia. Roman forces numbered 60,000 and were arranged in seven camps around Numantia. The Numantines refused to fight and eventually surrendered after starving for eight months. Many chose to die rather than surrender, with families poisoning themselves and the town burning. Only about 4,000 of the original 8,000 fighting men survived. The rest were sold as slaves, and the town was destroyed.
After Numantia fell, Roman influence grew. This period includes the earliest Botorrita inscribed plaque, with later ones written in Latin. The Sertorian War (80–72 BC) marked the last major resistance of Celtiberian cities to Roman rule, after which Celtiberian culture was absorbed by Rome.
Genetics
In March 2019, a genetic study published in the journal Science analyzed three Celtiberians who were buried at La Hoya in Alava, which was part of the Beron territory. These individuals lived between 400 BC and 195 BC. The study found that they had higher levels of genetic connections to people from north-central Europe compared to other non-Celtic groups in Iberia. One of the males studied was found to carry a specific genetic group known as paternal haplogroup I2a1a1a.