Gallaecia, which was first called Callaecia, was the name of a Roman province in the northwest part of Hispania. This area is now part of Galicia, northern Portugal, Asturias, and León. Later, it became the Suevic and medieval kingdom of Gallaecia. Important Roman cities in the area included Auria, which is now Ourense, the port of Cale, which is now Porto, and the governing centers Lucus Augusti, which is now Lugo, Bracara Augusta, which is now Braga, and Asturica Augusta, which is now Astorga. These cities had administrative areas called Conventus Lucensis, Conventus Bracarensis, and Conventus Asturicensis, respectively.

Description

The Romans called the northwest part of Hispania, or the Iberian Peninsula, Callaecia after the Celtic people living there, the Callaeci or Callaecians.

The Gallaic people are first mentioned in writing in the first-century work Punica by Silius Italicus, which describes the First Punic War.

Callaecia was known to the Romans for two main reasons: the Callaeci’s castros, which were hillforts, and the presence of gold mines in the region. This culture covered areas that are now Galicia, northern Portugal, western Asturias, the Bierzo, and Sanabria. Ancient writers such as Pomponius Mela and Pliny the Elder noted that this culture was different from the neighboring Lusitanian culture to the south.

History

Strabo, in his book Geography, lists the people living along the northwestern Atlantic coast of Iberia.

After the Punic Wars, the Romans focused on conquering Hispania. A tribe called the Callaeci, with about 60,000 people, fought the Romans in 137 BC at the river Douro. The Romans won this battle, and their leader, Decimus Junius Brutus, returned as a hero. He was given the name Callaicus because he conquered the Callaeci. His campaign followed the Atlantic coast to the river Limia but stopped at the river Miño. This campaign was partly a punishment for events after the Lusitanian Wars. The capital of the Callaici, called Portus Cale, was finally captured by Marcus Perpena in 74 BC.

Later, in 96–94 BC, Publius Licinius Crassus led another campaign in southern Callaecia.

In 61 BC, during Julius Caesar’s time as consul, the Romans launched a naval campaign along the northern coast of Hispania. They defeated the Callaeci near a place called Brigantium.

The final conquest of Callaecia happened during the Cantabrian Wars, which took place under Emperor Augustus from 26 to 19 BC. Resistance was fierce: some people chose to commit suicide rather than surrender, and others sang hymns while being crucified.

For the Romans, Callaecia was divided into two regions called Lucensis and Bracarensis. These areas were clearly separated from other regions like Asturica, as shown in historical records:

• Legatus iuridici for Asturica and Callaecia.
• Procurator for Asturica and Callaecia.
• Cohors for Asturians and Callaecians.
• Pliny the Elder: Asturia et Callaecia.

In the 3rd century AD, the Roman emperor Diocletian created a new administrative area that included Callaecia, Asturica, and possibly Cluniense. This area was named Callaecia because it was the most important and populated region. In 409 AD, as Roman control weakened, the Suebi took over parts of Callaecia and later formed the Kingdom of Galicia, as recorded by Hydatius and Gregory of Tours.

In later years, the name Callaecia changed to Gallaecia and then Gallicia.

On the night of December 31, 406 AD, Germanic tribes like the Vandals, Alans, and Suebi crossed the Rhine into Roman territory. They traveled south, attacked Gaul, and crossed the Pyrenees. They divided parts of the Roman provinces of Carthaginiensis, Tarraconensis, Gallaecia, and Baetica. The Suebi took control of parts of Gallaecia and later established a kingdom there. After the Vandals and Alans left for North Africa, the Suebi controlled much of the Iberian Peninsula. However, the Visigoths later took back much of this land. The Visigoths eventually conquered Gallaecia.

After the Visigoths were defeated and the Moors took over much of Hispania, some Visigothic groups remained in the northern mountains, including Gallaecia. In writings by Beatus of Liébana (died 798), Gallaecia came to refer to the Christian part of the Iberian Peninsula, while Hispania referred to the Muslim-controlled areas. The Moors focused on consolidating their rule and did not expand into the mountainous regions, which had been hard to control even for the Romans.

During Charlemagne’s time, bishops from Gallaecia attended the Council of Frankfurt in 794. When Charlemagne was in Aachen, he received messages from Alfonso II of Gallaecia, as recorded in Frankish writings.

In 1029, Sancho III of Navarre referred to Bermudo III of León as Imperator domus Vermudus in Gallaecia.