In
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
poetry Oestreminis ("Extreme West") was a name given to the territory of what is today modern
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
and
Galicia, comparable to ''Finis terrae'', the "end of the earth" from a Mediterranean perspective. Its inhabitants were named Oestrimni from their location.
In ''Ora Maritima'' ("Seacoasts"), a poem inspired by a much earlier Greek mariners' ''
periplus
A periplus (), or periplous, is a manuscript document that lists the ports and coastal landmarks, in order and with approximate intervening distances, that the captain of a vessel could expect to find along a shore. In that sense, the periplus wa ...
'',
Rufus Avienius Festus, Roman poet of the fourth century CE known for his pieces on geographical subjects, records that ''Oestriminis'' was peopled by the ''Oestrimni'', a people who had lived there for a long time, and had to run away from their native lands after an invasion of
serpents. His fanciful account has no archeological or historical application, but the poetical name has sometimes been ambitiously applied to popularized accounts of the Paleolithic inhabitants of Atlantic Iberia.
The expulsion of the ''Oestrimni'', from ''Ora Maritima:''
The "serpent people" of the semi-mythical
Ophiussa
Ophiussa, also spelled Ophiusa, is the ancient name given by the ancient Greeks to what is now Portuguese territory near the mouth of the river Tagus. It means Land of Serpents.
The expulsion of the ''Oestrimni''
The 4th century Roman poet Ru ...
in the far west are noted in ancient Greek sources.
See also
*
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 ...
*
Lusitanian mythology
Lusitanian mythology is the mythology of the Lusitanians, an Indo-European speaking people of western Iberia, in what was then known as Lusitania and Gallaecia. In present times, the territory comprises most of Portugal, Galicia, Extremadura and ...
*
History of Portugal
The history of Portugal can be traced from circa 400,000 years ago, when the region of present-day Portugal was inhabited by Homo heidelbergensis.
The Roman invasion in the 3rd century BC lasted several centuries, and developed the Roman provinc ...
*
Timeline of Portuguese history
__NOTOC__
This is a timeline of Portuguese history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in Portugal and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see History of Portugal.
Centurie ...
https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio_Struma
Notes
External links
Ora Maritima(in Latin)
Serpent cult in the Ancient Word (in Spanish)
Ancient Portugal
History of Galicia (Spain)
{{Portugal-hist-stub