The Uraci or Duraci (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: ''Urakoi'') were a little-known Celtic people of pre-

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Iberia The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

who dwelt to the east of the

Vaccaei The Vaccaei or Vaccei were a pre-Roman Celtic people of Spain, who inhabited the sedimentary plains of the central Duero valley, in the Meseta Central of northern Hispania (specifically in Castile and León). Their capital was ''Intercatia'' in P ...

and the

Carpetani The Carpetani (Greek: ''Karpetanoi'') were one of the Celtic pre- Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula (the Roman Hispania, modern Spain and Portugal), akin to the Celtiberians, dwelling in the central part of the '' meseta'' - the high centr ...

, occupying the southern

Soria Soria () is a municipality and a Spanish city, located on the Douro river in the east of the autonomous community of Castile and León and capital of the province of Soria. Its population is 38,881 ( INE, 2017), 43.7% of the provincial populati ...

, northern Guadalajara and western

Zaragoza province Zaragoza (), also called Saragossa in English,''Encyclopædia Britannica''Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)/ref> is a province of northern Spain, in the central part of the autonomous community of Aragon. Its capital is Zaragoza, which is also t ...

s since the 4th century BC. Iberia_300BC-en

Origins

Of mixed Illyrian and Gallic origin, the latter possibly related to the Helvetic

Rauraci The Rauraci or Raurici were a small Gallic tribe dwelling in the Upper Rhine region, around the present-day city of Basel, during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Name They are mentioned as ''Rauracis'' and ''Rauracorum'' by Caesar (mid-1st c. ...

, the Uraci migrated to the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, def ...

around the 4th Century BC during the Celtic migration, and their tribal name can be roughly translated as "those

laced Lace is a lightweight fabric patterned with open holes. Lace(s) may also refer to: Arts and media Films * Lace (1926 film), ''Lace'' (1926 film), a German silent crime film * Lace (1928 film), ''Lace'' (1928 film), a Soviet silent film * Laces ( ...

farther apart".

Location

The Uraci settled the eastern meseta and the southern slopes of the Central Iberian System mountains between the upper

Duero The Douro (, , ; es, Duero ; la, Durius) is the highest-flow river of the Iberian Peninsula. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in Soria Province, central Spain, meanders south briefly then flows generally west through the north-west part of ...

and upper Henares rivers, being neighbours of the

. Their capital was the town of ''Lutiaca'' (

Luzaga Luzaga is a village and municipality in the province of Guadalajara, Spain, part of the autonomous community eu, autonomia erkidegoa ca, comunitat autònoma gl, comunidade autónoma oc, comunautat autonòma an, comunidat autonoma ast, c ...

? – Guadalajara; Celtiberian mint: ''Lutiacos/Louitiscos''); they also controlled the strategic towns of ''Cortona'' ( Medinacelli – Soria), ''Segontia'' (

Sigüenza Sigüenza () is a city in the Serranía de Guadalajara comarca, Province of Guadalajara, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. History The site of the ancient ''Segontia'' ('dominating over the valley') of the Celtiberian Arevaci, now called ('old to ...

– Guadalajara) and ''Arcobriga'' ( Monreal de Ariza – Zaragoza).

Culture

It is assumed that the Uraci spoke a '

Q-Celtic The Celtic languages (usually , but sometimes ) are a group of related languages descended from Proto-Celtic. They form a branch of the Indo-European language family. The term "Celtic" was first used to describe this language group by Edward L ...

' language and archeological evidence shows that their material culture little differed from the Celtiberians.

History

Forced to become clients of the powerful

Arevaci The Arevaci or Aravaci (''Arevakos'', ''Arvatkos'' or ''Areukas'' in the Greek sourcesPtolemy, ''Geographia'', II, 6, 55.), were a CelticCremin, ''The Celts in Europe'' (1992), p. 57. people who settled in the central Meseta of northern Hispania a ...

around the late 4th or early 3rd Centuries BC, the Uraci were certainly obliged to provide military assistance to their patrons' throughout most of the 2nd Century BC, but what role they played in the 2nd Punic War and subsequent conflicts with

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

remains unclear. In about 92 BC the Uraci began to overthrow Arevacian overlordship – quite plausibly at Roman instigation – being rewarded with the town of

Numantia Numantia ( es, Numancia) is an ancient Celtiberian settlement, whose remains are located on a hill known as Cerro de la Muela in the current municipality of Garray ( Soria), Spain. Numantia is famous for its role in the Celtiberian Wars. In ...

from the defeated

Pellendones The Pellendones (also known as ''Pelendones Celtiberorum'' or ''Cerindones'') were an ancient pre-Roman Celtic people living on the Iberian Peninsula. From the early 4th century BC they inhabited the region near the source of the river Duero in wh ...

for helping the Romans in suppressing the early 1st Century BC anti-Roman uprisings in

Celtiberia The Celtiberians were a group of Celts and Celticized peoples inhabiting an area in the central-northeastern Iberian Peninsula during the final centuries BCE. They were explicitly mentioned as being Celts by several classic authors (e.g. Strab ...

(the 4th

Celtiberian War The First Celtiberian War (181–179 BC) and Second Celtiberian War (154–151 BC) were two of the three major rebellions by the Celtiberians (a loose alliance of Celtic tribes living in east central Hispania, among which we can name the Pellend ...

).Motoza, ''Los Celtíberos, etnias y estados'' (1998, revised edition 2007), pp. 194-195. However, they recovered their independence only for a short period at the end of the

Sertorian War The Sertorian War was a civil war fought from 80 to 72 BC between a faction of Roman rebels ( Sertorians) and the government in Rome (Sullans). The war was fought on the Iberian Peninsula (called ''Hispania'' by the Romans) and was one of the ...

s in 72 BC, after which they were included as Roman allies into pacified southern

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) * Francisco Burillo Mozota, ''Los Celtíberos, etnias y estados'', Crítica, Grijalbo Mondadori, S.A., Barcelona (1998, revised edition 2007) *

External links

*http://www.celtiberia.net {{Pre-Roman peoples in Spain Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula Celtic tribes of the Iberian Peninsula Ancient peoples of Spain