The Vascones were a 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 lett ...
tribe who, on the arrival of the Romans in the 1st century, inhabited a territory that spanned between the upper course of the
Ebro
, name_etymology =
, image = Zaragoza shel.JPG
, image_size =
, image_caption = The Ebro River in Zaragoza
, map = SpainEbroBasin.png
, map_size =
, map_caption = The Ebro ...
river and the southern basin of the western
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...
, a region that coincides with present-day
Navarre, western
Aragon
Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to s ...
and northeastern
La Rioja, in 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 ...
. The Vascones are often considered ancestors of the present-day
Basques
The Basques ( or ; eu, euskaldunak ; es, vascos ; french: basques ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Ba ...
to whom they left their name.
Territory
Roman period
The description of the territory which the Vascones inhabited during
ancient times appears in texts of classical authors, between the 1st century BC and the 2nd century AD, such as
Livy
Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in ...
,
Strabo
Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called " Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could s ...
,
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...
and
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...
. Although these texts have been studied as sources of reference, some authors have pointed out the apparent lack of uniformity and also the existence of contradictions within the texts, in particular with Strabo.
The oldest document corresponds to
Livy
Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in ...
(59 BC - AD 17), who in a brief passage of his work about the 76 BC
Sertorian War relates how after crossing the
Ebro
, name_etymology =
, image = Zaragoza shel.JPG
, image_size =
, image_caption = The Ebro River in Zaragoza
, map = SpainEbroBasin.png
, map_size =
, map_caption = The Ebro ...
and the city of ''
Calagurris Nasica'', they crossed the flatlands of the Vascones, or Vasconum agrum until reaching the border of their immediate neighbors, the
Berones. Comparing other sections of this same document, it is deduced that this border was located to the west, while the southern neighbors of the Vascones were the
Celtiberians, with their city, ''Contrebia Leucade''.
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...
, on his work ''
Natural History'', mentioned a text prior to 50 BC that located the Vascones at the western end of the
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...
, neighbors of the
Varduli and extended to the mountains of ''
Oiarso'' and into the coasts of the
Bay of Biscay, in an area he called Vasconum saltus. The Greek geographer
Strabo
Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called " Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could s ...
, in the times of
Augustus
Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...
(63 BC - AD 14) refers to the Vascones (in
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...
: ''Ούασκώνων'') placing their main city, or ''polis'', in ''
Pompaelo'' and as well ''Callagurris''.
This information is found again in the works of
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...
, who lived during the 1st and 2nd Century AD. In his book, ''Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis'', chapter 6, he relates the names of 15 cities inside the territory of the Vascones, besides
Oiarso: ''Iturissa'', ''
Pompaelo'', ''Bituris'', ''Andelos'', ''Nemanturissa'', ''
Curnonium'', ''
Iacca'', ''
Graccurris'', ''
Calagurris
Calahorra [] ( an, Calagorra, la, Calagurris) is a municipality in the comarca of Rioja Baja, near the border with Navarre on the right bank of the Ebro. During Ancient Rome, Ancient Roman times, Calahorra was a municipium known as ''Calagurris ...
'', ''
Cascantum'', ''Ercavica'', ''Tarraga'', ''Muscaria'', ''
Seguia'' and ''
Alavona''.
The territory of the Vascones during the Roman republic and Roman empire corresponded with present-day
Navarre, the northeast extreme of
Gipuzkoa
Gipuzkoa (, , ; es, Guipúzcoa ; french: Guipuscoa) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French de ...
, and parts of
La Rioja,
Zaragoza
Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Province of Zaragoza, Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Ara ...
and
Huesca, including the city of ''Calagurris''.
3rd and 4th centuries
Late Basquisation
During this period, after the time of Ptolemy and contemporary to the times of instability caused by the
Germanic invasions
The Migration Period was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories by various tribes, and the establishment of the post-Roman ...
, the documents about the Vascones and other tribes of the northern
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 ...
are scarce, and as a result there is little information about the Vascones during this time.
The chronicler
John of Biclaro (c. 540 – after 621) mentions the Vascones in a story about the foundation of the city of ''
Victoriacum'' by the
Visigoth king
Liuvigild
Liuvigild, Leuvigild, Leovigild, or ''Leovigildo'' ( Spanish and Portuguese), ( 519 – 586) was a Visigothic King of Hispania and Septimania from 568 to 586. Known for his Codex Revisus or Code of Leovigild, a law allowing equal rights between ...
and
Gregory of Tours (538–594) mentions the incursions of ''Wascones'' in
Aquitaine during the year 587. From these extracts and being the neighboring tribes absent in the historiography,
Adolf Schulten
Adolf Schulten (27 May 1870 – 19 March 1960) was a German historian and archaeologist.
Schulten was born in Elberfeld, Rhine Province, and received a doctorate in geology from the University of Bonn in 1892. He studied in Italy, Africa a ...
(1870–1960) proposed the theory according to which, at some point between the mid-2nd century and late 4th century, an enlargement of the territory of the Vascones took place, first in the west, occupying the lands of the
Caristii,
Varduli and
Autrigones,
[(Schulten 1927:234)] and later in the north in
Aquitaine. Schulten considers this to be the reason for the adoption of the name ''
Gascony
Gascony (; french: Gascogne ; oc, Gasconha ; eu, Gaskoinia) was a province of the southwestern Kingdom of France that succeeded the Duchy of Gascony (602–1453). From the 17th century until the French Revolution (1789–1799), it was part ...
'', which derives from ''Gascon'', which comes from ''Vascon'', and used to denominate a region that includes the present-day
Northern Basque Country.
Claudio Sánchez Albornoz,
Spanish historian (1893–1984), on his work ''"Los vascones vasconizan la depresión vasca"'' (''The Vascones "basquize" the Basque depression'') published in 1972 expanded upon this hypothesis, relying on linguistic analysis: when invading the territories of what today is
Biscay
Biscay (; eu, Bizkaia ; es, Vizcaya ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao. ...
,
Gipuzkoa
Gipuzkoa (, , ; es, Guipúzcoa ; french: Guipuscoa) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French de ...
and
Álava
Álava ( in Spanish) or Araba (), officially Araba/Álava, is a Provinces of Spain, province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, heir of the ancient Basque señoríos#Lords of Álav ...
displaced to
Castile part of the
Caristii,
Varduli and
Autrigones, who took refuge in the mountains; the ones who had not been displaced were ''"
Basquized"'', while perhaps the Caristii, Varduli and Autrigones already spoke
languages similar or related to the
Basque language.
However, research during last decades has called into question the possibility of an expansion northwards (J.J. Larrea). The inroad of the Vascones onto the plains of Aquitaine in 587 seems to be short-lived—they make their way back to the mountains—and archaeological findings in Eauze or Auch do not reveal instability or destruction during the alleged expanding period up to the mid-7th century. Another theory suggests a contemporary identification made by the Goths and the Franks of the Vascones (the most dynamic tribe) with all Basque speaking, Basque-related, or non-Romanized tribes.
7th century
Starting on the 7th century, historians already differentiate between ''Spagnovasconia'', located southwestern of the
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...
, inside 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 ...
and ''Guasconia'', northwestern of the Pyrenees, in
Aquitaine. Schulten interprets that by this time the Vascones had already retreated from their territories in
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 lett ...
times and started occupying lands in the north, what in the future would make the
Southern Basque Country and northern
Navarre. Schulten also quotes the chronicle from
Einhard, ''Vita Karoli Magni'', dated in 810, where for the first time is used the term ''navarrese'' to define the people living in the former territories of the Vascones near the
Ebro
, name_etymology =
, image = Zaragoza shel.JPG
, image_size =
, image_caption = The Ebro River in Zaragoza
, map = SpainEbroBasin.png
, map_size =
, map_caption = The Ebro ...
.
History
Roman period
Unlike the
Aquitanians or
Cantabrians, the Vascones seemed to have negotiated their status in the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...
.
In the
Sertorian War,
Pompey
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of ...
established his headquarters in their territory, founding
Pompaelo. Romanization was rather intense in the area known as ''Ager Vasconum'' (the Ebro valley) but limited in the mountainous ''Saltus'', where evidence of Roman civilization appears only in mining places, harbours, roads, and milestones, e.g.
Oiasso. The territory was also important for Romans as a communication knot between northern
Hispania
Hispania ( la, Hispānia , ; nearly identically pronounced in Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, and Italian) was the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula and its provinces. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hi ...
and southwestern
Gallia, who took good care to station detachments in different spots of the main communication lines.
The Vasconian area presents indications of upheaval (burnt villas, an abundance of mints to pay the garrisons) during the 4th and 5th centuries that have been linked by many historians to the
Bagaudae rebellions against
feudalization, but also to the depredations of migrating Germanic and Asian tribes—Vandals, Alans, Sueves, Visigoths, possibly Heruls—into Hispania.
Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages
In AD 407 Vascon troops fought on the orders of Roman commanders
Didimus
''Didimus'' is a genus of beetles of the family Passalidae
Passalidae is a family of beetles known variously as "bessbugs", "bess beetles", "betsy beetles" or "horned passalus beetles". Nearly all of the 500-odd species are tropical; species ...
and
Verinianus, repelling an attack by
Vandals
The Vandals were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal Kingdom, Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century.
The ...
,
Alans and
Suebi
The Suebi (or Suebians, also spelled Suevi, Suavi) were a large group of Germanic peoples originally from the Elbe river region in what is now Germany and the Czech Republic. In the early Roman era they included many peoples with their own name ...
. In 409, the passage of the
Germanic peoples
The Germanic peoples were historical groups of people that once occupied Central Europe and Scandinavia during antiquity and into the early Middle Ages. Since the 19th century, they have traditionally been defined by the use of ancient and ear ...
and
Sarmatians toward Hispania went unhindered. The Roman reaction to this invasion and unrest related to the
Bagaudae was to give
Gallia Aquitania and
Hispania Tarraconensis to the
Visigoths
The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is k ...
in return for their services as allies by treaty (''foederati''). The Visigoths soon managed to expel the Vandals to Africa.
After chronicler Hydatius´s death in 469, no contemporary source exists reporting on the social and political situation in ''the Vasconias'', as put by himself. At the beginning of the fourth century, Calagurris is still cited as a Vascon town. During the fifth and sixth centuries, the gap between town and the rural milieu widened, with the former falling much in decay. Between 581-7, chronicles start to mention the Vascones again, this time hailing from the wilderness, as opposed to the towns, which remained attached to Roman culture or were under Germanic influence. By the seventh to eighth centuries, Vascones were not confined to their ancient boundaries, but covered a much larger territory, from Álava in the west to the
Loire
The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhôn ...
in the north. The island of
Oléron
The Isle of Oléron or Oléron Island (french: île d'Oléron, ; Saintongese: ''ilâte d'Olerun''; oc, illa d'Olairon or ; la, Uliarus insula, ) is an island off the Atlantic coast of France (due west of Rochefort), on the southern side of t ...
, along with the
Île de Ré, formed the ''Vacetae Insulae'' "Vacetian Islands" according to the ''
Cosmographia'', where Vaceti are Vascones by another name. The concept underlying the medieval name points to a much wider reality than Strabo's former tribal definition, this time encompassing all
Basque-speaking tribes.
The independent Vascones stabilised their first polity under the Merovingian Franks: the
Duchy of Vasconia, whose borders to the south remained unclear. This duchy would eventually become
Gascony
Gascony (; french: Gascogne ; oc, Gasconha ; eu, Gaskoinia) was a province of the southwestern Kingdom of France that succeeded the Duchy of Gascony (602–1453). From the 17th century until the French Revolution (1789–1799), it was part ...
. During the reincorporation of Vasconia into
Francia
Francia, also called the Kingdom of the Franks ( la, Regnum Francorum), Frankish Kingdom, Frankland or Frankish Empire ( la, Imperium Francorum), was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Franks du ...
after 769,
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first E ...
destroyed the walls of
Pamplona
Pamplona (; eu, Iruña or ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. It is also the third-largest city in the greater Basque cultural region.
Lying at near above ...
after a failed attempt to conquer Zaragoza, the Vascones annihilated his rearguard in the
Battle of Roncevaux Pass
The Battle of Roncevaux Pass ( French and English spelling, ''Roncesvalles'' in Spanish, ''Orreaga'' in Basque) in 778 saw a large force of Basques ambush a part of Charlemagne's army in Roncevaux Pass, a high mountain pass in the Pyrenees on ...
in 778—referred as "''wasconicam perfidiam''" by Frankish chroniclers. Pamplona was later captured by the Cordovan emir
'Abd al-Rahman I (781), but taken over by the Franks in 806, who assigned its government to a pro-Frankish local Belasko ("al-Galashki"), probably a Basque hailing from present-day Gascony. Some decades later, in 824,
a second battle of Roncevaux took place that led to the establishment of the
Kingdom of Pamplona
The Kingdom of Navarre (; , , , ), originally the Kingdom of Pamplona (), was a Basque kingdom that occupied lands on both sides of the western Pyrenees, alongside the Atlantic Ocean between present-day Spain and France.
The medieval state too ...
, founded with Eneko Arista as head of the new polity, presented by Arab sources as leader of the Vascones (''al-Baskunisi''). However, the 824 Carolingian expedition itself included two different columns made up of Frankish and Vascones (Gascons).
After the 9th century, the Vascones (''Wascones'', ''Guascones'') come to be more closely identified in the records with the current territory of Gascony, at the time still a Basque-speaking territory but progressively being replaced by the new rising Romance language,
Gascon.
Culture
Language and writing
Several authors point out that prior to the Roman arrival and alike other peoples that inhabited the near region, the Vascones spoke a language that linguists identify as the precursor of the modern
Basque language, sometimes referred to as
Proto-Basque language
Proto-Basque ( eu, aitzineuskara; es, protoeuskera, protovasco; french: proto-basque), or Pre-Basque, is the reconstructed predecessor of the Basque language before the Roman conquests in the Western Pyrenees.
Background
The first linguist w ...
or
Aquitanian language.
However, as pointed out by Henrike Knörr (1947-2008)
the origin and kinship of the Basque language is still a mystery and an object of research. There are several theories about its origin; the Basque linguistic
Koldo Mitxelena argues that an "in-situ" origin is the most likely, and thus explains the current dialectical classification while other theories advocate for a proposed kinship between the Basque language and other language families, like the
languages of the Caucasus or a relation between Basque and the extinct
Iberian language. So far, possible connections between Basque and other languages have remained unproven.
Another problem that arises in the study of the language of the Vascones is the lack of direct classic records regarding the language spoken by this people,
[Joaquín Gorrochategui, ''La romanización del País Vasco: Aspectos lingüísticos.'', Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea - Filología. Artículo en Guipuzkoakultura.ne]
Ed. digital
with the exception of a vague description by
Strabo
Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called " Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could s ...
and
Pomponius Mela, or the description made by
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, an ...
on the language of the Aquitanians in his work ''
Commentarii de Bello Gallico
''Commentarii de Bello Gallico'' (; en, Commentaries on the Gallic War, italic=yes), also ''Bellum Gallicum'' ( en, Gallic War, italic=yes), is Julius Caesar's firsthand account of the Gallic Wars, written as a third-person narrative. In it C ...
''.
The study of epigraphic documents has been of greater interest, as some of them date the introduction of writing among the Vascones in the 2nd century. Among them, the oldest are the numismatic evidence coming from both Vasconic
mints and others located nearby. A great importance is given to a funerary stele found in the Hermitage of Santa Bárbara in
Lerga
Lerga is a town and municipality located in the province and autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain.
The town is located in a valley surrounded by the Pyrenees Mountains
The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ...
, which was considered to be the oldest known written testimony of the
Proto-Basque language
Proto-Basque ( eu, aitzineuskara; es, protoeuskera, protovasco; french: proto-basque), or Pre-Basque, is the reconstructed predecessor of the Basque language before the Roman conquests in the Western Pyrenees.
Background
The first linguist w ...
until an inscription from the 1st century BC was found in 2022. It is also believed that the Iberian language has left some traces on the Basque language, as with the Iberian term ''ili'', adopted in Basque as ''hiri'' with the meaning of town or city, and present in the Vasconic name for the city of ''Pompaelo'': "Iruña", as well as in other names of cities and towns.
Religion
The epigraphic and archaeological testimonies have allowed experts to determine some of the religious practices that were present among the Vascones since the Roman arrival and the introduction of writing. According to research done on this topic, religious
syncretism
Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, thu ...
lasted until the 1st Century; from that moment onwards and until the adoption of
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...
between the 4th and 5th centuries,
Roman mythology
Roman mythology is the body of myths of ancient Rome as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans. One of a wide variety of genres of Roman folklore, ''Roman mythology'' may also refer to the modern study of these representa ...
was predominant.
[Roldán Jimeno, ''Orígenes del Cristianismo en la tierra de los vascones'', Ed. Pamiela, Pamplona, 2003.]
Vasconic theonyms have been found on tombstones and altars, which further proves the syncretism between the pre-Christian Roman systems of beliefs and the Vasconic religions. Two altars have been found in
Ujué, one dedicated to ''Lacubegi'', identified as the ''God of the lower world'' and another one dedicated to
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousand ...
, although it has not been possible to date them. In Lerate and
Barbarin two tombstones have been found, both dedicated to ''Stelaitse'' and dated in the 1st century.
[The altars read: ''Semprini- / us Betunus, Se- / latse. V(otum) s(olvit) l(ibens) m(erito)'']
See also
*
Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula
This is a list of the pre-Roman people of the Iberian Peninsula (the Roman Hispania, i. e., modern Portugal, Spain and Andorra). Some closely fit the concept of a people, ethnic group or tribe. Others are confederations or even unions of t ...
Notes
References
*Collins, Roger. "The ''Vaccaei'', the ''Vaceti'', and the rise of ''Vasconia''." ''Studia Historica VI''. Salamanca, 1988. Reprinted in Roger Collins, ''Law, Culture and Regionalism in Early Medieval Spain''. Variorum, 1992.
.
*
*
*Sorauren, Mikel. ''Historia de Navarra, el Estado Vasco''. Pamiela Ed., 1998. .
External links
Vasconesin the Auñamendi Encyclopedia, by Bernardo Estornés Lasa.
{{Pre-Roman peoples in Spain
Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula
Basque history