The Berones were a pre-Roman

Celtic people The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient ...

of ancient Spain, although they were not part of the

Celtiberians 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 ...

, they lived north of the Celtiberians and close to the

Cantabri The Cantabri ( grc-gre, Καντάβροι, ''Kantabroi'') or Ancient Cantabrians, were a pre-Ancient Rome, Roman people and large tribal federation that lived in the northern coastal region of ancient Iberia in the second half of the first mille ...

an Conisci in the middle

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 ...

region between the Tirón and Alhama rivers.

Origins

The ancestors of the Berones were

Celts The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancien ...

who migrated from

Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...

to the

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 ...

around the 4th century BC to settle in

La Rioja La Rioja () is an autonomous community and province in Spain, in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. Its capital is Logroño. Other cities and towns in the province include Calahorra, Arnedo, Alfaro, Haro, Santo Domingo de la Calzada, and N� ...

and the southern parts of the

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 population. ...

Álava Álava ( in Spanish) or Araba (), officially Araba/Álava, is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Álava, former medieval Catholic bishopric and now Latin titular see. Its ca ...

and

Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...

provinces.

Location

A stock-raising people that practiced

transhumance Transhumance is a type of pastoralism or nomadism, a seasonal movement of livestock between fixed summer and winter pastures. In montane regions (''vertical transhumance''), it implies movement between higher pastures in summer and lower vall ...

, their capital was ''Varia'' or ''Vareia'' ( Custodia de Viana; Celtiberian-type mint: ''Uaracos Auta''?), situated near

Logroño Logroño () is the capital of the province of La Rioja, situated in northern Spain. Traversed in its northern part by the Ebro River, Logroño has historically been a place of passage, such as the Camino de Santiago. Its borders were disputed b ...

at the middle

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 controlled the towns of ''Libia'' (

Herramélluri Herramélluri (Basque for 'Herramel's villa') is a village in the province and autonomous community of La Rioja, Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_mot ...

or Leiva –

), ''Tritium Megallum'' (

Tricio Tricio () is a village in the province and autonomous community of La Rioja, Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)( ...

), ''Bilibium'' ( Bilibio, near

Conchas de Haro Conchas is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 milli ...

–

) and ''Contrebia Leukade'' ( Aguillar del Rio Alhama –

History

Allies of the

Autrigones The Autrigones were a pre-Roman tribe that settled in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, in what today is the western Basque Country (western regions of Biscay and Álava) and northern Burgos and the East of Cantabria, Spain. Their territory li ...

, the Berones appear to have kept themselves out of the

Celtiberian confederacy The Celtiberian confederacy was a tribal federation formed around the mid-3rd century BC, by the Arevaci, Lusones, Belli and Titii, with the Arevacian city of Numantia as the federal capital. During the Second Punic War the confederacy kept itsel ...

throughout the 3rd-2nd centuries BC but later came under pressure of the

Vascones The Vascones were a pre-Roman tribe who, on the arrival of the Romans in the 1st century, inhabited a territory that spanned between the upper course of the Ebro river and the southern basin of the western Pyrenees, a region that coincides wi ...

. Their earliest contact with Rome might have occurred during the early 2nd century BC, when they allegedly fought as allies of the

at the

battle of Calagurris A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

in 186 BC, being defeated by the

Praetor Praetor ( , ), also pretor, was the title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected '' magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to discharge vario ...

Hispania Citerior Hispania Citerior (English: "Hither Iberia", or "Nearer Iberia") was a Roman province in Hispania during the Roman Republic. It was on the eastern coast of Iberia down to the town of Cartago Nova, today's Cartagena in the autonomous community of ...

Lucius Manlius Adicinus Fulvianus. According to a Roman ephigraphic source, the Ascoli-Picenum bronze (now at the

Museo Capitolino The Capitoline Museums (Italian: ''Musei Capitolini'') are a group of art and archaeological museums in Piazza del Campidoglio, on top of the Capitoline Hill in Rome, Italy. The historic seats of the museums are Palazzo dei Conservatori and Pala ...

, Rome), Beronian mercenary cavalrymen later entered Roman service at the

Social War (91–88 BC) Social War may refer to: * Social War (357–355 BC), or the War of the Allies, fought between the Second Athenian Empire and the allies of Chios, Rhodes, and Cos as well as Byzantium * Social War (220–217 BC), fought among the southern Greek sta ...

, fighting alongside other Spaniards in the '' Turma Saluitana'' as auxiliary cavalry in Italy though they subsequently aided their Autrigones' allies in the defence of their respective territories in northern

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 ...

against

Sertorius Quintus Sertorius (c. 126 – 73 BC) was a Roman general and statesman who led a large-scale rebellion against the Roman Senate on the Iberian peninsula. He had been a prominent member of the populist faction of Cinna and Marius. During the l ...

' invasion attempt in 76 BC.

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Ancient Rome, 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 traditiona ...

, ''Frag. Lib.'', 91.

Notes

References

*Ángel Montenegro Duque ''et alli'', ''Historia de España 2 – colonizaciones y formacion de los pueblos prerromanos'', Editorial Gredos, Madrid (1989) *Francisco Burillo Motoza, ''Los Celtíberos – Etnias y Estados'', Crítica, Grijalbo Mondadori, S.A., Barcelona (1998, revised edition 2007) *

External links

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