The Gallaeci (also Callaeci or Callaici; grc, Καλλαϊκοί) were a Celtic tribal complex who inhabited

Gallaecia Gallaecia, also known as Hispania Gallaecia, was the name of a Roman province in the north-west of Hispania, approximately present-day Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Norte, Portugal, northern Portugal, Asturias and León (province), Leon and the lat ...

, the north-western corner of Iberia, a region roughly corresponding to what is now the Norte Region in northern Portugal, and the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

regions of Galicia, western

Asturias Asturias (, ; ast, Asturies ), officially the Principality of Asturias ( es, Principado de Asturias; ast, Principáu d'Asturies; Galician-Asturian: ''Principao d'Asturias''), is an autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensiv ...

and western León before and during the Roman period. They spoke a Q-Celtic language related to Northeastern Hispano-Celtic, called Gallaecian or Northwestern Hispano-Celtic. The region was annexed by the Romans in the time of Caesar Augustus during the

Cantabrian Wars The Cantabrian Wars (29–19 BC) (''Bellum Cantabricum''), sometimes also referred to as the Cantabrian and Asturian Wars (''Bellum Cantabricum et Asturicum''), were the final stage of the two-century long Roman conquest of Hispania, in what tod ...

, a war which initiated the assimilation of the Gallaeci into Latin culture. The endonym of modern-day Galicians, ''galegos'', derives directly from the name of this people.

History

The fact that the Gallaeci did not adopt writing until contact with the

Romans 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 ...

constrains the study of their earlier history. However, early allusions to this people are present in ancient Greek and Latin authors prior to the conquest, which allows the reconstruction of a few historical events of this people since the second century BC. Thanks to Silius Italicus, it is known that between the years 218 and 201 BC, during the Second Punic War, Gallaecian troops were in the ranks of the army oi the great Cartheginian general Hannibal in his battles with the Roman army of Scipio Africanus. Silius described them as a contingent combined with Lusitanian forces and led by a commander named

Viriathus Viriathus (also spelled Viriatus; known as Viriato in Portuguese and Spanish; died 139 BC) was the most important leader of the Lusitanian people that resisted Roman expansion into the regions of western Hispania (as the Romans called it) or w ...

, and gave a short description of them and their military tactics: Silius Italicus, ''

Punica ''Punica'' is a small genus of fruit-bearing deciduous shrubs or small trees in the flowering plant family Lythraceae. The better known species is the pomegranate (''Punica granatum''). The other species, the Socotra pomegranate (''Punica ...

'', 3 The first known direct military conflict between the Gallaeci and Romans is mentioned in Appian of Alexandria's book ''Iberiké'', that describes the

Lusitanian War The Lusitanian War, called ''Pyrinos Polemos'' ("the Fiery War") in Greek, was a war of resistance fought by the Lusitanian tribes of Hispania Ulterior against the advancing legions of the Roman Republic from 155 to 139 BC. The Lusitanians revo ...

(155–139 BC). In 139 BC, after being cheated by the Lusitanian chief

Viriatus Viriathus (also spelled Viriatus; known as Viriato in Portuguese and Spanish; died 139 BC) was the most important leader of the Lusitanian people that resisted Roman expansion into the regions of western Hispania (as the Romans called it) or we ...

(not to be confused with the aforementioned), Quintus Servilius Caepio's army devastated some Gallaeci and Vettonian areas. The attack on these southern Gallaeci people, near the border with

Vettones The Vettones (Greek: ''Ouettones'') were a pre-Roman people of the Iberian Peninsula of possibly Celtic ethnicity. Origins Lujan (2007) concludes that some of the names of the Vettones show clearly western Hispano-Celtic features. Reissued i ...

, was punishment for Gallaeci support of their neighbors the

Lusitanians The Lusitanians ( la, Lusitani) were an Indo-European speaking people living in the west of the Iberian Peninsula prior to its conquest by the Roman Republic and the subsequent incorporation of the territory into the Roman province of Lusitania. ...

. Orosius later mentioned that

Brutus Marcus Junius Brutus (; ; 85 BC – 23 October 42 BC), often referred to simply as Brutus, was a Roman politician, orator, and the most famous of the assassins of Julius Caesar. After being adopted by a relative, he used the name Quintus Serv ...

surrounded the Gallaeci, who were unaware, and crushed sixty thousand of them who had come to the assistance of the Lusitani. The Romans were victorious only after a desperate and difficult battle and fifty thousand of them were slain in that battle, six thousand were captured, and only some escaped. The

legates A ''legatus'' (; anglicised as legate) was a high-ranking Roman military officer in the Roman Army, equivalent to a modern high-ranking general officer. Initially used to delegate power, the term became formalised under Augustus as the office ...

Antistius and Firmius fought appalling battles and subdued the further parts of Gallaecia, forested and mountainous and bordering the Atlantic. The oldest known inscription referring to the Gallaeci (reading ''Ἔθνο �ςΚαλλαϊκῶ �', "people of the Gallaeci") was found in 1981 in the Sebasteion of Aphrodisias,

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

, where a triumphal monument to

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 ...

mentions them among other fifteen nations allegedly conquered by this Roman emperor.

Pomponius Mela Pomponius Mela, who wrote around AD 43, was the earliest Roman geographer. He was born in Tingentera (now Algeciras) and died AD 45. His short work (''De situ orbis libri III.'') remained in use nearly to the year 1500. It occupies less ...

, who described the Galician seashore and their dwellers around 40 of our era, divided the coastal Gallaeci in non-Celtic

Grovii The Grovii or Gravii were an ancient Gallaeci tribe who inhabited the low valley of the Minho river, present day Portugal and Galicia (Spain), and also along the coast near the rivers "Avo" (the Ave river), Celadus, Nebis and Limia, northern Por ...

along the southern areas; the Celtic peoples who lived along the

Rías Baixas The Rías Baixas (Galician language, Galician for "Lower Rias") are a series of four estuarine inlets located on the southwestern coast of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. They are the Ría de Muros e Noia, the Ría de Arousa, the Ria de Ponteved ...

and Costa da Morte regions in northern Galicia; and the also Celtic

Artabri According to Strabo, the Artabri (or Arrotrebae) were an ancient Gallaecian Celtic tribe, living in the extreme north-west of modern Galicia, about Cape Nerium (Cabo Prior), outskirts of the city and port of Ferrol, where in Roman times, in the ...

who dwelled all along the northern coast in between the later and the

Astures The Astures or Asturs, also named Astyrs, were the Hispano-Celtic inhabitants of the northwest area of Hispania that now comprises almost the entire modern autonomous community of Principality of Asturias, the modern province of León, and the ...

Archaeology

Archaeologically, Gallaeci evolved from local

Atlantic Bronze Age The Atlantic Bronze Age is a cultural complex of the Bronze Age period in Prehistoric Europe of approximately 1300–700 BC that includes different cultures in Britain, France, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain. Trade The Atlantic Bronze Age ...

people (1300–700 BC). During the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

they received additional influences, including from other Iberian cultures, and from central-western Europe (

Hallstatt Hallstatt ( , , ) is a small town in the district of Gmunden, in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Situated between the southwestern shore of Hallstätter See and the steep slopes of the Dachstein massif, the town lies in the Salzkammergut ...

and, to a lesser extent,

La Tène culture The La Tène culture (; ) was a European Iron Age culture. It developed and flourished during the late Iron Age (from about 450 BC to the Roman conquest in the 1st century BC), succeeding the early Iron Age Hallstatt culture without any defi ...

), and from the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

(

Phoenicians Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their histor ...

and

Carthaginians The Punic people, or western Phoenicians, were a Semitic people in the Western Mediterranean who migrated from Tyre, Phoenicia to North Africa during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' – the Latin equivalent of the ...

). The Gallaeci dwelt in

hill forts A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Rom ...

(locally called ''castros''), and the archaeological culture they developed is known by archaeologists as "

Castro culture Castro culture ( gl, cultura castrexa, pt, cultura castreja, ast, cultura castriega, es, cultura castreña, meaning "culture of the hillforts") is the archaeological term for the material culture of the northwestern regions of the Iberian Pe ...

", a hill-fort culture (usually, but not always) with round or elongated houses. Castro en santa trega

The Gallaecian way of life was based in land occupation especially by fortified settlements that are known in Latin language as "castra" (hillforts) or "oppida" (citadels); they varied in size from small villages of less than one hectare (more common in the northern territory) to great walled citadels with more than 10 hectares sometimes denominated ''oppida'', being these latter more common in the Southern half of their traditional settlement and around the

Ave river Ave River ( pt, Rio Ave; ) is a river in Northern Portugal. It has its source in the Cabreira Mountain (Serra da Cabreira) in the Minho Region. In its course passes through the cities of Guimaraes , Vizela , Santo Tirso , Trofa and Vila do ...

. This livelihood in hillforts was common throughout Europe during the Bronze and Iron Ages, getting in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, the name of 'Castro culture" (''Castrum'' culture) or "hillfort's culture", which alludes to this type of settlement prior to the Roman conquest. However, several Gallaecian hillforts continued to be inhabited until the 5th century AD. Castromaior 1956 01

These fortified villages or cities tended to be located in the hills, and occasionally rocky promontories and peninsulas near the seashore, as it improved visibility and control over territory. These settlements were strategically located for a better control of natural resources, including mineral ores such as iron. The Gallaecian hillforts and oppidas maintained a great homogeneity and presented clear commonalities. The citadels, however, functioned as city-states and could have specific cultural traits. The names of these hill-forts, as preserved in Latin inscriptions and other literary sources, were frequently composite nouns with a second element such as -bris (from proto-Celtic *brixs), -briga (from proto-Celtic *brigā), -ocelum (from proto-Celtic *okelo-), -dunum (from proto-Celtic *dūno-) all meaning "hill > hill-fort" or similar: Aviliobris, Letiobri, Talabriga, Nemetobriga, Louciocelo, Tarbucelo, Caladunum, etc. Others are superlative formations (from proto-Celtic *-isamo-, -(s)amo-): Berisamo (from *Bergisamo-), Sesmaca (from *Segisamo-). Many Galician modern day toponyms derive from these old settlements' names: Canzobre < Caranzovre < *Carantiobrixs, Trove < Talobre < *Talobrixs, Ombre < Anobre < *Anobrixs, Biobra < *Vidobriga, Bendollo < *Vindocelo, Andamollo < *Andamocelo, Osmo < Osamo < *Uxsamo, Sésamo < *Segisamo, Ledesma < *φletisama... Associated archaelogically with the hill forts are the famous Gallaecian warrior statues - slighlty larger than life size statues of warriors, assumed to be deified local heroes. MuseuNacArqu-GuerreirosLusitanos

Political-territorial organization

The Gallaecian political organization is not known with certainty but it is very probable that they were divided into small independent chiefdoms who the Romans called ''populus'' or ''civitas'', each one ruled by a local petty king or chief (''

princeps ''Princeps'' (plural: ''principes'') is a Latin word meaning "first in time or order; the first, foremost, chief, the most eminent, distinguished, or noble; the first man, first person". As a title, ''princeps'' originated in the Roman Republic w ...

''), as in other parts of Europe. Each populus comprised a sizeable number of small hillforts (''castellum''). So each Gallaecian considered themselves a member of his or her populus and of the hillfort where they lived, as deduced by their usual onomastic phormula: first Name + patronymic (genitive) + (optionally) populus or nation (nominative) + (optionally) origin of the person = name of their hill-fort (ablative): * Nicer Clvtosi > Cavriaca principis Albionum: Nicer son of Clutosius, from (the hill-fort known as) Cauria, prince of the Albions. * Apana Ambolli f Celtica Supertam(arica)> --bri: Apana daughter of Ambollus, a Supertamaric Celtic, from (the hill-fort known as) bri. * Anceitvs Vacci f Limicvs > Talabric(a): Ancetos son of Vaccios, a Limic, from (the hill-fort known as) Talabriga. * Bassvs Medami f Grovvs > Verio: Bassos son of Medamos, a Grovian, from (the hill-fort known as) Verio. * Ladronu Dovai Bra aus Castell Durbede: Ladronos son of Dovaios, a Bracaran, from the castle Durbeds.

Gallaeci tribes

us Bracarenses * Abobrigenses * Aquaflavienses / Aquiflavienses *

Bracari The Bracari or Callaeci Bracari were an ancient Celtic tribe of Gallaecia, living in the northwest of modern Portugal, in the province of Minho, between the rivers Tâmega and Cávado. After the conquest of the region beginning in 136BC, the Ro ...

* Bibali * Caladuni *

Coelerni The Coelerni were an ancient Celtic tribe of Gallaecia in Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula), part of Calaician or Gallaeci people, living in what was to become the Roman Province of Hispania Tarraconensis, in what is now the southern part of the pro ...

* Equaesi *

Gallaeci The Gallaeci (also Callaeci or Callaici; grc, Καλλαϊκοί) were a Celtic tribal complex who inhabited Gallaecia, the north-western corner of Iberia, a region roughly corresponding to what is now the Norte Region in northern Portugal, a ...

Proper / Callaeci Proper *

/ Grovi * Helleni * Interamici / Interamnici * Leuni * Luanqui * Lubaeni * Limici *

Narbasi The Narbasi were an ancient Celtic tribe of Gallaecia, living in the province of Minho (north of modern Portugal) and nearby areas of modern Galicia (Spain). See also *Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula This is a list of the pre-Roman ...

Nemetati The Nemetati were an ancient Celtic tribe of Gallaecia, living in the north of modern Portugal between the Cávado and Ave Rivers, in the province of Minho, north of the Douro.They lived near the valley of the Ave River and may have some link wit ...

* Quaquerni / Quarquerni / Querquerni *

Seurbi The Seurbi were a pre-Roman group of tribes living in the north of modern Portugal, in the province of Minho, between the rivers Cávado and Lima (or even reaching the river Minho). See also *Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula This is ...

* Tamagani * Turodi / Turodes Lucenses * Adovi / Iadovi *

Albiones The Albiones or Albioni were a Gallaecian people living the north coast of modern Spain in western Asturias and eastern Galicia mentioned by Pliny the Elder. They are generally included in maps of Roman Spain. The name ''Albiones'' is also atteste ...

* Arroni * Arrotrebae /

* Baedi * Capori / Copori * Celtici Praestamarici * Celtici Supertamarici *

Cibarci The Cibarci were an ancient Gallaecian Celts, Celtic tribe, living in the north-east of modern Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in the Ribadeo's county. See also *Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula External linksDetailed map of the Pre-Roman Pe ...

/ Cabarci * Cileni / Celeni * Egi / Egovarri / Varri Namarini * Lemavi * Nerii / Neri * Seurri Other minor groups * Aebocosi * Amphilochi * Artodii * Aunonenses * Banienses * Barhantes * Brassii * Brigantes (Gallaecian tribe) * Cuci * Iadones * Lapatianci * Louguei * Naebisoci / Aebisoci * Namarii *

Poemani The Poemani were an ancient Gallaecian Celts, Celtic tribe, living in the center-north of modern Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in the Terra Chá's county. See also *Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula External linksDetailed map of the Pre-Roman ...

* Segodii * Tongobrigenses

Origin of the name

The Romans named the entire region north of the

Douro 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 o ...

, where the

existed, in honour of the castro people that settled in the area of Calle — the ''Callaeci''. The Romans established a port in the south of the region which they called Portus Calle, today's

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

, in northern Portugal. When the Romans first conquered the Callaeci they ruled them as part of the province of Lusitania but later created a new province of ''Callaecia'' ( el, Καλλαικία) or

. The names "Callaici" and "Calle" are the origin of today's Gaia, Galicia, and the "Gal" root in "Portugal", among many other placenames in the region.

Gallaecian language

Gallaecian was a Q-Celtic language or group of languages or dialects, closely related to Celtiberian, spoken at the beginning of our era in the north-western quarter of the Iberian Peninsula, more specifically between the west and north Atlantic coasts and an imaginary line running north–south and linking Oviedo and Mérida. Just like it is the case for Illyrian or Ligurian languages, its corpus is composed by isolated words and short sentences contained in local Latin inscriptions, or glossed by classic authors, together with a considerable number of names – anthroponyms, ethnonyms, theonyms, toponyms – contained in inscriptions, or surviving up to date as place, river or mountain names. Besides, many of the isolated words of Celtic origin preserved in the local Romance languages could have been inherited from these Q-Celtic dialects.

Gallaecian deities

Through the Gallaecian-Roman inscriptions, is known part of the great pantheon of Gallaecian deities, sharing part not only by other Celtic or Celticized peoples in the Iberian Peninsula, such as Astur — especially the more Western — or Lusitanian, but also by Gauls and Britons among others. This will highlight the following: *

Bandua Bandua was a theonym used to refer to a god or goddess worshipped in Iberia by Gallaeci and Lusitanians. Whether the name referred to a discrete deity or was an epithet applied to different deities is arguable. Epigraphy The deity's name is foun ...

: Gallaecian God of War, similar to the Roman god, Mars. Great success among the Gallaeci of Braga. * Berobreus: god of the Otherworld and beyond. The largest shrine dedicated to Berobreo documented until now, stood in the fort of the Torch of Donón (Cangas), in the Morrazo's Peninsula, front of the Cíes Islands. * Bormanicus: god of hot springs similar to the Gaulish god, Bormanus. *

Nabia Nabia was the goddess of rivers and water in Gallaecian and Lusitanian mythology, in the territory of modern Galicia (Spain), Asturias (Spain) and Portugal. The present-day Navia River and Avia (river) in Galicia and Asturias, the Neiva River, ...

: goddess of waters, of fountains and rivers. In Galicia and Portugal still nowadays, numerous rivers that still persist with his name, as the river Navia, ships and in northern Portugal there is the Idol Fountain, dedicated to the goddess ship. * Cossus, warrior god, who attained great popularity among the Southern Gallaeci, was one of the most revered gods in ancient Gallaecia. Several authors suggest that Cosso and Bandua are the same God under different names. *

Reue Reo is a name appearing on Latin dedications to a Lusitanians, Lusitanian-Gallaecian deity, usually with an epithet relating to a place, such as Reo Paramaeco discovered in Lugo in Galicia (Spain), Galicia. The name ''Reo'' is in the Latin dative c ...

, associated with the supreme God hierarchy, justice and also death. *

Lugus Lugus was a deity of the Celtic pantheon. His name is rarely directly attested in inscriptions, but his importance can be inferred from place names and ethnonyms, and his nature and attributes are deduced from the distinctive iconography of Gall ...

, or Lucubo, linked to prosperity, trade and craft occupations. His figure is associated with the spear. It is one of gods most common among the Celts and many, many place names derived from it throughout Europe Celtic Galicia (Galicia Lucus Latinized form) to Loudoun (Scotland), and even the naming of people as Gallaecia Louguei . *

Coventina Coventina was a Romano-British goddess of wells and springs. She is known from multiple inscriptions at one site in Northumberland county of England, an area surrounding a wellspring near Carrawburgh on Hadrian's Wall. It is possible that other ...

, goddess of abundance and fertility. Strongly associated with the water nymphs, their cult record for most Western Europe, from England to Gallaecia. *

Endovelicus Endovelicus ( Portuguese: ''Endouellicus'', ''Endovélico''; Spanish: ''Endovélico'', ''Enobólico'') is the best known of the pre-Roman Lusitanian and Celtiberian gods of the Iron Age. He was originally a chthonic god. He was the God/Lord of th ...

( Belenus), god of prophecy and healing, showing the faithful in dreams.

Notes

References

* Coutinhas, José Manuel (2006), ''Aproximação à identidade etno-cultural dos Callaici Bracari'', Porto. * * Pena Granha, André (2014), "A CULTURA CASTREXA INEXISTENTE. CONSTITUIÇÃO POLÍTICA DAS GALAICAS TREBA". Cátedra, Pontedeume * Queiroga, Francisco (1992), ''War and Castros'', Oxford. * Silva, Armando Coelho Ferreira da (1986), ''A Cultura Castreja no Noroeste de Portugal'', Porto.

External links

Detailed map of the Pre-Roman Peoples of Iberia (around 200 BC)
* http://www.celtiberia.net {{Pre-Roman peoples in Portugal Tribes of Gallaecia History of Galicia (Spain) History of Asturias Ancient peoples of Spain Ancient peoples of Portugal