The Caristii 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 letter ...

tribe settled in the north of 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, defi ...

, in what today are known as the historical territories of

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. B ...

and

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 ...

, in the Basque Country, northern

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Origins

Their historical territory today corresponds very well with the extension of the

Biscayan dialect Biscayan, sometimes Bizkaian ( eu, Bizkaiera, es, Vizcaíno) is a dialect of the Basque language spoken mainly in Biscay, one of the provinces of the Basque Country of Spain. It is named as ''Western'' in the Basque dialects' classification ...

of the Basque language, however it is discussed whether the Caristii were actually Aquitanians, related to 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 ...

, or if they 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 ...

, related to tribes such as 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 ...

and

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 ...

and that later suffered a Basquisation.Ethnic map of the Iberian Peninsula after the Second Punic War
/ref>

History

The Caristii are first mentioned by

sources;

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 '' ...

names them ''Carietes'' and places them in the Basque interior territories, what today is the southernmost regions of the Basque Country, while

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 ...

places them between the river

Deba Deba may refer to: Geography * Deba (crater), a crater on Mars * Deba (river), a river in the Basque Country * Deba, Gipuzkoa, a town in the Basque Country * Deba, Gombe, a town in the Yamaltu/Deba Local Government Area of Gombe State, Nigeria ...

and

Nervión , name_etymology = , image = Nervion.jpg , image_size = 300px , image_caption = River Nervion with Zubizuri footbridge. , map = , map_size = , map_caption = , pushpin_map ...

, present-day provinces of

and

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 depa ...

, with a territory triangle-shaped, reaching the city of

Vitoria Vitoria or Vitória may refer to : People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Steven Vitória (b ...

by the south. Their territory limited with the

Varduli The Varduli were a pre-Ancient Rome, Roman tribe settled in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, in what today is the eastern region of the autonomous community of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country and western Navarre, in n ...

at east,

at west and

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 ...

at southwest. Their main cities were ''Tullica'', probably Tuyo, Erriberagoitia in the banks of the river

Zadorra The Zadorra is a river tributary of the Ebro in the Basque Country at the north of the Iberian Peninsula. The river flows across province Álava all along (with the exception of Burgos' exclave La Puebla de Arganzon) till it pours into the Ebro n ...

; ''Suessatio'', which could be present-day

Arkaia Arkaia (occasionally spelled in Spanish as ''Arcaya'') is a hamlet on the eastern side of Vitoria, Spain, Vitoria in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque province of Álava. In 2017 it had 78 inhabitants. History Roman remains There are a ...

; and '' Veleia'' or '' Velegia'', the last two were located near the

Roman road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...

from

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

to Astorga.; another city in their land was ''Vesperies'', on the Atlantic coast (south coast of the

Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay (), known in Spain as the Gulf of Biscay ( es, Golfo de Vizcaya, eu, Bizkaiko Golkoa), and in France and some border regions as the Gulf of Gascony (french: Golfe de Gascogne, oc, Golf de Gasconha, br, Pleg-mor Gwaskogn), ...

). The toponyms of their cities are of Indo-European origin (

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

Proto-Celtic Proto-Celtic, or Common Celtic, is the ancestral proto-language of all known Celtic languages, and a descendant of Proto-Indo-European. It is not attested in writing but has been partly Linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed through the compar ...

languages), ''Tullica'' (from ''"Tullo"'', valley), ''Suessatio'' (well settled). As it happens with their neighbors, the

, not a single toponym related to the Aquitanian- Basque languages has been found, further proving the theories about their possible Celt origin and possible

late Basquisation Late Basquisation is a minority hypothesis that dates the arrival of the first speakers of the Basque language in northeastern Iberia from Aquitaine to the 5th or 6th century AD – as opposed to the mainstream view of it being the last remaining ...

. They are not mentioned again in the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...

, on their place appeared the precursors of the provinces of

and Alava. Some authorshttp://www.euskomedia.org/PDFAnlt/congresos/07217221.pdf deducted, following Classic documents, the existence of some ethnic affinity, collaboration, or political union between Caristii,

and

, tribes who later would all be grouped under the name ''Varduli'', this would explain all the later events on this region, for example, why once the Caristii and Varduli were moved out of their original territories by the

in the Early Middle Ages, the Caristii and Autrigones lost their names and were grouped together with the Varduli. The union, whichever the causes, between Varduli, Caristii and Autrigones on a unique territory would later create the County of

Bardulia According to some sources, Bardulia is the ancient name of the territories that composed the primitive Castile in the north of what later became the province of Burgos. The name comes from ''Varduli'', the name of a tribe who, in pre-Roman and Ro ...

, part of the Crown of Castile.

Notes

Bibliography

* Ángel Montenegro ''et alii'', ''Historia de España 2 - colonizaciones y formación de los pueblos prerromanos (1200-218 a.C)'', Editorial Gredos, Madrid (1989) {{Pre-Roman peoples in Spain Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula Basque history Ancient peoples of Spain

Origins

History

See also

Notes

Bibliography