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 The ''Meseta Central'' (, sometimes referred to in English as Inner Plateau) is one of the basic geographical units of the Iberian Peninsula. It consists of a plateau covering a large part of the latter's interior. Developed during the 19th cent ...

of northern

Hispania Hispania was the Ancient Rome, Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two Roman province, provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior. During the Principate, Hispania Ulterior was divide ...

(specifically in Castile and León).

Origins

Also designated Vaccaenas in the ancient sources, the Vaccaei were probably largely of Celtic descent and probably related to the Celtiberians. Their name may be derived from the Celtic word ', meaning a ''slayer'', since they were celebrated fighters. However, some scholars have reasoned that the name 'Vaccaei' may actually derive from 'Aued-Ceia', a contraction of ''Ceia'', the presumed ancient name of the modern river Cea, prefixed by the Indo-European root ''*aued-'' (water). They often acted in concert with their neighbours, the Celtiberi, suggesting that they may have been part of the Celtiberian peoples. They had a strict egalitarian society practising land reform and communal food distribution. This society was part of an Hispano-Celtic substrate, which explains the cultural, socio-economic, linguistic and ideological affinity of the Vaccaei, Celtiberians,

Vettones The Vettones (Greek language, Greek: ''Ouettones'') were an Prehistoric Iberia#Iron Age, Iron Age pre-Roman people of the Iberian Peninsula. Origins Lujan (2007) concludes that some of the names of the Vettones show clearly Hispano-Celtic lan ...

Lusitani The Lusitanians were an Indo-European languages, Indo-European-speaking people living in the far west of the Iberian Peninsula, in present-day central Portugal and Extremadura and Castilla y Leon of Spain. It is uncertain whether the Lusitanians ...

, Cantabri, Astures and Callaeci. The Vaccean civilization was the result of a process of local evolution, importing elements from other cultures, whether by new additions of people or cultural and trading contacts with neighbouring groups. It is also believed that it was from the Vaccei that the warlike Arevaci stemmed from around the late 4th Century BC to conquer the eastern meseta.

Culture

Archeology has identified the Vaccei with the 2nd

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

‘Douro Culture’ – which evolved from the previous early Iron Age ‘ Soto de Medinilla’ (c. 800-400 BC) cultural complex of the middle

Douro The Douro (, , , ; ; ) is the largest river of the Iberian Peninsula by discharge. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in the Spanish Soria Province, province of Soria, meanders briefly south, then flows generally west through the northern par ...

basin –, being also affiliated with the Turmodigi. This is confirmed by the stratigraphic study of their settlements, where have been found elements of the Vaccean culture on top of the remains of earlier cultures. For example, at Pintia (modern-day Padilla de Duero –

Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...

), there is evidence of continuous human settlement since Eneolithic times to the

, when the Vaccean period arose. The necropolis at Pintia is currently being excavated by an international field school students’ team every summer under the supervision of the University of Valladolid and the Federico Wattenberg Center of Vaccean Studies. The Vaccei were considered by the Romans to be the most cultivated people west of the Celtiberians, and were distinguishable by a special collectivist type social structure, which enabled them to exploit successfully the wheat- and grass-growing areas of the western plateau.

Diodorus Siculus Diodorus Siculus or Diodorus of Sicily (; 1st century BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek historian from Sicily. He is known for writing the monumental Universal history (genre), universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty ...

records that "of the nations neighbouring upon the Celtiberians the most advanced is the people of the Vaccaei, as they are called; for this people each year divides among its members the land which it tills and making the fruits the property of all they measure out his portion to each man, and for any cultivators who have appropriated some part for themselves they have set the penalty as death".

Religion

Like the Arevaci, they also practiced the rite of excarnation by exposing the corpses of warriors slain in battle to the vultures, which were regarded as sacred animals, as described by

Claudius Aelianus Claudius Aelianus (; ), commonly Aelian (), born at Praeneste, was a Roman author and teacher of rhetoric who flourished under Septimius Severus and probably outlived Elagabalus, who died in 222. He spoke Greek so fluently that he was called "h ...

Location

The Vaccean homeland extended throughout the center of the northern Meseta, along both banks of the Duero River. Their capital was ''Pallantia'' (either

Palencia Palencia () is a city of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Palencia. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, in the northern half of ...

or Palenzuela) and

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

lists in their territory some twenty towns or '' Civitates'', including ''Helmantica/Salmantica'' (Salamanca), ''Arbucala'' (Toro), ''Pincia'' or ''Pintia'' ( Padilla de Duero – Valladolid), ''Intercatia'' ( Paredes de Nava – Palencia), ''Cauca'' ( Coca – Segovia), ''Septimanca'' ( Simancas), ''Rauda'' ( Roa), ''Dessobriga'' ( Oserna) and ''Autraca'' or ''Austraca'' – located at the banks of the river ''Autra'' ( Odra), seized from the Autrigones in the late 4th century BC – to name but a few. Although its borders are difficult to define, and shifted from time to time, it can be said to have occupied all of the province of Valladolid, and parts of León,

, Burgos,

Segovia Segovia ( , , ) is a city in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Segovia. Segovia is located in the Meseta central, Inner Pl ...

Salamanca Salamanca () is a Municipality of Spain, municipality and city in Spain, capital of the Province of Salamanca, province of the same name, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is located in the Campo Charro comarca, in the ...

and Zamora. By the time of the arrival of the Romans, the Cea and Esla rivers separated the Vaccaei from the Astures in the northwest, while a line traced between the Esla and the Pisuerga rivers was the border with the Cantabri. To the east, the Pisuerga and Arlanza rivers marked the frontier with the Turmodigi, and a little farther south, the Arevaci were their neighbors and allies. On the south and southeast lay the

in an area that roughly corresponds to the distribution of verracos around the highlands of Ávila and Salamanca and Aliste ( Zamora), between them and the

Lusitanians The Lusitanians were an Indo-European languages, Indo-European-speaking people living in the far west of the Iberian Peninsula, in present-day central Portugal and Extremadura and Castilla y Leon of Spain. It is uncertain whether the Lusitanians ...

. It is likely that there was some contact with the latter to the west of Zamora.

History

Described by Paulus Orosius as a "harmless and submissive nation", the Vaccaei were actually a warrior people that participated in the 5th century BC Celtici migrations alongside off-shots of the Arevaci and Lusones to settle in the west and southwest regions of the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

. In the early 3rd Century BC they aided the smaller Turmodigi people in their liberation from the rule of the Autrigones. The Vaccaei enter the historical record around the late 3rd century BC, when in 221-220 BC they allied themselves with the Carpetani and Olcades to thwart

Hannibal Hannibal (; ; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Punic people, Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Ancient Carthage, Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Punic War. Hannibal's fat ...

's offensive into their respective territories, only to be brought into submission after the fall of Salmantica and Arbucala to the Carthaginians, who defeated them at the battle on the Tagus. The Vaccaei appear to have taken no part in the

Second Punic War The Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) was the second of Punic Wars, three wars fought between Ancient Carthage, Carthage and Roman Republic, Rome, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC. For ...

, though in 193-192 BC they joined the combined force of Carpetani,

, and Celtiberians that was defeated by

Consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

Marcus Fulvius at the battle of Toletum. Alongside the

, they were again beaten 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 disch ...

Hispania Ulterior Hispania Ulterior (English: "Further Hispania", or occasionally "Thither Hispania") was a Roman province located in Hispania (on the Iberian Peninsula) during the Roman Republic, roughly located in Baetica and in the Guadalquivir valley of moder ...

Lucius Postumius Albinus during its first incursion into the central Meseta in 179 BC. Allies of the Arevaci during the

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 Pellendo ...

s, the Vaccaei assumed a more important role by supporting their neighbors, despite being subjected to the punitive campaigns meted out by the Roman consul Lucius Licinius Luculus (151-150 BC), proconsul Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus in 142 BC, and consuls Marcus Popilius Laenas (139-138 BC) and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus Porcina in 137 BC. After the destruction of Numantia in 134-133 BC, the Vaccaei were technically submitted and included into

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 ...

province; however, during the Sertorian Wars they lent their support to Quintus Sertorius, with several Vacceian towns remaining loyal to his cause even after his death. In 76 BC, Sertorius' sent one of its cavalry commanders, Gaius Insteius, to the Vacceian country in search of remounts for its battered mounted troops. The backlash came in 74 BC when

Proconsul A proconsul was an official of ancient Rome who acted on behalf of a Roman consul, consul. A proconsul was typically a former consul. The term is also used in recent history for officials with delegated authority. In the Roman Republic, military ...

Pompey Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey ( ) or Pompey the Great, was a Roman general and statesman who was prominent in the last decades of the Roman Republic. ...

besieged the Vacceian capital Pallantia, setting on fire its adobe brick walls and stormed Cauca. Defeated in 73 BC by Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius and Pompey, the Vaccaei rose again in 57-56 BC in a joint uprising with the Turmodigi and northern Celtiberians, which was crushed by the

of Citerior Quintus Caecilius Metellus Nepos Iunior. Pressured by Astures' and Cantabri raids, the Vaccaei rebelled a last time in 29 BC, just prior to the Astur-Cantabrian wars, only to be subdued by Consul Titus Statilius Taurus.

Cassius Dio Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history of ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

, ''Romaïké istoría'', 51: 20; 53: 23.

Romanization

The Vaccaei were later aggregated to the new Hispania Terraconensis province created in 27 BC by Emperor

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

. Later during the imperial era, the Vaccei seemed to have provided recruits for the ''Ala II Flavia Hispanorum civium romanorum'', an auxiliary cavalry unit raised after AD 63 and cantoned in the Roman Legionary Fortress (''castrum'') of ''Petavonium'' ( Rosinos de Vidriales, Santibanez de Vidriales – Zamora).

Namesake

The Basques came to be called mistakenly ''Vaccaei'' and ''Vacceti'' by several early medieval chronicles and authors.

Gallery

File:Caja excisa - Soto de Medinilla 20140708.jpg File:Vaso (24567633057).jpg File:Soto Medinilla Valladolid Orza ni.jpg File:Soto Medinilla Valladolid Jarra ni.jpg File:Ceramica Pintada Edad del Hierro (Medina del Campo).jpg File:Cogotas II (Nielado) Edad del Hierro.jpg File:Vaso (24567633057).jpg File:Puñal de elite (Padilla de Duero) Edad del Hierro.jpg

Notes

Bibliography

* Blanco, António Bellido, ''Sobre la escritura entre los Vacceos'', in ZEPHYRUS – revista de prehistoria y arqueologia, vol. LXIX, Enero-Junio 2012, Ediciones Universidad Salamanca, pp. 129–147. * 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). . * Cremin, Aedeen, ''The Celts in Europe'', Sydney, Australia: Sydney Series in Celtic Studies 2, Centre for Celtic Studies, University of Sydney (1992) . * Duque, Ángel Montenegro ''et alli'', ''Historia de España 2 – colonizaciones y formacion de los pueblos prerromanos'', Editorial Gredos, Madrid (1989) * González-Cobos, A.M., ''Los Vacceos – Estudio sobre los pobladores del valle medio del Duero durante la penetración romana'', Universidad Pontificia, Salamanca (1989) * Harry Morrison Hine, ''Hannibal's Battle on the Tagus (Polybius 3.14 and Livy 21.5)'', Latomus: revue d'études latines, Société d'Études Latines de Bruxelles 38 (4), Bruxelles (1979) * Lorrio Alvarado, Alberto José, ''Los Celtíberos'', Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Murcia (1997) * Martino, Eutimio, ''Roma contra Cantabros y Astures – Nueva lectura de las fuentes'', Breviarios de la Calle del Pez n. º 33, Diputación provincial de León/Editorial Eal Terrae, Santander (1982) * Motoza, Francisco Burillo, ''Los Celtíberos – Etnias y Estados'', Crítica, Grijalbo Mondadori, S.A., Barcelona (1998, revised edition 2007) * * Philip Matyszak, ''Sertorius and the struggle for Spain'', Pen & Sword Military, Barnsley (2013)

External links

Detailed map of the Pre-Roman Peoples of Iberia (around 200 BC)
* Álvarez-Sanchís, Jesús R. (2005),

. ''e-Keltoi: Journal of Interdisciplinary Celtic Studies'' 6: 255-285
PINTIA VACCEA – Centro de Estudios Vacceos Federico Wattenberg (Universidad de Valladolid).
official site of the ongoing archeological excavation of the Vacceian city of Pintia at Padilla de Duero (in Spanish) * https://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 Tribes conquered by Rome