Cantabrian Wars
Cantabrian Wars Bellum Cantabricum Cantabrian and Asturian Wars Bellum Cantabricum et Asturicum[2] | |||||||||
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Part of Roman conquest of the Iberian Peninsula | |||||||||
Territories of the Iberian Peninsula where the Cantabrian Wars took place | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Astures Cantabri Gallaeci[1] | Roman Empire | ||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Corocotta (Cantabri) Gausón (Astures) | |||||||||
Strength | |||||||||
70,000–100,000 (Based on pop. estimate) | 70,000–80,000 | ||||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||||
Total | Heavy | ||||||||
The casualties are unusual in that both the Roman army did not take prisoners, nor did the Celts allow themselves to be taken alive as slaves. The result was a massive slaughter of Cantabri and Astures at the end of the conflict. |
The Cantabrian Wars (29–19 BC) (Bellum Cantabricum), sometimes also referred to as the Cantabrian and Asturian Wars (Bellum Cantabricum et Asturicum),.
During the reign of Emperor Augustus, Rome waged a bloody conflict against the Cantabri, the Astures and the Gallaeci still resisting Roman occupation, the last independent Celtic nations of Hispania. These warlike peoples fiercely resisted Roman domination; ten years of war and eight legions with their auxiliary troops – more than 50,000 soldiers in total – were needed to subdue the region.[3]
Augustus moved to Segisama (modern
Antecedents
Sub occasu pacata erat fere omnis Hispania, nisi quam Pyrenaei desinentis scopulis inhaerentem citerior adluebat Oceanus. Hic duae validissimae gentes, Cantabri et Astures, inmunes imperii agitabant.
("In the west almost all Spain had been subjugated, except that part which adjoins the cliffs where the Pyrenees end and is washed by the nearer waters of the ocean. Here two powerful nations, the Cantabrians and the Asturians, lived in freedom from the rule of Rome.")—Lucius Anneus Florus, Epitome de T. Livio Bellorum omnium annorum DCC Libri duo (Bellum Cantabricum et Asturicum)
The
With all these antecedents, the Cantabrians began to be known throughout the Roman Empire. Roman troops even lost one of their standards to them, an extremely grave event. Such were the disasters and the embarrassments that, although the Roman historians justified the campaigns as retribution for Cantabrian incursions into the Roman-controlled Meseta Central, there must have been a certain lust after Asturian gold and Cantabrian iron as well.
The Astures entered the historical record in the late 3rd century BC, being listed among the Iberian mercenaries of
The Gallaeci faced the very first Roman incursion into their territory by consul Decimus Junius Brutus, whose campaign reached as far as the river Limia. Later in 61-60 BC the propraetor of Hispania Ulterior Julius Caesar faced the Gallaeci in a combined sea-and-land battle at Brigantium (also designated Carunium; Betanzos – La Coruña), where the Gallaeci were forced to swear nominal fealty to Rome. However, this did not stop several of the Gallaecian tribes to wage war on Rome alongside the rest of the Celtic resistance, and were only finally subdue when the Legates
Armies and strategies
According to the Roman historian
According to what remains from representations on coins and
The Cantabrian also used
The tenacity of the Cantabrian enemy was such that Augustus was obliged to deploy eight legions in the conflict:[7]
- I Augusta
- II Augusta
- IV Macedonica
- V Alaudae (operated in Asturias)
- VI Victrix (operated in Asturias)
- IX Hispana
- X Gemina (operated in Asturias)
- XX Valeria Victrix
as well as various auxiliary units:
- Ala Augusta
- Ala Parthorum
- Ala II Gallorum
- Ala II Thracum Victrix Civium Romanorum
- Cohors II Gallorum
- Cohors IV Thracum Aequitata
These units totaled 50,000 soldiers (30,000 legionaries and 20,000 auxiliaries).[7]
The
Bellum Asturicum
The Astures joined the Cantabri in a common defense. In spring 25 BC, there were three Roman legions established near the Astura River (modern
However, the Brigaecini people of the Astures Cismontani in the
Once Lancia was besieged, the forces of the Astures took refuge in the Mons Medullius (some scholars locate it at
A year after his arrival, Augustus had to retire to Tarragona, presumably because of illness. The conflict, however, lasted more than ten years; it serves as a reference that the Romans conquered all of Gaul in less than seven years. It was one of only two campaigns directed personally by Augustus against barbarians, the other being the one against the Illyrians from 35 to 33 BC.
End of the conflict
In this conflict, unusually, the Romans chose not to take prisoners. Moreover, there was a tradition among the Celts of preferring suicide to slavery. They did this by sword, by fire, or, primarily, by poisoning themselves with potions made for the purpose. According to Silius Italicus they used a concoction made from the seeds of the yew tree, a plant with mythic significance for the Celts. Strabo said that they belittled death and pain, to the point of singing hymns of victory while being crucified. For them, according to Strabo, to die as soldiers and free men was a victory.
The major fighting was completed in 19 BC, although there were minor rebellions until 16 BC. Rome, as was their practice with other territories, began to impose their reforms. Despite the mass deaths, local resistance was such that the Romans had to station two legions (X Gemina and IV Macedonica) there for seventy more years.
Through the Cantabrian War and the surrender of the Cantabri to Rome (it would be inexact to state that the Astures ever surrendered; Augustus refused the common victory celebration in his return to Rome), the Roman legions adopted from them the solar symbol of twin crosses and lunar symbols, such as the Cantabri
References
- ^ Orosius, Histories against the Pagans, vi.21.
- ^ a b Florus (1929). "XXXIII – The War against the Cantabrians and Asturians". In E. S. Forster (ed.). The Epitome of Roman History, Book II. Loeb Classical Library. Retrieved 2013-12-10.
- ISBN 84-7719-817-9. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
- ^ Livy, Ad Urbe Condita, 27: 43–49.
- ^ Polybius, Istorion, 11: 1–3.
- ^ David Magie in Classical Philology 1920 gives the pertinent passages in Florus and Orosius and critically assesses and corrects the inconsistent topography of the sources.
- ^ ISBN 84-7719-817-9. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
- ^ "Florus: Epitome of Roman Wars" (in Latin). Thelatinlibrary.com. Retrieved 2014-03-03.
- ^ "P. Carisius". Archived from the original on 2005-02-17. Retrieved 2005-02-17.
- ^ Orosius, Histories against the Pagans, vi.21.
- S2CID 239812828. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
Bibliography
- Los Cántabros antes de Roma, 2ª edición: Dr. Eduardo Peralta Labrador, Real Academia de la Historia. (2003)(in Spanish)
- Las Guerras Cántabras: Angel Ocejo Herrero y vv.aa.(in Spanish)
- Estelas Cántabras: Símbolos de un pueblo: Juan Carlos Cabria Gutiérrez, editorial Brenes XXI.(in Spanish)
- Onomástica de Cantabria - Los Nombres de Persona Cántabros: Jesús J. Maroñas.(in Spanish)
- Roma y la Conquista del Norte Peninsular: Carmen Fernández Ochoa, Historia de Asturias - La Nueva España.(in Spanish)
- The Conquest of North-West Spain. Legio VII Gemina: Ronald Syme. 1970 (in Spanish)
External links
- The Cantabrian War Association (in Spanish)
- Cantabrian Wars
- The Cantabrian Wars in Celtiberia.net (in Spanish)
- History of the Cantabrian Wars in Celtiberia.net (in Spanish)
- The formidable Cantabri soldiers (in Spanish)
- The Astur-Cantabrian wars and the conquest of Asturias (in Spanish)