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Location of the Cantabri during the Cantabrian Wars

The Cantabri were an ancient confederacy of eleven tribes^[1], either Celtic or pre-Indo European, that inhabited the north coast of Hispania in the whole modern province of Cantabria, the eastern third of Asturias and the nearby mountainous regions of modern Castile-Leon. According to Strabo the Cantabrians were formerly called Lusitanians. ^[2] Regarded as savage and untamable mountaineers, they long defied the Roman arms and made a name for themselves for their independent spirit and freedom. They were first attacked by the Romans about 150 BC. In his Gallic War^[3] Julius Caesar describes how Crassus scored a victory over combined forces of Cantabri and Aquitanians, who are described as relatives, casting some doubt on the alleged Celticity of this nation.

Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula in 200 BC.

They were not subdued until Agrippa and Augustus— present in person on this campaign— had carried out a series of campaigns known as the Cantabrian Wars (29-19 BC), which ended in their partial annihilation.^[4]

Thenceforward their land was part of the province of Hispania Tarraconensis, with some measure of local self-government. The remaining population of the region became slowly Romanized in their material culture, but developed little town life and are rarely mentioned in history. They provided recruits for the Roman auxilia, like their neighbors to the west, the Astures.

Cantabria contained lead mines, of which, however, little is known.

1. ^ Kruta 2000 gives the Avarigines, Blendii (or Plentusii), Camarici, Concani, Coniaci, Moroecani, Noegi, Orgenomesci, Salaeni, Vadinienses and the Velliques.
2. ^ Strabo, Geography, Book III, Chapter 4
3. ^ iii.26.
4. ^ Suetonius, Augustus, 21 Tiberius saw his first military experience in the campaign against the Cantabri of 25 BC, as a tribune of the soldiers. Tiberius, 9

• Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula

• Detailed map of the Pre-Roman Peoples of Iberia (around 200 BC)

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
• Venceslas Kruta, 2000. Les Celtes, histoire et dictionnaire, (Paris: Éditions Robert Lafont) ISBN 2-7028-6261-6

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