Calendar of Events for the month of:
All presenters will speak during the midday break for ariston (lunch).
This month we will focus on Iberia (Hispania), our neighbor to the west.
Day 1: Andronicus of Carthago Nova will talk about modern Iberia. He will introduce us to the many wonderful cities and provinces of Iberia. He will start with the easternmost province, Lusitania, which faces the Atlantic Ocean. Lusitania has many lovely cities, including its capital, Emerita Augusta [Merida], on the Guadiana River, and Olisipo [Lisbon], a town on the Atlantic coast of Iberia. The southern province of Baetica (part of the old province of Further Spain or Hispania Ulterior) has many old cities, including Gades/Cades [Cadiz], the fabled city on the far side of the Pillars of Heracles, Malaca [Malaga], and Corduba [Cordoba], the capital city of Baetica. Baetica is rich in grain, wine, olive oil, and silver. The large province of Tarraconensis (part of the old province of Nearer Spain or Hispania Citerior) makes up the rest of Iberia. Andronicus will tell many fine tales about his home town, Carthago Nova [Cartagena], and the coastal city of Tarraco [Tarragona], the capital city of Tarraconensis. Other coastal cities in Tarraconensis include Saguntum [Sagunto], which was traditionally founded by the Greeks, and Emporiae [modern Ampurias]. Brigantium [La Coruna], on Iberia's northern coast, looks across to distant Ierne and Albion [Ireland and Britain]. The areas around Carthago Nova are known for their glass and silver production. Other areas produce pottery, wine, iron, and lead, while marble comes from the Pyrenees Mountains to the north. The nearby colony of Ebusus [Ibiza] in the Balearic Islands, is known for its wine, marble, and lead.
Andronicus of Carthago Nova will also discuss the many famous people who have come from Iberia. Columella, who passed away only recently, was a soldier and writer from Gades. He is known for his popular agricultural manuals. With estates in Rome and knowledge of agriculture in Italy, Cilicia, Syria, and southern Spain, Columella had a wealth of practical knowledge to draw on. In addition, his well-known manual also referenced other Greek, Punic, and Roman authors. His stylish writing style and quotations of Virgil have continued to make his manual very popular. The two Senecas came from Corduba. Seneca the Elder wrote a history of the Roman civil wars as well as his "Sayings, Arguments, Colours of the Orators and Rhetors. Seneca the Younger was an orator and political advisor under Gaius Caligula, Claudius, and Nero. He wrote extensively on Stoic philosophy and ethics as well as on India, Egypt, physics, and natural history. His well-known tragedies include Hercules, Medea, Phaedra, Oedipus, Agamemnon. He drew his inspiration from Euripides and other authors and poets. Lucan, the nephew of Seneca the Younger, was also born in Corduba. He is best known for his epic De bello civili, on the Roman Civil War between Caesar and Pompey. Caesar, Pompey, and other famous Romans have held posts and spent time in Iberia. Andronicus' enthusiasm for his home is such that he argues that even Roman emperors may one day come from Iberia. He suggests the family of Marcus Ulpius Traianus of Italica [near Seville] as a likely prospect.
Day 8: Akbar of Gades will discuss the Carthaginian and Phoenician presence in Iberia. Phoenicians from Tyre founded the city of Gadir (Phoenician Gdr), as Gades was then known, around 1100 B.C. on the southern Atlantic coast of Iberia. Gadir is actually on a small island, which the Greeks call Erytheia. The nearby island of Kotinoussa holds the necropolis and the well-known Temple of Melqarth (Greek Herakleion). Melqarth is the patron of Tyre. His worship is now associated with that of Herakles/Hercules. These two islands, and a third nearby, are silting up and may one day join the mainland. Gadir's site was chosen for easy access to the silver mines of Tartessos. The Phoenicians used local labor to mine and smelt the ore. Eventually, Gadir would have ties with Phoenician colonies along the Mediterranean coast as far as Ebusus [Ibiza] and the Atlantic coast, such as Lixus [Larache] and Mogador [in Morocco]. According to Pliny, Lixus is also a very ancient city and was founded about 1180 B.C. Gadir also had strong ties with Tyre and Sidon. Phoenician colonies along the Granada coast included small towns such as Malaka, founded about the 8th century B.C., Sexi [modern Almunecar], east of Malaka, and Abdera [Adra], east of Sexi. The major urban centers were at Gadir and Ebusus [Ibiza] in the Balearic Islands. Phoenicians from Gadir settled the area of Ebusus in the 7th century B.C., although the Phoenician name for Ebusus is no longer remembered. From Ebusus, the Phoenicians traded with northwestern Iberia and southern Gaul [France].
The Phoenicians dominated Iberia for hundreds of years. During that time, the use of iron and the potter's wheel spread from Gadir into the Iberian hinterland. By the 7th century B.C., local Tartessian rulers adopted Phoenician funerary rites and filled their tombs with decorated ivory, gold jewellery, and silver and bronze vases from Gadir. Other tombs had alabaster or marble urns from Egypt. Some of the inscriptions on these urns are very old. A few are inscribed with the names of pharaohs from the 16th century B.C., although most come from pharaohs of the 22nd dynasty (874 - 773 B.C.). The previous egalitarian lifestyle of the Tartessians yielded to increased social stratification. Phoenician trading reached its peak in the 7th century B.C. Local wheat, oil, and wine were exchanged for goods from Phoenician ports, Cyprus, eastern Hellas [Greece], and Etruria. Pottery from Attica, Rhodes, and Corinth were plentiful in the region.
The Phoenician colonies in Iberia fell into decline in the 6th century B.C. and many people left the area. Silver was no longer mined in the Gadir area and the local Tartessian civilization faltered. Greeks from Phocaea took over Phoenician trade in southern Gaul and northern Iberia. Back in Phoenicia, Tyre fell to Nebuchadnezzar between 586 and 573 B.C. The Phoenician colonies in Sardinia and Sicily were not as strongly affected. From the 6th to the 3rd centuries B.C., Carthaginian influence grew in the region and the cities were repopulated. Gadir, Malaka, and Ebusus were the largest urban areas during the Punic period. Ebusus flourished during the 5th and 4th centuries B.C. and the area held over 4,000 people. During that time, the area became a center for vase production. Grapes and olives were grown and wine and oil was shipped throughout the area. Coins from Ebusus are found throughout the Mediterranean. Hasdrubal established his capital at Qart Hadasht, the Roman New Carthage [Cartagena]. The capital city would soon hold 30,000 people. The Carthaginian cult of Tanit replaced Phoenician Melqarth and Astarte.
The Second Punic War began in 218 B.C. when the Carthaginian general, Hannibal, attacked Saguntum [Sagunto]. Rome claimed to be an old ally of Saguntum's and told Hannibal to leave Saguntum alone, even though it was in the middle of Carthaginian-controlled territory. Some suggest that Hannibal had to attack or other cities would claim to be allies of Rome. Other suggest that Saguntum's very real alliance with Rome concerned Hannibal. Hannibal conquered Saguntum to weaken Rome so that Carthaginian control over Spain, Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, and Carthaginian North Africa could be strengthened. The war did not turn out as Hannibal planned. Gadir was conquered by the Romans in 206 B.C., ending approximately 900 years of Phoenician and Carthaginian rule in the area. Punic culture would continue throughout the Roman period. The Roman town of Gades was soon founded. Hannibal was finally defeated in 202 B.C. He continued to promote Carthaginian interests until 183 B.C., when he took poison to avoid being captured by the Romans. Carthage itself fell during the Third Punic War, from 149 to 146 B.C.
Day 15: Dumnorix of Brigantium in northwest Iberia will discuss the non-Phoenician inhabitants of Iberia. Phoenicians did not come to Iberia until around 1100 B.C. People have been living in Iberia for much longer than that. Some citizens claim to have seen beautiful but very primitive cave paintings from a very early people. The megalith builders, who dominated northern Europa, also built their megalithic tombs in Iberia, around 3800 B.C.
The Iberians of the historical period lived along the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts. They spoke two languages which are unrelated to most of the languages of Europa (i.e., they are non-Indo-European). The Iberians left behind a script that can no longer be read. Some scholars have unsuccessfully attempted to link the ancient Iberian languages with the (non-Indo-European) language of the Basques.
Phoenician contact with the Tartessians of southern Iberia began with the founding of Gadir. While some claim the Phoencians arrived in 1100 B.C., others claim they did not arrive until the ninth century B.C. The Phoenicians sought Tartessian silver and offered oil and wine in exchange. Tartessian villages surrounded the early Phoenician colony and showed little Phoenician influence until after 770 B.C. The Phoenicians influenced the religion and burial practices of the Tartessians.
According to tradition, the Tartessians began trading with the Greeks in 638 B.C. when Colaeus of Samos (or Phocaea) was blown off course and found himself swept out beyond the Pillars of Herakles. Herodotus reports that at that time, the Tartessian king was named Arganthonius, which means "Man of the Silver Mountain". The name may have a Celtic origin. The Tartessians traded with the Oestrimnides in northern Gaul [i.e., Brittany]. The Oestrimnides in turn have trading contacts with the lands of Ierne and Albion [Ireland and Britain].
The Celts arrived in Iberia by the 7th century B.C. The first wave of Celts has been called by some, the "Bronze Age Urnfield" culture. The later "Iron Age Hallstatt" culture arrived by 500 B.C. The Celts eventually dominated the northern and western regions of Iberia. The Gallaeci were a Celtic group who lived in northern Iberia and the Lusitanii lived in the west. While the language of the Iberian Celts has elements of both branches of Celtic, their language seems to be more closely related to the language of Ierne [Ireland, i.e. Q-Celtic] than that of Albion [England, i.e. P-Celtic]. Their hill forts had round houses like those of the island Celts rather than the rectangular houses of other continental Celts.
While "La Tene" culture influenced much of the Celtic world and spread from Gaul [France] to Albion [England] by 400 B.C., "La Tene" culture never dominated the Iberian Celts. By that time, the peoples living between the Celts in the north and west and the Iberians in the south and east had formed their own unique culture, the Celtiberians. The Celtiberians spoke a language related to Celtic. Sculpture became a fine art. After Carthage was defeated by Rome in 241 B.C during the First Punic War, the Carthaginians turned their eye on Iberia. The Carthaginians first attacked the Celtiberians around 230 B.C. After the Romans drove the Carthaginians out of Iberia in 206 B.C., the Romans continued to attack the Celtiberians. The Romans finally defeated the Celtiberians at Numantia in 133 B.C., but Celtiberian resistance continued in northwestern Iberia until 19 B.C. The Celts of nearby Gaul were conquered by Julius Caesar in 51 B.C. By AD 1, the only independent Celts were in small enclaves north of the Danube. The Latin poet, Martial, was from the Celtiberian city of Bilbilis [Calatayud].
Day 22: On this day we will see dances performed by Iberian, Celtiberian, Carthaginian, Greek, and Roman settlers of Iberia. Afterwards, please join us for some food from each of these cultures.
Sources:
The Celts, T. G. E. Powell, New York: Thames and Hudson, Ltd., 1983, 1997.
Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome, Lesley Adkins and Roy A. Adkins, New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.
Historical Atlas of the Classical World: 500 BC to AD 600, John Haywood, New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 1998, 2000.
Oxford Who's Who in the Classical World, Simon Hornblower and Tony Spawforth (eds.), New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
The Phoenicians, Sabatino Moscati (ed.), New York: Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., 1988, 1999.
Spain: A History, Raymond Carr (ed)., New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
Return to The Library Meeting Room
Return to the main room of the Bibliotheke of Berea.