View source for Lusitanians

{{short description|Indo-European people who inhabited Lusitania (modern Portugal)}}
{{Distinguish|Lusatian culture}}
{{More citations needed|date=May 2009}}

The '''Lusitanians'''<ref>({{langx|la|Lusitani}}, ''[[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]'': ''Lusitanos'')</ref> were an [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]]-speaking people living in the far west of the [[Iberian Peninsula]], in present-day central [[Portugal]] and the regions of [[Extremadura]] and [[Castilla y León]] of [[Spain]]. It is uncertain whether the Lusitanians were [[Celts]] or [[Celtiberians|Celticized Iberians]], related to the [[Lusones]].<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.britannica.com/topic/Lusitani|title=Lusitani|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref> After its conquest by the [[Roman Republic|Romans]], the land was subsequently incorporated as a [[Roman province]] named after them (''[[Lusitania]]'').

== History ==
=== Origins ===
[[File:Iberia 300BC-en.svg|thumb|right|250px|Ethnographic and linguistic map of the [[Iberian Peninsula]] at about 300 BCE (before the [[Carthaginian Iberia|Carthaginian conquests]])]]

[[Frontinus]] mentions Lusitanian leader [[Viriathus]] as the leader of the [[Celtiberians]], in their war against the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]].<ref>https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Frontinus/Strategemata/2*.html|Sextus Julius Frontinus. Stratagems: Book II. V. On Ambushes</ref> The Lusitanians were also called Belitanians, according to the diviner [[Artemidorus]].<ref name="Lusitania: historia y etnología">{{Google books |id=rwFnYh9zkgAC |page=14 |title=Luciano Pérez Vilatela. Lusitania: historia y etnología }} {{in lang|es}}. [S.l.]: Real Academia de la Historia, 2000. 33 p. vol. 6 of Bibliotheca archaeologica hispana, v. 6 of Publicaciones del Gabinete de Antigüedades.</ref><ref>{{Google books |id=n2eHRJqZrqgC |page=94 |title=André de Resende. As Antiguidades da Lusitânia}} {{in lang|pt}}. [S.l.]: Imprensa da Univ. de Coimbra. 94 p.</ref> [[Strabo]] differentiated the Lusitanians from the [[Iberians|Iberian tribes]] and thought of them as being [[Celtiberians]] who had been known as [[Oestriminis]] in ancient times.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nnLbWvEhpdwC&q=strabo+y+sus+descripciones+de+lusitania&pg=PA11 |title=Espana Sagrada. Theatro geographico-historico de la iglesia de Espana. Origen, divisiones, y limites de todas sus provincias. Antiguedad, traslaciones, y estado antiguo y presente de sus sillas en todos los dominios de Espana, y Portugal. Con varias dissertaciones criticas, para ilustrar la historia eclesiastica de Espana. ... Su autor el P.M. Fr. Henrique Florez, del orden de San Augustin ... Tomo 1.&#91;-51!: Espana sagrada, tomo 32. La Vasconia. Tratado preliminar a las Santas Iglesias de calahorra, y de Pamplona: ... Su autor el P. FR. Manuel Risco del orden de San Augustin |last1=Risco |first1=Manuel |year=1779}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=33GFAwAAQBAJ&q=artabrians+lusitanians&pg=PT250 |title=The Geography of Strabo: An English Translation, with Introduction and Notes |date=29 May 2014 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781139952491}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=http://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=176646 |first=José María Gómez |last=Fraile |year=1999 |title="Los coceptos de "Iberia" e "ibero" en Estrabon" |language=es |journal=SPAL: Revista de Prehistoria y Arqueología de la Universidad de Sevilla |volume=8 |issue=8 |pages=159–188|doi=10.12795/spal.1999.i8.09 |doi-access=free }}</ref> 
However, based on archeological findings, Lusitanians and [[Vettones]] seem to have been largely [[pre-Celtic]] [[Proto-Indo-Europeans|Indo-European populations]] that adopted [[Celts#Society|Celtic cultural elements]] by proximity. On the other hand, [[Pliny the Elder]] and [[Pomponius Mela]] distinguished the Lusitanians from [[List of ancient Celtic peoples and tribes|neighboring Celtic tribes]] in their geographical writings.<ref>Among them the Praestamarci, Supertamarci, Nerii, Artabri, and in general all people living by the seashore except for the Grovi of southern Galicia and northern Portugal: 'Totam Celtici colunt, sed a Durio ad flexum Grovi, fluuntque per eos Avo, Celadus, Nebis, Minius et cui oblivionis cognomen est Limia. Flexus ipse Lambriacam urbem amplexus recipit fluvios Laeron et Ullam. Partem quae prominet Praesamarchi habitant, perque eos Tamaris et Sars flumina non longe orta decurrunt, Tamaris secundum Ebora portum, Sars iuxta turrem Augusti titulo memorabilem. Cetera super Tamarici Nerique incolunt in eo tractu ultimi. Hactenus enim ad occidentem versa litora pertinent. Deinde ad septentriones toto latere terra convertitur a Celtico promunturio ad Pyrenaeum usque. Perpetua eius ora, nisi ubi modici recessus ac parva promunturia sunt, ad Cantabros paene recta est. In ea primum Artabri sunt etiamnum Celticae gentis, deinde Astyres.', Pomponius Mela, Chorographia, III.7-9.</ref>

The original [[Roman province]] of ''[[Lusitania]]'' briefly included the territories of the Astures and Gallaeci in the north, but these were soon ceded to the jurisdiction of the ''Provincia Tarraconensis'', while the south remained the ''Provincia Lusitania et [[Vettones]]''. Later, [[Gallaecia]] would become its own province. After this, Lusitania's northern border was along the Douro River, while its eastern border passed through ''Salmantica'' and ''Caesarobriga'' to the ''Anas'' ([[Guadiana]]) river.

=== Wars with Rome ===
{{Main|Lusitanian War}}
{{Further|Siege of the Blastophoenicians|Roman conquest of the Iberian Peninsula}}
[[Image:Ethnographic Iberia 200 BCE.PNG|thumb|right|250px|Iberian Peninsula at about 200 BCE<ref>{{cite web|title=Ethnographic Map of Pre-Roman Iberia (circa 200 bc)|url=http://arkeotavira.com/Mapas/Iberia/Populi.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110226102727/http://www.arkeotavira.com/Mapas/Iberia/Populi.htm |archive-date=2011-02-26}}</ref>]]

[[Mercenaries of the ancient Iberian peninsula|Lusitanian mercenaries]] fought for the [[Ancient Carthage|Carthaginian Empire]] between the years 218 and 201 BCE, during the [[Second Punic War]] against the [[Roman Republic]] that took place in the [[Western Mediterranean]]. Roman senator and orator [[Silius Italicus]] describes them in his 17-volumes epic poem ''[[Punica (poem)|Punica]]'' as forming a combined force with the [[Gallaeci]] and both being led by a commander named [[Viriathus (Second Punic War)|Viriathus]] (not to be confused with the similarly named chieftain).<ref name="SiliusI">[[Silius Italicus]], ''[[Punica (poem)|Punica]]'', 3</ref> According to Roman historian [[Livy|Titus Livius]], Lusitanian and [[Celtiberians|Celtiberian]] cavalry performed raids in northern Italy whenever the terrain was too rough for the Carthaginian general [[Hannibal]]'s famed [[Numidian cavalry]].<ref name="Daly">{{cite book|first=Gregory |last=Daly |title=Cannae: The Experience of Battle in the Second Punic War |date=August 2005 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn= 978-11-345071-2-2}}</ref>

Starting in 193 BCE, the Lusitanians fought the Romans in ''[[Hispania]]''. In 150 BCE, they were defeated by the Roman praetor [[Servius Galba]]: springing a treacherous trap, he killed 9,000 Lusitanians and later sold 20,000 more as [[Slavery in ancient Rome|slaves]] in [[Gaul]] (modern-day [[France]]). This massacre would not be forgotten by [[Viriathus]], who three years later (147 BCE) would become the leader of the Lusitanians, and severely damaged the Roman rule in Lusitania and beyond. In 139 BCE, Viriathus was betrayed and killed in his sleep by three of his companions (who had been sent as emissaries to the Romans), [[Audax, Ditalcus and Minurus]], bribed by [[Marcus Popillius Laenas]] (although they were warrior companions of [[Viriathus]], they were not Lusitanians themselves; they seem to have been [[Turdetani]]ans, or from another people who were not Lusitanian). However, when the three returned to receive their reward from the Romans, the consul [[Quintus Servilius Caepio (consul 106 BC)|Quintus Servilius Caepio]] [[Capital punishment in ancient Rome|ordered their execution]], declaring: "Rome does not pay traitors".

=== Romanization of Lusitania ===
{{Main|Romanization of Hispania}}
{{Further|Legacy of the Roman Empire|Old Latin|Roman citizenship}}

After the death of Viriathus, the Lusitanians kept fighting under the leadership of [[Tautalus]], but gradually acquired [[Roman culture]] and [[Latin|language]]; the [[Romanization (cultural)|Romanized]] Lusitanian cities, in a manner similar to those of the rest of the [[Iberian Peninsula#Roman rule|Iberian Peninsula]], eventually gained the status of [[Roman cities in Portugal|"Citizens of Rome"]].

== Culture ==
[[File:Lúnula lusitana de Chão de Lamas (M.A.N. 28589) 01.jpg|thumb|170px|left|Lusitanian [[Gold lunula|lunula]] from [[Miranda do Corvo]] ([[Portugal]])]]
[[File:Beaker culture diffusion.svg|thumb|Generalised distribution and movements of the [[Bell Beaker culture]]{{sfn|Piggot|1965|p=101}}]]

Categorising Lusitanian culture generally, including the language, is proving difficult and contentious. Some believe it was essentially a [[pre-Celtic]] Iberian culture with substantial Celtic influences, while others argue that it was an essentially [[Celts|Celtic]]<ref>cf. Wodtko 2010: 355–362</ref> culture with strong indigenous pre-Celtic influences associated with the [[Bell Beaker culture]].

== Religion ==
{{main|Lusitanian mythology}}

The Lusitanians worshiped various gods in a very diverse [[polytheism]], using [[animal sacrifice]]. They represented their gods and warriors in rudimentary sculpture.

[[Endovelicus]] was the most important god for the Lusitanians. 
He is considered a possible Basque language loan god<ref>{{cite book|last=Encarnação |first=José d’ |date=2015 |title=Divindades indígenas sob o domínio romano em Portugal |language=pt |trans-title=Indigenous deities under Roman rule in Portugal |edition=Second |location=Coimbra |publisher=Universidade de Coimbra}}</ref> by some, yet according to scholars like [[José Leite de Vasconcelos]], the word ''Endovellicus'' was originally [[Celtic languages|Celtic]],<ref>[https://europe-nations.estudosculturais.com/pdf/0034i.pdf Celts myths and religion in the Iberian Peninsula and Great-Britain: a common origin?]</ref> ''Andevellicos''.

Endovelicus is compared with [[Welsh language|Welsh]] and [[Breton language|Breton]] names, giving him the meaning of "Very Good God", the same epithet of the [[Ireland|Irish]] god [[Dagda]]. Even the Romans worshiped him for his ability to protect. 
His cult eventually spread across the Iberian peninsula and beyond, to the rest of the Roman Empire and his cult was maintained until the fifth century; he was the god of public health and safety. The goddess [[Ataegina]] was especially popular in the south; as the goddess of rebirth (spring), fertility, nature, and cure, she was identified with [[Proserpina]] during the Roman era.

[[File:Ataecina. Mármol del artista Pedro Roque DSC 0572r1.jpg|thumb|right|250px|''Ataegina'' by Pedro Roque Hidalgo (20th century), Museu do Mármore, [[Vila Viçosa]], (Portugal).]]

Lusitanian mythology was heavily influenced by or related to [[Celtic mythology]].<ref name=olivares>{{cite web|url=http://www4.uwm.edu/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_12/olivares_6_12.html |title=Celtic Gods of the Iberian Peninsula |last=Pedreño |first=Juan Carlos Olivares |year=2005 |access-date=12 May 2010}}</ref><ref name=Quintela>{{cite web|url=http://www4.uwm.edu/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_10/garcia_quintela_6_10.html |title=Celtic Elements in Northwestern Spain in Pre-Roman times |last=Quintela |first=Marco V. García |year=2005 |publisher=Center for Celtic Studies, [[University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee]] |access-date=12 May 2010}}</ref>

Also well attested in inscriptions are the names [[Bandua]]<ref name="arbre-celtique.com">[http://www.arbre-celtique.com/approfondissements/divinites/inventaire-div/div_liste.php Inventaire des divnités celtiques de l’Antiquité], ''L’Arbre Celtique''</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QB-a2H_8XQ4C&q=bandua+dios+de+los+vexilla&pg=PA199 |title=Los cántabros antes de Roma |author= Eduardo Peralta Labrador |publisher=Real Academia de la Historia |date=2003|isbn=9788489512597 }}</ref><ref>''[[Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum|CIL]]'' II, *00215.</ref> (one of the variants of [[Borvo]])<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9GM0jOcjKmwC&q=bandua+borvo+god&pg=PA26 |title=The Religion of the Ancient Celts |isbn=9780486427652 |last1=MacCulloch |first1=John Arnott |date=January 2003|publisher=Courier Corporation }}</ref> often with a second name linked to a locality such as Bandua Aetobrico, and [[Nabia]],<ref>TY  - CHAP
AU  - Lemos, Francisco
PY  - 2008/01/01
SP  - 122
EP  - 211
T1  - A Cultura Castreja no Minho. Espaço Nuclear dos grandes povoados do Noroeste peninsular.
ER  -</ref> a goddess of rivers and streams.<ref name=olivares/><ref name="Strabo">{{cite web |last1=Thayer |first1=Roman E. |title=Book III, Chapter 3 |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/3C*.html#3.4 |website=Strabo Geography |publisher=[[University of Chicago]] |access-date=12 October 2019}}</ref>

According to Strabo the Lusitanians were given to offering sacrifices; they practiced divination on the sacrificial offering by inspecting its vitals and veins.

They also sacrificed human victims, prisoners of war, by striking them under coarse blankets and observing which way they fell. They cut off the right hands of their captives, which they offered to the gods.

== Language ==
{{Main|Lusitanian language}}
{{Further|Paleo-Iberian languages|Paleohispanic scripts}}

The Lusitanian language was a [[Paleohispanic languages|Paleohispanic language]] that clearly belongs to the [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European family]]. The precise affiliation of Lusitanian with the other Indo-European languages is still a matter of debate: there are those who endorse that it is a [[Celtic languages|para-Celtic]] language with an obvious [[Celts|Celticity]] to most of the lexicon, over many anthroponyms and toponyms.<ref name=wodtko2010>{{cite book|last=Wodtko |first=Dagmar S. |title=Celtic from the West Chapter 11: The Problem of Lusitanian |year=2010 |publisher=Oxbow Books |location=Oxford, UK |isbn=978-1-84217-410-4 |pages=335–367}}</ref> A second theory relates Lusitanian with the [[Italic languages]];<ref>{{cite web|url=https://academic.oup.com/dsh/article-abstract/33/2/442/4093902 |doi=10.1093/llc/fqx041 |title=Revisiting the classification of Gallo-Italic: A dialectometric approach |year=2018 |last1=Tamburelli |first1=Marco |last2=Brasca |first2=Lissander |journal=Digital Scholarship in the Humanities |volume=33 |issue=2 |pages=442–455}}</ref> based on the names of Lusitanian deities with other grammatical elements of the area.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The inscription of Cabeço das Fráguas revisited. Lusitanian and Alteuropäisch populations in the West of the Iberian Peninsula |first=Blanca María |last=Prósper |year=2003 |doi=10.1111/1467-968X.00047 |journal=Transactions of the Philological Society |volume=97 |issue=2 |pages=151–184}}</ref>

One hypothesis is that the Lusitanian language may have been [[Basal (phylogenetics)|basal]] [[Italo-Celtic]], a branch independent from [[Celtic languages|Celtic]] and [[Italic languages|Italic]], and splitting off early from [[Proto-Celtic]] and [[Proto-Italic]] populations who spread from Central Europe into western Europe after new [[Yamnaya]] migrations into the Danube Valley.{{sfn|Mallory|1999|pp=108 f.}}{{sfn|Mallory|1999|pp=108, 244–250}}{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=360}}{{sfn|Haak|2015}} Alternatively, a European branch of Indo-European dialects, termed "North-west Indo-European" and associated with the Beaker culture, may have been ancestral to not only Celtic and Italic, but also to Germanic and Balto-Slavic.<ref name="Mallory (2013)">{{cite conference |first=James P. |last=Mallory |author-link=James P. Mallory |title=The Indo-Europeanization of Atlantic Europe |book-title=Celtic From the West 2: Rethinking the Bronze Age and the Arrival of Indo–European in Atlantic Europe |pages=17–40 |publisher=Oxbow Books |editor1-first=J. T. |editor1-last=Koch |editor2-first=B. |editor2-last=Cunliffe |date=2013 |location=Oxford |url=https://www.oxbowbooks.com/oxbow/celtic-from-the-west-2.html}}</ref> [[Ellis Evans]] believes that [[Gallaecian]] and Lusitanian were one language (not separate languages) of the "P" Celtic variant.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ilg.usc.es/agon/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Callaica_Nomina.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=13 May 2020 |archive-date=30 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930005923/https://ilg.usc.es/agon/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Callaica_Nomina.pdf |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f899xH_quaMC&q=Evans+lusitanian+celt+linguist&pg=PA484 |title=Celtic Culture: A-Celti |year=2006 |isbn=9781851094400 |last1=Koch |first1=John T. |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic }}</ref> 
Some recent scholars' analyses, further conducted on a newly discovered inscription, strongly suggest that Lusitanian is more akin to Italic and has no relation to Celtic.<ref>[https://www.academia.edu/50649582/The_Lusitanian_oblique_cases_revisited_new_light_on_the_dative_endings Blanca Maria Prósper, The Lusitanian oblique cases revisted: New light on the dative endings, 2021]</ref><ref>[https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/9d33/b2dc2558eae37421f91acb5f435da54c2978.pdf  Eustaquio Sánchez Salor, Julio Esteban Ortega, ''Un testimonio del dios Labbo en una inscripción lusitana de Plasencia, Cáceres. ¿Labbo también en Cabeço das Fráguas?'', 2021]</ref> 

Lujan, argues that the evidence shows that Lusitanian must have diverged from the other western Indo-European dialects before the kernel of what would then evolve into the Italic and Celtic language families had formed. This points to Lusitanian being so ancient that it predates both the Celtic and Italic linguistic groups. Contact with subsequent Celtic migrations into the Iberian Peninsula are likely to have led to the [[Language shift|linguistic assimilation]] of the Celtic elements found in the language.<ref>"The number of inscriptions written totally or partially in Lusitanian is limited: only six or seven with Lusitanian vocabulary and/or grammatical words, usually dated to the first two centuries CE. All are written in the Latin alphabet, and most are bilingual, displaying code-switching between Latin and Lusitanian. There are also many deity names in Latin inscriptions. The chapter summarizes Lusitanian phonology, morphology, and syntax, though entire categories are not attested at all. Scholarly debate about the classification of Lusitanian has focused on whether it should be considered a Celtic language. The chapter reviews the main issues, such as the fate of Indo-European */p/ or the outcome of voiced aspirate stops. The prevailing opinion is that Lusitanian was not Celtic. It must have diverged from western Indo-European dialects before the kernel of what would evolve into the Celtic and Italic families had been constituted. An appendix provides the text of extant Lusitanian inscriptions and representative Latin inscriptions displaying Lusitanian deity names and/or their epithets." E.R. Luján 2019: p.304-334
</ref>

== Tribes ==
[[Image:Mapa de Portugal tribos principais.png|thumb|250px|Map showing the main pre-Roman tribes in Portugal and their main migrations: Turduli movement in red, Celtici in brown, and Lusitanian in blue; most tribes neighbouring the Lusitanians were dependent on them. Names are in Latin.]]

The Lusitanians were a people formed by several [[tribe]]s that lived between the rivers [[Douro River|Douro]] and [[Tagus]], in most of today's [[Beira (Portugal)|Beira]] and [[Estremadura Province (historical)|Estremadura]] regions of central Portugal, and some areas of the [[Extremadura]] region (Spain).

They were a tribal confederation, not a single political entity; each tribe had its own territory and was independent, and was formed by smaller [[clans]]. However, they had a cultural sense of unity and a common name for the tribes.

Each tribe was ruled by its own tribal aristocracy and chief. Many members of the Lusitanian tribal aristocracy were [[warriors]] as happened in many other pre-Roman peoples of the [[Iron Age]].

Only when an external threat occurred did the different tribes politically unite, as happened at the time of the Roman conquest of their territory when [[Viriathus]] became the single leader of the Lusitanian tribes. [[Punicus]], [[Caucenus]] and [[Caesarus]] were other important Lusitanian chiefs before the Roman conquest. They ruled the Lusitanians (before [[Viriathus]]) for some time, leading the tribes in the resistance against Roman attempts of conquest, and were successful.

The known Lusitanian tribes were:
* Arabrigenses
* Araocelenses
* Aravi
* Coilarni/Colarni
* Interamnienses
* Lancienses
** Lancienses Oppidani
** Lancienses Transcudani
** Lancienses Ocelenses (may be the same as the Oppidani)
* Meidubrigenses
* [[Paesuri]] - [[Douro]] and [[Sever do Vouga|Vouga]] (Portugal)
* [[Palanti]] (there is not agreement among scholars if they were [[Vettones]] or Lusitanian)<ref>{{cite journal |first=Jorge de |last=Alarcão |title=Novas perspectivas sobre os Lusitanos (e outros mundos) |language=pt |trans-title=New perspectives on the Lusitanians (and other worlds) |journal=Revista Portuguesa de Arqueologia |volume=4 |issue=2 |year=2001 |pages=293–349 [p. 312 e segs] |url=http://www.julianus.org/textos/JAlarcao_lusitanos.pdf |issn=0874-2782 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131126021844/http://www.julianus.org/textos/JAlarcao_lusitanos.pdf |archive-date=26 November 2013}}</ref>
** Calontienses
** Caluri
** Coerenses
* Petravioi
* Tangi
** Elbocori
** Igaeditani
** [[Tapoli|Tapori]]/[[Tapoli]] - by the river [[Tagus]], around the border area between Portugal and Spain
* Talures
* Veaminicori
* Vissaieici

It remains to be known whether the [[Turduli Veteres]], [[Turdulorum Oppida|Turduli Oppidani]], Turduli [[Bardili (Turduli)|Bardili]], and [[Turduli]] were Lusitanian tribes (coastal tribes), were related Celtic peoples, or were instead related to the [[Turdetani]] ([[Celts|Celtic]], [[pre-Celtic]] [[Proto-Indo-Europeans|Indo-European]], or [[Iberians]]) and came from the south. The name Turduli Veteres (older or ancient Turduli), a tribe that dwelt in today's [[Aveiro District]], seems to indicate they came from the north and not from the south (contrary to what is assumed on the map). Several Turduli peoples were possibly [[Callaeci]] tribes that initially came from the north, towards the south along the coast and then migrated inland along the Tagus and the Anas ([[Guadiana River]]) valleys.

If there were more Lusitanian tribes, their names are unknown.

== Warfare ==
{{Main|Warfare in the ancient Iberian Peninsula}}
[[image:Nt-Viriato_Viseu.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Statue of [[Viriatus]] in [[Viseu]], the Lusitanian leader during the [[Lusitanian War]] (155 to 139 BCE).]]

The Lusitanians were considered by historians to be particularly adept at [[guerrilla warfare]]. The strongest amongst them were selected to defend the populace in mountainous sites.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/classical_diodorus.html#B5 |title=The Historical Library of Diodorus Siculus |access-date=19 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180128133326/http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/classical_diodorus.html#B5 |archive-date=28 January 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref> They used hooked javelins or [[saunion]]s made of iron, and wielded [[sword]]s and [[helmets]] like those of the [[Celtiberians]]. They threw their darts from some distance, yet often hit their marks and wounded their targets deeply. Being active and nimble warriors, they would pursue their enemies and decapitate them.

{{blockquote|quote="In a narrow pass 300 Lusitani faced 1000 Romans; as a result of the action 70 of the former and 320 of the latter died. When the victorious Lusitani retired and dispersed confidently, one of them on foot became separated, and was surrounded by a detachment of pursuing cavalry. The lone warrior pierced the horse of one of the riders with his spear, and with a blow of his sword cut off the Roman’s head, producing such terror among the others that they prudently retired under his arrogant and contemptuous gaze."|source=[[Orosius]], ''Seven Books of History Against the Pagans'', 5.4}}

In times of peace, they had a particular style of dancing, which required great agility and nimbleness of the legs and thighs. In times of war, they marched in time, until they were ready to charge the enemy.<ref>{{Google books |id=rCXVeXrRrHAC |page=100 |title=Hispaniae: Spain and the Development of Roman Imperialism, 218-82 BC }}</ref>

Appian claims that when Praetor [[Decimus Junius Brutus Callaicus|Brutus]] sacked Lusitania after Viriathus's death, the women fought valiantly next to their men as [[Women warriors in literature and culture|women warrior]]s.<ref name="Lusitania: historia y etnología" />

== Contemporary meaning ==
{{Main|Lusitanic|Lusophone}}
{{Further|European Portuguese|Lusophone Commonwealth|Portuguese literature}}

While the Lusitanians did not speak a Romance language, nowadays the term ''Lusitanian'' is often used as a [[metonym]] for the [[Portuguese people]], and similarly ''Lusophone'' is used to refer to a [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] [[Geographical distribution of Portuguese speakers|speaker]] within or outside [[Portugal]], [[Brazil]], [[Macau]], [[Timor-Leste]], [[Angola]], [[Mozambique]], [[Cape Verde]], [[São Tomé and Príncipe]], [[Guinea Bissau]], and other overseas territories and countries [[Community of Portuguese Language Countries|formerly comprised]] within the [[Portuguese Empire]].

== See also ==
{{Portal|Ancient Rome|History|Portugal}}
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[European Portuguese]]
* [[Geography of Portugal]]
** [[Alentejo Province|Alentejo]]
** [[Autonomous Regions of Portugal]]
** [[Beira Alta Province|Beira Alta]]
** [[Beira Baixa Province|Beira Baixa]]
** [[Continental Portugal]]
** [[Ribatejo Province|Ribatejo]]
* [[History of Portugal]]
* ''[[Emerita Augusta]]'', capital of the Roman province of [[Lusitania]] (''Lusitaniae et Vetoniae'')
** [[Hispania]]
** [[List of ancient peoples of Portugal]]
** [[List of Celtic place names in Portugal]]
** [[List of wars involving the Lusitanians]]
** [[Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula]]
** [[Timeline of Portuguese history]]
* [[List of Celtic tribes]]
* [[National Museum of Archaeology, Lisbon|National Museum of Archaeology]] in [[Lisbon]]
* [[Provinces of the Roman Empire]]
{{Div col end}}

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* Ángel Montenegro ''et alii'', ''Historia de España 2 - colonizaciones y formación de los pueblos prerromanos (1200-218 a.C)'', Editorial Gredos, Madrid (1989) {{ISBN|84-249-1386-8}}
* Alarcão, Jorge de, ''O Domínio Romano em Portugal'', Publicações Europa-América, Lisboa (1988) {{ISBN|972-1-02627-1}}
* Alarcão, Jorge de ''et alii'', ''De Ulisses a Viriato – O primeiro milénio a.C.'', Museu Nacional de Arqueologia, Instituto Português de Museus, Lisboa (1996) {{ISBN|972-8137-39-7}}
* Amaral, João Ferreira do & Amaral, Augusto Ferreira do, ''Povos Antigos em Portugal – paleontologia do território hoje Português'', Quetzal Editores, Lisboa (1997) {{ISBN|972-564-224-4}}
* {{cite book |last=Anthony |first=David W. |year=2007 |title=The Horse The Wheel And Language. How Bronze-Age Riders From the Eurasian Steppes Shaped The Modern World |publisher=Princeton University Press |title-link=The Horse, the Wheel, and Language }}
* {{Citation |last1=Haak |first1=Wolfgang |year=2015 |title=Massive migration from the steppe was a source for Indo-European languages in Europe |journal=Nature |doi=10.1038/nature14317 |arxiv=1502.02783 |volume=522 |issue=7555 |pages=207–211 |bibcode=2015Natur.522..207H |pmid=25731166 |pmc=5048219}}
* {{cite book | last =Mallory | first =J.P. | author-link =J.P. Mallory | year =1999 | title =In Search of the Indo-Europeans: Language, Archaeology, and Myth | place =London | publisher =Thames & Hudson | edition =reprint | isbn =978-0-500-27616-7 | url-access =registration | url =https://archive.org/details/insearchofindoeu00jpma }}
* {{cite book | last=Piggot | first=Stuart | author-link=Stuart Piggott | year=1965 | title=Ancient Europe from the Beginnings of Agriculture to Classical Antiquity: a Survey | place=Chicago | publisher=Aldine }}
{{Refend}}

=== Further reading ===
{{refbegin|30em}}
*Amílcar Guerra, ''A propósito dos conceitos de "Lusitano" e "Lusitânia"'', Paleohispanica, 10, 81–98, Institución Fernando el Católico, Zaragoza (2010) {{ISSN|1578-5386}} - [https://repositorio.ul.pt/bitstream/10451/9863/1/06guerra.pdf]
* Berrocal-Rangel, Luis, ''Los pueblos célticos del soroeste de la Península Ibérica'', Editorial Complutense, Madrid (1992) {{ISBN|84-7491-447-7}}
* Burillo Mozota, Francisco, ''Los Celtíberos, etnias y estados'', Crítica, Barcelona (1998, revised edition 2007) {{ISBN|84-7423-891-9}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Cardim Ribeiro |first=José |date=2009 |title=Terão certos teónimos paleohispânicos sido alvo de interpretações (pseudo-)etimológicas durante a romanidade passíveis de se reflectirem nos respectivos cultos? |journal=Acta Paleohispanica X - Paleohispanica |volume=9 |pages=247–270 |issn=1578-5386}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Encarnação |first=José d' |title=Divindades indígenas sob o domínio romano em Portugal, 35 anos depois |journal=Palaeohispanica |issn=1578-5386 |volume=10 |date=2010 |pages=525–535}}.
* Lorrio Alvarado, Alberto José, ''Los Celtíberos'', Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Murcia (1997) {{ISBN|84-7908-335-2}}
* {{Cite book |last=Luján |first=Eugenio |date=2019 |chapter=Language and writing among the Lusitanians |title=Paleohispanic Languages and Epigraphies |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|pages=304–334 |isbn=9780191833274 |doi=10.1093/oso/9780198790822.003.0011}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Spoken Wikipedia|En-Lusitanians-article.oga|date=2018-11-10}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040611215344/http://www.arqueotavira.com/Mapas/Iberia/Populi.htm Detailed map of the Pre-Roman Peoples of Iberia (around 200 BC)]
* [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Caesar/Spanish_War/home.html Unknown ancient author text (about Julius Caesar in Hispania)] of [[De Bello Hispaniensi]] (Spanish War).
* [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Pliny_the_Elder/home.html Pliny the Elder text] of [[Naturalis Historia]] (Natural History), books 3-6 (Geography and Ethnography).
* [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/home.html Strabo's text] of ''De Geographica'' ('About Geography').

{{Pre-Roman peoples in Iberia}}
{{Portugal topics}}

[[Category:Lusitanians| ]]
[[Category:Tribes of Lusitania]]
[[Category:Historical Celtic peoples]]
[[Category:Ancient peoples of Portugal]]
[[Category:Indo-European peoples]]