The Lusitanii
Strabo defined the Lusitanii as "the greatest of Iberian tribes, that the Romans fought for a long time". Considered as the finest Iberian warriors in terms of guerrilla tactics, their influence extended through the fertile lands around the river Tagus, comprising what is now north and central Portugal, and wide regions of west central Spain. Independent and warlike, Lusitanii tribes were also under strong influence of the Celtic world - both in religion and material culture - and as their Celtiberian neighbours, were at constant strife and competition.
Master in ambushes, and in the use of light and throwable weapons, the Lusitanii rarely fought in an open battlefield, though they were able to do so, as was known on several ocasions. A very frequent tactic consisted of harassing the enemy army using fast hit-and-run incursions to strike specific detachments at unexpected places and situations. This had the objective of tiring and trimming down their forces before a previously planned encirclement and assault was made by the whole army. These disorientating tactics, enhanced by their supreme knowledge of the terrain, their determination and sometimes blind ruthless ferocity ensured that even the wisest opponent would be put on the defensive.
"They say that the Lusitanii are skilled in ambushes and chasses, swift, quick and sthealthy; they wield small shields two feet wide and concave in their outside, being manouvered with the help of two straps around the neck, and, so it seems, without grips. Beyond that they use daggers or knives. Most of them wear linen armours and leather caps, very few others mail armours and three feathered helms. Some infantrymen also use greaves, and each of them carries several short spears; some of them with bronze tips".
- Strabo of Amasya (Pontus), Greek historian, 63 BC - 24 AD
"The Lusitanii are the strongest amongst Iberians; to war, they carry very small shields, made out of esparto (a natural hard vegetable fiber), with which can easily defend their bodies. During battle they wield it skilfully, moving it from one side to the other of their bodies, defending themselves with ability from every blow that falls upon them. They also use spears, entirely made of iron with harpoon-shaped tips, and ware helms and a sword very similar to the Celtiberians; they throw their spears with precision and to a great distance, very frequently causing grevious wounds. They are swift while moving and fast while running, so they flee and chase quickly (). With these light armours, being able to run very fast and being very sharp-minded, they can only be defeated with difficulty. They consider the rocks and ranges their homeland and so seek refuge in them, because they are impracticable to large and heavy armies. So, because of that, the Romans, who have organized countless expeditions against them, although being able to counter their daring, have not, dispite of their commitment, been able to end their pillaging".
- Diodorus Siculus of Sicily, Sicilian historian, 80 BC - 20 AD
A unique characteristic about the Lusitanii was their ability to adopt foreigners in to their own population. This was known by the Romans as hospitium and led them to believe that among Lusitanii there was something similar to the devotio. In particular, among the Lusitanii, we must mention a very special protection given by the powerfull, the Ambactii that, according to Julius Caeser, were soldiers linked to their respective patrons by oaths of personal dependency, sworn in religious vows and faithful to the death to their chiefs.
Lusitanii were known by their neighbours as expert pillagers and raiders. This behaviour was motivated by the uneven distribution of wealth among them, the lack of open and fertile agricultural fields in their own territory, as well as the greater material wealth displayed by their more industrious and commercial southern and coastal populations. It is this permanent stress that will serve as a catalist to the later Roman conquest.
Although their social organization was built up of noble and non-noble classes, in times of war their military leaders were chosen by an assembly of the whole population. Contrary to many other tribes or tribal confederations, the caudilho (military commander) of the Lusitanii could be or not of the noble class. He was choosen for his bravery, skill in battle, inteligence and popularity amongst the population, before his ascendency was taken in to consideration. The Romans and Greeks designated them as Dux or Hegoumenos respectivelly.
Romans were not welcome. They learned the errors of challenging some of these famous caudilhos like Punico, commander of an alliance of Lusitanii and Vetonii that devastated the Beaturia and Betica in 154BC. Or of the likes of Cesaro, commander of the northern Lusitanii tribes, whose victories against the Romans motivated the Celtiberian tribes and the southern Lusitanii (commanded by Caucenos) to join in their efforts against Rome. These victories lead to the pillaging of Turdetania that would continue during the time of Viriatus.
In 150BC, a group of Lusitanii tribes forced by war devastation to seek fertile lands, were promised peace and lands by consul Servius Sulpicius Galba. He invited the Lusitanii to attend unarmed to an open field, and once there, he ordered his troops to attack and annihilate the defenceless crowd. Very few survived to the slaughter. One of them was a brilliant tactician called Viriatus.
Viriatus never forgot the treason. He rose as a popular leader and persuaded his countrymen to resist Roman rule. Gathering the Lusitanii under his command, he defeated the Romans in 147BC and started an elusive war that surprised and humiliated the Roman invaders. During the next two years he established control over a vast area. One Roman defeat followed another. Legion after legion crushed. The victories of Viriatus encouraged the Celtiberians to renew their resistance to Rome. Then, in 140BC, the senate sent an army under Fabius Maximus Servilianus, which Viriatus succeeded in trapping. Instead of destroying this army, he concluded a peace and allowed the Romans to leave. But he demanded to Fabius that he and the Lusitanii would be considered amicus populi romani and that their conquered territories would have to be recognized by Rome and never attacked again (something that had never happened, Rome being dictated peace terms, that are analogous to admitting defeat to a bunch of barbarians). Within a year the humiliated Roman Senate would break, as usual, that treaty.
Finally, in 139BC, a tired and disenchanted Viriatus sent three men to negotiate peace to the Roman quarters. When they got back, the bribed emissaries killed Viriatus. They never enjoyed their reward. When they got back to consul Quintus Servilius Scipio, he ordered them to die, saying: "Rome does not reward traitors". The death of Viriatus marked the beginning of the end of Lusitanii resistance, but not of its myth.
