Civilopedia.
Iberia is the name whereupon the Greeks designated earth located in the limits of the known world, lived by a great variety of tribes. These tribes were divided as well in three great blocks: iberians, celts and celtiberians.
The iberians arrived around year 3000BC at the peninsula,they formed part of the great migration block of indoeuropeans, occupied the Eastern part of this one and the south of France, their villages were located in the coast . Thanks to their proximity to the sea, they had great outer influences, most remarkable of which are: the Greek, the Phoenician, and the Carthaginian. The celtiberians occupied the central plateau of the peninsula, they were soldiers with a wild mentality who offered a great resistance to the Roman empire, its more important city was Numantia. Celts arrived at Spain in the year 1000 BC in two migratory waves. They dominated the north and the east of the peninsula...
Its diversity would consist of aspects such as its preference for the monarchic governments in the south (where a divine origin was attributed to the kings) and of an aristocratic-oligarchical character in the east and north (where the tribes were commanded by a leader, attended by a Council);by the variants in ceramics or the differents buildings. Its unit, of cultural and social type, is pronounced in the religion, where the different pantheons from Gods have similar characteristics and relations with the nature (they practiced the cult to the Sun, the Moon and the Bull); in the funeral ritual of incineration and deposit of the rest in ballot boxes; in the artistic iconography of these towns, animalist and anthropomorphous character; in its vocation single-breasted uniform jacket... The socioeconómicas inequalities within the tribes and between such towns did not diminish their anxiety of front common independence and against the colonizadores towns, although the unificate tendencies, favoring therefore the successive conquests did not fructify during century III a.C., first of Carthage and, few years later, Rome..
The Iberian language is known by the inscriptions on lead, ceramics, coins, stone ... written with specific signs. It presents the characteristics of the Mediterranean languages previous to the Greek, the Latin or the Celtic dialects, all of the Indo-European group. It is a very ancient language of that other well-known testimonies do not stay, hence, the difficulty of his translation. It was used in an area understood between the average vale of the Guadalquivir and the river Hérault (France). At present it is not possible to decipher the meaning of an Iberian text, the made investigations on this matter only have managed to discover the phonetic meaning of the symbols, that is to say, we can read the Iberian language but not understand it.
The Iberian art is the synthesis of the tradition, the Mediterranean influence and the penetration of the Central European culture. It developed in the period of the V-I century B.C. and showed a top creative potency in the regions meridionale. In architecture it is characterized by the use of the system adintelado with arches and vaults by approach of courses and by the use of colossal tackle for the fortifications. As typical constructions it is necessary to quote the cities walled with defensive lookouts erected on acropolis as that of Azaila. Other interesting remains are the walls of the Peak of Alcoy, the town of San Antonio of Calaceite and the colossal walls of Tarragona and Ampurias. The graves were communal and the ashes were keeping in urns that were placed in underground cameras, which were communicating with the exterior across secret brokers. Also there are important the sanctums, of Greek influence, where there have been important pieces of sculpture as part of the funeral trousseau. The sculpture had a notable level. They emphasize priestesses' figures of funeral character that accuse the influence of the archaic Greek art and púnico. As notable examples we quote the checkers of Elche, of the Hill of the Saints and of Trick. Also there stand out the votive offerings realized mostly in bronze that human and animal types represent, especially of the bull, of the horse and of the lion. Also they emphasize fantastic animals as the snake of balazote or bull androcéfalo that it accuses Mesopotamian influence. As for the applied arts, they emphasize the ceramics, of vegetable or animal decoration, or of geometric character with reminiscences of Greece; in any case a marked tendency exists to the reduction and to the abstraction that is made clear in the ceramics and in the treasures as that of Jávea.
In reference to the divinity the Iberians think that the top forces communicate with the alive ones across the forefathers and take animal or human forms of gods and goddesses. The winged representations and the worship realized in caves give to understand that they place his gods in the celestial sphere and in the underground world. Spaces exist constructed to celebrate the sacred community worships. His typology adapts itself to his emplacement, urban or rural, and to the epoch of his construction. In the first moment there are courtyards opencast and stores for the gifts and, further on, there are constructed temples (The Hill of the Saints).
It was doing the 8th century aC there put themselves on contact with the most oriental inhabitants of the Iberia the Greeks, who establish commercial colonies, the most important of the what ones it is an Emporion (current Empúries). Soon they are the Phoenicians those who settle in the south of the Peninsula, his principal commercial city is Gadir (current Cadiz). Of these first contacts the most important is that of the Phoenicians with the tribe turdetana considered the most developed culturamente and technologically of the Peninsula, since it allows the appearance of the urban life and the development of a powerful indústria of the iron.
With the entry of the foreign peoples, the Iberians started minting currency (IInd century B.C.). All the coins turned out to be inscribed with Iberian characters, with the name of his issuing center, although later they were bilingual. The minted topics were those of the colonial currency and they were repeating the Pegasus or the sphinx. The coins were taking often in the obverse the head of a divinity; the reverse, on the other hand, was changing very much (gentlemen with spears or palms, horses without rider or sea horses). Up to the reign of Nerón, the Hispanic municipalities kept on minting proper currency. The population stayed free up to the beginning of the conquest of the Iberian Peninsula for the Carthaginians (237 aC) against that they put up big resistance, like in beleaguered Sagunto (219aC). Quite and this way it was not possible to conquer most of the north and the peninsular northeast. During the punic wars(219-206 aC) the Romans and the Carthaginians divided his support between. After winners finished these wars, the Romans, they imposed an exploitative politics, fact that propitiated the raising of the whole Iberia in weapon. The Iberian oriental tribes, romanizated lot of time ago did not present big resistance, with the exception of the ilergetan, where Índibil and Mardonio were during a lot of time an inconvenience in the region. The tribes, central, western and northern were different to sing. Viriato, leader of the tribe of the lusitans raised in weapon the whole western region, up to the point of the biggest threat being considered for the interests of Rome in the world, on the other hand in the central part the capital of the árevacos: Numantia, was resisting and cause painful and surprising defeats, to all the Roman hosts that were daring to enter his territory.
With the death to treachery of Viriato, only it was staying in foot the most churlish north and Numantia, turned this one in the first target of Rome. Six periods of five years Numantia resisted, in big numerical inferiority, the Roman attacks, before the blush of the situation (the numantians llegarón to capture a Roman banner), the Roman council decided that his best general would lead the attacked piece of news: Escipión Emiliano. This one supervised by 60.000 soldiers constructed the first provisional line of fortifications about the city. Agger et fossa, terrace and pit, which they served as defense the legionaries that meters behind were constructing the real line of siege consisting of a stone wall with towers of alertness and platforms for the artillery. In the small city there were approximately 10.000 persons with not more than 4.000 suitable men for the defense. A struggle from 1 to 15. When the piled up provisions had become exhausted, a numantian, a hero called Retogenes, supervised by a team of patrolling, went out of the city and, managing to liberate the Roman lines of siege, to come up to the nearby population of Lutia where they asked for help. 400 young people they joined, but Escipión Emiliano informed by his spies, came to Lutia and captured brave those whom he punished amputating both hands. While, in Numantia, the women were cooking skins to feed the population, but the sanitary shortcomings made appear such a fearsome pest that spread rapidly being fattened in exhausted defenders. When it was already not staying to cheat the famine the numantians ate up to the corpses and when the majority of the inhabitants had already died of famine or for illnesses they decided to vote what his end would be. That assembly of living bogeys met for last time to decide democratically what to do. And it was decided that each one was free to do what he wanted. At midday, from the Roman lines one saw Numantia burning turned into a gigantic pyre. With scarcely you force in his punished bodies limited to bone and pelt, the numantians give themselves death throwing itself to the flames, throwing itself from the walls to the cliff or fixing to him his sword. When the Romans enter the smoky city scarcely they can believe what they see. Only a few hundreds of numantians have not wanted or cannot have escaped to the defeat and wait knocked down in the soil, without forces to get up. Escipión Emiliano has big problems to choose to the captive fifties that him will remain chained to his car the day of his Victory in Rome.
With the fall of Numantia symbol of the Iberian resistance, there is finished the pacification of the Iberia (100 aC). Only areas of the north continue without romanizated, minor strategic someone, and in general the Iberian civilization dies.
That's really good news.
