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CANTABRIA (Area) SPAIN
Cantabria (Kantabria), the country of the Cantabri (Kantabroi; sing.
Kantabros, Cantaber, Adj. Cantabricus), a people of Hispania Tarraconensis, about
the middle of the N. side of the peninsula, in the mountains that run parallel
to the coast, and from them extending to the coast itself, in the E. of Asturias,
and the N. of Burgos, Palencia, and Toro. They and their neighbours on the W.,
the Astures, were the last peoples of the peninsula that submitted to the Roman
yoke, being only subdued under Augustus. Before this, their name is loosely applied
to the inhabitants of the whole mountain district along the N. coast (Caes. B.
G. iii. 26, B.C. i. 38). and so, too, even by later writers (Liv. Epit. xlviii.;
Juv. xv. 108 compared with 93). But the geographers who wrote after their conquest
give their position more exactly, as E. of the Astures, the boundary being the
river Salia (Mela, iii. 1), and W. of the Autrigones, Varduli, and Vascones. (Strab.
iii. p. 167, et alib.; Plin. iii. 3. s. 4, iv. 20. s. 34; Ptol. ii. 6. § § 6,
51.) They were regarded as the fiercest and rudest of all the peoples of the peninsula,
savage as wild beasts, says Strabo, who describes their manners at some length
(iii. pp. 155, 166; comp. Sil. Ital. iii. 329, 361; Hor. Carm. iii. 4.) They were
subjugated by Augustus, after a most obstinate resistance, in B.C. 25; but they
soon revolted, and had to be reconquered by Agrippa, B.C. 19. In this second war,
the greater part of the people perished by the sword, and the remainder were compelled
to quit their mountains, and reside in the lower valleys. (Dion Cass. liii. 25,
29, liv. 5, 11, 20; Strab. iii. pp. 156, 164, 287, 821; Horat. Carm. ii. 6. 2,
11. 1, iii. 8. 22; Flor. iv. 12, 51; Liv. xxviii. 12; Suet. Octav. 20, et seq.,
29, 81, 85; Oros. vi. 21.) But still their subjugation was imperfect; Tiberius
found it necessary to keep them in restraint by strong garrisons (Strab. p. 156);
their mountains have afforded a refuge to Spanish independence, and the cradle
of its regeneration; and their unconquerable spirit survives in the Basques, who
are supposed to be their genuine descendants. (Ford, Handbook of Spain, p. 554,
foll.)
The ethnical affinities, however, both of the ancient and the modern
people, have always presented a most difficult problem; the most probable opinion
is that which makes them a remnant. of the most ancient Iberian population. (W.
von Humboldt, Urbewohner von Hispanien, Berlin, 1821, 4to.) Strabo (iii. p. 157)
mentions a tradition which derived them from Laconian settlers, of the period
of the Trojan war.
Under the Roman empire, Cantabria belonged to the province of Hispania
Tarraconensis, and contained seven tribes. (Plin. iii. 3. s. 4.) Of these tribes
the ancient geographers apologise for possessing only imperfect information, on
the ground of the barbarian sound of their names. (Strab. iii. pp. 155, 162; Mela,
iii. 1.) Among them were the Pleutauri (Pleutauroi); the Bardyetae or Bardyali
(Barduetai, Bardualoi), probably the Varduli of Pliny (iii. 3. s.4, iv.20. s.34);
the Allotriges(Allotriges, probably the same as the Autrigones; the Conisci (Koniskoi),
probably the same as the Coniaci (Koniakoi) or Concani (Konkanoi), who are particularly
mentioned in the Cantabrian War (Mela, iii. 1; Horat. Carm. iii. 4. 34; Sil. Ital.
iii. 360, 361); and the Tuisi (Touisoi), about the sources of the lberus. These
are all mentioned by Strabo (iii. pp. 155, 156, 162). Mela names also the Origenomesci
or Argenomesci (iii. 1), and some minor tribes are mentioned by Ptolemy and other
writers.
Of the nine cities of Cantabria, according to Pliny, Juliobrica alone
was worthy of mention. (Plin. iii. 3. s. 4, iv. 20. s. 34.) Ptolemy mentions these
nine cities as follows: near the sea-coast, Noegaucesia (Noigaoukesia), a little
above the mouth of a river of the same name (ii. 6. § 6); and, in the interior,
Concana (Knkana), Ottaviolca (Ottaouiolka), Argenomescum (Argenomeskon), Vadinia
(Ouadinia), Vellica (Ouellika), Camarica (Kamarika), Juliobriga (Iouliobriga),
and Moroeca (Moroika, ii. 6. § 51). Pliny also mentions Blendium (prob. Santander);
and a few places of less importance are named by other writers, (Ukert, vol. ii.
pt. i. pp. 443, 444.)
Strabo places among the Cantabri the sources of the rivers Iberus
(Ebro) and Minius (Minho), and the commencement of Mt. Idubeda, the great chain
which runs from NW. to SE. between the central table-land of Spain and the basin
of the Ebro; (Strab. iii. pp. 153, 159, 161.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited August 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
RETORTILLO (Town) SANTANDER
Juliobriga (Retortillo) Santander, Spain.
In the Cantabrian mountains 3 km E of Reinosa, in one of the best passes from
the plateau to the sea. It was the first Roman establishment in Cantabria and
the main one, settled probably between 29 and 19 B.C. Its name indicates its founding
by Augustus, perhaps during the Cantabrian wars. Pliny (HN 3.21) calls it an oppidum,
meaning that it enjoyed privileges similar to those of a colony. It was the principal
Roman city in the limes of N Hispania, and was probably destroyed during the invasions
of the 5th c.
It must have occupied ca. 1 sq. km, but only a small part has been
excavated. The principal discovery is a building (79.4 x 29.5 m) whose SE side
consisted of an enclosed portico, probably a loggia or private gallery rather
than a porticoed street. The building has two parts each ca. 40 m long, one a
residence with rooms around a peristyle, the other apparently an outbuilding with
servants' quarters and storerooms. The finds are in the Museum of Prehistory in
Santander.
R. Teja, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Jan 2006 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
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