Viriathus and The Lusitanian War (feat. @historywithhilbert146)

variatus is an enigma not much is known about him and most of what is known comes from sources written later by roman and greek authors we shall attempt to recount history making use of ancient sources and more recent historiography viriatus and the majority of the lusitanians lived in northwestern iberia according to strabo the northern shore of the takus river was called lusitania and upon it lived a great deal of people such as the carpathians beetonians the cayennes and kalaikans unfortunately he did not mention if these people were the lusitanians or if they identified as such strabo further complicates the matter by stating on this account they were the most difficult to subdue and furnished his surname to the conqueror of the lusitanians in fact at the present day the greater part of the lusitanians are beginning to call themselves galicians the region of lusitania as a defined geographical entity was only defined in the times of augustus with the creation of a roman province of lusitania unfortunately the province does not define the home of the lusitanian people per se as numerous mentions of the vitonians and celts are found within it therefore lusitania as for home of the lusitanians is poorly defined not only because the iberian peninsula was inhabited by a wide variety of different people and tribes but also because the lusitanian people seem to inhabit a wide land with considerable diversity within it the classical sources mentioned that the followers of viriatus fought for fertile lands for crop raising which is interesting because viriatus is commonly held as having been a shepherd it is also important to note that there are mentions of lusitanians on both sides of the tagus for example in ebora and living in the midst of other groups such as celts in places like maro briga and kaitobriga many theories have been raised to explain these facts such as the lusitanians being a celtic group or a celtiberian one but many questions remain according to ancient sources variation's home and refuge were vermont herminius a mountain range of uncertain location commonly held to be the cera de estrella in portugal although there is no evidence for such a claim and the only known reference to such a location comes from the time of caesar nearly a century afterwards having discussed the problems with the historiography of viriatus and the lusitanian wars let us see how contemporary authors describe the roman conflicts in western iberia the origins of theriatus are murky and vague it is commonly held that he was a shepherd of humble origins who was amongst a few who escaped the traps brung by the legate galba who tricked a large group of lusitanians with promises of good lands and then massacred them such an event would lay the groundworks for his hatred and war upon the romans viriatus's wedding to the daughter of a rich landowner astor pass is interesting to note as astor pass presents himself as a supporter of a roman cause which makes him the subject of no small amount of criticism from theriatus it would seem that astopas was from the region of terditania in southwestern iberia in the mid and lower gordal gavir a region that was deeply influenced by the romans while terditania would usually be considered further south than the normal lusitanian area of influence it is of note that during the war viriatus received considerable support from its inhabitants the war itself is commonly held as having started in 146 bce when viriatus led several raids into capitania and baited the roman army sent to oppose him into a series of ambushes where he essentially decimated them leaving him free to continue his raids unfortunately viriatus suffered a series of setbacks when he was faced by quintus fabius maximus amelanus the son of famous amelias paulus conqueror of macedonia as the roman general refused to fight viriatus and carefully trained his troops before sieging and taking a number of lusitanian settlements fortunately for variatas the general was replaced by a far less capable quintus pompeus orlas who himself was replaced the following year in 142 bce the new general fabius maximus civilianis amassed a great army totaling close to twenty thousand soldiers and challenged viriatus in a series of battles and confrontations until viriatas managed to infiltrate and ambush for army in the town of erusiana forcing the romans to retreat following this spectacular victory viriatus ratified a peace treaty with maximus civilianis where he would be considered a friend of rome and his people would receive vast expanses of land obviously rome could not accept such a treaty and in 140 bce barely after peace had been achieved maximus was replaced by his brother fabius maximus capis who pushed for senate to resume hostilities with the lusitanians viriatus once more made use of his guerrilla tactics and deep knowledge of the land to escape the much larger roman armies avoiding confrontation with them head-on as that would have spelt disaster for him the long war made several tribes and people in iberia rise up against the power of rome and they had to be subjugated in long harsh and costly campaigns hi i'm hilbert from history with hilbert vireathos was not the only one that defied the roman expansion in the iberian peninsula and many more tribal chieftains oppose the expansion of rome in this area if you want to find out more about them and the roman conquests of iberia that stretched on for around two centuries then you should check out my video on the topic by clicking either on the card which should be appearing now or checking the link in the description below where you can find it thank you very much no history and enjoy the rest of the video understanding that victory against rome was unachievable after a long conflict variation some of his most trusted warriors whose names have been recorded as ordax ditalco and menurus to meet with copais and sue for peace unfortunately for viriatus copies had no interest in peace and instead bribed the warriors with extravagant gifts and promises of rich rewards if they would slay viriatus convinced by the honeyed words the warriors returned to viriatus and slew him as he slept in his tent before escaping into the night back to copious it is popularly held that when their assassins were brought to him and asked for their rewards coppius answered rome does not pay traitors and executed them as for the lusitanians after holding a great funeral for viriatus they chose a warlord named tantalus as their new leader unfortunately he would surrender to the romans soon after being unable to continue fighting with them variati's legacy would be felt throughout the following centuries being held as a symbol of defiance and freedom by the portuguese and spanish people in the 19th and 20th centuries he would see a resurgence in popularity as nationalistic movements and governments adopted for shepard who fought against rome as a symbol of nationalism and independence for he was as is agreed by all valiant in dangers prudent and careful in providing whatever was necessary and that which was most considerable of all was that whilst he commanded he was more beloved than ever any was before him thanks for watching special thanks to our imperator level patron fernando lopez oyeda if you enjoyed this video be sure to like and subscribe for more great historical content also feel free to check out our discord and patreon linked in the description below

Channel: Know History

Views: 24,533

Keywords: Viriathus, Lusitania, rome, roman empire, lusitanian war, portugal, spain, empire, salazar, franco, myth, history, ancient history, ancient, roman, lusitanian, turdetania, carpetania, tribes, iberia

Id: WfpDBY-Hw1I

Length: 8min 6sec (486 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 20 2021