A History of Spain: founded on the Historia de España y de la civilización española of Rafael Altamira — John Shaqi
A History of Spain: founded on the Historia de España y de la civilización española of Rafael AltamiraChapman, Charles E. (Charles Edward)
History
A History of Spain: founded on the Historia de España y de la civilización española of Rafael Altamira
Chapman, Charles E. (Charles Edward)
Spain -- Civilization; Spain -- History
The origin of the Celts is more certain. Unlike the Iberians they were
of Indo-European race. In the third century B.C. they occupied a
territory embracing the greater part of the lands from the modern Balkan
states through northern Italy and France, with extremities in Britain
and Spain. They entered the peninsula possibly as early as the sixth
century B.C., but certainly not later than the fourth, coming by way of
the Pyrenees. It is generally held that they dominated the northwest and
west, the regions of modern Galicia and Portugal, leaving the Pyrenees,
eastern Spain, and part of the south in full possession of the Iberians.
In the centre and along the northern and southern coasts the two races
mingled to form the Celtiberians, in which the Iberian element was the
more important. These names were not maintained very strictly; rather,
the ancient writers were wont to employ group names of smaller
sub-divisions for these peoples, such as Cantabrians, Turdetanians, and
Lusitanians.
[Sidenote: Celtiberian civilization.]
It is not yet possible to distinguish clearly between Iberian and Celtic
civilization; in any event it must be remembered that primitive
civilizations resemble one another very greatly in their essentials.
There was certainly no united Iberian or Celtic nation within historic
times; rather, these peoples lived in small groups which were
independent and which rarely communicated with one another except for
the commerce and wars of neighboring tribes. For purposes of war tribal
bodies federated to form a larger union and the names of these
confederations are those which appear most frequently in contemporary
literature. The Lusitanians, for example, were a federation of thirty
tribes, and the Galicians of forty. The social and political
organization of these peoples was so similar to others in their stage of
culture, the world over, that it need only be indicated briefly. The
unit was the gens, made up of a number of families, forming an
independent whole and bound together through having the same gods and
the same religious practices and by a real or feigned blood
relationship. Various gentes united to form a larger unit, the tribe,
which was bound by the same ties of religion and blood, although they
were less clearly defined. Tribes in turn united, though only
temporarily and for military purposes, and the great confederations were
the result. In each unit from gens to confederation there was a chief,
or monarch, and deliberative assemblies, sometimes aristocratic, and
sometimes elective. The institutions of slavery, serfdom, and personal
property existed. Nevertheless, in some tribes property was owned in
common, and there is reason to believe that this practice was quite
extensive. In some respects the tribes varied considerably as regards
the stage of culture to which they had attained. Those of the fertile
Andalusian country were not only far advanced in agriculture, industry,
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