Celtiberians Discussion

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The Celtiberians were a group of Celticized peoples (intermarried Celts and Iberians) living in the central-eastern Iberian Peninsula in the final centuries BC. They spoke a Celtiberian language using the Iberian alphabet. They were engaged in battle with the Romans until 72 BC when the entire region became part of the Roman province Hispania Citerior. The subjugated Celtiberians waged a protracted struggle against the Roman conquerors staging numerous uprisings. The culture combined cattle-raising pastoralists with warrior elite centered in the hill-forts or castros that controlled small grazing territories and preferred two-edged swords and spears in combat. Celtiberians were the most influencial ethnic group in Iberia when Carthage and Rome arrived. During the second Punic War against Rome, the Celtiberians served as mercenaries for Carthage. After Rome's eventual victory against its rival Carthage, Rome punished all former allies of its nemesis and went about 'pacifying' the Celtiberians. In desperation, the Celtiberians joined their Lusitanian neighbors under the infamous Viriathus in open rebellion against Roman rule.