Several classical sources, Greek and Roman, mentioned the Celtici. The Celtici were not considered a barbarian people. On the contrary, they were what the Greeks considered a civilized people, almost in the same degree as the Turdetani. Their main cities were Lacobriga, Caepiana, Braetolaeum, Miróbriga, Arcobriga, Meribriga, Catraleucus, Turres, Albae and Arandis. Other important cities were Nertobriga, Turobriga, Segida, Ebora, Caetobriga and Eburobrittium, among other settlements. They appear to be the main group responsible for the "celticization" of the Conii, in the Algarve. The origin of the Baeturian Celts was, according to Pliny, from the Celtici of Lusitania and were also kin to the Gallaeci: These migratory patterns have persisted on the same axis until modern times, supporting a centuries-old traditional and seasonal farming and animal husbandrytranshumance along the ancient Roman or CarthaginianSilver road that served for its rich mines production transport, and for the Astorga region peddlers and wagoneers, the Maragatos. Pliny also noted that already in Roman times the inhabitants of Miróbriga used the surname of Celtici: "Mirobrigenses qui Celtici cognominantur". In the sanctuary of Miróbriga a resident leaves their Celtic origin recorded:
Origins
Traditional theories hold that the Celtici were a group that included several populi, namely the Saefes and the Cempsii, of unknown origin, which according to modern research possibly belonged to one of the first settlements of Celtic origin; and initially perhaps also the possible proto-Lusitanians, all mentioned in the Ora Maritima of Avienus, and possibly reinforced with subsequent waves.
The ''Celtici'' of Alentejo and Baeturia
The main Eburones’ cities were their presumed capital Ebora, Segovia, the coastal town of Mirobriga Celticorum, and five other towns within Alentejo. Around the 3rd Century BC they managed to push southwards towards the western Algarve coast where they founded the port of Laccobriga in Conii territory. In Baeturia, the Bituriges set their capital at Nertobriga whilst the Turones placed theirs at Turobriga and both peoples controlled six other cities.
The ''Celtici'' of ''Ultima Celtiberia''
In Baetica the Celtici held or had a presence in some city-states, namely Celti, Urso, Obulco/Obulcula, Tribola, Munda, Tucci/Itucci, Turobriga, Cartima, Arunda and Acinipo.
Further North in Gallaecia, another group of Celtici dwelt the coastal areas. They comprised several populi, including the Celtici proper: the Praestamarci south of the Tambre river, the Supertamarci north of it, and the Neri by the Celtic promontory, whom Strabo considered related to the Celtici of Lusitania, settled in Gallaecia after a military campaign held jointly with the Turduli Veteres. Pomponius Mela affirmed that all the inhabitants of the coastal regions, from the bays of southern Gallaecia and up to the Astures, were also Celtici: "All is inhabited by the Celtici, except from the Douro river to the bays, where the Grovi dwelt In the north coast first there are the Artabri, still of the Celtic people, and after them the Astures." He also mentioned the fabulous isles of tin, the Cassiterides, as situated among these Celtici. The Celtici Supertarmarci have also left a number of inscriptions, as the Celtici Flavienses did. Several villages and rural parishes still bear the name Céltigos in Galicia. This is also the name of an archpriesthood of the Catholic Church, a division of the archbishopric of Santiago de Compostela, encompassing part of the lands attributed to the Celtici Supertamarci by ancient authors.
Culture
Archaeology confirms that the material culture of the southwestern Celtici was deeply influenced by the Arevaci of Celtiberia and beyond, as their metalwork shows strong parallels with south-central Gaul, Liguria, Etruria, and central Italy. The Baetic Celtici soon fell under the cultural influence of their Iberian Turdetani neighbors, as well as receiving Hellenistic elements from the Carthaginians.
History
Submitted to Carthaginian rule just prior to the 2nd Punic War, the Celtici of Alentejo and Beturia recovered their independence in 206 BC whereas their Baetic counterparts simply shifted their allegiance from Carthage to the Roman Republic. In 197 BC the Ultima Celtiberia was included in the new Hispania Ulterior Province, though they were only conquered by the Ulterior PraetorTiberius Gracchus the Elder in 179 BC. The Beturian Celtici tribes however, rose in support of a Turdetanian rebellion soon afterwards, and allied with the Lusitani and Vettones, promptly began to raid the lands of the Roman Spanish allies in Baetica and the Cyneticum throughout the 2nd Century BC. They proved to be the most reliable allies of the Lusitani – whose chieftain Viriathus used western Beturia as a rear base for its military operations on the south – in deep contrast to the Celtici city-states of Baetica, who frequently changed sides according to circumstances. When the tide turned against the Lusitani in 141 BC, the Beturian Celtici were subjected to the punitive campaigns conducted in the Iberian southwest by Consul Quintus Fabius Maximus Servilianus, who invaded eastern Beturia and plundered five towns allied with Viriathus.
