The Lusitani were a Celtic-Iberian tribal group that lived in the region that is now known as Portugal. They were one of many such groups in Hispania, the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula.
The Iberian Peninsula was known to them by the wealth of its natural resources, including gold, silver, and iron. In 206 BCE, after Rome had conquered the Carthaginian territories in southern Spain, the native Iberians revolted. This conflict eventually spread to involve the free Celtic-Iberian tribes in central Spain, including the Lusitani.
Viriathus was born in 180 BCE, in the hills and wild lands of Lusitania, a region that roughly equated with what is now modern-day Portugal. As a child, he spent his days tending sheep and exploring the rugged landscape that surrounded his home. As he grew older, he began to join in the local raids that were common among the Lusitani, a fiercely independent Celtic people who had long resisted Roman expansion into their territory.
Despite his youth, Viriathus was already known for his bravery and leadership skills. His charisma and determination inspired those around him, and he quickly gained a reputation as a formidable warrior.
It was during this time that Viriathus first began to hear stories of the great Gracchus, the Roman governor who had once ruled over Lusitania with wisdom and fairness. Viriathus remembered the tales of Gracchus' kindness and justice, and he dreamed of one day becoming a leader like him.
But as Viriathus grew older, he saw the Roman governors who had come to replace Gracchus as men of greed and oppression. He watched as they exploited the neighboring tribes and imposed their will dictates on the Lusitani. And when the Lusitani's complaints to the Roman Senate went unheeded, Viriathus knew that they could no longer sit idly by.----
It was then when the Lusitani resumed hostilities with Hispania Ulterior in 154 BCE. Viriathus was in his twenties at this time.
Two years later, they defeated the Governor of Hispania Ulterior, Servius Sulpicius Galba. It is likely that Viriathus played a significant role in these campaigns, as his charisma and leadership had gained him a following among his fellow tribesmen.
Although the Lusitani remained determined to fight, the years of war had taken a toll on them. It is likely that Viriathus had lost friends and relatives in the conflict. Exhausted by the destruction of their homes and the loss of their people, the Lusitani sent envoys to Galba to negotiate peace. ---
Galba is recorded as having told them that he understood their reasons for making war, saying "poorness of the soil and penury force you to do these things. But I will give my poor friends good land, and settle them in a fertile country, in three divisions". Viriathus had heard tales of the great Gracchus from his elders and may have hoped that Galba, like Gracchus, was a man of his word. However, as events would later show, they would have their hopes dashed.
In 150 BCE, Viriathus joined the thousands of Lusitani who gathered in their villages with their possessions, carts, livestock, and weapons, in an effort to surrender to Rome. When they arrived, they were told by Roman soldiers to divide themselves into three groups, each escorted by legionaries and auxiliaries.
The first group was asked to lay down their weapons as a sign of their peaceful intentions, which they did. Then, they watched in fear as the Romans dug a trench around them and forcibly separated the Lusitani of fighting age, killing them on the spot. The others were taken as slaves. The other two groups were treated in the same manner. Only a few people managed to escape the slaughter.
Viriathus was one of the survivors of the massacre of the Lusitani by Galba, and he swore to seek revenge against Rome.
The Roman Governor, Galba, kept most of the loot for himself and gave only a small amount to his soldiers. When news of this event reached the Roman Senate, they were outraged at Galba's cruel treatment of the Lusitani, but were unable to reprimand him due to his wealth and influence.
In 147 BCE, Viriathus became the leader of a Lusitani army that raided into the Roman-controlled region of Turdetania. The Roman Legate Gaius Vetilius responded with force, trapping the Lusitani against a river.
The Lusitani sent envoys with olive branches to Vetilius, pleading for more fertile land to settle on. Vetilius agreed to their demands, but only if they surrendered their weapons. Viriathus refused, reminding the tribesmen of Galba's betrayal. His words inspired the Lusitani, who appointed him as the commander of their entire army.
Viriathus led the Lusitani cavalry in fake charges against the Roman lines, causing confusion among the Roman commanders and allowing the Lusitani infantry to escape. At night, Viriathus and the cavalry joined the infantry and evaded the pursuing Romans.
He then led the Romans up the Barbesula River valley, luring them into a narrow pass with a slope covered in thickets on one side and a cliff on the other. Here, he sprang his trap, attacking the Romans with his cavalry while tribesmen hidden in the thickets stormed down the slope.
The Lusitani threw javelins and then closed in with short swords and falcatas, curved swords that were deadly in close combat. The Romans fought back, but they suffered heavy losses, with over 4000 casualties, including Legate Vetilius.
As Viriathus' reputation grew, more and more tribesmen joined his cause. He was seen as a leader who was able to defy the Romans and emerge victorious. Viriathus was known for his fairness, often distributing the loot from battles equally among his bravest warriors, including his own share.
In 146 BCE, Viriathus led a successful raid into the fertile Carpetani lands and then retreated before a larger Roman force. He then turned and attacked the Roman column, causing significant casualties. This tactic, known as the concursare, involved feinting and counterattacking. Viriathus also defeated another pursuing Roman army near Mt. Veneris, harassed Roman garrisons in central Spain, and captured Segobriga. ---
He displayed the captured Roman standards throughout the hillsides. Claudius Unimanus, a Roman army commander, recorded the ferocity of the fighting: "In a narrow pass, 300 Lusitani faced 1000 Romans; as a result of the action, 70 of the former and 320 of the latter died.
When the victorious Lusitani retired and dispersed confidently, one of them on foot became separated and was surrounded by a detachment of pursuing cavalry. The lone warrior pierced the horse of one of the riders with his spear and, with a blow of his sword, cut off the Roman's head, producing such terror among the others that they prudently retired under his arrogant and contemptuous gaze."
Despite this victory, Viriathus was eventually worn down by attrition and retreated from central Spain to Lusitania.
As the Romans gained victories in the Fourth Macedonian War, and the Third Punic War, they were able to allocate more resources to the conflict in Spain.---
Viriathus eventually offered peace terms. He demanded that the Lusitani borders be respected and that the Lusitani be recognized as "Friends of the Roman People." The Roman governor accepted these terms, and the Roman Senate ratified them.
However, Roman pride was bruised by the fact that a guerrilla leader had humbled them, and the Romans continued to provoke the Lusitani until war broke out again in 140 BCE
Consul Q. Servilius Caepio, took over in Hispania Ulterior and chased Viriathus through Carpentania, Lusitania, and the Vettones lands, causing destruction along the way. When Caepio was reinforced by Popilius Laenas from Hispania Citerior, the Lusitani were ready to seek peace.
Laenas was willing to grant it, but only if Roman deserters and all weapons were handed over. The Romans punished the deserters by amputating their right hands. Viriathus, hesitant to give up his weapons, chose three of his close friends - Audax, Ditalco, and Minuros - to negotiate further.
Viriathus, who had been successful in outsmarting his enemies for years, did not realize that the danger came from those closest to him. After returning from negotiations with the Romans, his three "friends" visited him in his tent at night.
They told the guard that they needed to speak with Viriathus urgently, and while two of them held him down, the third stabbed him in the back. When the murder was discovered at dawn, Viriathus' followers were filled with grief and rage.
The three conspirators fled to the Romans, but when they asked for the remainder of their payment, they were told that Rome does not reward traitors. Viriathus' body was dressed in rich garments and cremated on a funeral pyre, with sacrifices offered and warriors running and riding around it.
Of him, Theodor Mommsen said, "It seemed as if, in that thoroughly prosaic age, one of the Homeric heroes had reappeared".
One of Rome's most successful and charismatic foes, Viriathus became Portugal's first national hero.
Despite the efforts of a warrior named Tantalus to continue the resistance, many Lusitani surrendered to Laenas in 139 BCE. Fortunately, Laenas kept his promise and provided farmlands to some and deported others to new regions. Lusitania remained free of Roman rule until the reign of Emperor Augustus, when all of Hispania was conquered.
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