Numantine War

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Roman conquest of Hispania
Second Punic War - First Celtiberian War – Third Punic War – Lusitanian War - Numantine War – Sertorian War – Cantabrian Wars

The Numantine War^[1] (from Bellum Numantinum in Appian's Roman History) was the last conflict of the Celtiberian Wars fought by the Romans to subdue those people along the Ebro. It itself was a twenty year long conflict between the Celtiberian tribes of Hispania Citerior and the Roman government. It began in 154 BC as a revolt of the Celtiberians of Numantia on the Duero. The first phase of the war ended in 151, but, in 143, war flared up again with a new insurrection in Numantia.

The first war was fought contemporaneously with the Lusitanian War in Hispania Ulterior. The Lusitani were subdued by Sulpicius Galba, who betrayed their surrender and executed their leading men, and the Arevaci of Hispania Citerior continued the war and allied with the Lustiani leader Viriathus.

After open war was reinvigorated in 143, Rome sent a series of generals to the Iberian peninsula to deal with the Numantians. In that year, Quintus Pompeius Metellus tried and failed to take the city by siege. He made a treaty with the city granting it independence, but he in 139 he broke their accord and the city petitioned the Senate for redress. Rome ignored her pleas, but replaced Metellus with Marcus Popilius Lenatis and then with Caius Hostilius Mancinus, who assaulted the city and was repulsed several times before being ambushed and forced to accept a treaty. The Senate did not approve the treaty and replaced him as commander. In 136 and 135, more attempts were made to take Numantia, but they failed.

In 134 BC, the Consul Scipio Aemilianus was sent to Hispania Citerior to put down the locals. He recruited 20,000 men and 40,000 allies, including Numidian cavalry under Jugurtha. Scipio built a ring of seven fortresses around Numantia itself before beginning the siege proper. Many Celtiberians committed suicide before surrendering to Rome. The great Roman victory over the Celtiberians ushered in an era of lasting peace in Hispania until the Sertorian War over half a century later.

[edit] Notes

^ The term Numantine War can refer to the whole conflict lasting from 154 to 133 or to just the latter part, from 143 to 133. Thus, the two conflicts are sometimes called the Numantine Wars (plural) and subdivided into the First and Second Numantine War. The two are also called the Second and Third Celtiberian (or Spanish) Wars.