Titii (Celtiberian)
The Titii were a small and obscure Celtic[1] Celtiberian people whose lands where located along the middle Jalón and upper Tajuña valleys, somewhere between Alhama de Aragón in Zaragoza and Molina de Aragón in Guadalajara provinces.
Origins
The Titii were of Celtic origin and part of the Celtiberians.[1] There is an overwhelming amount of evidence that the ancestors of the Celtiberian groups were installed in the Meseta area of the Iberian Peninsula from at least 1000 BC and probably much earlier.[2]
Culture
Due to the lack of extensive archaeological surveys, no Iron Age settlements connected with this people were ever found in the area. Nevertheless, analysis of numismatic finds from the Jalón- Tajuña (ancient Tagonius) area has led some archaeologists to relate the mint of three unknown Celtiberian towns – Araticos, Titum and Titiacos – with the Titii, pointing Titum as their presumed capital.
History
Often mentioned in the ancient sources as allies or clients of the Belli, they were subjected to Turboletae raids in the 3rd century BC and seem to have submitted by Carthage just prior to the Second Punic War, but what role they played in that conflict remains obscure. However, during the Celtiberian Wars of the 2nd century BC they sided with the Belli and Arevaci against Rome, being recorded as one of the signataries of the peace treaty with Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus in 179 BC.[3] The Titii retained their political autonomy until their inclusion into Hispania Citerior province in 134 BC, and thereafter cease to be mentioned by the sources. After 72 BC however, they too merged with the Belli, Uraci and Cratistii tribes to create the Late Celtiberian people of romanized southern Celtiberia, losing their tribal identity in the process.
References
- Ángel Montenegro et alii, Historia de España 2 - colonizaciones y formación de los pueblos prerromanos (1200-218 a.C), Editorial Gredos, Madrid (1989) ISBN 84-249-1386-8
- Alberto J. Lorrio, Los Celtíberos, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Murcia (1997) ISBN 84-7908-335-2
- Francisco Burillo Mozota, Los Celtíberos, etnias y estados, Crítica, Barcelona (1998) ISBN 84-7423-891-9
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Cremin, Aedeen (1992). The Celts in Europe. Sydney, Australia: Sydney Series in Celtic Studies 2, Centre for Celtic Studies, University of Sydney. p. 57. ISBN 0-86758-624-9.
- ↑ Cremin, Aedeen (1992). The Celts in Europe. Sydney, Australia: Sydney Series in Celtic Studies 2, Centre for Celtic Studies, University of Sydney. p. 60. ISBN 0-86758-624-9.
- ↑ Appian, Iberiké, 44