Bracari

The Bracari or Callaeci Bracari were an ancient Celtic tribe of Gallaecia, living in the northwest of modern Portugal, in the province of Minho, between the rivers Tâmega and Cávado. After the conquest of the region beginning in 136BC, the Romans established the Augustan citadel of Bracara, modern Braga, in 20 BC. The region was home to some native citadels that fiercely resisted Roman rule and were attacked by the Romans: Lambriaca, Avobriga, and Cinania.

Appian wrote they were a very warlike people. According to him, The Bracari women warriors fought defending their town "never turning, never never showing their backs, or uttering a cry", preferring death to captivity.

It has been long known that they spoke a Celtic language, as can be seen in the inscription dedicated to the goddess Nabia at Braga's Fonte do Ídolo (Portuguese for the Fountain of the Idol), or in the name of their town Tongobriga (in Marco de Canaveses).

The Fonte do Ídolo, in Braga.

At the beginning of the 1st century, the Citânia de Briteiros was one of their main citadels and seat of the "consilium gentis". It is possible that the Celtic Nemetati were an allied tribe of the Bracari, known previously as Kallaikoi.

The goddess Nabia was very popular in the territory of the Callaici Bracari with several inscriptions, like the one at Braga's Fonte do Ídolo (Portuguese for Fountain of the Idol).

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