Turduli Veteres


The Turduli Veteres, translated as "Ancient Turduli" or "Old Turduli" were an ancient pre-Roman tribe of present day Portugal, akin to the Calaicians or Gallaeci and Lusitanians.

Location

The Turduli Veteres territory was located south of the estuary of the river Douro, in the north of modern Portugal, being neighbors of the Paesuri.
Their capital was Langobriga, or Longroiva ; other Turduli Veteres inhabited regions were Talabriga possibly Oppidum Vacca, and they also lived in the region of Vila Nova de Gaia as evidenced by the two bronze plaques found in Monte Murado in Pedroso.

History

The Turduli Veteres appear to have originated as an off-shot of the Turduli of ancient south-west Iberia. Alongside the Celtici, the Turduli Veteres migrated northwards around the 5th century BC, before settling in a coastal region situated along the lower Douro and Vacca river basins.
Unlike related and neighbouring peoples, the Turduli Veteres did not fall under Carthaginian rule during the later 3rd Century BC. Neither is there any evidence that they took part in the 2nd Punic War. It is still not clear if they played any significant role in the Lusitanian Wars of the 2nd century BC. Moreover, the Turduli Veteres, unlike the Turduli Oppidani, appear to have remained independent until the late 2nd century BC and to have resisted attempts to incorporate them into federations, by the Lusitani and Gallaeci.

Roman incursions, dominance & Romanization

Being relatively unaccustomed to interaction with and dominance by other peoples, the Turduli Veteres, bore the brunt of the first Roman forays into north-west Iberia. According to Roman accounts, the Veteres assisted the Lusitani in attempting to resist the Romans; in retaliation, during 138-136 BC, the Roman Consul Decimus Junius Brutus temporarily occupied the Veteres' stronghold of Talabriga and laid waste a significant proportion of the Veteres' lands. In 61-60 BC, the Veteres and the Oppidani were defeated and incorporated into Hispania Ulterior province by the Propraetor Julius Caesar. In 27–13, the Veteres were aggregated into the Roman province of Lusitania.