Viriathus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Native name | Viriato, Viriatus |
| Born | Lusitania |
| Died | 139 BC |
| Allegiance | Lusitania |
| Years of service | 147 BC – 139 BC |
| Battles / wars | |
| Memorials | Statue of Viriato, at Zamora, Spain Statue of Viriato, at Viseu, Portugal |
Viriathus (also spelled Viriatus; known as Viriato in Portuguese and Spanish; died 139 BC) was the most important leader of the Lusitanian people that resisted Roman expansion into the regions of western Hispania (as the Romans called it) or western Iberia (as the Greeks called it), where the Roman province of Lusitania would be finally established after the conquest.[a]
Viriathus developed alliances with other Celtic groups, even far away from his usual theatres of war, inducing them to rebel against Rome. He led his army, supported by most of the Lusitanian and Vetton tribes as well as by other Celtic and Iberian allies, to several victories over the Romans between 147 BC and 139 BC before being betrayed by them and murdered while sleeping. Of him, Theodor Mommsen said, "It seemed as if, in that thoroughly prosaic age, one of the Homeric heroes had reappeared."[2]
- ^ Strabo, Geography, Book III, Chapter 3 "...the most of the Lusitanians are called Callaicans."
- ^ Theodor Mommsen, The History Of Rome, Book IV p.22.
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