View source for Vaccaei

{{Short description|Pre-Roman Celtic people of Spain}}
[[File:Iberia_300BC-en.svg|thumb|right|350px|The Iberian Peninsula in the 3rd century BC.]]
[[File:Salida de los vacceos contra los romanos, Eugenio Oliva.jpg|thumb|Painting depicting the Vaccaei going out to defend [[Palencia]] from the troops of [[Lucius Licinius Lucullus (consul 151 BC)|Lucius Licinius Lucullus]] (151 BC). (Artist: [[Eugenio Oliva]])]]
The '''Vaccaei''' or '''Vaccei''' were a pre-[[Ancient Rome|Roman]] [[Celts|Celtic]]<ref>Cremin, ''The Celts in Europe'' (1992), p. 57.</ref> people of Spain, who inhabited the sedimentary plains of the central [[Duero]] valley, in the [[Meseta Central]] of northern [[Hispania]] (specifically in Castile and León).<ref name=hogan>{{cite book|last=Ó hÓgáin|first=Dáithí|title=The Celts: A History |year=2002 |location=Cork |publisher=Collins Press |isbn=0-85115-923-0 |page=75 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-yd1huHoXJwC&q=vaccaei&pg=PA75}}</ref> 

==Origins==
Also designated '''Vaccaenas''' in the ancient sources,<ref>[[Strabo]], ''Geographica'', III, 3, 4.</ref> the Vaccaei were probably largely of Celtic descent and probably related to the [[Celtiberians]].<ref name=hogan/> Their name may be derived from the Celtic word ''{{lang|mis|vacos}}''<!--Celtic-->, meaning a ''slayer'', since they were celebrated fighters. However, some scholars have reasoned that the name 'Vaccaei' may actually derive from 'Aued-Ceia', a contraction of ''Ceia'', the presumed ancient name of the modern [[river Cea]], prefixed by the Indo-European root ''*aued-'' (water).<ref>Martino, ''Roma contra Cantabros y Astures – Nueva lectura de las fuentes'' (1982), p. 18, footnote 14.</ref>

They often acted in concert with their neighbours, the Celtiberi, suggesting that they may have been part of the [[Celtiberians|Celtiberian]] peoples.<ref name=hogan/> They had a strict egalitarian society practising land reform and communal food distribution.<ref name=hogan/> This society was part of an [[Hispano-Celtic language|Hispano-Celtic]] substrate, which explains the cultural, socio-economic, linguistic and ideological affinity of the Vaccaei, [[Celtiberians]], [[Vettones]], [[Lusitani]], [[Cantabri]], [[Astures]] and [[Callaeci]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Almagro-Gorbea|first=Martín|author2=Alberto J. Lorrio |title=War and Society in the Celtiberian World|journal=Journal of Interdisciplinary Celtic Studies|year=2004|volume=6}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Koch|first= John T.|title= Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia| publisher= ABC-CLIO|year= 2006|page=481|isbn=978-1-85109-440-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f899xH_quaMC&q=hispano-celtic}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Cólera|first=Carlos Jordán|title=The Celts in the Iberian Peninsula:Celtiberian|journal=E-Keltoi|date=March 16, 2007|volume=6|pages=749–750|url=http://www4.uwm.edu/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_17/jordan_6_17.pdf|access-date=16 June 2010}}</ref> The Vaccean civilization was the result of a process of local evolution, importing elements from other cultures, whether by new additions of people or cultural and trading contacts with neighbouring groups. It is also believed that it was from the Vaccei that the warlike [[Arevaci]] stemmed from around the late 4th Century BC to conquer the eastern meseta.

==Culture==
[[File:VacceanGraveAtPintiaSpain.JPG|thumb|A grave excavated at [[Pintia]] in June 2008, containing many perfume bottles]]
Archeology has identified the Vaccei with the 2nd [[Iron Age]] ‘Douro Culture’ – which evolved from the previous early Iron Age ‘[[Soto de Medinilla]]’ (c. 800-400 BC) cultural complex of the middle [[Douro]] basin –, being also affiliated with the [[Turmodigi]]. This is confirmed by the stratigraphic study of their settlements, where have been found elements of the Vaccean culture on top of the remains of earlier cultures. For example, at [[Pintia]] (modern-day [[Padilla de Duero]] – [[Province of Valladolid|Valladolid]]), there is evidence of continuous human settlement since [[Eneolithic]] times to the [[Iron Age]], when the Vaccean period arose. The necropolis at Pintia is currently being excavated by an international field school students’ team every summer under the supervision of the [[University of Valladolid]] and the Federico Wattenberg Center of Vaccean Studies.

The Vaccei were considered by the Romans to be the most cultivated people west of the [[Celtiberians]], and were distinguishable by a special collectivist type social structure, which enabled them to exploit successfully the wheat- and grass-growing areas of the western plateau. [[Diodorus Siculus]] records that "of the nations neighbouring upon the Celtiberians the most advanced is the people of the Vaccaei, as they are called; for this people each year divides among its members the land which it tills and making the fruits the property of all they measure out his portion to each man, and for any cultivators who have appropriated some part for themselves they have set the penalty as death".<ref>[[Diodorus Siculus]], ''Bibliothekes Istorikes'', V: 34, 3.</ref>

===Religion===
Like the [[Arevaci]], they also practiced the rite of excarnation by exposing the corpses of warriors slain in battle to the vultures, which were regarded as sacred animals, as described by [[Claudius Aelianus]].<ref>[[Claudius Aelianus]], ''Varia Historia'', X, 22.</ref>

==Location==
[[File:Vacceos. Península Ibérica.svg|thumb|Map of the territory of the Vaccaei]]
The Vaccean homeland extended throughout the center of the northern Meseta, along both banks of the [[Douro River|Duero River]]. Their capital was ''Pallantia'' (either [[Palencia]] or [[Palenzuela]]) and [[Ptolemy]]<ref>[[Ptolemy]], ''Geographiké Hyphegésis'', II, 5, 6</ref> lists in their territory some twenty towns or ''[[Civitates]]'', including ''Helmantica/Salmantica'' (Salamanca), ''Arbucala'' (Toro), ''Pincia'' or ''Pintia'' ([[Padilla de Duero]] – Valladolid), ''Intercatia'' ([[Paredes de Nava]] – Palencia), ''Cauca'' ([[Coca, Segovia|Coca]] – Segovia), ''Septimanca'' ([[Simancas]]), ''Rauda'' ([[Roa, Burgos|Roa]]), ''Dessobriga'' ([[Oserna]]) and ''Autraca'' or ''Austraca'' – located at the banks of the river ''Autra'' ([[Odra (Spain)|Odra]]), seized from the [[Autrigones]] in the late 4th century BC – to name but a few. 

Although its borders are difficult to define, and shifted from time to time, it can be said to have occupied all of the [[province of Valladolid]], and parts of [[Province of León|León]], [[Province of Palencia|Palencia]], [[Province of Burgos |Burgos]], [[Province of Segovia|Segovia]], [[Province of Salamanca|Salamanca]] and [[Province of Zamora|Zamora]]. By the time of the arrival of the [[ancient Rome|Romans]], the [[Cea River|Cea]] and [[Esla River|Esla]] rivers separated the Vaccaei from the [[Astures]] in the northwest, while a line traced between the Esla and the [[Río Pisuerga|Pisuerga]] rivers was the border with the [[Cantabri]]. To the east, the Pisuerga and [[Arlanza river]]s marked the frontier with the [[Turmodigi]], and a little farther south, the [[Arevaci]] were their neighbors and allies. On the south and southeast lay the [[Vettones]] in an area that roughly corresponds to the distribution of [[verraco]]s around the highlands of Ávila and Salamanca and [[Aliste (shire)|Aliste]] ([[Province of Zamora|Zamora]]), between them and the [[Lusitanians]]. It is likely that there was some contact with the latter to the west of Zamora.

==History==
Described by [[Paulus Orosius]] as a "harmless and submissive nation",<ref>[[Paulus Orosius]], ''Historiae Adversus Paganos'', 5: 5.</ref> the Vaccaei were actually a warrior people that participated in the 5th century BC [[Celtici]] migrations alongside off-shots of the [[Arevaci]] and [[Lusones]] to settle in the west and southwest regions of the [[Iberian Peninsula]].<ref>[[Herodotus]], ''Istoriai'', II, 33; IV, 49.</ref> In the early 3rd Century BC they aided the smaller [[Turmodigi]] people{{citation needed|date=September 2020}} in their liberation from the rule of the [[Autrigones]]. 
The Vaccaei enter the historical record around the late 3rd century BC, when in 221-220 BC they allied themselves with the [[Carpetani]] and [[Olcades]] to thwart [[Hannibal]]'s offensive into their respective territories, only to be brought into submission after the fall of Salmantica and Arbucala to the Carthaginians, who defeated them at the [[Battle on the Tagus (220 BC)|battle on the Tagus]].<ref>[[Livy]], ''Ab Urbe Condita'', 21: 5, 7-17.</ref><ref>[[Polybius]], ''Istorion'', III, 13, 14, 2-9.</ref> The Vaccaei appear to have taken no part in the [[Second Punic War]], though in 193-192 BC they joined the combined force of Carpetani, [[Vettones]], and [[Celtiberians]] that was defeated by [[Consul]] [[Marcus Fulvius]] at the [[battle of Toletum]].<ref>[[Livy]], ''Ab Urbe Condita'', 37: 7, 6.</ref> Alongside the [[Lusitani]], they were again beaten by the [[Praetor]] of [[Hispania Ulterior]] [[Lucius Postumius Albinus (consul 173 BC)|Lucius Postumius Albinus]] during its first incursion into the central Meseta in 179 BC.<ref>[[Livy]], ''Ab Urbe Condita'', 40: 35, 39, 44, 47-50.</ref>

Allies of the [[Arevaci]] during the [[Celtiberian War]]s, the Vaccaei assumed a more important role by supporting their neighbors, despite being subjected to the punitive campaigns meted out by the Roman consul [[Lucius Licinius Lucullus (consul 151 BC)|Lucius Licinius Luculus]] (151-150 BC),<ref>[[Appian]], ''Romaika'', 6, 51-52; 54.</ref> proconsul [[Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus]] in 142 BC,<ref>[[Appian]], ''Iberiké'', 76.</ref> and consuls [[Marcus Popillius Laenas (consul 139 BC)|Marcus Popilius Laenas]] (139-138 BC)<ref>[[Appian]], ''Romaika'', 17, 79.</ref> and [[Marcus Aemilius Lepidus Porcina]] in 137 BC.<ref>[[Appian]], ''Romaika'', 6, 81-83.</ref><ref>[[Livy]], ''Periochae'', 56: 1-2.</ref><ref>[[Paulus Orosius]], ''Historiae Adversus Paganos'', 5: 5.</ref> After the destruction of [[Numantia]] in 134-133 BC, the Vaccaei were technically submitted and included into [[Hispania Citerior]] province; however, during the [[Sertorian War]]s they lent their support to [[Quintus Sertorius]],<ref>[[Appian]], ''Romaikon Empúlion'', 1, 112.</ref> with several Vacceian towns remaining loyal to his cause even after his death. In 76 BC, Sertorius' sent one of its cavalry commanders, Gaius Insteius, to the Vacceian country in search of remounts for its battered mounted troops.<ref>[[Livy]], ''Periochae'', 91.</ref> The backlash came in 74 BC when [[Proconsul]] [[Pompey]] besieged the Vacceian capital Pallantia, setting on fire its [[adobe]] brick walls<ref>[[Appian]], ''Romaika'', 1, 112.</ref><ref>Matyszak, ''Sertorius and the struggle for Spain'' (2013), p. 145.</ref> and stormed Cauca.<ref>[[Frontinus]], ''Stratagemata'', II, 11, 2.</ref> Defeated in 73 BC by [[Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius]] and Pompey, the Vaccaei rose again in 57-56 BC in a joint uprising with the [[Turmodigi]] and northern Celtiberians, which was crushed by the [[Proconsul]] of Citerior [[Quintus Caecilius Metellus Nepos Iunior]].<ref>[[Cassius Dio]], ''Romaïké istoría'', 39, 54.</ref> Pressured by [[Astures]]' and [[Cantabri]] raids, the Vaccaei rebelled a last time in 29 BC, just prior to the [[Astur-Cantabrian wars]], only to be subdued by Consul [[Titus Statilius Taurus]].<ref>[[Cassius Dio]], ''Romaïké istoría'', 51: 20; 53: 23.</ref>

===Romanization===
The Vaccaei were later aggregated to the new [[Hispania Terraconensis]] province created in 27 BC by Emperor [[Augustus]]. Later during the imperial era, the Vaccei seemed to have provided recruits for the ''Ala II Flavia Hispanorum civium romanorum'', an auxiliary cavalry unit raised after AD 63 and cantoned in the Roman Legionary Fortress (''castrum'') of ''Petavonium'' ([[:es:Rosinos de Vidriales|Rosinos de Vidriales]], [[Santibanez de Vidriales]] – [[Province of Zamora|Zamora]]).

==Namesake==
[[Vascones|The Basques]] came to be called mistakenly ''Vaccaei'' and ''Vacceti'' by several early medieval chronicles and authors.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Caja excisa - Soto de Medinilla 20140708.jpg
File:Vaso (24567633057).jpg
File:Soto Medinilla Valladolid Orza ni.jpg
File:Soto Medinilla Valladolid Jarra ni.jpg
File:Ceramica Pintada Edad del Hierro (Medina del Campo).jpg
File:Cogotas II (Nielado) Edad del Hierro.jpg
File:Vaso (24567633057).jpg
File:Puñal de elite (Padilla de Duero) Edad del Hierro.jpg
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Arevaci]]
* [[Belgae]]
* [[Bellovaci]]
* [[Cantabrian Wars]]
* [[Celtiberian War]]s
* [[Celtiberian script]]
* [[Sertorian War]]s
* [[Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin|30em}}
* Blanco, António Bellido, ''Sobre la escritura entre los Vacceos'', in ZEPHYRUS – revista de prehistoria y arqueologia, vol. LXIX, Enero-Junio 2012, Ediciones Universidad Salamanca, pp.&nbsp;129–147. {{ISSN|0514-7336}} 
* Collins, Roger, ''The Vaccaei, the Vaceti, and the rise of Vasconia'', ''Studia Historica VI''. Salamanca, 1988. Reprinted in Roger Collins, ''Law, Culture and Regionalism in Early Medieval Spain''. Variorum (1992). {{ISBN|0-86078-308-1}}.
* Cremin, Aedeen, ''The Celts in Europe'', Sydney, Australia: Sydney Series in Celtic Studies 2, Centre for Celtic Studies, University of Sydney (1992) {{ISBN|0-86758-624-9}}.
* Duque, Ángel Montenegro ''et alli'', ''Historia de España 2 – colonizaciones y formacion de los pueblos prerromanos'', Editorial Gredos, Madrid (1989) {{ISBN|84-249-1013-3}}
* González-Cobos, A.M., ''Los Vacceos – Estudio sobre los pobladores del valle medio del Duero durante la penetración romana'', Universidad Pontificia, Salamanca (1989)
* Harry Morrison Hine, ''Hannibal's Battle on the Tagus (Polybius 3.14 and Livy 21.5)'', Latomus: revue d'études latines, Société d'Études Latines de Bruxelles 38 (4), Bruxelles (1979) {{ISSN|0023-8856}}
* Lorrio Alvarado, Alberto José, ''Los Celtíberos'', Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Murcia (1997) {{ISBN|84-7908-335-2}}
* Martino, Eutimio, ''Roma contra Cantabros y Astures – Nueva lectura de las fuentes'', Breviarios de la Calle del Pez n. º 33, Diputación provincial de León/Editorial Eal Terrae, Santander (1982) {{ISBN|84-87081-93-2}}
* Motoza, Francisco Burillo, ''Los Celtíberos – Etnias y Estados'', Crítica, Grijalbo Mondadori, S.A., Barcelona (1998, revised edition 2007) {{ISBN|84-7423-891-9}}
* {{cite book|author=Leonard A Curchin|title=The Romanization of Central Spain: Complexity, Diversity and Change in a Provincial Hinterland|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8hE9SEDmsnEC&pg=PA37|date=5 May 2004|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-45112-8|pages=37–}}
* Philip Matyszak, ''Sertorius and the struggle for Spain'', Pen & Sword Military, Barnsley (2013) {{ISBN|978-1-84884-787-3}}
{{refend}}

===Further reading===
{{refbegin|30em}}
* Almagro-Gorbea, Martín, ''Les Celtes dans la péninsule Ibérique'', in ''Les Celtes'', Éditions Stock, Paris (1997) {{ISBN|2-234-04844-3}}
* Berrocal-Rangel, Luis, ''Los pueblos célticos del soroeste de la Península Ibérica'', Editorial Complutense, Madrid (1992) {{ISBN|84-7491-447-7}}
* Berrocal-Rangel, Luis & Gardes, Philippe, ''Entre celtas e íberos'', Fundación Casa de Velázquez, Madrid (2001) {{ISBN|978-84-95555-10-6}}
* Ó hÓgáin, Dáithí, ''The Celts: A History'', The Collins Press, Cork (2002) {{ISBN|0-85115-923-0}}
* Koch, John T.(ed.), ''Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia'', ABC-CLIO Inc., Santa Barbara, California (2006) {{ISBN|1-85109-440-7}}, 1-85109-445-8
* Zapatero, Gonzalo Ruiz et alli, ''Los Celtas: Hispania y Europa'', dirigido por Martín Almagro-Gorbea, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Editorial ACTAS, S.l., Madrid (1993)
{{refend}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040611215344/http://www.arqueotavira.com/Mapas/Iberia/Populi.htm Detailed map of the Pre-Roman Peoples of Iberia (around 200 BC)]
* Álvarez-Sanchís, Jesús R. (2005), "[http://www4.uwm.edu/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_5/alvarez_sanchis_6_5.html Oppida and Celtic society in western Spain]". ''e-Keltoi: Journal of Interdisciplinary Celtic Studies'' '''6''': 255-285
* [https://pintiavaccea.es/ PINTIA VACCEA – Centro de Estudios Vacceos Federico Wattenberg (Universidad de Valladolid).] official site of the ongoing archeological excavation of the Vacceian city of Pintia at [[Padilla de Duero]] (in [[Spanish language|Spanish]])
* https://www.celtiberia.net

{{Pre-Roman peoples in Spain}}

[[Category:Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula]]
[[Category:Celtic tribes of the Iberian Peninsula]]
[[Category:Ancient peoples of Spain]]
[[Category:Tribes conquered by Rome]]