Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 2.djvu/347

 1083 HISPANIA. It is probable, nay almost evident, that it was the Iberians that migrated and extended themselves; and this opinion agrees with the most ancient tra- ditions of the Celts in Aramianos Maroellinns, ac- cording to which they were once masters of all the west of Europe, bat were expelled from many parts. If we suppose that the Celts dwdt as far as the Sierra Morena, and that the Iberians, perhaps rein- forced by their kinsmen from Africa, pressed them forward, this supposition would account for sotne Celtic ruins which are still extant; and the Celts may have capitulated in a similar manner to that described in the book of Josiina. As one part of England was occupied by Germans so completely as to destroy every trace of the ancient inhabitants, while elsewhere, as e. g. in Devonahire^ the Britons, in large numbers, lived among the Germans and became mixed with them, so the Iberians expelled the ancient Celtic population, wherever the nature of the country did not protect it; but the Celts maintained themselves in the mountains between the TaguB and the /Jcntf, and the Iberians only subdued them, and then settled among them. In course of time the two nations became amalgamated, and thus formed the Celtiberians, whose cliaracter, however, is essentially Iberian." {Lfctvres on Ancient Ethnography and Geography, vol. ii. pp. 280, 281.) In farther support of these views, we have the fact already mentioned, that Spain lies quite open to immigration from the East by way of^the Medi- temmean and the Straits ; the now established fact that N. Africa, with which Spain is thus connected, was peopled from the East ; and traditions of settle- ments from that side, of no great value certainly by themselves, but of some interest as agreeing with the results of other investigations. (Sail. Jug. 18 ; Strab. XV. p. 687 ; Joseph. Ani. x. 11. § 1.) The decision of the question, if it is to be decided at all, requires a more profound examination than has yet been made of the remnanU of the old Iberian language as preserved in inscriptions, in geographical names, and in the dialects of the Basques, who are now admitted on all hands to be the lineal descendants of the old Iberians. The foundations of such an investigation have been laid by the late W. von Humboldt, in his work already mentioned. (Prfl- fung der Uniersuchtmgen vber die Urbewohner Hispaniens vermitielst der Baskiechen Sprache, Beriin, 1821 : comp. Freret, Mem, de VAcad. des Inscr. vol. xviii. p. 78 ; Hoffmann, die Iberer ina Western und Osten, Leipz. 1838.) Thus much is certain that, in the whole period of ancient history, the great bulk of the popuUtion was Iberian ; and, through all subsequent infusions, large as they have been, of Roman, Gothic, and Arab blood, the great mass of the nation still retains the leading characteristics which are ascribed to the Iberians in general and to the Celtiberians in par- ticular, by Strabo and other" ancient writers, and which are summed up by Arnold in the following woi"ds : — " The grave di-ess (Strab. iii. p. 145), the temperance and sobriety, the unyielding spirit, the extreme indolence, the perseverance in guerilla war- fare, and the remarkable absence of the highest military qualities, ascribed by the Greek and Roman writera to the ancient Iberians, are all more or less characteristic of the Spaniards of modem times. The courtesy and gallantry of the Spaniard to women has also come down to him from his Iberian an- cestors : in the eyes of the Greeks, it was an argu- HISPANIA. ment of an imperfect civilisation, that among iae Iberians the bridegroom gave, instead of neceivrng, a dowiy; that daughtera sometimes inherited, to the exclusion of sons, and, thus becoming the heads of the family, gave portions to their brothers, that tbey might be provided with suitable wives. (Stnb. ilL p. 165.) In another point, the great difierenoe between the people of the south of Europe, and those of the Teutonic stock, was remarked also in Iberia : the Iberians were ignorant, but not shnpie- hearted ; on the contrary, they were canning and mischievons, with habits of robbery almost indo- mitable — fond of brigandage, though incapable of the great combinations of war. (Strab. iii. p. 154.) These, in some degree, are qualities comman to almost all barbarians ; but they offer a strong con- trast to the character of the Germans, whose words spoke what was in their hearts, and of whooe roost powerful tribe it is recorded that tiieir asoendaacy was maintained by no other arms than those of jostioe." (HisL of Rome, vol. iiL pp. 396, 397.) The different tribes, however, were distinguisbed by very different d^rees of diaracter. The Can- tabrians, and the peoples of the N. coast in genenl, were the wildest and rudest : the Celtiberians, though scarcely more civilised, were of a very nobfe disposition : the Vaccaei were (under the Romans, at least) highly civilised, and only inferior to the Tw- detani of Baetica, who cultivated science and bad a literature of their own. [Turdetania.] There remain two very striking points in wfaacfa the ancient Iberians and the modem Spaniaxda bcv the closest resemblance to each other. The one is, not merely the disuiuoo, but the alienatioii »ad exasperation, which the several nations have ever displayed towards each other, and which has nmd» tliem the almost helpless victims, or the still more helpless dependents, of foreiga foes or fnends, whom they have afterwards requited with intemeciBa hatred or bitter ingratitude. The other point re- ferred to is the obstinate endorance with wbidi they have fought behind walls, as attested, amaig other instances, by the sieges of Saouistiiie and NuMANTiA, Gerona and Zaragoea; a quality, in both cases, strangely contrasted with thdr inabifi^ to stand the shock dT armies on the open fidd of battle. " In Cond^s History of the Araba, a general, in his despatch to the Caliph, says of the Spaniacdst On horseback they are eagles; in the defence of their towns, lions ; but in the field they are women.* (Niebohr, Lectwet on Anc, Eth., ^. toL iL p. 286: the whole Lecture, as well as the passage on Spaat in Arnold's Hittory, to both of which such fipeqnent reference has been made in this article, deanrve tiM most attentive perusal : the half-volume deroted to Hispania in Ukert's GeographU der Griecken vmd RSmer is a masterly production, and contains a collection of references to nearly all the materiala required for the study; bnt the reader of Ukert must be constantly on his guard against &]se refer- ences. Forbiger, Handbuck der aUen. Geograpkiey vol. ilL pp. 4 — 109, follows close in Ukert's steps, correcting many of his &1se references, bat intro- ducing others of his own ; he adds, however, some valuable notices of the modem literature of this sub- ject Among the works of the ancient writen, Stmbo's third book stands pre-eminent for its folneas and general accuracy. The conquest of the penin- sula by the barbarians, and the transition to its medieval history, form too large a subject to be entered on here : all that is necessary for the par-