Carpetani

Origins

The Carpetani occupied the upper and middle Tagus basin, in modern Madrid, Toledo and Ciudad Real, from the second half of the first millennium BCE. Their language is thought to have been Celtic, though Iberian influences were strong.

Rule and society

They lived in fortified towns such as Toletum and Complutum, on a farming and herding economy of the open plateau. Their political organisation is little known, but they could field large armies. In 220 BCE Hannibal defeated a coalition of Carpetani, Olcades and Vaccaei at the crossing of the Tagus.

Decline and legacy

Rome reached their land in the early 2nd century BCE: Marcus Fulvius Nobilior won a battle near Toletum in 193 BCE and took the town in 192 BCE, and Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus pacified the region by 179 BCE. They became part of Hispania Citerior, and Toletum grew into Roman and later Visigothic Toledo.