tribal confederation · Iberia

Celtici

500 BCE – 138 BCE (approx.)

Celtic communities of south-western Iberia, said by Pliny to have migrated from Celtiberia, living in the Alentejo and western Andalusia.

Origins

Strabo and Pliny describe Celtici in the south-west, between the Guadiana and the Atlantic and in the Beturia region of Extremadura and Huelva. Pliny says they came from the Celtiberians, as shown by their religion, language and town names, though the date of their arrival is uncertain, probably from the 5th century BCE.

Rule and society

They lived in fortified settlements such as Nertobriga and Mirobriga, whose -briga names are Celtic. Their society of farmers and herders lay close to the mining districts of the Sierra Morena. They seem to have been a group of communities rather than a single polity.

Decline and legacy

Their territory was drawn into Hispania Ulterior and was pacified after the Lusitanian wars and the campaigns of Decimus Junius Brutus from 138 BCE. Under Augustus it was split between Lusitania and Baetica.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Lineage

CelticiHispania Ulterior 197 BCE – 27 BCE

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Celtici. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/celtici
MLA
“Celtici.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/celtici. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Celtici.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/celtici.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Celtici’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/celtici (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻