#helvetian women

Warrior women of the Iberian peninsula

The Roman conquest of the Iberian Peninsula began during the 3rd century BCE. A number of clashes followed, including inLusitania, a province located between present-day Portugal and western Spain. 

In 138 BCE, the Roman praetor Decimus Junius Brutus was sent to Lusitania to fight roaming guerrilla bands. Unable to follow them through the province, he decided to attack their towns directly. 

According to Appian : “Here he found the women fighting and perishing in company with the men with such bravery that they uttered no cry even in the midst of slaughter.”

In 137 BCE, he crossed the river Douro and encountered the Bracari, a Celtic tribe of present-day northwest Portugal. According to Appian, the Bracari were: “very warlike people”. The women : “bearing arms with the men, who fought never turning, never showing their backs, or uttering a cry. Of the women who were captured some killed themselves, others slew their children with their own hands, considering death preferable to captivity.” 

This determination to fight to the death reminds of Roman encounters with other tribes, such as for instance the Cimbri (who may have been Germanic or Celtic people), whose women displayed a similar behavior. 

Plutarch also tells of Caesar’s battles against the Celtic Helvetiansthat:

“After a long and hard struggle he routed the enemy’s fighting men, but had the most trouble at their rampart of waggons, where not only did the men themselves make a stand and fight, but also their wives and children defended themselves to the death and were cut to pieces with the men.”

Bibliography:

Appian,Roman history

Plutarch,Parallel Lives