The last resistors against Rome were from Cerdanya

BarcelonaHistory has left little trace of the Ceretans, apart from the toponym of Cerdanya. One of the few clues available was provided by the Greco-Roman historian Cassius Dio, who explains how, in 39 BC, the Ceretans revolted. He mentions them in relation to the setback suffered by the governor of the province of Hispania Citerior, Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus, in the Pyrenees. His men suffered an ambush, fled helter-skelter, and abandoned their lieutenant. Calvinus severely punished the troops by mustering the army and executing one in every ten soldiers by lot. The severity of the punishment was what sparked the interest of historians, as it had not been applied for a long time. Once discipline was restored, Calvinus marched against the Ceretans, definitively subdued them, and confiscated their gold to celebrate his triumph in Rome in 36 BC. Afterwards, the Roman commander played a rather important role in both Emporiae and Tarraco.

"Until now, it was thought that these combats had taken place further west, specifically in present-day Aragon, but the discovery of sling bullets with Calvinus's signature in Urús proves that the confrontation occurred in Ceretana Cerdanya," states archaeologist and UAB professor Oriol Olesti, who leads the research project Landscape and Territory in Ancient Cerdanya-4, along with Joan Oller and Jordi Morera.

The more discoveries archaeology makes, the less peaceful the Roman conquest of the Iberian Peninsula seems, which began in 218 BC with the Second Punic War. The latest research by Olesti's team in Pyrenean sites shows that the revolts lasted for more than a century, and the last to confront the Romans, already in the time of Augustus, were precisely the inhabitants of Cerdanya. “It is quite surprising because the revolt occurred when the Ceretani were acquiring Latin citizenship, a privileged but second-tier legal and Roman status,” says Olesti. Historically, this indigenous people had received little attention; it was known that they had lived in fortified settlements on hills such as Castellot de Bolvir, Tossal de Baltarga in Bellver, Serrat del Castellar, or Sant Feliu de Llo, which suffered destruction at the end of the 3rd century BC due to the passage of Hannibal's army, and archaeology has found many traces of Roman presence in the mid-2nd century BC. At the sites, evidence has been found of the coexistence of Roman military elements with the continuity of Ceretan pottery and the agro-pastoral economy.

passage of Hannibal's army, and archaeology has found many traces of Roman presence in the mid-2nd century BC. At the sites, evidence has been found of the coexistence of Roman military elements with the continuity of Ceretan pottery and the agro-pastoral economy.

Resistance in the mountains

The Pyrenees are no exception, as mountainous areas were the scene of the last military clashes of the Romans, even in the time of Emperor Augustus, against indigenous populations. Olesti points out that we have a lot of information about the great Cantabrian Wars, about Agrippa's campaigns in Aquitaine in 38 BC or Antistius Vetus in the Alps in 35 BC, but very little about the Pyrenees.

Despite being under the theoretical control of Rome, archaeological research suggests that not everyone was happy with the occupation. Olesti admits that they do not have a clear answer as to why they revolted when they already had Latin citizenship, but points to several hypotheses, such as the breaking of certain habits, customs, or hierarchies igniting the spark of an insurrection that the Romans violently extinguished by exploiting internal divergences and disputes.

The origin of Olesti's discovery occurred in 2021, when enthusiasts donated a set of lead materials from Coll de Jou, in Urús, to the Espai Ceretània in Bolvir. After analyzing historical cartography, a team of local archaeologists and historians began a systematic surface survey that recorded an extremely high density of military finds. All were concentrated in a central area of two hectares, where the absence of domestic pottery rules out it being a settlement and confirms that the area corresponds to a strategically located temporary Roman military camp. The survey recovered a lot of seventy military and personal objects that describe an episode of direct combat, such as projectiles with stamped marks and two lead sling bullets. On the obverse appears the legend CN in retrograde characters and, on the reverse, the letter D, initials that unequivocally identify the troops of the Roman general Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus.

The remains of lead flows and damaged or artificially cut projectiles show that the Roman soldiers were forced to melt lead and manufacture the projectiles on-site, in the camp, to repel an imminent attack. Likewise, seventeen military sandal nails were recovered, personal and military effects such as a bronze ring, a belt plate with rivets, and a phalera, a bronze military decoration decorated with floral motifs, as well as bronze coins. Olesti's team interprets it as the scene of the Ceretan ambush against the Roman camp.

This attack had a high cost for the Ceretans, as archaeology shows that the end of their settlements was not the result of a peaceful transition towards Romanization, but rather a process of quite violent repression. Although almost no fire destruction levels have been identified, with the exception of certain violent episodes at Serrat del Castellar, the three major Ceretan sites in the region, Castellot de Bolvir, Tossal de Baltarga, and Serrat del Castellar, were rapidly abandoned around 39 BC. They were never reoccupied, which means their inhabitants were displaced to other locations, deported out of the region, killed, or enslaved, as happened with the Salyes tribe in the Alps. Another part of the Ceretans, however, probably those who did not collaborate in the revolt, settled in the new city of Iulia Livica, the current nucleus of Llívia, the new Ceretan capital.