Ilercavones
Encyclopedia
The Ilercavones were an ancient Iberian (Pre-Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

) people of the Iberian peninsula
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...

 (the Roman Hispania
Hispania
Another theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for "border" or "edge", thus meaning the farthest area or place. Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis....

). They are believed to have spoken an Iberian language
Iberian language
The Iberian language was the language of a people identified by Greek and Roman sources who lived in the eastern and southeastern regions of the Iberian peninsula. The ancient Iberians can be identified as a rather nebulous local culture between the 7th and 1st century BC...

.

The name Ilercavonia
Ilercavonia
Ilercavonia is an ancient comarca of Spain formerly populated by the ancient Iberian tribe known as Ilercavones. It is a greater comarca made up of smaller ones...

 to refer to the territory occupied by this Iberian tribe appears in ancient Greek
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...

 and Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 texts and documents and it was still mentioned in medieval texts. The northern limits of this territory were in Serra de la Llena
Serra de la Llena
Serra de la Llena, also known as Serra la Llena, is a mountain chain straddling the municipal terms of Vilanova de Prades , La Pobla de Cérvoles and Ulldemolins , in Catalonia, Spain...

, the northeastern in Coll de Balaguer
Coll de Balaguer
The Coll de Balaguer is a mountain pass in Catalonia, Spain. It is located at the point where the Catalan Pre-Coastal Range reaches the sea, in L'Almadrava, within the Vandellòs i l'Hospitalet de l'Infant municipality, Baix Camp....

, the western in Mequinensa and the southern in Sagunt.

The Ilercavones were very religious as a people. They did not have temples, but every mountain or hill was considered a sacred place. The Ilercavones as a nation or tribe were already mentioned by Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...

, who said that they inhabited the lands between river Udiva (possibly the Millars River
Millars River
The Mijares or Millars is a river in Aragon and the Valencian Community, eastern Spain. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea between Almassora and Burriana. The Mijares River marks the southernmost limit of the Catalan Mediterranean System....

) and further north of the Ebro
Ebro
The Ebro or Ebre is one of the most important rivers in the Iberian Peninsula. It is the biggest river by discharge volume in Spain.The Ebro flows through the following cities:*Reinosa in Cantabria.*Miranda de Ebro in Castile and León....

, and by Ptolemy
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy , was a Roman citizen of Egypt who wrote in Greek. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under Roman rule, and is believed to have been born in the town of Ptolemais Hermiou in the...

, who named the cape
Cape (geography)
In geography, a cape or headland is a point or body of land extending into a body of water, usually the sea.A cape usually represents a marked change in trend of the coastline. Their proximity to the coastline makes them prone to natural forms of erosion, mainly tidal actions. This results in capes...

 and the harbor where they lived Tenebri (possibly Orpesa). They were mentioned as well as by Livy
Livy
Titus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...

 in his texts describing the first phase of the Roman invasion of Iberia.

After the Roman conquest the Ilercavones became romanized
Romanization (cultural)
Romanization or latinization indicate different historical processes, such as acculturation, integration and assimilation of newly incorporated and peripheral populations by the Roman Republic and the later Roman Empire...

, much like the other Iberian tribes in the peninsula. Gradually, they became assimilated into the Roman population, especially after acquiring the Latin language as their own vernacular.

Archaeological sites

The most important archaeological sites are in the following places:
  • Castellet de Banyoles in Tivissa
    Tivissa
    Tivissa is a municipality in the comarca of Ribera d'Ebre, Catalonia, Spain. It is located below the La Llena mountains. Tivissa's municipal term includes La Serra d'Almos village, below the Montalt mountain, and the hamlets of Darmós and Llaberia, besides the town of Tivissa itself.-History :The...

  • Coll del Moro in Gandesa
    Gandesa
    Gandesa is the capital of the comarca of Terra Alta, in the province of Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain.-History:In the place known as Coll del Moro there is an ancient Iberian archaeological site belonging to the Ilercavones tribe that lived in this area before Roman times.Gandesa has a church with...

  • Below the Castle of La Suda in Tortosa
    Tortosa
    -External links:* *** * * *...

  • Mianes in Tortosa
  • Below the Templar castle in Miravet
    Miravet
    Miravet is a municipality in the comarca of Ribera d'Ebre in the province of Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain.The village and the caste was founded by the Moors and rebuilt by the Knights Templar and transformed into a fortress-monastery, after the conquest of 1153...

  • La Ferradura in Ulldecona
    Ulldecona
    Ulldecona is a town in the South of Catalonia, in Montsià , near the Senia River. Ulldecona is part of the Taula del Sénia free association of municipalities....

  • Moleta del Remei in Alcanar
    Alcanar
    Alcanar is a municipality of the Catalan comarca of Montsià, in the Tarragona province. The Serra del Montsià range and its foothills rises above the town and its surroundings. According to data from 2006 its population is 9,620 inhabitants, although this increased the next year, to 9,969...

  • Puig de la Nau in Benicarló
    Benicarló
    Benicarló is a city and municipality in the north of the province of Castelló, part of the Valencian Community, in the Mediterranean Coast between the cities of Vinaròs and Peníscola, not too far south from the Ebre River....

  • Sant Antoni Iberian village in Calaceite
    Calaceite
    -Gastronomy:The flaonets de Calaceit are small flaons made in Calaceite. They are small pastries filled with pumpkin jam and honey. The flaonets were one of the traditional pastries fondly remembered by painter Salvador Dalí....


See also

  • Ilercavonia
    Ilercavonia
    Ilercavonia is an ancient comarca of Spain formerly populated by the ancient Iberian tribe known as Ilercavones. It is a greater comarca made up of smaller ones...

  • Romanization (cultural)
    Romanization (cultural)
    Romanization or latinization indicate different historical processes, such as acculturation, integration and assimilation of newly incorporated and peripheral populations by the Roman Republic and the later Roman Empire...

  • Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula
    Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula
    This is a list of the Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian peninsula .-Non-Indo-European:*Aquitanians**Aquitani**Autrigones - some consider them Celtic .**Caristii - some consider them Celtic ....


External links

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