The Turdetani were an ancient (pre-Roman) people of the Iberian peninsula (the Roman Hispania), living in the valley of the Guadalquivir in what was to become the Roman Province of Hispania Baetica (modern Andalusia, Spain). Strabo (Geography III, 4, 13) considers them to have been the successors to the people of Tartessos and to have spoken a close relative of the Tartessian language. The Roman Forum was the central area around which ancient Rome developed. ... The Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe. ... Roman theater at Mérida; the statues are replicas Hispania was the name given by the Romans to the whole of the Iberian Peninsula (modern Portugal, Spain, Andorra and Gibraltar) and to two provinces created there in the period of the Roman Republic: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior. ... The Guadalquivir is the second longest river in Spain (after the Tagus). ... Roman province of Hispania Baetica, 120 CE In Hispania, which in Greek is called Iberia, there were three Imperial Roman provinces, Hispania Baetica in the south, Lusitania, corresponding to modern Portugal, in the west, and Hispania Tarraconensis in the north and northeast. ... Motto: Andalucía por sí, para España y la humanidad (Andalusia by herself, for Spain, and for humankind) Capital Seville Official language(s) Spanish Area  â€“ Total  â€“ % of Spain Ranked 2nd  87,268 km²  17. ... the Greek georgapher Strabo, in a 16th‑century engraving. ... Tartessos (also Tartessus) was a harbor city on the south coast of the Iberian peninsula (in modern Andalusia, Spain), at the mouth of the Guadalquivir river. ... The Tartessian language is seemingly unrelated to all other languages, including Indo-European or Iberian language families, and is therefore considered a language isolate. ...

The Turdetani were in constant contact with their Greek and Carthaginian neighbors. Herodotus describes them as enjoying a civilised rule under a king, Arganthonios, who welcomed Phocaean colonists in the fifth century BC. The Turdetani are said to have possessed a written legal code and to have employed Celtiberian mercenaries to carry on their wars against Rome (Livy 34.19). Strabo notes that the Turdetani and the Celts were the most civilized peoples in Iberia, with the implication that their ordered, urbanised culture was most in accord with Greco-Roman models. At the opening of the Second Punic War the Turdetani rose against their Roman governor in 197. When Cato the Elder became consul in 195 BCE, he was given the command of the whole of Hispania. Cato first put down the rebellion in the northeast, then marched south and put down the revolt by the Turdetani, "the least warlike of all the Hispanic tribes" (Livy, History of Rome 34.17). Cato was able to return to Rome in 194, leaving two praetors in charge of the two provinces. Bust of Herodotus Herodotus of Halicarnassus (Greek: , Herodotos Halikarnasseus) was a Dorian Greek historian who lived in the 5th century BC (484 BC - ca. ... // Background and Origin Arganthonios (Argantonio in Spanish) was king the most important king of ancient Tartessia (southern Spain). ... Phocis (Greek, Modern: Φωκίδα, Ancient/Katharevousa: -s, also Phokida, Phokis) is an ancient district of central Greece. ... The Celtiberians dwelt in the Iberian Peninsula and spoke a Celtic language. ... the Greek georgapher Strabo, in a 16th‑century engraving. ... Iberia can mean: The Iberian peninsula of South west Europe; That part of it once inhabited by the Iberians, who spoke the Iberian language. ... Combatants Roman Republic Carthage Commanders Publius Cornelius Scipio†, Tiberius Sempronius Longus Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus, Gaius Flaminius†, Fabius Maximus, Claudius Marcellus†, Lucius Aemilius Paullus†, Gaius Terentius Varro, Marcus Livius Salinator, Gaius Claudius Nero, Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus†, Masinissa, Minucius+, Geminus+, Regulus+ Hannibal Barca, Hasdrubal Barca†, Mago Barca†, Hasdrubal Gisco†, Maharbal... Marcus Porcius Cato (Latin: M·PORCIVS·M·F·CATO¹) (234 BC, Tusculum — 149 BC) was a Roman statesman, surnamed The Censor, Sapiens, Priscus, or Major (the Elder), to distinguish him from Cato the Younger (his great-grandson). ... Roman theater at Mérida; the statues are replicas Hispania was the name given by the Romans to the whole of the Iberian Peninsula (modern Portugal, Spain, Andorra and Gibraltar) and to two provinces created there in the period of the Roman Republic: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior. ... Titus Livius (around 59 BC - 17 AD), known as Livy in English, wrote a monumental history of Rome, Ab Urbe Condita, from its founding (traditionally dated to 753 BC). ...

There are some speculation amongst some scholars^{[citation needed]} that connect the Turdetani and the Turduli, the Turdulorum Oppida and the Turduli Veteres (all in moder Portuguese territory), even if all of them seem highly celticized. The Turduli were an ancient celtiberian tribe akin to the Lusitanians, living in the south of modern Portugal, in the east of the province of Alentejo, along the Guadiana valley. ... The Turdulorum Oppida, or Turduli living in the Portuguese region of Estremadura (litoral central Portugal), were an ancient celtiberian tribe akin to the Lusitanians. ... The Turduli Veteres, or Ancient Turduli were an ancient celtiberian tribe akin to the Lusitanians and Calaicians or Gallaeci, living south of the estuary of the river Douro, in the north of modern Portugal. ...

In Plautus' comedy "The Captives", a reference to the Turdetani (Act i, Scene ii) seems to show that their district in Hispania Baetica had become proverbially famous for the thrushes and small birds supplied for Roman tables. Titus Maccius Plautus (born at Sarsina, Umbria in 254 B.C.) was a comic playwright in the time of the Roman Republic. ...

See also

• Carpia

Carpia was an Iberian city which is said to be the site of the ancient city Tartessos, or the refoundation of the sunken city. ...

External links

• Detailed map of the Pre-Roman Peoples of Iberia (around 200 BC)
• Livy, History of Rome book 34, especially 34.17 and following sections