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The Portuguese story began on the Iberian Peninsula, the area where Spain and Portugal
are located today. The Spanish and the Portuguese shared the same ancestry and history
until the XII century, when Portugal gained independence from Spain.
It is believed that prehistoric people lived on the Iberian Peninsula more than 100,000
years ago. The origin of these people is uncertain. However, the first known inhabitants
of the region were the Iberians who lived there about 5,000 years ago. Attracted by the
fertile soil of the land, other groups arrived late. Some settled there. Phoenicians,
Celts, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, Visigoths and Arabs came at different
times and for different reasons.
The origin of the Iberians is controversial. Some historians affirm that these people
came to the Iberian Peninsula from the North of Africa. Others say that they were natives
of the region. The Iberians lived in tribes, and built rectangular houses on hilltops.
They tilled the land, and used the wheel cart. In addition, they engaged in sculpting,
goldsmithing, pottery and mining. The Iberians also had their own alphabet. Samples of
Iberian writing, sculpted in stone, were found in the Portuguese territory, but most of
their remains can be seen throughout Andaluzia, in Spain. Their religion was polytheistic.
The Iberians worshipped numerous deities symbolized in the forces of nature, and sometimes
represented by animals like the bull and the wild boar.
The Phoenicians arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around the 1200's B.C. They came from
the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea (in what are today Lebanon and Syria), looking
for copper and zinc, from which they made bronze. Besides its mines, the
Peninsula's
coasts attracted the Phoenicians. Hoping to exchange goods with the Iberians, the
Phoenicians brought cloth, glass, porcelain, arms and decorative items to the Peninsula.
They also developed the fishing industry, and introduced the preservation of fish (by
salting) in the area.
The Celts, who originated in Central Europe, invaded the region in the 900's B.C. They
were blond and robust people, who spread throughout the territory, especially in the West
and the Northeast. The Celts influenced the Iberians greatly, and succeed in intermixing
with them. A new group, called Celtiberians then arose on the Iberian Peninsula. The
Celtiberians built castros. These were fortified villages with round or rectangular
houses, of loose-stoned walls and thatched roofs. These dwellings were strategically built
on mountain tops for protection against the enemy. The Celts perfected the metallurgy of
iron and expanded its usage in the region. They manufactured arms, (especially daggers),
agricultural tools, such as the plow, the grill and the sickle and decorative objects. In
addition, they grew wheat and barley, raised swine and sheep, and used horses in their
toils. The Celts had a custom of cremating the dead. They buried the ashes along with the
personal belongings of the deceased.
The Greeks introduced the Hellenic civilization in the southern and eastern
parts of the Iberian Peninsula. Evidence of Creek colonization such as coins and vases was
found in Portugal, in the regions of Alcácer do Sal and Porto. This group arrived in the
Peninsula in the 600's B.C. For the most part, the Greeks were merchants who became the
Phoenicians' greatest competitors in the region. The Greeks are credited with having
founded Sagunto in Alcácer to Sal as well as other colonies on the Mediterranean coasts.
North Africans, from the powerful city of Carthage, invaded the Iberian Peninsula in
the 400's B.C. These people dedicated themselves to business and fishing. The
Carthaginians entered the Iberian Peninsula in the VI century B.C. They came to aid the
Phoenicians in their battles against indigenous tribes. The Carthaginians became the
Greeks' competitors in the commercial arena. Like the Phoenicians, they devoted themselves
to fishing and fish preserving. Also, like their allies, they developed the metal
industry. The Carthaginians are credited with having founded Portimão and other fishing
colonies in the coasts of Algarve.
The Lusitanians, a group that evolved from the fusion of different races and cultures,
namely the Celts and the Iberians, transformed life in the Iberian Peninsula. They were a
courageous, indomitable, strong and agile people, who were temperate in their consumption
of food and drink, modest in their way of dressing, and zealous of their independence. The
Lusitanians were great warriors, who managed the dagger, the short sword and the lance
with dexterity. They covered their heads with a metal or leather helmet, and used a round,
concave, leather-shield for protection in battle. Like the Iberians, they lived in tribes
in castros or citânias. Their villages consisted of round or square houses
made with rough-stoned walls, dirt floors and thatched roofs. Lusitanian villages spread
throughout the North. The Lusitanian men engaged in war games, athletic contests, horse
racing and hunting. The women farmed the land. Their livelihood consisted of raising of
sheep and domestic animals, fishing and the cultivating of cereals and flax (plant from
which linen is made). Like the Celts, the Lusitanians also developed the metallurgy of
metals, the tanning of hides, the weaving of linen and wool, and clay pottery. They
dressed in animal skins and rough materials. The men used capes of woolen material or of
sheep skin, and the women adorned themselves with bracelets, necklaces and earrings. The
Lusitanians had no use for money. They used the bartering system. Their religion was
polytheistic. They worshipped gods such as the sun, the moon, the forests, the mountains
and the rivers, and practiced the cult of the dead. They also cremated their dead.
The Romans invaded the Iberian Peninsula in 200 B.C. They had been victorious over the
Carthaginians during the Second Punic War, and as part of the peace settlement between
Rome and Carthage, the Romans were granted the Iberian Peninsula. These people were
aggressive and ambitious. Experienced in the art of war and possessing a large,
well-organized army, they considered the Iberian Peninsula an easy prey. However, they
succeeded in conquering it only after much resistance from its inhabitants. Among the
resisting forces were the Lusitanians. Not wanting to lose their freedom, the Lusitanians
fought fierce and long battles against the invaders and defeated them several times.
However, they were no match for their powerful, clever and sly enemies. Eventually, they
were forced to yield control of the Iberian Peninsula to them. The total submission of
Lusitania (the name given to the region by the Romans) took a hundred and fifty years. The
Romans brought much innovation to the area. They improved housing and road systems, devised
better work techniques, and modified the social organization. The Romans adopted
Christianity in the 300's and coerced the Lusitanians to do likewise. Evidence of Roman
invasion can still be found throughout Portugal today.
Germanic tribes, which the Roman called "Barbarians" (because they did not
speak Latin nor assimilate the Roman culture), swept throughout Western Europe in the A.D.
400's. These tribes helped bring about the fall of the Roman Empire in the area in 476.
Among the Barbarians, were the Sueves and the Visigoths, who conquered the Iberian
Peninsula and settled in the Northeast. The Sueves distinguished themselves on the Iberian
Peninsula, especially in the North of Lusitania (the area between the Douro and the Tejo
Rivers) and in Galiza. At first, warriors and farmers, the Sueves later turned conquerors.
They expanded their reign to the South up to the Tejo River. The Sueves founded a kingdom
and established a capital in Braga (formerly called Bracara by the Romans). Later, they
moved it to the more central location of Portucale. In 416, the Visigoths conquered the
Sueves and established themselves in their land. More civilized than the Sueves, they
dominated the region for a longer period of time. They established their capital in Toledo
(Spain), and imposed total monarchy. Initially pagan, the Barbarians later converted to
Christianity. Thus, the region remained Christian under their control. The Visigoths had a
class society composed of the clergy, the nobility and the people. To the clergy, the most
cultured of the three groups, was given the decision-making power. The coronation and
deposition of kings was decided by the Church. Under its rule, villages were substituted
by parishes. Influenced by the Roman culture, the Visigoths abolished slavery and
legalized equality for everyone. The Visigoths were great artists, skilled in jewelry
making.
The last group of foreigners to invade what today is Portugal and Spain were the
Muslims. Also called Arabs and Moors, the Muslims invaded the Iberian Peninsula in the
early 700's. They, too, influenced the region in many ways, especially South of the Douro
River. These people succeed in building a brilliant civilization on the ruins of the Roman
and Visigothic Empires. The Muslims introduced a different religion, architecture,
agricultural methods, crops, and language. They also developed systems of education and of
roads. They possessed great scientific knowledge in mathematics, astronomy, architecture,
sculpture, poetry and music. Consisting not only of Arabs, but also of Jews, the Muslims
engaged mostly in the construction of mosques and palaces, remains of which can still be
found in Portugal today. The Moors came from the North of Africa, and remained on the
Iberian Peninsula for more than five centuries until the Christians regained the Peninsula
in 1249.
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