Lusitanian Banditry in the Context of Migratory Movements from Northwest Hispania towards the Tagus Valley

Abstract

This paper analyzes the various hypotheses that have been put forward regarding the phenomenon of so-called "Lusitanian banditry" and the causes of the Lusitanian Wars of the 2nd century BC, presenting a novel proposal that complements previous ones in order to provide a more robust and precise interpretation of these two issues. In this sense, it is argued that a fundamental cause for the emergence of what the Romans generally referred to as latrones and praedones in the southern territories of Lusitania during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC was the result of a series of gradual migratory movements that had been developing since the beginning of the 2nd century BC, originating from the northwest quadrant of the Iberian Peninsula, towards the Tagus Valley. This would have generated a disruption of economic and social equilibrium in this territory, provoking conflicts in the southern regions of Hispania already conquered by the Romans and contributing to the outbreak of the Lusitanian Wars.