Hamilcar Barca arrived in Iberia and began a systematic reduction of the southwest and southeast coasts. It was from Iberia that Hannibal, son of Hamilcar, decided to launch his attack on Rome through Celtic territory. Without the Celts he would have had little success. With the defeat of Carthage in 197 b.c., to which alliance the Celts firmly clung, Rome began to conquer and colonise the Celts of Spain. Rome’s war against the Iberian Celts was marked by an extreme savagery. But actions like those of Servius Sulpicius Galba in 151 b.c., who massacred the Celts after they had surrendered, caused criticism even in Rome, and Galba was charged with “war crimes” before the Senate. However, the Senate approved of Galba’s actions.

It was not until 49 b.c., after a century and a half of continued uprisings and warfare, that peace came to the Celts of Spain. Under more liberal governors, schools had been established for the sons of Celtic chieftains, and the old remnants of Celtic civilisation and tradition were swept away before Latin learning. Soon the Celtiberians were contributing to Latin literature such figures as Marcus Valerius Martialis (Martial) (ca. a.d. 40–103/4), who made a frank assertion of his Celtic identity, and Marcus Fabius Quintilanus (b. a.d. 35), who was the first rhetorician to receive an official salary from the Roman state. Egantius, the poet, was another Celtiberian whose work was ridiculed in Rome for its Celtic “provincialness.” There are many other writers from Spain whose work needs careful analysis, such as the Senecas, Lucan, and Pomponius Mela (whose work on the Celts, especially the druids, preserves information not found elsewhere). According to Publius Tacitus (a.d. 56/57–ca. 117), a Celtic language was still spoken in many parts of Spain during the first century a.d., but after this there is no mention of a Celtic identity, and the Celts of the Iberian peninsula were, apparently, entirely assimilated. See also Galicia.

Ibor

[I] The charioteer who accompanies Cúchulainn during his adventures in “The Boyhood Deeds of Cúchulainn.”

Ibor cind tráchta

[I] The spot where the goddess Fand arranges her assignation with Cúchulainn; but Emer, Cúchulainn’s wife, having discovered this, arrives with 50 maidens carrying sharpened knives to destroy Fand. See Cúchulainn, Emer, and Fand.

Id

[I] Son of Ríangabur. He was the charioteer of Conall Cearnach and brother of Cúchulainn’s charioteer, Laeg.