History of Portugal

The History of Portugal is that of an ancient European nation, whose present origins go back to the Early Middle Ages, that ascended to a great world power in the Age of Discoveries with its vast Empire. Following its heyday as a world power during the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal lost much of its wealth and status first through the loss of its military and naval power due to the military disaster of Alcacer-Kibir, and shortly thereafer its fleet, which had had been incorporated into the Spanish Armanda] so the country was unable to defend its interests overseas. It was further weakened later with the destruction of much of the capital, Lisbon Lisbon in a 1755 earthquake, occupation during the Napoleonic Wars, and the independence in 1822 of its largest colony Brazil. A 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy; however, the Republic was unable to solve the country's problems, amid corruption, repression of the Church and near bankruptcy of State, and in 1926, a military coup installed a dictatorship that would only come to an end in 1974, when a left-wing military coup installed broad democratic reforms. The following year, Portugal granted independence to all of its African and Asian colonies. Portugal is a founding member of NATO, OECD and EFTA and entered the European Community (now the European Union) in 1986.

"Portugal"

Portugal's name derives from the Roman name Portus Cale. Cale was the name of an early settlement located at the mouth of the Douro River, which flows into the Atlantic Ocean in the north of what is now Portugal. Around 200 BCE, the Romans took the Iberian Peninsula from the Carthaginians during the Second Punic War, and in the process conquered Cale and renamed it Portus Cale. During the Middle Ages, the region around Cale became known by the Visigoths as Portucale. Portucale evolved into Portugale during the 7th and 8th centuries, and by the 9th century, the term "Portugale" was used extensively to refer to the region between the rivers Douro and Minho, the Minho flowing along what would become the northern border between Portugal and Spain.

Some historians believe that the "Cale" part of Portucale derived from the Greek word Kalles ("beautiful"), referring to the beauty of the Douro Valley where ancient Greek pioneers chose to settle. Other historians claim that the earliest settlers in the region were Phoenician and that the name Cale was derived from the Phoenician languages of those who settled along the Portuguese coast in the pre-Roman period. Others say that Cale is derived from the Callaeci people (see below) who lived in the region.

In any case, the Portu part of the name Portucale would become Porto, the modern name for the city located on the site of the ancient city of Cale at the mouth of the Douro River. And port would become the name of the wine from the Douro Valley region around Porto. Today, Cale became Gaia (Vila Nova de Gaia), a city on the other side of the river. Many think that both cities should merge into one, due to their closeness and historical relation.

Early history

Portugal has been inhabited for at least 500,000 years, first by Neanderthals and then by homo sapiens.

In the early first millennium BCE, several waves of Celts invaded Portugal from central Europe and intermarried with the local Iberian people, forming the Celtiberian ethnic group, with many tribes, such as the Lusitanians, the Calaicians or Gallaeci and the Conii (amongst others less significant tribes such as the Bracari, Celtici, Coelerni, Equaesi, Grovii, Interamici, Leuni, Luanqui, Limici, Narbasi, Nemetati, Paesuri, Quaquerni, Seurbi, Tamagani, Tapoli, Turduli, Turduli Veteres, Turdulorum Oppida, Turodi, and Zoelae).

There were, in this broad period, some small semi-permanent commercial coastal establishments, founded by the Greeks and the Phoenicians-Carthaginians.

Roman Lusitania

In 219 BCE, the first Roman troops invaded the Iberian Peninsula. Within 200 years, almost the entire peninsula was dominated, becoming part of the Roman Empire. The Carthaginians, Rome's adversary in the Punic Wars, were expelled from their coastal colonies.

In Portuguese territory, the conquest started from the south, where the Romans found friendly natives, the Conii. Within several decades, the Romans had conquered the entire territory. In 194 BCE, a rebellion began in the north. The Lusitanians and other native tribes, under the leadership of Viriathus, successfully wrested control of all entire Portugal from the Romans. Rome sent numerous legions and its best generals to Lusitania to quell the rebellion, but to no avail — the Lusitanians gained more and more territory. The Roman leaders decided to change their strategy. They bribed an ambassador sent by Viriathus, convincing him to kill his own leader. Viriathus was assassinated, and the resistance was soon over.

Rome installed a colonial regime. During this period, Lusitania grew in prosperity and many Portuguese cities and towns were founded. In 27 BCE, Lusitania gained status of Roman province. Later, a northern province of Lusitania was formed, known as Gallaecia, with capital in Bracara (Today's Braga).

Germanic kingdoms

In the early 5th century, Germanic tribes, not all of them truly barbarians, invaded the peninsula, namely the Suevi, the Vandals (Silingi and Hasdingi) and their allies, the Sarmatian Alans. Only the kingdom of the Suevi (Quadi and Marcomanni) would endure after the arrival of another wave of Germanic invaders, the Visigoths, who conquered all of the Iberian Peninsula and expelled or partially integrated the Vandals and the Alans. The Visigoths eventually conquered the Suevi kingdom and its capital city Bracara in 584–585.