Praxis diplomática y comunicación política en el mundo celtibérico (siglos III-I a.C.)

Abstract

This PhD dissertation addresses the study of the Celtiberian diplomacy between the third and the first century BC in a holistic way. The aim has been to reconstruct as much as possible a complete picture of the political interlocution forms which were carried out by the Celtiberian communities. It has been done paying attention to its diverse constituting elements, namely: the political actors which develop it, the agents and mechanisms by means of which this diplomacy is executed and, finally, which attitudes and trends can be observed in this praxis. This work follows a current researching trend, previously laid out by other scholars, according to which the diplomatic path would have been systematically used to conduct relations between the different states which partook in the Hispanic political scene during the Roman expansion. This study focuses on the Celtiberian world. This is studied paying special attention to the local standpoint. The character of the clearly biased Greco-Roman sources —which, however, offer valuable information— has made necessary to resort to the Archaeology, Epigraphy and Numismatic disciplines. The picture that emerges is that of a complex, institutionally developed world, capable of shaping its own agendas that were plural and dynamic. Therefore, Celtiberia appears during the last three centuries BC as a multipolar world within which several political actors behaved according to their own interests. Sometimes, these actors achieved to entail a real counterbalance before outer powers such as Carthage and Rome. Celtiberian world, thus, would not have been an isolated space, unaware of fairly shared historical dynamics and largely spread phenomena. Instead, it belonged to a great cultural koine which made possible the mutual understanding. Nevertheless, differences existed and the processes of diplomatic interlocution happened in a setting of middle ground within which gestures and objects acquired new meanings and nuances. So, there were also some mutual misinterpretations. Despite this, diplomacy made it possible for the Celtiberian states to have a wide range of mechanisms and options when interacting with each other and with other actors in their environment.