Viriathus — The Shepherd King of Lusitania
The immediate background to Viriathus is the massacre of 150 BCE. The Roman commander Servius Sulpicius Galba invited Lusitanian tribesmen to a conference, supposedly to discuss peace terms, and ordered them massacred. Viriathus, a former shepherd and hunter turned warrior, escaped the slaughter. By 147 BCE he had assumed command of Lusitanian resistance. His method was pure guerrilla warfare: he refused pitched battle, struck at isolated Roman units, and melted into the mountain terrain before Roman armies could mass. When Roman columns pursued, they walked into ambushes. He recruited from across Iberia. In 140 BCE he actually forced the Roman commander Quintus Fabius Maximus Servilianus to sign a peace treaty recognising Lusitanian independence — an extraordinary diplomatic achievement. The senate ratified the treaty. One year later the next Roman commander simply ignored it, broke the truce, and resumed war. Rome could not defeat Viriathus in the field. In 139 BCE the consul Quintus Servilius Caepio bribed three of Viriathus's ambassadors to murder him in his sleep. 'Rome does not pay traitors,' Caepio then announced, and refused the assassins their reward. Viriathus was given an elaborate funeral by his followers.
- Year: 147 BCE
- Category: Military
