And yet the country north of the Tagus, Lusitania, is the greatest of the nations in Hispania, and is the nation against which the Romans waged war for the longest times.In the sequence of the Second Punic War, the Roman Republic defeated Carthage and its colonies in the Mediterranean Coast of the Iberian Peninsula.

[4] By 179 BC, the Romans had mostly succeeded in subduing most tribes in region and signed a peace treaty with the Lusitanians.

The Romans charged the native tribes with heavy taxes: a fixed vectigal or land-tax, the tributum and a certain quantity of cereals.

In 174 BC, when Publius Furius Philus was accused of paying very little for the cereals that Iberia was compelled to deliver to Rome, Cato defended the interests of the native tribes.

The Lusitanian War began in 155 when Punicus attacked neighboring lands belonging to Roman subjects.

Caesarus was initially defeated but, while fleeing, managed to turn the battle around, killing 9,000 Romans in the end.

[6] The Lusitanians on the other side of the Tagus, led by Caucenus, invaded the Cunei, who were subject to Rome, and conquered Conistorgis.

[6] Mummius was succeeded by Marcus Atilius, who fought the Lusitanians and conquered their largest city, Oxthracae.

The Lusitanians, following the good news of the ambassadors, gathered at a place appointed by Galba and were divided into three parts in a plain.

As peace terms were being arranged, Viriathus reminded his fellow Lusitanians of the treachery of the Romans, which he had witnessed firsthand with Galba.

The Lusitanians chose Viriathus as their leader and concocted an escape plan: they would organize as if going into battle, but then flee in every direction and later reassemble in a city named Tribola.

[6] In 146 BC, Viriathus raided the Roman vassal Iberians in Carpetania until Gaius Plautius Hypsaeus arrived with 10,000 men on foot and 1,300 on horse.

With the end of the wars against Carthago and Greece, Maximus managed to assemble a great force: 15,000 men on foot and 2,000 on horse.

[6] In 143 BC, Viriathus managed to persuade several other Celtic tribes (Arevaci, Titii, and Belli) to resist the Romans, leading to the Numantine War.

Quintus wintered at Córdoba in the middle of autumn and sent Caius Marcius, a Hispanic from Italica, to fight Viriathus.

[6] In 142 BC, Fabius Maximus Servilianus succeeded Quintus, bringing two new legions and more allies, up to a total of 18,000 men on foot and 1,600 on horse.

The Romans were saved by night time and managed to defend their camp initially, but constant attacks by Viriathus drove them back to Itucca.

Curius was killed in battle and Maximus succeeded in capturing the Lusitanian cities of Escadia, Gemella, and Obolcola.

Viriathus slept little and in his armor but allowed his friends to enter his tent at any time so he could be summoned to battle as soon as possible.

The Lusitanians rebelled against the Romans again in 80 to 72 BC, in the Sertorian War, when they recruited the outlaw ex-general Quintus Sertorius to lead a rebellion against Rome.