Oretani

The Oretani or Oretanii (Greek: Orissioi)[1] were a pre-Roman ancient Iberian people (in the geographical sense) of the Iberian Peninsula (the Roman Hispania), that lived in northeastern Andalusia, in the upper Baetis (Guadalquivir) river valley, eastern Marianus Mons (Sierra Morena), and the southern area of present-day La Mancha.

The Roman geographer Pliny the Elder lists 14 cities, including Tuia/Tugia (perhaps Toya), Salaria (perhaps Úbeda/Baeza), Biatia, Castulo/Castulum (presumed capital, later becoming a Visigothic bishopric; medieval name Cazlona, in Jaén),[2] Luparia, Cervaria and Salica,[3] whilst Diodorus Siculus lists 12 towns.

The main archaeological sites in the Oretanian area are Linares, La Carolina, Montiel, Valdepeñas, Almagro, Oreto and Zuqueca, and Cerro de las Cabezas.

[10] Orison's defeat in 227 BC[11] and the subsequent alliance with Carthage, however, caused major friction with their Germani allies who continued to resist Punic expansion until being subdued by Hannibal in 221 BC; the latter were certainly amongst the Oretani troops sent to Africa at the outbreak of the Second Punic War.

Like the Germani, the Oretani appear to have adopted a less hostile stance towards Rome and in 156 BC both peoples were included into Hispania Citerior Province, though retaining their Iberian cultural identity for several more centuries.