The Astures entered the historical record in the late 3rd century BC, being listed amongst the Iberian Peninsula mercenaries of
Hasdrubal Barca's army at the
battle of Metaurus River in 207 BC.
Silius Italicus also mentions an Astur mercenary contingent in
Hannibal's army, led by a chieftain named Cydnus. After the
2nd Punic War, their history is less clear. Rarely mentioned in the sources regarding the
Lusitanian,
Celtiberian or
Sertorian Wars, the Astures re-emerged only at the later 1st Century BC, when they provided auxiliary troops to the Pompeian army led by the generals'
Lucius Afranius and
Marcus Petreius that faced
Julius Caesar at the
battle of Ilerda (
Lérida) in 49 BC, during the
2nd Roman Civil War. Led by
Gausón, a former mercenary commander, the Astures joined forces with the
Cantabri to resist Emperor
Augustus's conquest of the whole of the Iberian northwest, even backing an unsuccessful
Vaccaei revolt in 29 BC. The campaign against the Astures and Cantabri tribes proved so difficult that it required the presence of the emperor himself to bolster the seven legions and one naval squadron involved. The reduction of the remaining Asture holdouts was entrusted to
Publius Carisius, the
legate of
Lusitania, who, after managing to trap Gauson and the remnants of his troops at the
hillfort of Lancia, subsequently forced them to surrender when he threatened to set fire to the town. The Astures were subdued by the Romans but were never fully conquered, and their tribal way of life changed very little. This was followed by the establishment of military garrisons at
Castrum Legio VII Gemina (
León) and
Petavonium (
Rosinos de Vidriales –
Zamora), along with colonies at
Asturica Augusta (
Astorga) and
Lucus Asturum (
Lugo de Llanera –
Asturias). In spite of the harsh pacification policies implemented by Augustus, the Asturian country remained an unstable region subjected to sporadic revolts – often carried out in collusion with the Cantabri – and persistent guerrilla activity that kept the Roman occupation forces busy until the mid-1st century AD. New risings occurred in 24–22 BC (the 2nd Astur-Cantabrian War), in 20–18 BC (3rd Astur-Cantabrian 'War') – sparked off by runaway Cantabrian slaves returning from
Gaul – both of which were brutally quashed by General
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and again in 16–13 BC when Augustus crushed the last joint Astur-Cantabrian rebellion.
Romanization Incorporated into the
Roman province of
Hispania Tarraconensis, the assimilation of the Asturian region into the Roman world was a slow and hazardous process, with its partially romanized people retaining the
Celtic language, religion and much of their ancient culture throughout the Roman Imperial period. This included their martial traditions, which enabled them to provide the Roman Army with several auxiliary cavalry and infantry units (
Ala I Asturum,
Ala II Asturum,
Cohors I Asturum,
Cohors II Asturum,
Cohors V Asturum,
Cohors VI Asturum,
Cohors I Asturum et Callaecorum) that participated in Emperor
Claudius's
invasion of Britain in AD 43–60, and which continued to serve into the late Empire. However, epigraphic evidence in the form of an inscribed votive
stele dedicated by a
Primipilus Centurion of
Legio VI Victrix decorated for bravery in action confirms that the Astures staged a revolt in AD 54, prompting another vicious guerrilla war – unrecorded by surviving ancient sources – that lasted for fourteen years but the situation was finally calm around AD 68.
The early Middle Ages During the
Germanic invasions, the Astures resisted
Suevi and
Visigoth raids throughout the 5th century AD, only to be ultimately defeated and absorbed into the
Visigothic Kingdom by the Visigothic King
Sisebut in the early 6th century AD. However, the Astures continued to rebel, with King
Wamba sending an expedition to the Asturian lands only twenty years before the Muslim invasion of the peninsula and the fall of the Visigothic kingdom. The Astures chose
Pelagius of Asturias as their leader and in due course formed the Kingdom of Asturias. ==Legacy==