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Breve historia de los Celtas: La apasionante historia de la mítica civilización Yásus Lideresáviriato, Vencigetorix Y Boudica

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Descubra todos los detalles de los celtas, uno de los pueblos más desconocidos y misteriosos de la Antigüedad. Pocos pueblos de la Antigüedad han tenido una conexión tan fuerte con la época actual como los celtas. A través de su literatura, su música y su rica mitología es posible adentrarse en la historia de una de las civilizaciones más interesantes de todos los tiempos. Los celtas no fueron un pueblo compacto, sino que fueron un conjunto de pueblos que presentaban una asombrosa variedad. Se extendieron por toda Europa haciendo del mestizaje su bandera.
Con maestría y rigor, Manuel Velasco le dará a conocer las costumbres, las creencias religiosas y los grandes personajes celtas. La larga y desconocida historia de una etapa marcada por guerras y conquistas protagonizadas por personajes inolvidables que han entrado a formar parte del imaginario Viriato, Vercingetórix, Boudicca…
Breve historia de los celtas le mostrará una civilización mítica y misteriosa que dejó profundas huellas en la identidad europea y que ha fascinado y fascina desde tiempos inmemoriales a toda la humanidad.

256 pages, Paperback

First published October 30, 2005

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Manuel Velasco Laguna

43 books6 followers

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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
Profile Image for Jessica.
423 reviews61 followers
December 12, 2017
La cultura celta es algo que lleva años llamándome la atención y al conocer la existencia de este libro pensé que era una oportunidad excelente para adentrarme a conocer más referente al tema que nos ocupa y debo decir que he quedado muy satisfecha: es una gran opción para todo aquel interesado en conocer la historia de los celta de manera amena y concisa.

Sin embargo, si ya tienes una buena base referente a los Celtas, posiblemente este no sea tu libro pero para alguien que apenas sabe como servidora antes de disfrutar su contenido, esta es tu lectura ideal.
1,937 reviews8 followers
March 7, 2021
De las civilizaciones donde sus miembros estaban mas cerca de la naturaleza creo que podemos aprender mucho. Nuestra sociedad es cada vez más de acero y cemento y menos de árboles y animales.

Los celtas con una de las civilizaciones de las qué hay mucho que aprender, y mucho mas acerca de los druidas, los chamanes entre ellos.

Un buen libro para iniciar a conocerlos es “Breve historia de los celtas” de Manuel Velasco; que narra lo poco que queda de su cultura, principalmente en España, Francia e Irlanda.

Interesante que Irlanda fue en el lugar donde sobrevivió la mayoría de su cultura, debido a que no fueron conquistados por el imperio romano. Sin embargo, cuando empezaron a evangelizarse fueron los que mantuvieron muchos manuscritos, no solo de sus ideas sino de la iglesia de aquel tiempo que en muchos lugares sufrió destrucción de bibliotecas y monasterios.

Mucho que aprender, aún.

¿Alguien conoce algún buen libro sobre los druidas?
Profile Image for Matt.
237 reviews
June 18, 2013
Good book for an overview of Celtic times. Here are my reading notes. As published here.

The first proto-celt settlements have been found in Hallstat in Austria. They date from the 8th–5th century BCE. This is a time where the Bronze Age is overlapping with the Iron Age.

After three centuries, this Hallstat society is survived by what we call the La Tene society. The heart of this society moved west to modern-day Switzerland, near lake Neuchatel. This society represents the golden age of the Celts. Their decline would slowly begin as the sway of Rome would grow.

From there, two migrations—probably explained by the lack of resources and a growing population—begin their journeys southward. One towards Rome and another towards Delphi.

The Etruscans suffered from the incoming hordes and asked the Romans for help. But the Romans could not withstand the Celts and Rome was sacked in 390. Later, a famine occurred in the city and the Romans pushed back the Celts.

In Delphi, the Celts also managed to reach the oracle (in 278), but they were then pushed back. A snowstorm made things worse and convinced them to return back North.

After that, the Celts dispersed. Some of them went as far as modern-day Turkey and founded Ankara.

# Three Heroes
Here are three men who fought as enemies of Rome in order to keep their territory but eventually lost. They all died a tragic death.

## Iberia and Viriatus
Viriatus fought in the Iberian Peninsula, in the region that the Romans called Lusitania.

The Carthaginians were defeated in the First Punic War and began exploiting the mines of the Iberian Peninsula in order to pay back their war debt. At some point, Rome asked for Hannibal's head (247 to 183 BC) but Carthage prefered to go to war again. And so began the Second Punic War. Hannibal crossed the Pyrenees and the Alps with thousands of men but was ultimately stalemated in Italy before reaching Rome.

As Hannibal was making his way to Italy, the Romans disembarked on the peninsula in order to establish posts there and to cut Hannibal's supply lines. This is the beginning of the Roman presence in the peninsula. The year is 218 BCE. A few years later, the Romans had pushed back the Carthaginians and established themselves more permanently on the peninsula. Every year, they fought and usually won against the native Celts and the peninsula became a great resource for the Romans.

At this point, Iberia was populated by various Celtic tribes who often rebelled against the Roman presence. The city of Numantia (north of modern-day Soria, Castile y Leon) and Viriatus would become a symbol of the rebellion. Numantia finally fell in 133 BCE and the Romans were the masters of Celtic Iberia.

One of the weaknesses of the Celts was the lack of union. They would band together in order to fight, and once the fight was over, they would separate again without making plans for the future.

From there, Roman stuff began to take hold in Iberia: the Latin language, elections, democracy, bridges, roads, aqueducts, baths...

## Gaul and Vercingetorix
The Celts had sacked Rome in 399 BCE and had settled in the Po Valley, funding cities like modern-day Milan. But in the second century BCE, their luck changed and the Romans invaded their lands and romanized the land before the Alps.

Later, from 58 BCE to 50 BCE, Julius Cesar led the invasion of Gaul and conquered the whole Gaul for the Roman Republic. This invasion culminated in the battle of Alesia in 52 BCE (referenced many times in the Asterix cartoons).

It is around 52 BCE that Vercingetorix rose to prominence, leading the rebellion against the Romans. He was taken prisoner at Alesia and brought to Rome. Vercingetorix died executed by the Romans in 46 BCE on orders from Julius Cesar.

Gaul was finally pacified.

## Britain and Boudica
The Romans under Caligula tried to invade Britain but failed. Soon after, under Claudius, they began their invasion. The year is 43 CE.

The Roman conquests were difficult in the hills of Britain and they soon faced the rebellions of Welsh tribes and the likes of Caratacus.

The Romans infuriated the Celts by disrespecting the druids and their victories in battle were often followed by contemptuous violence and rape.

Boudica was the widow of Prasatagus, the ruler of the Iceni tribe. She suffered torture in the hands of the Romans and decided to fight them tooth and nail. She led the uprising against the Romans but eventually lost. She committed suicide before being taken by the enemy.

After the Roman conquest, the island of Britain slowly lost its Celtic character and was romanized. Celtic holdouts remained in Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man, and Cornwall.

The Romans had now conquered the whole of Western Europe.
Profile Image for Ana Santos.
Author 2 books23 followers
December 13, 2020
Tudo o que é relativo aos celtas me apaixona e por isso a decisão deste livro.
De modo interessante começa com Viriato, a quem, nós portugueses, temos em elevadíssima conta e entendemos como um herói nacional.
Mas o mesmo sucede com os espanhóis.
Porque de facto ele foi um celta, portanto, muito antes da existência de Portugal.
O livro é sobre a península ibérica mas não só.
Os celtas não tinham escrita - de facto consideravam anátema escrever algo; as suas tradições eram orais.
Por isto há tão pouco.
E por isto, fico sempre com uma sensação de... não chegou lá.
Ainda assim o livro descreve no possível, com base histórica, o quotidiano ao longo de 1 ano.
Mas sabe sempre a pouco.
Mesmo um livro que quer ser histórico tem necessidade de recorrer a alguma imaginação pelo vazio de fontes.
Profile Image for Rodrigo.
529 reviews40 followers
January 4, 2019
Resultó ser un buen acercamiento a la cultura celta, con información muy interesante e incluso sorprendente, al descubrirnos hasta qué punto muchas culturas del mundo hemos integrado elementos celtas en muchos aspectos de nuestras vidas. Evidentemente Velasco sabe de lo que habla, y nos presenta un trabajo que no busca ser profundo y mucho menos exhaustivo. Si bien cubre prácticamente todo, lo hace de manera breve, tal como indica el título de la colección. Me hubiera gustado algo más completo y que profundizara más, pero esta colección no se trata de eso. Como primer paso, no está mal.
Profile Image for María.
102 reviews23 followers
October 15, 2015
Del mismo modo que leí y comenté la "Breve historia de los Vikingos", coincido en mi opinión, se trata de un libro introductorio a la cultura, con gran cantidad de información a modo de atlas o enciclopedia reducida al alcance de todos y con un buen ritmo; resulta interesante, y aborda casi todos los aspectos de esta cultura que tanto está dando que hablar ahora en nuestra era.

Además, tengo entendido que el autor colabora en "La rosa de los vientos", un programa radiofónico dedicado a la cultura y la historia, y que además tiene muchos otros títulos relacionados con este y otros pueblos nórdicos. Recomendable.
Profile Image for Carla Fancelli.
55 reviews
November 6, 2015
3.5. *En construcción*
Hace bastante tiempo quería volver algo de no ficción, acá está el resultado
Este libro abarca la historia, las costumbres y cultura del pueblo celta, contando historias de ciertos héroes que se destacan por resistirse a ser romanizados.
Algo curioso de este libro es que cada que - Por lo menos yo -. han pasado a las civilizaciones poco es lo que cuentan como una historia continua, siempre son sus carácterísticas y fin. Acá vamos pasando por años y bastantes batallas donde en cierto tiempo nos presentan a un héroe.
Profile Image for Laura.
13 reviews
November 10, 2016
El libro cuenta la historia no tan breve de los veltas. Me gustó su dinamismo, está bien documentada y sigue un orden histórico apropiado. Pero le resta importancia a todos aquellos detalles "taquilleros" de los celtas, por lo que su lectura no logra emocionar demasiado.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews