A Misty History of Portugal: The Suevian Monarchy 409 to 585 CE

Nearly seven hundred years of Roman rule had resulted in a geography of purpose-built towns linked by well-maintained roads and bridges, housing with basic sanitation, baths and heating and an economy based on sustained agriculture and mining. An efficient system of administration served a population which was mainly of Celtic origin but included many immigrants from Europe and Asia Minor such as former legionnaires who had been given smallholdings as a reward for service.

However, the civilisation of Rome was in decline. Successive weak emperors had failed to suppress rebellion in the provinces by “barbarians” and even in their own legions. This resulted in the rise of various opponent emperors and the division of the Empire to the East and the West.

On the first day of year 407CE several fierce Germanic tribes left their homelands in Central Europe and wreaked havoc in Gaul before crossing the Pyrenees and laying waste to the plains of the northern meseta. For this iniquity, they negotiated with Rome the reward of being given the rank of federati (allies) and awarded tracts of land in western Iberia..

The Silingian Vandals occupied Baeticia in the South and their cousins, the Asdingian Vandals, went to the Northern province of Galicea. The central regions of Lusitania were largely given to the Suevians while the Alans, a tribal group of Iranian origin with lesser numbers, seem to have been used as auxiliaries to both.

The invaders quickly conquered towns such as Lisbon, Coimbra and Merida where they established regal courts. They also selected some of the best residences in the countryside, e.g. the ancient Castro hill-top fortifications, from whence they exacted tribute from the indigenous population. However, their numbers did not permit the complete subjugation of many regions which continued to be regarded by their citizens as being part of the Empire.

The peaceful division of territory did not last long. Disputes between tribes brough many skirmishes and culminated in a siege of Orense where Hermeric, king of the Suevi, was blockaded by Gundered. king of the Asdingians. Further south the Alans were attacked both by the Suevi and by resistance groups formed by the indigenous citizens.

Desperately, the Emperor Honorius decided to employ the Visigoths, another fierce tribe of Barbarians who had been made federati and given land in Gaul, to quell the troublesome tribes of Iberia. This they accomplished with a series of bloody battles in which the Alans and the Silingians suffering decimation. In year 429 the Alans joined with the Vandals in flight to northern Afrika where they established an independent kingdom.

The Suevi, for reasons which are not clear, were left virtually untouched by the Visigoths who now returned to Gaul. Thus, the Suevic kingdom was extended to cover most of the western coast for a distance of at least 100 km. inland and remained in possession of this territory until year 585 – a total of 176 years.

At this point, it may be helpful to consider the characteristics of the Suevi as recorded by Julius Caesar in book four of his epic “The Gallic and Civil Wars”. Here he describes them as “by far the largest and most warlike of the German nations whose lives are spartan. The ownership of private property is not permitted; there is a yearly rotation whereby one half of the men devote themselves to military activities while the other half engages in agriculture. Even in the coldest weather, they bathe in rivers and wear only sparse clothing made mostly from animal skins. They are expert horsemen who scorn the use of a saddle and spend much time hunting to provide meat which, with milk, forms the basis of diet. The drinking of wine or beer is considered a weakness and they buy few goods from the merchants who dare to pass their guarded boundaries”.

The invaded Romano-Celtic people had fully integrated with the Roman way of life. They spoke vulgar Latin as a first language and, most importantly, had converted during the reign of Emperor Constantine to Arian Christianity as a state religion while still maintaining contact with the pagan gods which, paradoxically, were worshipped by their conquerors. They enjoyed the creature comforts of Roman civilization. So, it is thus understandable that the Suevi should have been thought of as an elite warrior class which kept apart from the subjected civil populace,

This social distinction was gradually moderated and, after the conversion of the Suevi to Christianity, some integration took place by marriage and by sharing enterprises.

The asceticism of the Suevi prevented memorials similar to those left by Romans and Greeks. Buildings were few and almost always erected on the foundations of earlier structures while infrastructure such as roads and drainage systems were barely maintained. Scribes were underemployed; books and poems left unwritten and little artwork produced. Some trientes (minted gold coins) and common artefacts are held at the Museum Dom Diogo de Sousa in Braga where ruins can be seen beneath the current parish church. These are reputed to have been a monastery constructed by King Chararic for Saint Martin of Dumio who converted the Suevi from Arianism to Catholicism after the Council of Braga was held in year 561.

Historians tend to regard the Suevian monarchy as one of inertia. Only Emanuel de Faria y Sousa, writing in 1698, succeeds in giving a chronological account. For the early years, he relies on the testimony of Bishop Hydatius who died in year 468 but thereafter he recounts legends which undoubtedly had a factual basis. Famously, he relates the story of Princess Cindasunda who was reputed to have been both wise and very beautiful. In year 417 she married Attaces, the king of the Alans after her father, the Suevian King Hermerico was defeated in a skirmish. This led to a unification of territories including Alan Kerken which is now called Alenquer.

This narrative was used by Gil Vicente in 1527 when writing a comedy concerning the city of Coimbra, the Coat of Arms for which depict Cindasunda flanked by a red lion (the emblem of the Alans) and a green dragon (that of the Suevi).

The next chapter in this series will cover the monarchy of the Visigoths which replaced that of the Suevians until year 711 when the Moors mounted their incursion of Iberia.