Origins
Some modern authors consider them to be indigenous and initially dominated by the Celts, before gaining full independence from them. Alternatively, archeologist Scarlat Lambrino proposed that they were originally a tribal group of Celtic origin related to the Lusones of Saefs origin. Diodorus Siculus considered the Lusitanians a Celtic people: "Those who are called Lusitanians are the bravest of all Cimbri". Strabo differentiated the Lusitanians from the "Iberian" tribes. The classical sources also mention Viriathus as the leader of the Celtiberians. The Lusitanians were also called Belitanians, according to Artemidorus.
Ethnological speculations abound on the origin Lusitanians and whether they had some substantial connection with the Lusones or that the similarity in their tribal names was merely accidental.
The first area settled by the Lusitanians was probably the Douro valley and the region of Beira Alta; then they moved south, and expanded on both sides of the Tagus river, before being conquered by the Romans.
The original Roman province of Lusitania briefly included the territories of Asturia and Gallaecia, but these were soon ceded to the jurisdiction of the Provincia Tarraconensis in the north, while the south remained the Provincia Lusitania et Vettones. After this, Lusitania's northern border was along the Douro river, while its eastern border passed through Salmantica and Caesarobriga to the Anas (Guadiana) river.
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