country. The original
inhabitants of the peninsula--the Iberians--antedate authentic
historical records, but some centuries before the Christian era it is
certain that there was a Celtic invasion from the North which resulted
in a mingling of these two races and the appearance of the Celtiberians.
The life of these early inhabitants was rude and filled with privations,
but they were brave and hardy, having no fear of pain or danger, and
possessed by the love of liberty. In this primitive society the
occupations of the men were almost exclusively those connected with the
pursuit of war, and the wives and mothers were given a large measure of
domestic responsibility and were treated with great respect. To them was
intrusted not only the education of the younger children, but the care
of the land as well, and there is nothing to show that they failed in
either of these duties. They were more than good mothers and good
husbandmen, however, for more than once, in case of need, these early
Spanish women donned armor and fought side by side with their husbands
and brothers, sword or lance in hand, nothing daunted by the fierceness
of the struggle and always giving a good account of themselves in the
thick of the battle.

Hannibal's wife was a woman of Spain, it is true, but it is to her less
eminent sisters that we must turn in order to discover the most
conspicuous cases of feminine bravery and heroism, which are accompanied
in almost every instance by a similar record for the men, as the lot of
men and women was cast along the same lines in those days, and the
national traits are characteristic of either sex. A most fervid
patriotism was inbred in these people, and throughout all the long years
of Roman conquest and depredation these native Celtiberians, men and
women, proved time and time again that they knew the full significance
of the Latin phrase which came from the lips of their conquerors--_Dulce
et decorum est pro patria mori_ [It is sweet and glorious to die for
one's country]. When Hannibal essayed to capture the stronghold of
Saguntum, a fortified city on the eastern coast of Spain, and probably
of Phoenician origin, he found himself confronted by no easy task. On
account of his early residence in Spain and his familiarity with the
people and the country, he had found its conquest an affair of no great
difficulty for the most part, but here at Saguntum all the conditions
were changed. The resistance was most stubb