Pujades 35

Pujades Chronicle of Catalonia 1609

### Chapter 35

*Treating on king Palatuus, on the wars of Cacus, and coming of Hercules the Theban.*

1. Palátuus reigned in Spain after Romus according to Manethon, Casaneo and Garibay. Annius puts Romus and Palátuus together. And so our canon Tarafa says that while King Romus was still living, his son Palátuus was placed in the kingdom, without saying if it was rebellion, or if with the consent of the King his father, and he says that it was in the year 1321 before Christ, in whose date agrees Medina, although he does not put this succession until after Romus' death. And Florian de Ocampo, Viladamor, Juan Sedeño and Lucio Marinéo agree that Palátuus succeeded after the death of his father Romus. However, they have this succession in 1306 BC, which was 958 of the population of Spain, 1001 after the Flood, according to Beuter, Annius, Goes and Garcia. Later the writers agree that because of this King, the neighboring towns of the city of Roma that his father had founded, were named Palátuos, and Palancia the water of the river that passes next to Sagunto, today Morviedro.

[Anderson dates the accession of Palatuus to 1311 BC, Stevens to 1309 BC. The *Manethonian Supplement* places him immediately after the gaps, in the same year as Ilus II of Troy and Galathes II of Celtica, which would be 1318 BC. My calculations of reign lengths, however, would tentatively place his accession in 1305 BC. The erroneous assumption that Romus (1590 BC) was his father, is the result of the ancient gaps in the record between them, that had appeared by the 300s BC.]

2. At the foot of Canigó, on the banks of the Tec river, there is a town named Palanda, in which vestiges of some towers of lime and sand can still be seen. And so due to the etymology that the Palátuos peoples took, Francisco Compte believes that this was also the foundation of Palátuus.

3. This King had ruled the kingdom with much peace for a long time, which according to Tarafa and Annius, following Eusebius, his government lasted for 18 years, and in the last of them, according to Florian and Garibay, a subject rose on him named Licinius Cacus, of whom (because he found many mines of iron, and manufactured many weapons) the poets pretended he was the son of Vulcan, whom they worshiped as the god of smithies, according to the vanities and superstitions of those times. Cacus' movements were in the mountains of Canigó, as Francisco Compte says. And since he was a powerful and cunning man, he knew how to attract to himself the wills of the natives of those mountains, with such ease, that after a few days they proclaimed him King and Lord; and then he had the audacity to go down with armed people against King Palátuus. This one came out to meet him, and they fought a cruel battle, in which Cacus was victorious; and for this reason they named the mountain, on whose slopes the fight was, Cacus, and today Moncayo. It is true that Fr Juan Pineda rejects this denomination, and Abrescio does not want to affirm it. Thus we doubt this was the occasion to name that mountain Cacus, and for the battle to take place there, but rather we believe it was rather in our mountain of Canigó, as Francisco Compte wants it, and with good reason. Because if Cacus, having found the mines of iron, pretended to be the son of Vulcan, as is said; nowhere in Spain (even in Vizcaya) could it be better to dominate, or become strong, as in Canigó, because nowhere are there more iron mines or more abundant than in that mountain, and in all its region: to which Cacus' name remained, according to what Francisco Compte writes.

4. As by reason of this victory Cacus was Lord of most of Spain, most historians have called him King of it. But how can we say that he was more tyrant than King; and because he did not possess the land with title or stillness, nor did Palátuus lose it entirely, that is why I do not make a separate chapter, but it is a continuation of his matters.

5. So the aforementioned authors say, following Eusebius and Maneton, that after Palátuus escaped from that battle, many of his vassals, taking Cacus' rebellion as bad, went to serve Palátuus, whereby he gained strength, and began again the war, which lasted for 36 years, without Palátuus ever leaving the name of King. But he finally marched with a mighty army against Cacus, defeated him and ruined him in such a way that, not considering himself safe in Spain, he went to Italy with a sister of his. And for this Tarafa, Beuter, Sedeño, and Pineda reprimand those who say that Hercules brought Cacus out of Spain.

[Eusebius says only that in the 44 year reign of Faunus son of Picus in Laurentium, later Latium, which must have been ca. 1247-1203 BC, "*Heracles arrived from Spain and set up an altar in the Forum Boarium, because he had killed Cacus the son of Vulcanus*". He makes no mention of Palatuus, nor does the *Manethonian Supplement* mention Cacus, as far as I know.]

6. The people who most defended the right of King Palátuus and helped him in the war, were those who were in those mountains, between the Urgelleses, Andorrans, and Canigó mountain, bordering the parishes that soon as we will say in chapter 36 were named from Cerdanya. Which for this occasion were named Palátuos, and later moving a little Pallatuos and Pallás; although Beuter wants them to be named after a famous temple, and because of the great devotion that those peoples had to the goddess Palas. No other historian has ever made mention of such a temple, nor is there a trace of Pálas, nor of another of her name, who has had dominion in any part of Catalonia.

After the defeat and escape of Cacus, Palátuus remained in peace and quiet in the kingdom for the rest of his life; that as Tarafa, Medina and Garibay write, lasted from six to seven years.

[Anderson: *PALATUUS succeeded and founded the Town Palenzza. But there arose a Petty King or Captain out of the Mountains and deposed him after he had reign'd 18 Years, viz. CACUS LICINIUS, having depos'd Palatuus, succeeded and was the Author of many Inventions and because he brought the Use of Iron and Arms into Spain, he was call'd the Son of Vulcan: some say he invented Gun Powder call'd Infernal Powder; but PALATUUS was at last restor'd to the Kingdom, and Cacus expell'd after he had reign'd 36 Years. Palatuus being restor'd, Cacus fled into Italy where they say that Hercules the Grecian slew him. Palatuus reign'd at this time 6 Years. Then the Tyrians having learn'd their way to Spain, came with their King, viz. ERITHREE or Erithrus...*

Stevens: *Palatuus Succeeded his Father Romus, as the 23d King, and liv'd some Years in Peace, till a famous Spaniard call'd Lucinius, by Surname Cacus, a Theif or Robber, rebell'd, and many of the People following him, they came to a Battle near Moncayo, in which Palatuus was routed, and forced to quit Spain, when he had Reign'd 18 Years. He was Expell'd in 1291. Licinius, or Cacus, the 24th King, and only one of his Race, Reign'd 36 Years, and is said to have first found out the Art of Casting among the Spaniards, and taught them to Forge offensive and defensive Arms, besides many other useful and advantagious Inventions. He had continual Jarrs with his People, some of them still favouring Palatuus, who at last returning into Spain with what Forces he could there gather, gave Battle and drove him out of the Country with great slaughter in the Year 1255. Palatuus having recover'd his Kingdom, reign'd Six Years, and dy'd in 1249. In his time Hercules, the Theban, is reported to have come into Spain, and carried thence great Treasures of Gold and Silver.*

Beawes, as we have seen, considers Palatuus one of the mythical kings, but places only Licinius between Bacchus and Gargoris, saying Bacchus left "*his son Lisias: but he soon dying without any issue, the natives elected his favourite Licinius for their chief, without the royal dignity, and he being afterward rejected for his tyranny, was succeeded by Gargoris...*" Because the 'Manethonian gap' clearly separates Bacchus from Palatuus, and the later Gargoris, this account of Licinius is either wrong, or about another Licinius different from the Cacus who is agreed by the other sources to have interrupted Palatuus' reign.

Most sources agree on the figures of 18, 36, and 6 years respectively for the first reign of Palatuus, that of Cacus, and Palatuus restoration. With Palatuus acceding in 1305 BC, this would put Cacus in 1287 BC and the restoration of Palatuus in 1251 BC, until 1245 BC.]

7. And in this time according to Mariana, or in the one that intervened between the death of Palátuus and succession of Eritreus, as it is gathered from Annius, Beuter, Tarafa, Goes and García; or, with Eritreus already reigning as Florian wishes, the companies of the Greek Argonauts came to Spain with their invincible captain Alceus, whom his own called Iraclis, and the other nations Hercules, for the admirable feats and memorable deeds of arms, with which they had admired to the world. And this is the famous Captain, to whom the poets attribute many victories and exploits of the great Hercules Libicus, as we have pointed out elsewhere: whence it is clear that it was not this Hercules who defeated the Geriones, nor the one who did the other things that poets, confusing times and names, fabulously attribute to him; as I already warned above in its own place.

[Alcaeus, the Greek 'Hercules', per Jerome, was born during this time (1248 BC), the notation of which, aside from confusion with the Libyan Hercules, perhaps gave rise to the legend that he journeyed to Spain at this time, which is dubious as he was an infant. If Cacus fled Spain to Italy in 1251 BC, it must have been there that Hercules killed him and erected his altar, decades later, consistent with Italian tradition, and Eusebius' statement that Alcaeus himself had been in Spain is likely from a misunderstanding.]

8. But leaving this behind, and the path that those companies made when they entered Spain, and which towns they founded in Andalusia, referring to those already mentioned; what matters for our purpose is: that having landed in Andalusia, those who did not stay to found towns, and were entering through Spain, passed by stealing and destroying everything that came before them; and oppressing, harassing and mistreating many, so that they would discover and show them the gold and silver mines, which were hidden in the bowels of the earth. Continuing in this way, they arrived in Catalonia in the parts of the Pyrenees, where some of those companies that were named Ceretans, according to what Micer Gerónimo Pau and Antonio de Nebrija want, arriving very tired from the many days they had journeyed, or from thirst of the gold that they understood to extinguish with the abundance of the mines with which those places are full, they stopped and rested; and then little by little they built houses, and founded a good town in his name. And this is the origin that these authors seem to want to give to the town of Ceret. But it is very fair to note that the men of those companies settled in Cerdanya, and not in Ceret de Roussillon. The similarity of the name can and has made many err, as we shall see later in the first chapter of the second book. And being true, as it is, that they are different towns, they also had different founders. Because we have already given Ceret its beginning in the time of Ceres, as it is written in chapter 29. It is true that others give another origin to the Ceretans, as I will note below in chapter 36, where I will try to give more notice of this. The aforementioned authors do not say when and at what time Alceus left these companies: but it is easy to deduce from the time when they arrived in Spain, which has already been said.

9. In addition to these things, Beuter and Medina write that Alceus, knowing the path that Dionisius Líbicus had made, to imitate him and see if he too would find gold and silver, went up inland to Jaca, where to his memory he ordered the games of *Festa*, which were named *Agones* for the agony and work that was spent in them, since they consisted of fight and bravery; and as they were done with ceremonies and sacrifices to the god Jupiter, that is why some altars called *Aræ agones* were placed there. And from here came the name of two rivers that pass nearby, and they are named Aragones, and from here it was also followed with the discourse of time, that the land included in the middle of the two rivers was named Aragon. The other authors already cited agree on this, and Marinéo elsewhere: although Lorenzo Valla does not approve of this opinion, because he says that he cannot believe that such small rivers could give a name to such a fabulous kingdom as that of Aragon. But whatever it may be, Hercules the Theban, Alceus passed through that land, and from there, declining towards the sea, he reached the shore of Sagunto, which was nearby, going down through the towns neighboring the river Ebro.

10. When Alceus arrived in Sagunto, he had news of the Balearic Islands, Majorca, Menorca and Ibiza, and of the adjacent ones; and he determined to go over to them. And finding the people very neglected, he used the same cruelties on them as in Spain, searching for the gold mines that he so desired. But not having taken advantage of his cruelties, he took the road to Italy. And what happened to him there can be seen at length in Florian, Viladamor and Mariana.

11. Now ending the life of Palátuus, they write that he died without children, having reigned twenty-four years according to Goes and Garcia.

[This figure of 24 years simply adds the 18 years of Palatuus' first reign and the 6 of his second.]

12. At that time of the death of Palátuus and the beginning of the Eritreus' reign, Jason's robbery of Medea took place, and taking her along the coast of Spain, gave name to the island of the Medas, as Francisco Compte writes in chapter fifteen.

[This is also dubious, as Jason and the Argonauts were before the gaps in Athenian history, which Jerome by ignoring made to appear at this time.]

### Chapter 36

*Treating on the reign of Eritreus, and coming of the Murgetes who founded Murcia.*

1. Palátuus having died, there succeeded in the kingdom and dominion of Spain, Eritreus, named by others Eritrus, according to the order observed by Lucio Marinéo and Casaneo. And this succession was in the year of the Flood 1071 according to Beuter, and of the population of Spain 918, and before the coming of Christ 1246, according to Florian, Garibay and Sedeño, referring to Annius. But in the printing of my Codex it says that it was in the year 1061 of the Deluge, 818 of the population of Spain, and 1272 BC, whose account Goes and Garcia also follow. Canon Tarafa following Eusebio says that he was in 1240 BC, and Viladamor says that in 1260 BC.

[Anderson dates the accession of Eritreus to 1251 BC, and Stevens to 1249 BC. The *Supplement* list no further kings after Palatuus and is no help, but if Palatuus began in 1305 and Eritreus 60 years later as all say, that would place Eritreus in 1245 BC.]

2. Florian de Ocampo doubts the occasion why this King was named in this way, if it was because of the nation, or because of having inhabited the island of Cádiz, populated by Eritreans coming from parts of the Red Sea, and later inhabited by those of Tyre, who were also Eritreans. But because he himself, and the others who know about cosmography doubt that the Eritrea island was that of Cádiz, let's leave this, and believe that Eritreus was named after the nation. Because if, as Florian says, the Tyreans were Eritreans, and as our Canon Francisco Tarafa wants, Eritreus was king of Tyre, it cannot be said where the name came from, but rather from being King of the Eritreans. Nor do we know any other proper name, but he is as one who says: the King of Tyre, or of the Tyrians, or Eritreans. So that Palátuus having died, the Spaniards took the one of the Eritreans of Tyre as King.

3. The way the succession came to him is written by Tarafa, saying that, moved by a response from an Oracle, he sailed from the Red Sea to the Western Sea, and arriving at a temple of Hercules in Cádiz, he was raised by the King of Spain. This is what I think is what results from St Augustine, from Luis Vives, and from Bergomense: that Eritreus was signified and taken by Minerva, and placed in Athens, a city of Greece, in the temple of Minerva and Vulcan, and that he carried from Ethiopia to Athens the sacrifices that were offered to Phoebus, Minerva, and Ceres, and other fabulous things; whence he must have come to Spain with the companies of the Greeks who in chapters 34 and 35 are said to have come. And being in it, as a relative of the dead King Palátuus, as Florian, Viladamor and Medina say, because that one died without children, and the Spaniards were left without a head or Lord, they elected him King of Spain. And this resolution is not surprising; because if as we have seen in chapters 33, 34 and 35 Palátuus was the son of Romus, and grandson of Testa the African, being Eritrean from Tyre, and from the confines of Africa, and being in Ethiopia, it is very regular that he would be a relative of Palátuus.

4. Canon Tarafa says that during the life of this King the Ceretan peoples, next to the Pyrenees mountains, took that name; and alleges for confirmation of this an authority of Pliny. But as I have said above of them, what seems to warn to agree these two opinions, is that those Ceretan peoples received their name in the time that I have said above; and as soon after the reign of this Eritreus was followed, their fame was spread in his time, and thus this honor was attributed to him: or also that as those peoples were from the companies of Alceo, and some put their coming in the life of this King, as I said in the previous chapter: from here it could come that those who had that opinion, have and also believe what is consequential. Or else, let's say what is derived from Luis Vives in the additions that he made to St Augustine, and that is how Eritreus brought the sacrifices and ceremonies of the goddess Ceres from Ethiopia to Greece; thus perhaps he would institute them in Spain as well, beginning that devotion in his time: and from now on, Tarafa came to think that in the same name the Ceretan peoples received their name, which were already named that way in the circumference of that season, by Alceus' companies stayed there. And the town of Ceret in Roussillon cannot be understood, so it is already mentioned in chapter 29, and 35 of this book.

5. In the time of this King, Beuter says that companies of men called Murgetes came from Italy; which populated the city of Murcia, in the kingdom of the same name.

6. Eritreus lived in his reign 67 years according to Garibay, 78 according to Beuter and Florian, 69 according to Tarafa, or 80 according to Viladamor, which is quite a variety; and he will cause it in the next two chapters, as has already been seen in others.

[Stevens: *Erithreus, the 25th King, not Son, but a near Kinsman to Palatuus, Succeed him, and Reign'd, without doing any thing remarkable, 67 Years, dying in 1182. About the latter end of his Reign Troy is thought to have perish'd.*

Anderson: *...Then the Tyrians having learn'd their way to Spain, came with their King, viz. Erithree or Erithrus who being warn'd by the Oracle, sail'd to the West as far as the Straits and built the Temple of Gades, and reign'd the Space of 66 Years.*

He seems to have reigned from 1251 to 1176 BC, about 75 years. The ending date, and start of his successor Gargoris, is calculated from the date the Lydians are indicated by the *Supplement*, Jerome and Eusebius to have begun the "Thalassocracy" and as Anderson says, "became Masters of the Spanish Seas and rul'd in Spain," which must have coterminous with Gargoris, in a different part of Spain.]

### Chapter 37

*Treating on the reign of Gorgoris Melicola, and on the birth of Abidis.*

1. King **Gorgoris** succeeded king Eritreus, as Lucio Marinéo says. Who began to reign according to Tarafa in 1192 before the coming of Christ, and 1151 after the Flood as Beuter writes, or according to Garibay and Florian, referring to Annius, 1179 BC, 1127 after the Deluge, and 907 of the population of Spain. But I find in my impression Annius has written that it was the year 1131 after the Flood, 981 of the population of Spain, and 1188 BC: and thus corresponds to the account of Damian Goes, Felipe Garcia and Juan Sedeño.

The Greek historians and many others who follow them, such as Miguel Ritio, Antonio Nebrisense, Pineda and Justino, say of this king Gorgoris, that he was of Greek nation, descended from the Curetes, the main lineage of those who came with Dionysius. But the Latins, and among the Castilians, Master Florian, and of the Catalans, our Viladamor, affirm that he was Spanish, and of the Coresos lineage. Beuter and Medina say that he was the son of Eritreus.

2. By some writers this king is named Melícola, and with this name alone Casaneo writes him. The occasion of naming him like that was, because first of all he taught in Spain how to raise bees in hives, and to take advantage of them by extracting honey and wax. With whose invention and other things that Gorgoris taught his vassals, it was of much use and benefit to his peoples; and consequently he was very much loved and adored by them, because until his time Spain had had no King of such good renown as he, if he had not tainted it with a cruelty, which he used in the aftermath of womanly incontinence. Gorgoris had a daughter who was very beloved, very bizarre and graceful. A Gentleman of the House and Court of her father fell in love with her; the Infanta corresponded with him, and being suspicious, as her correspondence lasted, that any witness would produce it to publish it, to guard against it he adopted a very bad means, and it was that he lovingly requested her father, and he condescended; and with effect it resulted from one or the other what she was suspicious of. This is how Justino, Florian, Beuter, Pineda, Sedeño and Viladamor write it. But Gerónimo Arbolanxe, Ritio, Marinéo, Antonio Nebrisense, Mariana and the Bishop of Gerona write that that unfortunate young woman, like another unhappy and dishonest Mirra, only had that deal with the King her father: and that in due time she gave birth to a beautiful and graceful child. Gorgoris let himself be carried away by the blush caused by the consideration of the incest he had done, and he wanted to hide it secretly; for which purpose he had the Infant taken, and carried by a servant of his trust to a rough, rugged, and uninhabited mountain, with the order that he be left there to feed the wild beasts. The servant did so, and then after a few days, wishing to know what had happened to the child, he sent the same servant to the place where he had left him, who found him good, healthy and happy, surrounded by beasts that gave him gifts, and one of them gave him to suckle. The servant marveled at a thing so foreign to the nature of beasts, he returned to the palace, and told the King what he had seen; but the King far from being moved, was enraged, and commanded the servant to go, take the child, and cast him into a pack of bulldogs. He did so; but the bulldogs, far from offending the child, gave him and kept him. What was known by the King, he ordered him to be thrown into the high seas, and it was also done like this; but the waves brought him to the ground, and a doe gave him suck; what he continued, showing more humanity than not the King and his servant. Growing up among deer and other wild animals, the child grew; and being eight years old, he ran through the mountains with such speed that he outstripped the doe that had reared him. He was chased by hunters, who tried to catch him alive; but they would not have succeeded, had they not made use of ties, in which the human deer was imprisoned; and they presented him to King Gorgoris his grandfather. The latter hardly saw him when, noticing his physiognomy and some signs, he met him, published him as a grandson, and remaining in the palace he was instructed. He called him Abidis, which in our vulgar corresponds to Abydos: and this happened to him later in the kingdom, as I will see in the next chapter. Those who consider it incredible that a doe raised Abidis, read Florian and Viladamor, and they will find many examples that I am not referring to, convinced that those who have read a lot will not doubt.

3. Little or almost nothing else is written that this King did for his person. But many things that happened in his time are told, and especially the coming to Spain of various people who came out of the destruction of Troy. But since it is a matter outside my intention, I omit to write them, referring to Medina, Tarafa, Mariana and Florian; noting only that Tarafa lays the foundations of Sagunto and Concentayna at that time, saying that they belong to King Gorgoris. But already higher in different places we have written other opinions.

4. After these things King Gorgoris Melícola died, having reigned 67 years according to Annius, or 70 according to Eusebius, Tarafa and Medina, or 74 according to Florian, Goes, Pineda, Garibay, Garcia and Viladamor, or 77 according to Beuter.

[Anderson dates him 1185-1110 BC, saying: "*GARGARIS, surnamed Mellicola, because he invented the Gathering of Honey. He reign'd 75 Years. In his time Gallicia got its Name from Gallathe the Son of Hercules the Greek. And after Troy was taken, divers Greeks came into Spain, as Teucer the Son of Telamon came into Gallicia and founded Salmanica. Diomedes built Tudae on the Banks of the Minium. Astor, Memnon's Charioteer, built Asturia. Mnestheus arriv'd near Gades where Strabo places his Haven. Ulysses built Lisbon, and dedicated a Temple there to Pallas. This GARGARIS is said to be last of the Old Kings of Spain; and then the Country was partition'd into Provinces, until they were subdued first by the Cartbaginians, and then by the Romans. But Tarapha says that HEBIDES the Grandson of Gargaris reign'd after him 64 Years; and that then divers other Nations possess'd Spain after one Another before the Conquest of the Carthaginians.*"

Stevens gives him 77 years, 1182-1105 BC. Beawes as we have seen rejects Testa, Romus, Palatuus, and Erithreus as fanciful, but accords Gargoris 77 years. The *Supplement* does not mention Gargoris, or indeed any kings of Spain after Palatuus, but indicates that the Lydians obtained control of the sea 7 years after the fall of Troy, or 1176 BC; Jerome has it at 1175 BC. The Lydians are the first of several nations said to have formed a 'Thalassocracy', and by Anderson and other sources to have ruled Spain, or at least part of it. The sources from this point until the Carthaginians are not all in agreement, but it seems that after Erithreus, Gargoris must have ruled one part of Hispania ca. 1176-1100 BC, while the Lydians controlled another part that went with the title of Thalassaocracy, probably around the Pillars of Hercules at first, c.1176-1083 BC.]

### Chapter 38

*Referring to the reign of Abidis, with whom the kings of Spain ended.*

1. **Abidis** succeeded in the lordship and kingdom of Spain, after the death of King Gorgoris his grandfather, as it seems from Annius, Juan Sedeño, Miguel Ritio, and others that in this discourse we will allege; and his succession was in the year 1105 before Christ according to Garibay and Florian, who adds that it was the year 159 of the population of Spain. Our canon Tarafa writes that it was the year 1122 BC, and Medina agrees with it; and according to Beuter in 1228 after the Deluge, or 1292 according to the account of Damian Goes and Felipe Garcia, and the year 2858 of the Creation of the world, according to the account of Fr Juan Pineda.

2. It is written of this King that he was the most excellent and beloved of all there had been in Spain, and from whom the Spaniards received the greatest benefits. Because according to what Mariana writes with them, among many new articles that he taught them useful for human life, were anointing oxen, sowing, reaping, gathering grains, and using them, transplanting trees, and other agricultural things, as Justin says, from whom all the others got it. If Céres did not teach them, as in the life of Hercules we have noted above. In addition to this, many who lived in caves were taught by Abidis to leave the mountains, and live in towns. He gave many good laws to the land, and instituted seven cities or towns, in which resided a certain number of men who governed the land (as today the Chancillerias and Audiencias govern it), they did justice, punishing and giving to each what was rightly his.

3. Canon Tarafa also says that in the time of this king Abidis the city of Helna was founded, in the countryside of Perpignan in Roussillon, and that it was founded by the Greeks: I do not know if by those who were already in the land of past times, or by some of the nations of whom we have spoken in the next last chapters 34 and 35. Tarafa alleges in confirmation of this to Pliny; and it seems that it destroys the opinion of those who want it to be the foundation of Queen St. Helena, or of her grandson in her honor, as we will say copiously below in the seventh chapter of the fifth book of each of these opinions.

4. With these good exercises Abidis ended his life, which Beuter says was short-lived; the reason why the number of his days is not put. But all of the following seem to have the contrary; because Garibay gives him 34 years, Florian, Goes, Garcia and Viladamor say it was 35. Pineda says 48, and Tarafa and Medina give him 64.

5. And because this Abidis was so honored in life, he deserved as a good Prince to be celebrated as such after his death. So much so that the Spaniards said that the gods had taken him out of the world, to remove him from the dangers of this life. And Mariana says that he was in the time of the prophet David, king of Israel.

6. After the life of Abidis, Garibay points out that the first Kings of Spain ended, who had lasted from Tubal for 1902 years, in 1234 of the Flood, and 1071 before Christ; in which year the third age of the world also ended, and the fourth age began in the time of King David; something worth noting. And thus ending the third age of the world, and the first government of the Kings of Spain, the first book of our Chronicle also ends here.

[Anderson says Hebides ruled 64 years, 1110-1046 BC, and that the Lydians arrived in Spain in his 49th year, or 1061 BC.

Stevens gives Abidis 35 years, 1105-1070 BC. He says according to some, Hispania was nearly deserted due to a massive drought for 26 years after this, followed by the occupation of Celts. Skeptical of this story, he then skips ahead to the Rhodians who held the Thalassocracy somewhat later.

Beawes cites several authors who claim Gargoris and his son and grandson Abidis were the first kings of a Curetan kingdom that established laws and taught ploughing etc in Baetia, and states Abidis was "near the Year 1019" BC. Most authors agree that they were the last two kings of the old Hispanic monarchy.

The second nation to hold the title of "Thalassocracy" after the Lydians were the Pelasgians, which Jerome places in 1057 BC, the best fit for that event, albeit Anderson and Eusebius have discrepant schemes. This would be about 43 years after the start of Abidis in 1100 BC, suggesting he reigned that long and that the Pelasgians, who are the same as the Philistines and the Peleset "Sea People" (Nine Bows) active at this time, replaced not only the Lydians in Spain, but also the remnant of Hispania, in 1057 BC.]

* Next: Pujades Book II