In the north of the Iberian Peninsula the waters of a river flow that watered the nightmares of the Roman troops. And no, not because of its furious flow, nor because of its whirlpools, nor because of its length, nor because it is home to wild beasts or the habitual passage of fearsome warriors. What’s up? If the one known today as Limia River It was capable of stirring the dreams of the legionaries sent by Rome because of its legend.
When they looked into its waters, the soldiers believed they were observing nothing more nor less than the dark depths of the Letheone of the rivers of the underworld of Hades.
In a place in the north… The story of Limia is a story worthy of an epic start, on par with Don Quixote or the comics of that irreducible Gallic village they told us about. Uderzo and Goscinny. In itself it is not a particularly striking river: it originates in the province of Ourense, in the Mount Talariñoat a height of 985 meters, and extends 108 km until it flows into the Atlantic. Before that it runs through the south of Galicia and the north of Portugal, where it crosses the towns of Ponte da Barca, Ponte de Limia and Viana do Castelo. If it has gone down in history and remained linked to the Roman chronicle, it is however because of its symbolism, rather than because of its data.
A river worthy of the underworld. It may be surprising in the 21st century, but in Roman times it was believed that the Limia was a unique river worthy of the underworld. And not just anyone. As remember the Ministry of Agriculture itself, a surprising legend was woven around its waters: it was believed that it was neither more nor less than the Letheor Lethe, one of the five rivers that flow through Hades.
There it shared the land of the dead with other equally sinister channels, such as the Phlegethona channel of fire; or the rivers Acheron and Cocitoknown for their waters of affliction and lamentations. Among all of them, Lethe stood out for a fearsome peculiarity. It was considered to be the river of oblivion. Whoever drank from it suffered from total forgetfulness, losing their memories no matter how happy they were.
Lethe passes through here. Whether the Roman legionaries believed more or less in the stories of their mythology and the magical power of the waters of the Limia, what can be intuited is that the legend was reasonably widespread at the time.
This reflects it the thesaurus itself of the Cultural Heritage of Spain, which remembers that the Limia was known as Belión or Lethes, precisely because of “the confusion with the river of Oblivion mentioned in Hades.” This is what the Greek geographer actually calls it. Strabo. “It was believed that it made those who crossed it lose their memory, which made Roman conflicts in this environment difficult for years, since the military refused to cross it,” he adds. the token that the Ministry of Agriculture dedicates to him.
Legend with expiration date. The legend of the Limia is not surprising only because of its background and popularity. Equally curious is that it can be associated with a very specific date, one that served to scare away the fears of the Roman soldiers. According to tradition, in 138 BC the general Tenth June Grossembarked on a campaign of conquest through the north of the peninsula, found that his troops refused to cross the Limia for fear of losing their memory.
To show them that their fears were unfounded, the officer decided to set an example and leave a “similar” image—with all the quotes in the world, mind you—to the one he would offer centuries later. Fraga in Palomares: He went into the water to prove in his flesh that it was harmless. So, banner in hand, the good general crossed the Limia until he reached the other bank and then dedicated himself to calling his soldiers by name. One by one. First, to make your orders clear. Second, and no less important, to show incontestably that the waters of that northern stream had not erased his memory.
A feat that is still remembered. Ironies of history, that feat with which Decimus Junius Brutus wanted to show that he preserved his good memory has managed to ensure that today, more than 2,000 years later, we are the ones who continue to remember him. About him and everything that surrounded the legend of Limia. For decades in Xinzo de Limia It is celebrated every summer “Festa do Esquecemento” (Feast of Oblivion, in Galician), a historical celebration with concerts, parades, market… and a recreation of the river crossing, with fighting on the banks of the Limia.
Things about water… or wine. Beyond the festival, the truth is that the legend of Galician Lethe continues to arouse interest even today, in 2023, and articles continue to be frequently written that talk about the feat of June Brutus or the origin of the legend. The Debate published recently a report in which he collects the theories of Strabo or Virgil to explain why the Limia was associated with the Lethe, such as the supposed forgetfulness suffered by the Turdulian people when crossing its waters.
Not all explanations were mythological, of course. The Roman poet even suggests that the explanation could well be a different one, more prosaic in nature: the abundance of wine in the region and its – yes – undeniable effect on memory.
Images | Álvaro Pérez VilariñoCommons
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