Français – عربي – ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ – English
Translation: Ibrahim Karmoum
While the inhabitants of the bigger North African cities gave a favorable welcome to the advances made possible by Romanisation, the rural Amazigh tribes never accepted the Roman domination and often rebelled against the Romans. In 17, Tacfarinas, a former soldier in the Roman army, led an insurgency against the Roman presence in North Africa. After King Ptolemy of Mauretania was murdered, Aedemon, a freedman of Ptolemy, rebelled against Mauretania’s annexation by the Roman Empire.
Tacfarinas’ revolt
Tacfarinas was born in Thagaste (Souk Ahras), from the Getulian Musulami tribe, who were living in the region of the Chotts, in modern-day Algeria and Tunisia. After serving for a while as a soldier in the Roman army, he deserted and returned to his Musulami tribe. At the head of a group of fighters, he launched a few attacks against the Roman territory. He used his experience as a soldier to organize his men into an efficient military force. The Musulami eventually made him their chief.
In 17, Tacfarinas was leading the largest insurgency in the history of Roman North Africa. He made an alliance with Mazippa, a Moorish chief who was probably already in rebellion against King Juba II of Mauretania, and with the Cinithian tribe, in the South of modern-day Tunisia. Even the Garamantes supported him. Ancient historians don’t mention his motivations, but the growing Roman takeover of the nomadic tribes’ traditional grazing lands seems to have been the main factor.
To the Romans, this threat was far more serious than the usual border incursions. The combined forces of Tacfarinas’ allies outnumbered the Roman troops in the region. The Romans were still relying on their vastly superior weapons. At the first battle, Tacfarinas’ army was decimated. Tacfarinas fled into the desert with the survivors.
However, Tacfarinas’ insurgency was not over: while he understood that he couldn’t resist the Roman army in open battle, he took advantage of his knowledge of the land, and returned to the asymmetrical war methods the Amazigh tribes had always been so famous for. His men attacked specific targets, and then fled into the mountains or the desert. The Romans were supported by King Juba II of Mauretania, and then by his son Ptolemy.
The war also had an economic effect: the insurgents’ attacks were threatening the agricultural production in Roman Africa, causing an upsurge in grain prices in Rome.
After several years of insurgency, Tacfarinas sent messengers to Rome, to offer peace in exchange for land for his men. The Emperor Tiberius refused to negotiate with a man he saw as a deserter and a brigand.
The Romans, wanting to deal with this uprising once and for all, sent an experienced general, Quintus Junius Blaesus, to quell it. In three years (21-23), he won a series of victories, especially thanks to his new mobile units, who were able to follow the insurgents wherever they were. However, the main strength of Tacfarinas still was the almost inexhaustible supply of new fighters from the desert tribes.
In 24, Tacfarinas besieged the Roman fortress of Thubursicum. (The location of this fortress is debated: Khamissa, Algeria, or Tebboursouk, Tunisia.) His army, unable to resist the Roman infantry, was defeated and fled to Mauretania. The Romans asked King Ptolemy for help to follow him. Tacfarinas established his last camp in Auzea (Sour El-Ghozlane, modern-day Algeria). The Romans attacked the camp and massacred Tacfarinas with all his followers. Tacfarinas’ death marks the end of the insurgency.
Aedemon’s revolt
Aedemon was a domestic slave of Ptolemy, the last King of Mauretania, who had been freed as a reward for his loyalty. Ptolemy was assassinated in 40, while visiting Rome; his murder was ordered by Emperor Caligula, who saw him as a potential rival. His death opened the door to the annexation of Mauretania by the Roman Empire.
To avenge his master, Aedemon rebelled against Rome. However, unlike Tacfarinas, his revolt didn’t receive much popular support: an inscription in Volubilis shows that a major part of the city’s population fought against him. He was supported by Moorish tribal chiefs, like Sabalus, his main ally; while the Romans were supported by Romanised Moorish tribes, especially around Lucius Quietus.
Emperor Caligula was assassinated in 41. His successor Claudius sent two generals, Paulinus and Geta, to quell the insurgency. One of them, Paulinus, became the first Roman to cross the Atlas mountains. The city of Tingis (Tangier) was partly destroyed by the violent fighting between Romans and insurgents. There also was fighting in Volubilis, Lixus (Larache), and Tamuda (Tetouan).
The insurgency ended after four years: in 44, after a decisive Roman victory, Sabalus and his men laid down their weapons. According to the Roman historian Dio Cassius, Sabalus gave himself up after witnessing how the Roman general Geta used a traditional Amazigh rite to make rain fall; this convinced him that his adversary had magical powers. What became of Sabalus and Aedemon is unknown.
After this uprising, Mauretania was split into two Roman provinces: Mauretania Caesariensis and Mauretania Tingitana.
Other Amazigh revolts
Tacfarinas’ and Aedemon’s revolts are the most well-known, but not the only Amazigh uprisings against the Romans. The Romans even created a special military province in Southern Numidia, with Lambaesis (Tazoult) as its capital, to fight against such insurgencies.
In 118, Emperor Hadrian executed the Moorish general Lucius Quietus (the son of Lucius Quietus who fought Aedemon’s revolt). His death caused an insurgency in Mauretania, where he was still very popular. Hadrian sent his most trusted general, Quintus Marcius Turbo, to quell the insurgency.
New insurgencies occurred during the reign of Emperor Antonine (138-161). During the reign of his son Marcus Aurelius (161-180), Moors from Mauretania Tingitana even undertook incursions into Spain. The situation somewhat calmed down during the reign of the Severan imperial dynasty; the Severes had Amazigh origins. Around the end of the 3rd Century, Rome again faced several revolts, led by the Bavares, an Amazigh confederation in Mauretania Caesariensis.
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