Amazigh resistance to colonialism
The Romans never stopped fighting in Africa due to the frequent Amazigh raids and revolts[1]. The most violent and longest rebellion, which can be called a real war, is the one that broke out in the first years of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, which Tacitus reported[2] and narrated in a wonderful way[3]. Tacitus is considered the only source to narrate the events of that war. The war is called the War of Tacfarinas, a Numidian man[4] who fled from the Roman army in which he served as an assistant and appointed himself leader over a group of tramps[5]. At first, Takfarinas led his group to various regions and carried out acts of sabotage, then he organized his group militarily and formed regular teams of infantry and cavalry[6]. The number of his forces soon increased; The Musilami[7], the major nomadic tribe that lived in the area near the Auras Mountains[8], joined him and pledged allegiance to him as their leader, and thus they made the Maury tribes[9] neighboring them also join the rebel forces, along with the residents of the Lesser Sirte region[10]. ] Syrtis Minor. The leader of those Moorish tribes was a brave warrior named Mazippa. Tacfarinas' war plan was brilliant: the Numidian commander had the best soldiers, armed in the Roman style and accustomed to life in camps, to order and to leadership. As for Mazepa, he was wreaking havoc on Roman lands and spreading terror everywhere he and his light squads passed. The rebellion had become dangerous, since it had not only spread throughout a large part of Mauritania, but had spread to all of the south of the Romanian province. Which made every Roman hesitation in suppressing that rebellion dangerous. In order to suppress the rebellion, the governor Furius Camillus, who was governor of the state[11], accompanied by Augusta's third legion and the forces sent to him by Juba II, King of Mauritania, who had always sided with the Romans during that war, advanced to confront the enemy. The governor's army appeared to be a handful of men before the masses of Numidians and Moors that had to be fought, and the Roman general was especially afraid that the rebels, out of fear, would try to avoid fighting, thus spoiling the war against them and the possibility of having to plan it again.
But what happened was the opposite, as the enemy forces accepted the fight when they saw that the Romans were much outnumbered, hoping through that victory in the battle, but they made a mistake in their calculation because Camillus succeeded in crushing the Numidians by placing the legion in the middle of the battlefield and deploying light militias and two battalions of soldiers. Auxiliary knights in the flanks, according to the Roman tradition of fighting. Camillus received the honor from the Senate (Rome's Senate) as a reward for his victory. Takfarinas was defeated, but his sting was not broken, so he gathered his strength in the desert where he had taken refuge, and little by little ignited the fuse of war again and changed his plan. He determined from the beginning to destroy the country, avoiding Roman revenge with the speed of his movements, then he demolished towns and collected great spoils in them. In the end, he besieged a small fort located on the Pagida River, whose exact location is unknown, and which was guarded by a Roman battalion. Decrio, a brave and valiant soldier, who was leading that battalion[12], wanted to engage in battle with the enemy in an open field, because he felt humiliated when he was surrounded by savages[13], so he encouraged his men and went out to fight the enemies, but the Roman division was broken during the first attack. Decrio rushed forward amid the arrows and confronted the fleeing soldiers, denounced the standard-bearers, and ordered the Roman soldiers to turn their backs on the fugitives and the disobedient eavesdroppers. Decrio threw himself at the enemies, his body full of wounds and his eye pierced, and he fought without stopping until he was killed because his men left him alone. Lucius Apronius[14] Lucius Apronius, who had succeeded Furius Camillus as governor of Africa[15], decided It is important to resort to a disciplinary measure that was implemented by the ancient Romans in emergency situations, so that the relative victory of Tacfarinas and the escape of the Roman division from the battlefield does not degrade the morale of the African army. The measure was to kill a certain number of the battalion's soldiers, and the appointed soldiers were actually killed by caning. This drastic measure was so effective that a group of 500 veteran soldiers was able to overpower Tacfarinas' divisions and disperse them. Tacfarinas was encouraged after his easy victory on the banks of the Bagida River and besieged the city of Tala[16]. During that battle, Helvius Rufus, a simple soldier, stood out to the point that an honor was given to him, an honor usually given to those who rescued a citizen. Apronius gave him the pillars and a spear; Then Emperor Tiberius gave him the civil crown. . Tacitus notes that that soldier regretted the governor of the state because he had not given him the crown himself, as he had the right to do so, but he was not angry. On the other hand, since the Numidians Takfarinas were stunned and did not want to re-experience the siege of cities, Takfarinas returned to his favorite plan, which was to wage war in many places and flee when he was pursued and then return to the attack, which made him mock the Romans who were tired To no avail as they pursued it[17]. But when he withdrew towards the coastal areas along the south of Tunisia, the fat booty he had captured compelled him to stop and set up a tar camp to protect the booty; And there, after an order from the governor, Apronius Caesianus, who was the adopted son of the governor and his service officer as well (probable), He, accompanied by a flying squad of cavalry, from battalions composed of auxiliary soldiers and the most skilled men in the legions[18], surprised Tacfarinas and overpowered him in an open field, forcing him to find a new hideout in the desert, accompanied by his Numid men. On the occasion of that victory, the governor received the honor of victory and also received a statue decorated with a crown[19]; The boy, who had not yet reached the legal age to obtain a position in the judiciary, was appointed a member of the Sabbathphiri Epollons[20], the most important religious monks in ancient Rome who presided over banquets organized in honor of the gods.
On the other hand, the victory of Abronius Caecianus was not final since Tacfarinas had reorganized his forces in Central Africa and was threatening Roman territory with new incursions. Tiberius explained to the Senatus how important it was to appoint at the head of the state of Africa a governor specialized in military art and physically capable of successfully carrying out a strong campaign against the rebels, since Apronius had failed in his mission[21]. The Senatus left the task of choosing the new ruler to the prince, so the prince appointed two candidates and indirectly blamed the fathers (members of the Roman Senate) because they were relying on him for everything. The two candidates were M. Aemilius Lepĭdus and Q. Iunius Blaesus; But the former did not accept the difficult task, ostensibly for health reasons and a family excuse, but in reality because Lepidus knew that Tiberius preferred Plessus because he was Seianus’s uncle [22] and it was actually done. Plessus appointment. Tacfarinas had reached such a level of arrogance that he sent ambassadors to the emperor asking him for lands for himself and his people, and in the event of refusal, Rome would suffer eternal war. The demand of this wild barbarian, notes Mr. Kania[23], highlighted the reasons that prompted the desert travelers to so proudly and constantly rise up against the empire: these travelers were not waging a war for independence but in order not to be excluded from the fertile plateaus that were The Romans owned it, as it was their habit to appear every month on those plateaus in search of food for themselves and their group of soldiers[24]. The thing that angered Tiberius more than anything else was his observation that a deserter from the Roman army and a thief wanted to consider himself a respected opponent; He dismissed Tacfarinas's bold proposal with contempt Belisus, who since the end of June of the year 21 AD had been appointed governor of the African state[25], ordered the granting of exemption to those rebels who would lay down arms and the arrest of their leader, whatever the cost. Thus, many rebels were obtained, and when the governor saw Tacfarinas in a weak state, he used the same methods to fight him. Since the rebels, less powerful than the Romans, but powerful in sabotage and destruction, were running here and there in small groups, taking cover from attacks and organizing ambushes, Belisus deemed it necessary to divide his army into three mobile companies whose mission was to take three different routes, on the left being the legionnaires. IX Spain under the command of P. Cornelius Lentulus Scipio[26] was protecting the region of Leptis Minor (Lamta[27]) ]) In this way, he was prepared to block the enemy’s withdrawal towards the Garamant region[28]; On the right, Ibn Belisus was covering with strong forces the exits of the Auras towards Constantine. In the middle was the governor himself with the heart of the army, focusing on Thevest (Tebessa) as the operations center of the General Command of the Third Augusta Corps. The Romans were advancing in the middle of the first two companies, creating forts and posting guards in appropriate positions, so that the enemies were not able to make any movement without finding them. The Romans are in front of them, on their flank and often also behind them. In this way, many rebels were killed or imprisoned. Then Belisus expanded the scope of his operations and divided the three companies into several detachments, each of which was headed by a valiant centurion and a veteran. After the summer passed, he summoned the army to the winter camps in his province, following in the footsteps of his predecessor, but when he placed light and practical militias in the desert, he was able to pursue Tacfarinas, who appeared sometimes in a certain place and at other times in another. He was also able to arrest Tacfarinas’ brother and occupy lands. The mosolum is stable. The war could not be considered over because Tacfarinas had not been arrested, but Tiberius, considering that it was over, allowed the legions to salute the victorious governor with the title of emperor and allowed the latter to come to Rome to receive the honors of victory.[29]
Tacitus[30] says that our generals, when they considered that they had done enough to deserve the honor of victory, would desert the enemy; Three statues had been erected in Rome (the statues of Furius Camillus, L. Apronius and Junius Plesus), but Tacfarinas was still shaking Africa. So much so that luck always seemed to favor the boldness of the intrepid Amazighs. When the Spanish Ninth Legion received an order from Tiberius to return to its old camps in the Pannonia region, the new governor of the province, B. P. Cornelius Dolabella, who succeeded Belisus[31], decided to keep the legion in Africa, because he feared the position of government more than the danger of war[32]. Tacfarinas tried to exploit this mistake and spread the news everywhere that the Romans were busy in other wars and that they were gradually leaving Africa and thus It will be easy to eliminate the remnants of the Romans thanks to a bold strike, provided that they are attacked by the force of many who prefer freedom to slavery[33][34]. The false news had the desired effect since the Moors, after the death of King Juba, were angry at the son Ptolemaeus, who had left the management of state affairs to the freed slaves, so they rose up and supported Takfarinas, who had been joined by the poor and rioters of the state[35]. In addition, the Garamantine king was sending a considerable number of light militia to Takfarinas as reinforcements. So, North Africa, from the Pillars of Hercules to the great Syrtis Maior region, was once again in a state of comprehensive revolution[36], a revolution that seemed very dangerous to the Romans. On the other hand Tacfarinas did not dare to break the lines of fortified positions, which Plessus had built in the south of the state and Numidia, and he concentrated all his forces in Mauritania and besieged the city of Toboscoto (currently Teclat[37]), the ruins of which still stand today in the Nassawath Valley (currently Wadi Sahil[38]). . In the time of Augustus, this city had become the center of a colony made up of veteran Roman soldiers who belonged to the Seventh Legion. It was also fortified and able to defend itself for a long time against the rebels, awaiting the help of Dolabella. When the Numidians learned of the advance of the governor of the province with a large number of soldiers, knowing that they were not able to withstand the onrushing Roman infantry, they hastened to stop the siege and camped inside a castle called Osia (currently Sur Al-Ghazlan), which they demolished and burned. They were confident that the good location of the place, surrounded by large forests that would close it, would protect them from any surprise. At first, Dolabella did not care about chasing the equipment, but rather fortified the most important sites and broke the blow of the Mosulam rebellion attempt by punishing their leaders. He summoned Ptolemaeus to join him with his remaining loyal soldiers. Then he formed four companies of his army, each of which was headed by a legatus[39] or troupe. While he personally assumed responsibility for the Supreme Command of Operations and was sending groups of soldiers led by Moorish officers to sabotage the country. When he had thus prepared his forces, the ruler of the state quickly marched towards Osia, pounced on the enemies, who were asleep and unprepared for battle, arrested them, and slaughtered them. When Tacfarinas saw his guards falling around him, his son imprisoned, and the Romans who were surrounding him from every side, When he learned that the war would end if he was arrested, he threw himself among the arrows so that the enemies would not capture him alive, and then he met a justified death. This time the war had actually ended, so the Garamantes sent ambassadors to Rome to express their submission and surrender. On the other hand, the Senatus granted the young man Ptolemy, following an ancient custom, precious gifts, an ivory staff, and a colorful tunic, which a member of the Senatus handed over to him and greeted him with the title of king, ally, and friend of the Roman people. However, the honor of victory was not given to Dolabella, who of all the state rulers who fought against Tacfarinas was the only one who deserved to receive it, but the person who knows the history of lack of gratitude to man will not be surprised. Tacitus[40] reports that Tiberius refused the honor of victory to Dolabella out of respect for Cianus. , fearing that the fame of his nephew Blissus would be forgotten. The Tacfarinas War had lasted seven years (17-24 AD) and was the fiercest conflict fought by the Romans in Africa after the time of Jugurtha: that war was not just a rebellion of plundering travelers as described by Tutan [41], but rather an uprising of the people of the country who responded to the call of that intrepid leader who Mommsen called him Arminius African[42].
Written by professor and researcher Sassi Abdi
Forum translation