Tacfarinas

Numidian Roman army deserter who led Berber tribes in a war against the Romans

Tacfarinas (Latinised form of Berber Tikfarin or Takfarin; died AD 24) was a Numidian Berber from Thagaste, located in the province of Proconsular Africa (now Souk Ahras, in Algeria), who was a deserter from the Roman army who led his own Musulamii tribe and a loose and changing coalition of other Berber tribes in a war against the Romans in North Africa during the rule of the emperor Tiberius (AD 14–37). Though Tacfarinas' personal motivation is unknown, it is likely that the Roman occupation under Augustus of the traditional grazing grounds of the Musulamii was the determining factor. Nevertheless, Tacfarinas' large scale raids caused severe disruption of the province's grain production, which in turn threatened civil disorder in Rome. The Romans were for a long time unable to eradicate their enemy because of the Numidians' extraordinary mobility and their support from the many desert tribes. Tacfarinas was finally captured and killed in AD 24 by a combination of determined pursuit and a lucky break in intelligence. A direct consequence of the war was the registration of the entire Tunisian plateau for land taxation and its conversion to mainly wheat cultivation. The Musulamii and other nomadic tribes were likely permanently excluded from what had been their summer grazing grounds and subsequently forced to lead a more impoverished existence in the Aurès mountains and the arid zone. The conflict also probably sealed the long term fate of the client kingdom of Mauretania, which was annexed in AD 44 by the emperor Claudius.

In Roman times, the indigenes of northwest Africa (present day Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco) all belonged to the Berber speaking nation. The Romans called these peoples, loosely east to west, Libyae, Afri (in Tunisia, from which the name Africa is probably derived), Numidae (eastern Algeria), and Mauri (western Algeria and Morocco, from which the name Moors is derived). North of the Atlas Mountains, the land was fertile and well watered (there is evidence that rainfall was heavier than today and that the desert had not encroached as far north). The Berbers living inside the fertile zone were largely sedentary. In contrast, on the southern fringes existed tribes that led a semi nomadic existence. They practised transhumance, living off herds of cattle, sheep, and goats. They spent the summers on the central plateau of Tunisia and the Aurès mountains of northeast Algeria where there was good grazing for the animals. In winter, they lived around the Chotts (pronounced "shots"), a string of large salt lakes on the desert southern fringes of the Roman province. In winter, this region contained plentiful freshwater in the form of seasonal torrents from the Aurès mountains to the North. The province was populous (c. 1.5 million inhabitants, roughly the same as contemporary Britain) and was, by 50 BC, the most important source of the City of Rome's grain supply. It was said that Africa fed the Roman populace for eight months of the year, while Egypt provided the remaining four months' supply. The province was a land of vast estates (latifundia) owned by absentee landlords. Pliny the Elder states that in the time of the emperor Nero (ruled 54–68), half of all arable land in the province was owned by just six Roman senators. In 45 BC, Roman dictator perpetuus Julius Caesar defeated and killed king Juba I, and annexed his kingdom of Numidia to the Roman province, calling it Africa Nova ("New Africa"). This, however, dispossessed the ancient pro Roman dynasty of Numidian kings founded by Massinissa, whose decision during the Second Punic War to switch allegiance from Carthage had been critical to the decisive Roman victory at the Battle of Zama 158 years earlier. The Numidian king's young son, Juba II, was brought up and educated at Rome, where he became a close friend of Caesar's grand nephew Octavian, who assumed the title of Augustus after he became sole ruler of the Roman empire in 30 BC. Caesar's settlement was modified in 25 BC by Augustus. He placed Juba II on the vacant throne of Mauretania, and added to it the southern and eastern parts of Africa Nova. Juba thus nominally ruled a vast realm stretching from the Strait of Gibraltar in the west to Cyrenaica in the east. Augustus' strategic conception was that Juba's native warriors would provide the Roman province's first line of defence against incursions by the nomadic desert tribes. But Juba proved unequal to the task, not least because the fiercely independent desert tribes refused to recognise his overlordship, despising him as a tool of Roman imperialism.

The most fertile part of Numidia was retained in the Roman province. This part included the central Tunisian plateau, land ideal for the cultivation of wheat, for which the Romans had an ever increasing demand. The region, some 27,000 km2 in area, offered the prospect of doubling the province's grain production. At some point in the first half of Augustus' rule, it appears that the single legion deployed in the province (the III Augusta) was stationed at Theveste (modern Tébessa, Algeria), strategically placed on the western edge of the plateau so as to protect it from incursions from the Aurès mountains. (Later, during Tacfarinas' insurgency, the 3rd legion's base was moved to Ammaedara – modern Haïdra, Tunisia – right in the centre of the plateau). The road northeast to the provincial capital at Carthage bisected the plateau. In AD 14, Legio III is recorded as having built a new road southeast to Tacapae (Gabès) on the coast. Hand in hand with the Roman infrastructural expansion came the fencing off of land that was converted from pasture to wheat cultivation. The Romans also pursued a policy of deliberately restricting the transhumance movements of the nomads into the province. Still, the desert tribes' relationships with the Romans were not exclusively hostile. Many tribal nomads are known to have volunteered to serve in the Roman army, in both the regular auxilia and irregular native foederati (allied) units (although conscription was still common at this time, and was another cause of discontent). The army provided the prospect of a well paid career that gave scope for the tribesmen's martial nature, which was highly regarded by the Romans. Numidian cavalry (equites Numidarum or Maurorum), which had played a prominent role in Roman armies since the Second Punic War (218–201 BC), were regarded as the best light cavalry in the Roman world. A Numidian cavalryman rode his small but agile and resilient desert mount without bridle, saddle, or stirrups, restraining it by a loose rope round its neck and directing it by leg movements and voice commands. Unarmoured, he was protected by just a small round leather shield. His weaponry consisted of several javelins. Exceptionally fast and manoeuvrable, Numidian cavalry would harass the enemy by hit and run attacks, riding up and loosing volleys of javelins, then scattering and retreating faster than any opposing cavalry could pursue. They were superbly suited to scouting, harassment, ambush, and pursuit. Numidian foot soldiers were also predominantly light infantry, relying on speed and manoeuvrability. However, both Numidian foot and mounted warriors were vulnerable in close order combat with Roman troops, who mainly wore metal armour. of Numidians and apparently not of royal or noble birth. It is unclear whether he volunteered or was conscripted, or whether he joined a cavalry or infantry regiment. He served for a number of years.

At some point during his term of military service, Tacfarinas deserted. Gathering around him a band of marauders, he carried out many minor raids on Roman territory. Using his experience of the Roman military, he organised his ever growing following into distinct units, to the point where he commanded an effective armed force. A political turning point for Tacfarinas came when the disparate Musulamii clans accepted him as their paramount leader. Tacfarinas fled into the desert with the shattered remnants of his army and Camillus was awarded triumphal honours. These in turn threatened the emperor with civil disorder in the City of Rome itself: Tacitus records riots in protest at grain prices in AD 19. In 18, Camillus was replaced by Lucius Apronius as proconsul of Africa. Tacfarinas launched a series of lightning raids on Roman territory, destroying the villages he had ransacked and disappearing into the desert before Roman forces could intervene. Emboldened by success, Tacfarinas attempted a conventional siege operation. His men surrounded a strategic Roman fort on the river Pagyda (location uncertain) held by a cohort of the 3rd legion. Its commander, one Decrius (presumably the cohort's most senior centurion the pilus prior or "front spear" centurion), "considered it disgraceful that Roman legionaries should sit besieged by a rabble of deserters and tramps", Tacitus reports. Decrius ordered a sortie. His troops tried to break through the besiegers, but were soon forced back by the far superior numbers of enemy. Decrius, cursing his standard bearers for not standing their ground, shouted at his men to follow him. Although struck by arrows in one eye and in several other places, he rushed at the enemy. But his men retreated into the fort as their commander went down fighting. Roman soldiers were forbidden to retreat before an enemy unless ordered to do so by their commander. When Apronius was informed of the incident, he ordered the cohort to be decimated for cowardice. This ancient, extreme and rarely used form of military punishment required every tenth man in the unit (i. e. ca. 50 men in this case), chosen by lot, to be flogged to death in front of their comrades. The savage penalty "evidently had a salutary effect", according to Tacitus: at the next fort to come under attack by Tacfarinas, Thala (Thala, Tunisia, the site of a Roman victory over an earlier Numidian rebel leader, Jugurtha, some 120 years before), the garrison of 500 elderly veterans beat off the assailants. The reverse at Thala impressed on Tacfarinas the difficulty of conducting conventional operations against the Romans. So he reverted to guerrilla tactics, retreating before the advancing Romans, then attacking their supply lines in the rear. The Romans were soon exhausted and frustrated, unable to respond effectively. Eventually, however, the sheer volume of plunder that Tacfarinas had taken forced him to adopt a more stable base, near the Mediterranean coast in the puppet state of Mauretania. Here he was surprised by a flying column of auxiliary cavalry and special light armed legionaries under the proconsul's own son, Lucius Apronius Caesianus (presumably the 3rd legion's tribunus militum laticlavius deputy commander). Tacfarinas was forced to flee into the Aurès mountains, abandoning most of his booty.

At this point, Tacfarinas sent envoys to Rome to offer peace in return for land in the province for himself and his followers. It is doubtful that this implied a desire by Tacfarinas' men to become sedentary farmers. More likely, they simply sought restored access to their traditional grazing grounds. Blaesus owed his selection to his nephew, Sejanus, Tiberius' commander of the Praetorian Guard and trusted right hand man. For the task, Tiberius gave Blaesus an additional legion (the IX Hispana, transferred from Pannonia on the Danube) and its attached auxiliary regiments, doubling the total force in Africa to around 20,000. He also authorised Blaesus to offer a general pardon to any of Tacfarinas' associates who surrendered but not to Tacfarinas himself, who was to be captured or killed at all costs. This system, similar to the blockhouses used by the British to suppress the Boer insurgency in the latter, guerilla phase of the South African War of 1899 1902, virtually extinguished Tacfarinas' raiding operations.

The death of Tacfarinas put an end to Musulamii hopes of halting the Roman takeover of their traditional grazing lands. The registration of the whole plateau for tax purposes was launched by Dolabella immediately after Tacfarinas' demise and completed in 29/30 AD, as evidenced by the stone markers laid down by the Roman surveyors, some of which survive to this day. They reach as far as the Chott el Jerid on the province's southern border. The region was largely turned to grain production and the Musulamii and other tribes most likely permanently excluded from their former grazing areas. Dolabella applied to the Senate for triumphal honours. But his motion was voted down at the behest of Tiberius, despite the fact that arguably Dolabella deserved the accolade more than any of his three predecessors, since unlike them, he had actually brought the war to an end by eliminating its instigator. Tacitus suggests that the reason was Sejanus' concern that his uncle's glory should not be diminished by comparison. Doubtless, Tiberius' embarrassment that the war had flared up again after he had declared it won also played a part. The Garamantes, fearing that their own clandestine support for Tacfarinas may have been revealed to the Romans, despatched an embassy to Rome to protest their loyalty, although it is unknown how successfully. Ptolemy, king of Mauretania, was rewarded for his real loyalty by the title rex, socius et amicus populi Romani ("king, ally and friend of the Roman people" i. e. puppet king). As a special token of esteem, the ancient ritual was revived, whereby the title was conferred in person by a Roman senator, who travelled to the king's capital with an accompanying gift of triumphal regalia: an ivory baton and a toga picta (all purple, with embroidered gold border). Beyond Suetonius' superficial explanation, it is likely that the Roman government was becoming concerned by Ptolemy's growing wealth and independence of action and that his removal from power, if not outright execution, was planned. Dio suggests that Ptolemy was executed because he had become too wealthy. Ptolemy had started issuing gold coins, which was the traditional prerogative of an independent head of state. Another likely factor was Ptolemy's distinguished pedigree, which gave him a dangerously broad appeal in north Africa. On his father's side, Ptolemy was the scion of the ancient Numidian dynasty founded by king Massinissa (ruled 201–148 BC), who was Ptolemy's direct ancestor in 5 generations. On his mother's side, he was the grandson of Mark Antony (the last Roman political rival to Augustus) and Cleopatra, the last pharaoh of an independent Egypt. It must have worried the Roman leadership that if Ptolemy ever turned against Rome, his pedigree, wealth and power could endanger the whole Roman position in north Africa. Indeed, Ptolemy had by this time become a far more popular ruler than on his succession sixteen years earlier, when thousands of his Mauri subjects had defected to Tacfarinas. His execution sparked a massive anti Roman revolt under one Aedemon, who is described as a freed slave in Roman sources but was more likely a Mauri prince.