Tacfarinas - Aftermath

Aftermath

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).

Ironically, the toga eventually caused Ptolemy's downfall, according to the Roman historian Suetonius. Many years later, in AD 40, the Mauretanian king wore it on a state visit to Rome as guest of the emperor Caligula (ruled 37-41). When the two leaders entered the amphitheatre together, the toga and its owner were accorded much admiration by the crowd. In an apparent fit of envy, the deranged emperor ordered Ptolemy's immediate execution. 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 deposition, 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 descended from king Massinissa (ruled 201-148 BC). On his mother's side, he was the grandson of Mark Antony (the last political rival to Augustus) and Cleopatra, the last pharaoh of an independent Egypt. It must have occurred to 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 16 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. For the Romans, the war proved as arduous as that against Tacfarinas, although it lasted only 5 years, and its suppression required the services of Gaius Suetonius Paulinus and Gnaeus Hosidius Geta, two of the finest generals of the Julio-Claudian era. After its end in 44, Caligula's successor Claudius decided to annex Ptolemy's kingdom, dividing it into two Roman provinces, Mauretania Caesariensis and Mauretania Tingitana. By this means, he brought the territory between Roman Africa and Roman Spain and the entire Berber nation under direct Roman rule.