Tacfarinas - Sources

Sources

Apart from a passing mention by another (minor) author, the Annales by the Roman historian Tacitus (written ca. 98 AD) is the sole surviving ancient source on the Tacfarinas War. Tacitus gives a relatively detailed account, but its exclusivity makes it difficult to assess its accuracy and the war's significance. Tacitus was fascinated by the psychology of the emperor Tiberius, whom he regarded as the quintessential flawed tyrant, and the way that the long-drawn out insurgency in Africa with its many crises exposed his weaknesses. For example, the emperor's explosion of fury when he received envoys from Tacfarinas demanding concessions in return for peace. This was not only due to Tiberius' exasperation with the insurgency. Adding insult to injury, Tacfarinas was apparently a commoner by birth, an affront to the status-conscious Romans. To Tiberius, a scion of the illustrious Claudii patrician clan and ruler of a vast empire, it seemed intolerable that such a person should be seeking to deal with him on an equal basis, like a foreign king. Tacitus relates with relish Tiberius' feelings of personal humiliation.

This has led C.R. Whittaker to doubt that Tacfarinas' revolt was ever a serious threat to Roman rule in Africa, suggesting that Tacitus may have exaggerated the war's importance for dramatic effect. In favour of this view is the inability of Tacfarinas' forces to take Roman fortified positions or to stand up to Roman armies in pitched battle. Against it are Tacfarinas' establishment of a Roman-style force, the despatch of an extra legion to the war zone and the award of triumphal honours to no less than 3 Roman proconsuls for successes in the war (implying, in each case, the killing of at least 5,000 insurgents), all events indicating more than just low-level guerrilla warfare.