Barbarian Disturbances in North Africa

in the Mid-Third Century

Gibbon describes the years that correspond with the lifetime of Cyprian of
Carthage thus: 'the whole period was one uninterrupted series of confusion
and calamity'. 1 O n the whole the impression to be gained from the extant
correspondence of Cyprian of Carthage (the eighty-two letters are to be
dated between the years c.249 and 258) is not of this kind and this evidence
ought to act in some degree as a brake on exaggerated descriptions of the
chaos of the period. 2 Cyprian can assume, without the slightest hint of
doubt, uninterrupted ease of communications all around the Mediterranean,
freely cross-referring to other public letters of his on the assumption that
they must have come the way of his correspondents. 3 Similarly he is prepared
to claim of an open letter written by the R o m a n clergy that it 'has been
circulated throughout the entire world and has reached the knowledge of
every Church and of all the brethren'. 4 T h e official correspondence which
Cyprian conducted is indeed of notable breadth and frequency—among the
letters which we chance to have figure communications with Christian
communities in Spain, 5 in Gaul, 6 in Cappadocia 7 (all suggesting previous
correspondence with these areas), and of course in R o m e 8 and elsewhere in
Italy. 9 As Metropolitan of the African Church he sends to Rome on one
occasion a list of all the orthodox African bishops and their sees, 10 no doubt
in order to keep the R o m a n records up-to-date—and also their address-list
for their communications. Furthermore, after the abortively threatening
persecution of Gallus the regular meetings in Carthage of the African synod
appear to have been resumed. 1 1 At Carthage, at any rate, life appears to
have been little affected by the military and administrative debacle that

^Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. i (Everyman), p. 248.

2
A good account of the inroads made into Roman territory at this period is to be found in
A. T. Olmstead, 'The mid-third century of the Christian era', CP xxxvii (1942), 241 fF.,
,398ff.
E.g., he refers in Ep.^.^.2 to iJp.ig.2.3.
4
£/>.55-5.2. The letter survives, Ep.30, composed by Novatian. Note also the universal
decree of Pope Cornelius made 'nobiscum et cum omnibus omnino episcopis in toto
mundo constitutis', Ep. 67.6.3; that implies universal communication.
h
Ep&T.
"Referred to in ££.68.
7
Ep-75-
s
Epp.g, 20, 27, etc.
'According to the Chronicle of 395 (MGH Vol. ix, ed. Mommsen, p. 738), Cyprian wrote
a hortatory epistle during the persecution of Decius to 'Augustinum et Felicitatem qui
passi sunt apud civitatem Capuensem, metropolim Campaniae'. This letter does not
survive.
10
£A59-9-3-
11
Carthage was the metropolitan see of Africa Proconsularis, Numidia and the Mauretanias
(i^.48.3.2: 'Sed quoniam latius fusa est nostra provincia, habet etiam Numidiam et
Mauretaniam sibi cohaerentes . . .'). For a useful list of Council meetings, their dating
(still controversial) and their agenda see P. Monceaux, Histoire litteraire de VAfrique
chre'tienne depuis les originesjusqu'a Vinvasion arabe, Vol. ii (Paris, 1902), pp. 47ff.
78

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 Barbarian Disturbances in North Africa in the Mid- Third Century 79
was becoming evident in imperial circles and from Cyprian's point of view
the Mediterranean world still appeared to be very much a unity.
But there is one letter (Ep.62) which does reveal an incident which was
becoming not so uncommon and which does illustrate this time of troubles.
Cyprian had received a joint letter from eight bishops requesting monetary
aid for redeeming from captivity a number of Christians, both men a n d
women; 1 2 they had been carried off by capturers generously termed
'barbari'. 1 3 Cyprian was not the only cleric facing this sort of trouble at the
time. Basil recalls the aid once sent by Dionysius, Bishop of Rome, c.259 to
ransom captive Christians in Cappadocian Caesarea, 1 4 and the Canonical
Epistle of Cyprian's fellow bishop and coeval, Gregory Thaumaturgus, of
Neocaesarea in Pontus, deals with the aftermath of raids from BopaSot,
xoci r6x6oi. 1 5 (with such problems as how was the Church to regard women
who had been abused by their Barbarian captors, etc. 1 6 ). For lapidary
confirmation it is noteworthy that a recently published inscription (dated
to April 263) from Lydia records one Serapas being ransomed OLTZO TCOV
Pap(3apa>v by his master. 1 7 I n the fragments of another contemporary
colleague of Cyprian's, Dionysius, bishop of Alexandria, are discovered
Saracens for the first time in literary remains. Christian refugees, we are
told, fled in large numbers in the persecution of Decius (249-251) towards
southern Egypt, to 'the Arabian mountain', and there 'many were reduced
to utter slavery by barbarian Saracens. Of these some have been ransomed
with difficulty for large sums, others have not yet been up to this day.' 1 8
In Carthage, on receipt of the letter from the eight bishops, contributions
were collected 'prompte . . . et libenter ac largiter', amounting to 100,000
HS all told. A list (now lost) was appended giving the names of the benefactors
with the purpose 'ut . . . in mente habeatis 1 9 orationibus vestris et eis vicem
boni operis in sacrificiis et precibus representetis'. Cyprian adds the
assurance that if a like occurrence should befall again, they would be found
equally generous in the future. It would appear that a synod meeting—or a
council of more local bishops—was being convened about the same time:
such fellow-bishops as were present in Carthage also made contributions on
behalf of their flocks20 and a subsidiary list of these donors (also lost)
specifying their 'summulae' was further appended.

12
'de fratrum nostrorum et sororum captivitate', Ep.62.1.1.
13
'de barbarorum manibus', Ep.62.2.2. On the general connotations of the word 'barbari'
in these contexts see H.-G. Pflaum, Les procurateurs equestres sous le Haut-Empire romain
(Paris, 1950), pp. 131ff.;alsoW. Speyer and I. Opelt, 'Barbar' (Nachtrage zum Reallexikon
fur Antike und Christentum), Jahrb.f. Ant. und Christ, x (1967), 25iff.
li
Ep. 70, PG xxxii 436: xoct 7i£f/,7cetv TOUI; <£7toXuxpouu.lvou<; kv. TTJ? atyjiaXcoaiaq TVJV
aSsX<p6xY)Ta.
ln
PGx 1037 (Can.5).
lfl
Can. 1, PG x io2of. The fate of such women also concerned Cyprian; see n.63 below.
11
AE 1949, 255.
18
Euseb. HE vi 42.4.
19
This phrase suggests, by its being repeated in similar contexts, that it figured in liturgical
formulae at the time. Cf. [Cyp.] Ep.-jg (collective letter from Numidia): 'ut nos adsiduis
orationibus tuis in mentem habere digneris', Acta Fruct. 3.3, 'in mente me habere necesse
est ecclesiam catholicam, ab oriente usque ad occidentem diffusam', Inscr. Lai. Christ. Vet.
(ed. Diehl) 2323-2331. See further on the point J. H. Strawley, The Early History of the
Liturgy (Cambridge, 1913), pp. I35f-
20
£/>.62.4.2. 'Sed et collegarum quoque et sacerdotum nostrorum qui et ipsi cum praesentes
essent . . . .' For local Councils (as opposed to general Synods) compare the group of

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 8o G. W. Clarke
There can be no doubt that the eight bishops for whom these collections
were made were all Numidian. All eight reappear in a list of eighteen bishops,
the addressees of Ep.yo. T h a t letter is cross-referenced in Ep.72.1.3 by the
words 'in litteris quas collegae nostri ad coepiscopos in Numidia praesidentes
ante fecerunt'. Further, two of the eight names appear once more in Epp.76
and 77 in lists of palpably Numidian bishops who were suffering the bonds
and beatings, the shaven heads, heat and darkness of those condemned to
the mines in the first stage of the Valerianic persecution. 2 1 Unfortunately
the sees of these eight bishops are imperfectly known. In Ep.62 Januarius
properly heads the list (as he does also in Ep.yo)—his diocese was the
legionary and provincial headquarters of Lambaesis 2 2 (where Privatus was
still persistently heading a troublesome breakaway Church 2 3 ) and this was
without doubt the leading see of Numidia. O n e of his colleagues was
Nemesianus; he was from T h u b u n a e (Tobna) in the far SW of Numidia. 2 4
Another was Victor 'ab Octavu', regrettably an unidentified town. 2 5
With the exception of these three, the bishops of Ep.62 do not reappear
at the other synodal gatherings in Carthage for which we have attendance
lists. These three only were able to be present among the eighty-seven
bishops at the great gathering of 1 September 256 2 6 (though a larger
ecclesiastical convention of ninety had been held in Carthage in times past 2 7 ).
It is not difficult to see why, nor to hazard a reasonable guess as to the general
siting within Numidia of the bishoprics of the remaining five prelates.
For the events Cyprian refers to in Ep.62 were not isolated ones in the
African provinces. During the same decade in which Cyprian's letter must
be placed, 2 8 in the far west, in Mauretania Tingitana, the impulse of
marauding Franks had taken some of the invaders right through Gaul and
Spain as far as the African coastline. 29 An inscription at T a m u d a records

five bishops in jE/>.4g.2.i ('adfuerunt etiam episcopi quinque, qui et eo die praesentes
fuerunt'), of nine bishops in Ep.59.10.2 ('sententia novem collegarum nostrorum
condemnati'), and the unspecified number in Ep. 1.1.1 ('ego et collegae mei qui praesentes
aderant et compresbyteri nostri').
21
For these sufferings and plentiful parallels see J. G. Davies, 'Condemnation to the Mines.
A neglected chapter in the history of the persecutions', Birm. Univ. Historical Journ. vi 2
(1958), 9gff. The bishops who reappear are Victor and Nemesianus. Note ILCV 2068 =
CIL viii 20600 [Tocqueville, A.D. 359], a mensa recording 'nomina marturufm]' which
include 'Cipriani, Nemesani . . . et Victof. . . ] ' .
22
Sent.Episc.6 (CSEL iii 1.440). On the three episcopal Januarii for Africa at this time sec
H. von Soden, 'Die Prosopographie des afrikanischen Episkopats zur Zeit Cyprians',
Konigl. Preuss. Historischen Instit. in Rom xii (1909), 247ff. at 253ff., 260.
23
For Privatus and his followers see Epp.36.4, 59.10 (condemned by a council of ninety
bishops in the time of Cyprian's predecessor Donatus).
2i
Sent.Episc.$ (CSEL iii 1.438).
25
Sent.Episc.y8 (CSEL iii 1.459). O n t n e three episcopal Victores for Africa at this time see
H. von Soden, op.cit., 255ff. A. Audollent, Carthage romaine (146 av. J.-Ch.—698 ap. J.-Ch.)
(Paris, 1901), p. 489, n. 5, is unreasonably cautious on the bishoprics: 'ni les noms des
eV6ques a qui s'adresse saint Cyprien, ni le texte mfime de sa lettre ne fournissent de
preuve decisive'.
26
The sententiae of this meeting record the names of those present and their sees (CSEL iii
„ >-435ff-)-
2
?E/>.59.io.i.
28
At the widest limits c.24g-August 257 (when Cyprian was relegated to Curubis).
29
Aurelius Victor De 00*5.33.3, '. • • uti . . . Francorum gentes disrepta Gallia Hispaniam
possiderent vastato ac paene direpto Tarraconensium oppido, nactisque in tempore
navigiis pars in usque Africam permearet'. See also O. Fiebiger, 'Ein Frankeneinfall in

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 Barbarian Disturbances in North Africa in the Mid- Third Century 81
30
the repulse of 'Barbaras [qui T ] a m u d a m inrupe[rant]'; this has, not
implausibly, been associated with these Frankish invasions 31 (though the
somewhat inland site of T a m u d a militates a little against the suggestion 32 ).
Somewhat earlier troubles are recorded for the province under Severus
Alexander: S H A 58.1 registers a victory earned in Mauretania Tingitana, 3 3
and AE 1946, 52 (Volubilis) attests for the same period a '[proc. p]ro
legato', frequently a tell-tale sign of trouble. 3 4 Peace was confirmed with
the Baquates, again by a 'proc. pro legato', M . Ulpius Victor, a little later,
under Gordian {AE 1922, 57; 1952, 42, 4 3 ; 1957, 201; all Volubilis) 35 and
once more, in 245, under Philip, by M . Maturius Victorinus {CIL viii
21833, AE 1954, n o , both Volubilis). 3 6 T h a t does give some hint of
uncertain relations with the Baquates, or at the very least of a sense of
insecure control over the province. 3 7
Further east, in Mauretania Caesariensis, the district of Auzia had seen
successful ('rebus prospe[re gestis]') fighting in about 227 against a
'desperatissim[am turb]am et factionem' (that is to say, local insurgents
rather than invaders) under the procuratorial praeses, Licinius Hierocles. 38
And under the procuratorial Claudius Constans victory is celebrated at
Tipasa over '. . . et Musulafmios gjentesque ali[as . . .', 39 that is to say,
tribesmen on the Numidian border. A highly likely context for this inscription
is the period 238-253; Legio I I I Augusta, the African legion now stationed
at Numidian Lambaesis, was cashiered for these years. T h e procurator of
the neighbouring Mauretania Caesariensis may well have taken over for a
time the control of the remaining local militia for the general protection of
the African provinces in the absence of the legionary legate and his troops. 4 0

Nordafrika', Germania xxiv (1940), i45f., and J. M. Blazquez, Estructura Economicay Social
de Hispania durante la Anarquia Military el Bajo Imperio (Madrid, 1964), pp. i63ff.
30
The restorations are those established by H.-G. Pflaum, op.cit. in n. 13, pp. i6off. The
inscription concerned is AE 1939, 167.
31
By R. Thouvenot, 'Une inscription latine du Maroc', REL xvi (1939), 266ff.
32
Note the doubts entertained by Pflaum, op.cit., pp. 131 fF., and W. Seston, Diocletien et la
Te'trarchie, Vol. i (Paris, 1946), p. 118, n. 2 (dating the inscription to the end of the third
century).
33
Though the name of the general ('Furius Celsus') can be rightfully suspected of fraudulence:
see R. Syme, Ammianus and the Historia Augusta (Oxford, 1968), pp. 58f.
34
An altar is dedicated to confirm the colloquium held with the 'gens Bavarum et Baquatum';
that sounds ominous. See further R. Thouvenot, 'Rome et les Barbares africains', Publ.
du Sew. des Antiquites du Maroc vii (1945), i66ff.
35
See B. E. Thomasson, Die Statthalter der romischen Provinzen Nordafrikas von Augustus bis
Diocletianus, Vol. ii (Lund, i960), pp. 3o8f., and H.-G. Pflaum, Les carriiresprocuratoriennes
equestres sous le Haul-Empire romain (Paris, i960), pp. 842f. For the title 'procurator pro
legato' see the discussion of H.-G. Pflaum, Proc. equest. pp. I2gff.
38
Thomasson, op.cit., pp. 3ogf.
3
' T h e Baquates provided further misgivings in the time of Probus—peace is confirmed in
AE 1921, 23 and AE 1920, 44 (both Volubilis: dated between October 277 and April 280).
Ominous colloquia are ratified with the dedication of altars; the chieftains concerned were
Julius Nuffizis and his brother Julius Mirzis. See further L. Chatelain and J . Carcopino,
'Observations sur les Baquates et les Bavares de Mauretanie', Bull. arch, du Comite des
Travaux hist, et scient. (1943-5), looff.
38
See H. D'Escurac-Doisy, ' U n soulevement en Mauretanie-C&arienne sous Severe
Alexandre', in Melanges d'archeologie et d'histoire offerts a Andre Piganiol, Vol. iii (Paris, 1966),
pp. 11 g 1 ff., and H.-G. Pflaum, Carrieres proc, pp. 8o8ff.
39
C7Z, viii 9288 and 20863 ('Victoriae Augustae ducatu instantiaque Claudi Constantis
Proc. Aug.' etc.).
*°For a discussion on the ducatus of Claudius Constans, Pflaum, Proc. equest., pp. I28f.
Note the transference of a 'vexillatio Maurorum Gaesariensiurn' to Lambaesis apparently

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 82 G. W. Clarke
But other seasons of military debacle could account for the irregular posting,
so the dating must still remain conjectural.
T h e military situation further east again, in Numidia, had been confused
by the withdrawal of the protecting African legion. Disbanded in 238 for
political reasons (it had ill served the Gordians in their bid for power) III
Augusta was not reinstated until 253 by Valerian, again for political reasons
(its men had served him well in his bid for power). 4 1 This was just the
period, too, when there was considerable military re-thinking for the African
provinces—a deliberate policy of decentralization involving the development
of centenaria, fortified farm homesteads served by local, territorial limitanei.
(Precise dating is still hazardous; a general notice occurs in SHA Severus
Alexander but caution is enjoined. 42 ) It would indeed be surprising if the
habitually restless hill-tribesmen, nomadic bandits 4 3 and desert sheikhs did
not take advantage of this period of military confusion and re-organization
for engaging in their age-old habits of pillage a n d rapine.
T h e surviving inscriptions for the years in which Cyprian's epistle is to
be placed do indeed form a notable dossier of disturbance, invasion and
revolt for Mauretania Caesariensis and Numidia. Just before the terminus
post of the Cyprianic correspondence (c.249), t n e Numidian propraetorian
legate (without his visual legion), M . Aurelius Cominius Cassianus, is
found on the Tripolitanian sector of the Numidian limes engaged in the
establishment of a novum centenarium against 'incursib. barba[ro]rum' (A.D.
246/7). 4 4 Thereafter the fitful light derived from inscriptional remains casts
no illumination until the opening years of the reign of Valerian and Gallienus.
The governors of Numidia, with the newly restored legion, engage in
military action. M . Veturius Veturianus appears to be the first governor
attested after 253 (and the inscriptions suggest he was actually the first
legionary legate appointed upon the restoration of the legion 4 5 ): he records
in AE 1914, 245 (Lambaesis) a successful military command ('reb. in pr.
Numidia prospere gestis'). And a successor to this post, L. Magius Valerian us,
sometime later in the 250s, is seen at Gemellae dedicating an altar of

on the discharge of the legion: CIL viii 2716 (Lambaesis). On the remaining militia see
J. Garcopino, 'Le "Limes" de Numidie et sa garde syrienne d'apres des inscriptions
recemment decouvertes', Syria vi (1925), u8ff. at 136?.
41
See RE xii 2 s.v. Legio, 1336 for damnatio, 1339 for restauratio (Ritterling). ILS 531 dates
the restoration securely to 253 ('e Raetfia] Gemellfas] regressi').
4
2SHA Severus Alexander 58.4f. See R. MacMullcnjiSo/ifer and Civilian in the Later Roman Empire
(Cambridge, Mass., 1963), pp. 13!?., and A. di Vita, 'II limes romano di Tripolitania
nella sua concretezza archeologica e nella sua realta storica', Libya Antiqua i (1964), 65fT.
43
For banditry in Africa see R. MacMullen, op.cit., p. 266. Examples are CIL viii 2728
(Lambaesis, c. A.D. 152) where a librator, sent from Lambaesis to Saldae in Mauretania
Caesariensis, colourfully states (11. uff.) 'Profectus sum et inter vias lattrones sum passus;
nudus saucius evasi cum meis'; CIL viii 2495 (Burgi, A.D. 188) describing the establishment
of a 'burgum . . . speculatorium inter duas vias ad salutem commeantum'. Cyprian can
use 'latrones' for literary illustration as a matter of course: £^.57.4.3, 'si relictis omnibus
rebus suis fugerit et in latebris atque in solitudine constitutus in latrones forte incurrerit . . .'
and is^.58.4.2, 'si fugientem . . . latro oppresserit'.
**AE 1950, 128 (Ksar-Duib). See R. G. Goodchild and J. B. Ward Perkins, 'The Limes
Tripolitanus in the light of recent discoveries', JRS xxxix (1949), 8iff. at gif. E. Birley,
'The Governors of Numidia, A.D. 193—268', JRS xl (1950), 6off., and Thomasson, op.cit.,
Vol. ii, pp. 2l6ff.
45
See Birley, op.cit., 65 (though he incorrectly records him as being 'attested 253'),
Thomasson, op.cit., pp. 2igf. Both ILS 2296 and AE 1946, 39 (from Lambaesis) celebrate
the restoration of the legion under the command of Veturius Veturianus.

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 Barbarian Disturbances in North Africa in the Mid- Third Century 83
46
Victory (AE 1950, 63), but that may signify little. Less ambiguous evidence
does, however, come from Mauretania Caesariensis for these opening years
of the principates of Valerian-Gallienus. In early August 254, M. Aurelius
Vitalis, the governor, was expressing gratitude to, inter alios, '[vict]oriisque
dd. nn. invic[t]or . . . ob barbaros cesos et fusos'. T h a t was towards the
centre of the province in the mountainous area of Ain-bou-Dib. 4 7 Just south
of that site, but still in the Djurdjura mountains, at Auzia (Aumale),
P. Aelius Primianus could be modestly described by his son, in February of
the following year, as having been the 'defensor provinciae suae'. This
officer of Moorish cavalry appears to owe his rapid advancement to,
apparently successful, engagements in the area: 4 8 Their precise dating cannot
be determined. T w o years later, further west, at Altava, there is record of
more fighting (M. Titius Castorius in an ex-voto ' . . . r u m [sic] prospere
gestis'). 49
For both provinces the record is much more overwhelming for the latter
half of the decade of the 250s. T h e governor of Numidia, C. Macrinius
Decianus (before 260 50 ), records a formidable and concerted but successfully
quelled ('caesis fugatisque') uprising. T h e wide-spread tribesmen of the
Bavares 51 had united ('adunatis I I I I regibus') 5 2 to invade Numidia from
Mauretania Caesariensis; they were defeated firstly in the district of Milev
and then (as the invaders fell back?) on the borders of the two provinces.
Apparently, in conjunction, the Quinquegentanei in the Grande Kabylie of
Mauretania Caesariensis 53 had also invaded Numidia from their more
coastal area and were in turn defeated by Macrinius Decianus. Finally, a
rebel bandit leader who appears to have come from within Numidia itself54
('Faraxen rebellis cum satellitibus suis', ILS 2767) and who was plundering
the province, was eventually captured ('capto famosissimo duce') and put
to death through the services of the historian Gargilius Martialis. 5 5 T h e
latter himself fell victim, subsequently, in an ambush of Bavares, 'insidiis
Bavarum decepto', as we read in an effulgent funerary dedication set u p
46
Thomasson, op.cit., pp. 22of. The attempt by Birley to place the Numidian command of
C. Pomponius Magnus in the late 250s (op.cit., 65) does not convince (cf. Thomasson,
op.cit., pp. 232f., F. Barbieri, Valbo senatorio da Settimio Severo a Carino (193-285) (Rome,
1952), No. 425 and p. 601).
47
/LS 3000. See the comments of Pflaum, Proc, equest. pp. I3if.
**ILS 2766. See the comments of H.-G. Pflaum, Carrieres proc, pp. cjogff.
i9
CIL viii 21724 (the inscription might possibly be restored 'sacr[is eo]rum prospere gestis'
and is, therefore, of doubtful validity; see Pflaum, Carrieres proc, pp. gi2f.). G. Gamps,
'Les Bavares, peuples de Maur^tanie c&arienne', Revue Africaine xcix (1955), 24iff. at 268,
conjectures that the tribesmen involved were Mazices (they were troublesome earlier,
CIL viii 2786, Lambaesis). Camps curiously neglects Cyprian Ep.62 for his discussion of
the events of the 250s (2536".).
50
See Thomasson, op.cit., pp.22lff., Birley, op.cit., 65. The terminus ante is established by
ILS 2767. The highly informative inscription concerned is ILS 1194 (Lambaesis).
61
For the areas inhabited by the Bavares see G. Camps, op.cit., 2418".
62
It is tempting to associate ILS 8959 (Teniet-Meksen, in Eastern Maur. Caes.) with these
events: 'Bavarum gentes quorum omnis multitudo prostrata est interfectis Taganin Masmule
et Faiem regibus, adpraehensis etiam Afram Fa . . . vasamen et . . . inim . . .'
53
Not the first nor the last time they were the cause of trouble (e.g. CIL viii 8924, Saldae,
A.D. 290 '. . . Quinquegentaneos rebelles caesos multos etiam et vivos adprehensos sed et
praedas actas repressa desperatione eorum . . .').
54
The wording of ILS 1194 separates the 'Fraxinenses' from the invaders ('item gentilibus
Fraxinensibus qui provinciam vastabant').
55
See C. Cichorius, 'Gargilius Martialis und die Maurenkriege unter Gallienus', Leipziger
Studien zur classischen Philologie x (1886), 3198"., PIR* G 82.

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 84 G. W. Clarke
in his honour at Auzia on 26 M a r c h 260. 5 6 It would appear a proper
deduction from this inscription (his last post was 'praep. coh. sing, et vex.
[e]qq. Mauror. in territorio [A]uziensi praetendentium') that guerrilla
Bavares were active in the area of Auzia in Mauretania Caesariensis also.
T h a t adds u p to a story of great danger, widespread and simultaneous in
the two provinces. Into such a context fits the career of M. Cornelius
Octavianus. H e is now recorded securely as governor of Mauretania Caesar-
iensis, 'fpr]aesid. prov. [Mauretani]ae Caesariensis', before 262 (and after
253). 57 But in two inscriptions he is given an extraordinary title. In ILS
2JJ4. Bisica makes a dedication to its 'incomparable patron' as praefect of
the fleet at Misenum and as 'duci per Africam Numidiam Mauretaniamque'
and ILS 9006 (Macdonald, not far from Sitifis) offers confirmation:
'. . . Bavaribus [. . .] rebellibus et in [pjriori praesidatu [e]t in ducatu
[M.] Cornel. Octavianus . . . . ' It would appear that at some stage in these
turbulent years for the African provinces (perhaps on the death of a Numidian
legate ?) Cornelius Octavianus took over the role of commander-in-chief of
military operations in North Africa. And the season when the Bavares and
Quinquegentanei of the province where he was or had been governor were
the main cause of havoc, would, under our present knowledge, make the
most reasonable context. He may well have closely preceded or succeeded
Macrinius Decianus in the conduct of the war. 5 8
With this background established, some sharper details can be established
for Cyprian's epistle. T h e unknown sees of the Numidian bishops are
properly to be conjectured to have been in the more south-westerly districts
of Numidia, the known sphere of military action for the province. This
deduction must, of course, still retain the logical status of conjecture; with
such source-material arguments from silence are highly vulnerable. Secondly,
it has become virtually canonical to date the epistle to A.D. 253. 5 9 T h a t
is unwarrantedly precise. A date after Cyprian's return from volun-
tary exile during the persecution of Decius (that is, after Easter 251) 60
and before Cyprian's relegation to Curubis during the persecution of
Valerian (late August 257) 6 1 is as far as one can go. 6 2 T h e late summer of
256 should also be excluded—three of the bishops concerned were free to
i6
ILS 2767 ('ob insignem in cives amorem et singularem erga patriam adfectionem, et quod
eius virtute ac vigilantia Faraxen rebellis cum satellitibus suis fuerit captus et interfectus').
57
See H. P. D'Escurac-Doisy, 'M. Cornelius Octavianus et les revokes indigenes du I I I e
siecle d'apres une inscription de Gaesarea', Libyca i (1953), i8iff., publishing the new
information ( = AE 1954, 136). See also H.-G. Pflaum, Carriiresproc, pp. gosff., Thomasson,
op. cit., pp. 27gf.
58
/L5'4495 (Zuccabar) belongs to a subsequent period: 'Diis patriis et Mauris conservatoribus
Aelius v.p. praeses provinciae Mauretaniae Caes. ob prostratam gentem Bavarum
Mesegneitsium praedasque omnes ac familias eorum abductas votum solvit'. The rank of
Aelius Aelianus asperfectissimus implies a later date, Pflaum, Proc. equest., pp. i37f., Carrieres
proc, pp. 9488".
59
Thus Monceaux, op.cit. in n. 11, p. 79, 'en 253'; A. Harnack, 'tJber verlorene Briefe und
Aktenstilcke, die sich aus der cyprianischen Briefsammlung ermitteln lassen', Texte und
Untersuchungen xxiii (1902), p. 36, 'ann. 253'; P. Romanelli, Storia delle province
romane dell'Africa (Rome, 1959), p. 473, 'probabilmente dell'autunno dello stesso anno
253'; M. Spannent, Tertullien et les premiers moralistes africains (Paris, 1969), p. 196.
••Cyp.^.43, i.a.
"Mrta Proconsular™ Cypriani 2 (CSEL iii 3.CXI).
62
A date before the outbreak of the persecution of Decius (December 249?) cannot be
formally excluded. But three, or at the most four, epistles can be—but need not be—
ascribed to that period (out of a total of eighty-two).

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 Barbarian Disturbances in North Africa in the Mid- Third Century 85

j o u r n e y to Carthage to the Council Meeting 'de hereticis baptizandis' held

on 1 September. But a d a t i n g fixed to the year 253 (on the grounds that the
protecting legion was only being reassembled in that year?) cannot be
maintained in the light of w h a t evidence we have.
Cyprian's fears were great for the welfare of those captured (especially
'de periculo v i r g i n u m ' 6 3 ) ; the intensity of Berber violence a n d dissent, as
exemplified in the spread of tribal revolt a n d guerrilla warfare, gives
foundation to Cyprian's apprehensions on behalf of Latin-speaking, town-
dwelling Christians (as the captives in all likelihood w e r e ) . 6 4
Finally the reason why these b a r b a r i a n troubles find so exceptionally
little reflection in the writings a n d outlook of Cyprian can now be appreciated.
Such troubles in the hinterland a n d further west failed to affect in any
serious way life in Carthage, safely situated, as it was, down on the coast,
with the bulwark of mountains a n d military forces behind. Africa
Proconsularis was not a vulnerable province, a rare exception to the general
rule in this period of b a r b a r i a n invasion a n d military disaster. 6 5 Life in
Carthage went on pretty m u c h as before (though in financially straitened
circumstances 6 6 ). T h e historical testimony of the Cyprianic correspondence
must be understood, therefore, in the light of these particular circumstances
of Africa Proconsularis. 6 7

University of Melbourne G. W. CLARKE

63
Fear of lupanaria for virgins was a common theme in Christian martyr-literature, cf. Cyp.
De mort. 15. The evidence of Ep.62 is not discussed by H. Koch, 'Virgines Christi. Die
Geliibde der gottgeweihten Jungfrauen in den ersten drei Jahrhunderten', Texte und
Untersuchungen xxxi 2 (1907), pp. 62S.
8
*For the sources of discontent see the articles by T. Kotula, 'L'insurrection des Gordiens et
l'Afrique romaine', Eos 1 (1959-60), 1976"., and 'Sources du separatisme africain au III''
siecle de notre ere', Travaux de la Soc. des sciences et des lettres de Wroclaw, ser. A, lxxiv (1961),
iff. (with summary in French, io6fF.).
6
^Cf. R. M. Haywood in T. Frank, An Economic Survey of Ancient Rome, Vol. iv (Paterson,N.J.,
1959), p. 115: 'The rest of the Third Century after the Gordian revolt saw frequent raids
of the Moorish tribes. The proconsular province seems to have been free from this
constant danger . . . .'
68
Monumental edifices and public buildings are not being constructed and public inscriptions,
whereas once multitudinous, are now rare phenomena: see, for example, R. P. Duncan-
Jones, 'Costs, outlays and summae honorariae from Roman Africa', PBSR xxx (1962), 47ff.
at
53f-
67
In his treatises, too, Cyprian is notably vague and rhetorical about these contemporary
events. Thus even in the Ad Demetrianum (defending Christians against the charge of
being the cause of the world's present season of disasters) the only possible reflections are
5: 'quod autem crebrius bella continuant', 10: 'hostem quereris exurgere . . . quasi non,
etsi externa de barbaris arma et pericula conprimantur, ferocius intus et gravius de
calumniis et iniuriis potentium civium domesticae inpugnationis tela grassentur', 17 (on
God's vengeance on persecutors): 'documentum recentis rei satis est quod sic celeriter
quodque in tanta celeritate sic granditer nuper secuta defensio est ruinis rerum, iacturis
opum, dispendio militum, deminutione castrorum'. (Does Chapter 17 refer to the downfall
of the persecutor Decius? See the discussion by H . Koch, Cyprianische Untersuchungen
[Bonn, 1926], pp. 1408".). There is no reference to be found in the generalities of the
tractate De opere et eleemosynis.

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