Roman Colonization of North Africa by Celts?

[Eleatic Guest]

Did the Romans found any colonies in Northern Africa with Romano-Celtic veterans? Or differently asked, was there any (Ibero-)Celtic migration to these parts in Roman times other than by the odd individual?

[starman2012]

Did the Romans found any colonies in Northern Africa with Romano-Celtic veterans?

Never heard of it. You'd think Romano-celtic veterans received land in spain or Gaul. The need for a strong Roman presence there was greater than in Africa, which until the fifth century didn't faced such potentially great threats.

[Marcus The Beginner]

Did the Romans found any colonies in Northern Africa with Romano-Celtic veterans? Or differently asked, was there any (Ibero-)Celtic migration to these parts in Roman times other than by the odd individual?

I vaguely remember hearing someone saying that in northwest Africa, Rome had settled some Celtic auxiliary troops (connected with a legion, during imperial times). But my memory can never be trusted.

[S. Marcer]

Hello Everybody,
For what I remember, Gaius Marius sent some veterans in the regions of the defeated kingdom of Numidia, and Caesar followed his example founding colonies in the African coast sending italic veterans, but also Gallic and Africans. Among these (If I don't remember badly!!) there were in Tunisia Thabraca, Hippo Diarrhytus, Uthina, …

Very Best!
S.M.

[Theodosius the Great]

Avete,

Reading the wiki page on Mauretania Tingitana I came across this (unsourced) information about the city of Volubilis :

Volubilis had perhaps twenty thousand inhabitants at most in the second century. On the evidence of inscriptions, only around ten to twenty per cent of them were of European origin, mainly Spanish; the rest were local.

I suspect this region had a continuous Hispanic presence stretching back to the Punic period. It was attached to the diocese of Hispaniae (Spain) by Diocletian and remained so until the Vandalic invasion of the Iberian peninsula and North Africa. But when the Visigoths established their independent kingdom in Spain they also took control of both sides of the strait. So, there was still continuity with this region being connected with Spain until the Arab conquest.

You'd think Romano-celtic veterans received land in spain or Gaul. The need for a strong Roman presence there was greater than in Africa, which until the fifth century didn't faced such potentially great threats.

The potential was always there. Since antiquity the Iberian peninsula has endured invasions from Africa. A war took place in Mauretania during the mid-second century A.D.. Moorish raids into Spain (Baetica) prompted Marcus Aurelius to send reinforcements from the Balkins to pacify the region. (BTW, Baetica was the emperor's ancestral homeland).

Also, Maximian spent two whole years just fighting the Moors in North Africa with seven new legions plus eighteen vexillations. The Moors had a reach comparable to the Germanic raids but they are overlooked in favor of the latter by moderns.

~Theo

[starman2012]

Also, Maximian spent two whole years just fighting the Moors in North Africa with seven new legions plus eighteen vexillations. The Moors had a reach comparable to the Germanic raids but they are overlooked in favor of the latter by moderns.

Why did they go after Spain instead of Carthage, like Alaric planned and the Vandals did? Maybe Proconsularis didn't become really important until the latter period.

[Nathan Ross]

Maximian spent two whole years just fighting the Moors in North Africa with seven new legions plus eighteen vexillations.

What source are you using? I know there were a couple of vexillations from the Danube in Mauretania at the time, and possibly a praetorian cohort attested there too, but beyond that I didn't think there was any information on Maximian's army...

[Theodosius the Great]

Why did they go after Spain instead of Carthage, like Alaric planned and the Vandals did?

Invading southern Spain (Baetica) was an easier option since no legions were stationed there. The only legion was Legio VII Gemina and it was based in northern Spain (Tarroconesis) in modern León.

Also, the straits of Gibraltar seem to have been infested with Frankish pirates at this time which raises questions about the state of the Roman navy in the third century.

Carthage had a far more powerful garrison but it wasn't safe from raids either, hence, the war Maximian conducted against the Berber/Moorish tribes.

What source are you using? I know there were a couple of vexillations from the Danube in Mauretania at the time, and possibly a praetorian cohort attested there too, but beyond that I didn't think there was any information on Maximian's army...

I am using AHM Jones (The Later Roman Empire, pg. 59) who gives the numbers for Mauretania.

And Stephen Williams (Diocletian and the Roman Recovery, pg. 75) who says Maximian collected a considerable force, made up from Praetorian cohorts, contingents from the legions of Aquileia, Egypt, and the lower Danube, Gallic and German auxiliaries, and new Thracian recruits. With this force he crossed the straits from Spain, closing both coasts to Frankish pirates, and pursued the Moorish tribes back to the mountains deep into their territory.

~Theo

[starman2012]

Also, the straits of Gibraltar seem to have been infested with Frankish pirates at this time which raises questions about the state of the Roman navy in the third century.

So do the seaborne Gothic raids around midcentury. The navy must've essentially disappeared.