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{{Short description|North African people in antiquity}}
{{Redirect|Getulia|the genus of moth|Getulia (moth)}}
'''Gaetuli''' was the Romanised name of an ancient [[Berbers|Berber]] tribe inhabiting ''Getulia''. The latter district covered the large desert region south of the [[Atlas Mountains]], bordering the [[Sahara]]. Other documents{{which|date=October 2023}} place Gaetulia in pre-[[Roman Empire|Roman]] times along the Mediterranean coasts of what is now [[Algeria]] and [[Tunisia]], and north of the Atlas. During the Roman period, according to Pliny the Elder, the [[Autololes]] Gaetuli established themselves south of the province of [[Mauretania Tingitana]], in modern-day [[Morocco]].<ref name="autololes">{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://journals.openedition.org/encyclopedieberbere/154 |encyclopedia=Encyclopédie berbère |title=Autolatae / Autololes / Autoteles |language=French |first=J. |last=Desanges |pages=1175–1176 |doi=10.4000/encyclopedieberbere.154 |volume=8 |year=1990|issue=8 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The name of the [[Godala]]<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |first=G. |last=Camps |title=Gudâla/Guezula  |encyclopedia=Encyclopédie berbère |volume=21 |year=1999 |issue=21 |access-date=18 September 2020 |pages=3223–3224 |url=http://journals.openedition.org/encyclopedieberbere/1788 |doi=10.4000/encyclopedieberbere.1788 |language=fr|doi-access=free }}</ref> people is hypothesized to be derived from the word Gaetuli.

==Region==
[[File:Mauretania et Numidia.jpg|thumb|300px|Map locating Getulia south of [[Mauretania]]]]
Getulia was the name given to an ancient district in the [[Maghreb]], which in the usage of Roman writers comprised the nomadic Berber tribes of the southern slopes of the [[Aures Mountains]] and [[Atlas Mountains]], as far as the [[Atlantic]], and the oases in the northern part of the [[Sahara]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=385}} The Gaetulian people were among the oldest inhabitants in northwestern Africa recorded in classical writings.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland |volume=1 |year=1872 |pages=xl-lxi |title=On the Kimmerian and Atlantean Races |first=Hector |last=MacLean |doi=10.2307/2841286 |jstor=2841286}}</ref> They mainly occupied the area of modern-day [[Algeria]] as far north as Gigthis in the southwestern region of [[Tunisia]]{{sfn|Pliny the Elder|1855}} and Southern [[Tripolitania]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lct6EAAAQBAJ&dq=gaetuli+Tripolitania&pg=PA75|title=a Companion to North Africa in Antiquity|page=75|isbn=9781444350012 |last1=Bruce Hitchner |first1=R. |date=29 March 2022 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons }}</ref> They were bordered by the [[Garamantes]] people to the east and were under the coastal Libyes people.<ref>{{cite book |author=Strabo |title=Geography |volume=Book II, Chapter V}}</ref><ref name=AmJourn>{{cite journal |journal=The American Journal of Philology |volume=122 |issue=2 |year=2001 |pages=179–200 |title=The Myth of Numidian Origins in Sallust's African Excursus (''Iugurtha'' 17.7-18.12) |first=Robert |last=Morstein-Marx |doi=10.1353/ajp.2001.0026|s2cid=162375634 }}</ref> The coastal region of Mauritania was above them and, although they shared many similar characteristics, were distinct from the Mauri people that inhabited it.{{sfn|Pliny the Elder|1855}} The Gaetulians were exposed to the conditions of the harsh African interior near the [[Sahara]] and produced skillful hardened warriors.<ref name=AmJourn /> They were known for horse rearing, and according to [[Strabo]] had 100,000 foals in a single year. They were clad in skins, lived on meat and milk, and the only manufacture connected with their name is that of the purple dye that became famous from the time of [[Caesar Augustus|Augustus]], and was made from the purple shellfish [[Murex|Murex brandaris]] found on the coast, apparently both in the Syrtes and on the Atlantic.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=385}}

==Roman perceptions==
[[File:Pliny the Elder.png|500px|thumbnail|right|[[Pliny the Elder]]]]
The writings of several ancient Roman histories, most notably [[Sallust]], depict the various indigenous North African tribes as a uniform state and refer to them collectively as the [[Ancient Libya|Libyans]] and Gaetuli.{{sfn|Fage|1979}}  At the beginning of Roman colonization in North Africa, Sallust writes that the Gaetuli were ''ignarum nominis Romani'' (''Iug.'' 80.1), ignorant of the Roman name.{{sfn|Sallust|1899|loc=ch. 80}} [[Sallust]] also describes the Libyans and Gaetuli as a "rude and uncivilized folk" who were "governed neither by institutions nor law, nor were they subject to anyone’s rule."{{sfn|Sallust|1899|loc=ch. 17}}

Later accounts contradict that description. [[Pliny the Elder]] claims that the Gaetuli were essentially different from other indigenous North African [[Numidian]] tribes despite sharing the same language.{{sfn|Pliny the Elder|1855}} Contemporary historians acknowledge the significant ethnic divisions between the Berber tribes and the existence of individual kings and separate political spheres.{{sfn|Fage|1979|p=184}}

==History==

{{contradiction|date=June 2022}} <!-- Gaetuli have "further records" after they "cease to appear"??--> 

Roman records of the Gaetuli first emerge during the [[Jugurthine War]] when the group of tribes served as an auxiliary force in [[Jugurtha]]’s army against the Romans. This was the first recorded contact between the Romans and the Gaetuli and is the earliest Roman record of the tribes. During the [[Jugurthine War]] the Gaetuli attacked and harassed Roman forces and possessed cavalry regiments that provided a significant challenge to the Roman legions.<ref>{{cite book |title=A Commentary on Lucan, "''De bella civili''" IV: Introduction, Edition, and Translation |first=Paolo |last=Asso |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |year=2010 |isbn=978-3110203851 }}</ref> After a truce negotiated between the [[Numidians]] and the Romans led to the end of the war the Gaetuli forces were disbanded.

Gaetulian forces next appear as forces loyal to [[Gaius Marius]] during the ''[[Bellum Octavianum]]'', a civil war in 87 BC. Possibly in return for land the Gaetulian forces fought for Marius against [[Gnaeus Octavius (consul 87 BC)|Gnaeus Octavius]].<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Tribe an Faction : the Case of the Gaetuli |first=Elisabeth |last=Fentress |title=[[Mélanges de l'École française de Rome: Antiquité]] |publisher=|year=1982 |volume=94 |pages=325–6}}</ref> After almost 90 years of documented peace between the Gaetuli and Rome the tribes invaded the Roman occupied area in what became known as the "Gaetulian War" in 3 AD. Some historians describe the war more as an uprising that occurred as a result of possible land incursions and Roman mandated control of the movement of the semi-nomadic Gaetuli. In response to the attack, forces led by [[Cossus Cornelius Lentulus Gaetulicus (consul 1 BC)|Cossus Cornelius Lentulus]] were dispatched to put down the invasion which they successfully accomplished in 6 A.D.{{sfn|Cherry|1998|p=38}} Cossus Cornelius Lentulus was given the surname Gaetulicus for his successful campaign.<ref>{{cite book |title=A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology |volume=Earinus-Nyx |first=William |last=Smith |publisher=Unknown |year=1880}}</ref>

In 17 AD the [[Musulamii]] tribe, a Gaetulian sub-tribe led by [[Tacfarinas]], fought back against the Romans over the building of a road across Musulamii territory by the [[Legio III Augusta]]. The [[Musulamii]] were joined in the conflict against the Romans by the Gaetuli and the neighboring [[Garamantes]]. This was the largest war in the [[Algeria]] region of [[Africa (Roman province)|Roman Africa]] in the history of Roman occupation.{{sfn|Cherry|1998|p=39}} After the defeat of the [[Musulamii]] the Gaetuli ceased to appear in Roman military record. Further records of the Gaetuli indicate that soldiers from the tribes served as auxiliary forces in the Roman army, while the tribes themselves provided the Empire with a range of exotic animals and purple dye among other goods through trade. Records indicate that many of the animals used in Roman games were acquired through trade connections with the Gaetuli.{{sfn|Lee|Finkelpearl|Graverini|2014}}

==Culture==

===Lifestyle===
The region of Gaetulia hosted a multitude of climates and thus forced the Gaetulian tribes to adopt several different means of habitation. They are documented living in huts, presumably in the more mountainous, inland portions of Gaetulia and also under the hulls of overturned ships in the coastal regions.{{sfn|Sallust|1899|loc=ch. 17}}{{sfn|Fage|1979|p=143}} The mobility and varying living styles likely contributed to the difficulty of Roman historians to accurately define the Gaetuli in both a political and cultural sense.

[[Sallust]] and [[Pliny the Elder]] both mention the warlike tendencies of the Gaetuli, which is supported by the frequent accounts of Gaetuli invasions. These accounts appear to demonstrate that the Gaetuli did not discriminate in their targets, as they are recorded invaded both Roman territories as well as other Numidian tribes.{{sfn|Fishwick|Shaw|1976|p=492}}

The Gaetuli frequently intermarried with other tribes. [[Apuleius]] references his semi-Gaetulian, semi-Numidian heritage in his ''Apologia'' (c. 170 CE).<ref>{{cite book |author=Apuleius |title=Apologia |volume=Chapter 24, Section 1}}</ref> Sallust also mentions that the Gaetuli intermarried with the [[Persian people|Persians]] and gradually merged with them, becoming [[nomad]]s.{{sfn|Sallust|1899|loc=ch. 18.3}}

===Economy===
Given their nomadic nature, the Gaetuli were largely self-sufficient. According to [[Sallust]] the Gaetuli would feed "on the flesh of wild animals and on the fruits of the earth."{{sfn|Sallust|1899|loc=ch. 18.}} Following the [[Battle of Carthage (c. 149 BC)]], Roman merchants were able to increase contact with the indigenous Berber tribes and establish trade.{{sfn|Fage|1979|p=200}}

In ''[[Deipnosophistae]]'', [[Athenaeus]] mentions several desired crops native to the [[Numidia]] and Gaetulia regions. The Gaetuli grew and traded [[asparagus]] which was "the thickness of a Cyprian reed, and twelve feet long".<ref>{{cite book |author=Athenaeus |title=The Deipnosophists'' or ''Banquet of the Learned of Athenaeus |location=London |publisher=Henry G. Bohn |year=1854 |at=ch. 2.62}}</ref>

Roman colonies in Gaetulia primarily exchanged goods with the Gaetuli for [[murex]], an indigenous shellfish on the Gaetulia coastline (used to create purple dye) and for the exotic fauna native to the region, notably lions, gazelles and tigers.{{sfn|Pliny the Elder|1855|loc=ch. 1}}{{sfn|Lee|Finkelpearl|Graverini|2014|p=298}} In Horace's ''[[Odes (Horace)|Odes]]'', the image of a Gaetulian lion is used to symbolize a great threat.<ref>Horace, ''Ode'' 1.23</ref> The ferocity and great size of Gaetulian lions contributed to their status as a luxury commodity and Rome is recorded to have imported many to Italy.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Robert J. |last=Baker |title=The Rustle of Spring in Horace (''Carm.'', I, 23) |journal=American Journal of Philology |volume=92 |issue=1 |year=1971 |pages=71–75 |doi=10.2307/293281 |jstor=293281}}</ref>

===Religion===
In [[Roman mythology]], [[Iarbas]] was the son of a North African god, [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]] [[Amun|Hammon]], and a [[Garamantes|Garamantian]] [[nymph]]. Iarbas became the first king of Gaetuli. In [[Virgil]]'s ''[[Aeneid]]'', Iarbas falls in love with the [[Punics|Carthaginian]] queen [[Dido]], but is rejected as Dido prefers the suitor [[Aeneas]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Virgil |title=The Aeneid |translator=Robert Fagles |location=United States of America |publisher=Viking Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-670-03803-9}}</ref>

From the period of [[Late Antiquity]] until the [[Early Muslim conquests|Islamic conquests]], it can be speculated that at least a portion of the Gaetuli converted to [[Nicene Christianity]] or heresies thereof such as [[Donatism]], like other Christian Berber tribes.

==See also==
* [[Gaetulian lion]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book |last=Cherry |first=David |title=Frontier and Society in Roman North Africa |location=Oxford University Press |year=1998}}
* {{EB1911|wstitle=Gaetulia|volume=11|pages=385–386}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Fage |editor-first=J. D. |title=The Cambridge History of Africa |edition=1st |volume=2 |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1979}}
* {{cite journal |first1=Duncan |last1=Fishwick |first2=Brent D. |last2=Shaw |title=Ptolemy of Mauretania and the Conspiracy of Gaetulicus |journal=Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte |volume=25 |issue=4 |year=1976 |pages=491–494 |jstor=4435530 }}
* {{cite book |editor1-first=Benjamin Todd |editor1-last=Lee |editor2-first=Ellen |editor2-last=Finkelpearl |editor3-first=Luca |editor3-last=Graverini |title=Apuleius and Africa |work=Aonis Sonia Sabnis |publisher=Routledge Press |year=2014 |name-list-style=amp}}
* {{cite book |author=Pliny the Elder |title=The Natural History |translator1=John Bostock |translator2=H.T. Riley |location=London |publisher=Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street |year=1855 |url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3atext%3a1999.02.0137 |via=Perseus}}
* {{cite book |author=Sallust |title=The Jugurthine War |translator=Rev. John Selby Watson, M.A. |location=New York and London |publisher=Harper & Brothers |year=1899}}

{{Territories with limited Roman Empire occupation & presence}}
{{Berber}}

[[Category:Berber peoples and tribes]]
[[Category:Ancient Algeria]]
[[Category:Countries in ancient Africa]]

[[pt:Getúlia]]