Iᵉʳ siècle av. J.-C. – Iᵉʳ siècle
North Africa and the central Sahara
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A sequence of Roman military and exploratory expeditions from the late first century BC to the late first century AD into the southern limits of Roman North Africa, the Fezzan, and regions identified with Agisymba. These operations involved campaigns against the Garamantes and desert raiders, the development of shorter routes, and Julius Maternus’s journey from Lepcis Magna through Garamantian territory toward a land associated with rhinoceroses.
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Le récit
Roman movements into the Sahara remained limited but included several campaigns and journeys directed toward the Fezzan and adjacent desert regions. Cornelius Balbus campaigned in 19 BC, in an operation located by J. Desanges in the southern Department of Constantine, Ghadames, and the Fezzan. Suetonius Paulinus later travelled from Pomaria, identified with modern Tlemcen, toward the river Ger, probably the Wadi Guir in southeastern Morocco, in AD 42.
Further actions targeted the Garamantes. The excerpt records campaigns by Junius Blaesus and Cornelius Dolabella in AD 21–24, Valerius Festus in AD 69, and Suellius or Septimius Flaccus in AD 86. Festus was credited with finding a shorter route to the Fezzan, while Flaccus’s success may have improved relations between Rome and the Garamantes.
In AD 90, Julius Maternus travelled from Lepcis Magna through Garamantian territory to Agisymba, a region associated with rhinoceroses. The journey may have benefited from improved Roman-Garamantian relations and possibly from camel use, although the excerpt stresses that the surviving account does not mention camels. These expeditions were exceptional: before the seventh century AD, crossing the Sahara appears to have remained largely a Libyan-Berber activity rather than a regular Roman undertaking.
Iᵉʳ siècle av. J.-C. – Iᵉʳ siècle
North Africa and the central Sahara
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
A sequence of Roman military and exploratory expeditions from the late first century BC to the late first century AD into the southern limits of Roman North Africa, the Fezzan, and regions identified with Agisymba. These operations involved campaigns against the Garamantes and desert raiders, the development of shorter routes, and Julius Maternus’s journey from Lepcis Magna through Garamantian territory toward a land associated with rhinoceroses.
Poursuivre l’exploration
Le récit
Roman movements into the Sahara remained limited but included several campaigns and journeys directed toward the Fezzan and adjacent desert regions. Cornelius Balbus campaigned in 19 BC, in an operation located by J. Desanges in the southern Department of Constantine, Ghadames, and the Fezzan. Suetonius Paulinus later travelled from Pomaria, identified with modern Tlemcen, toward the river Ger, probably the Wadi Guir in southeastern Morocco, in AD 42.
Further actions targeted the Garamantes. The excerpt records campaigns by Junius Blaesus and Cornelius Dolabella in AD 21–24, Valerius Festus in AD 69, and Suellius or Septimius Flaccus in AD 86. Festus was credited with finding a shorter route to the Fezzan, while Flaccus’s success may have improved relations between Rome and the Garamantes.
In AD 90, Julius Maternus travelled from Lepcis Magna through Garamantian territory to Agisymba, a region associated with rhinoceroses. The journey may have benefited from improved Roman-Garamantian relations and possibly from camel use, although the excerpt stresses that the surviving account does not mention camels. These expeditions were exceptional: before the seventh century AD, crossing the Sahara appears to have remained largely a Libyan-Berber activity rather than a regular Roman undertaking.