The List of Byzantine forts and other structures in the Maghreb lists photos of the fortresses built between 533 and 698 on the territory of the Byzantine Empire in the Maghreb. On one hand, they served to pacify the Berbers within the empire and, on the other hand, to ward off external enemies.
The Vandals, who had ruled in the heartland of the former Western Roman Empire since 439, had considerable difficulties defending the national borders against the Berbers or keeping the Berbers under Vandal rule under control. [1] which prompted large landowners and smallholders alike to fortify their farms. [2] After the Eastern Roman reconquest of the areas conquered by the Vandals in the 5th century and renewed subjugation of small Roman-Berber states established in the same period, various fortresses were built there both on the border [3] as well as within the area ruled by the Eastern Romans. [4] Some of the smaller Roman forts were also repaired.
Construction of the fortresses took place mainly during the second term of office of the praetorian prefect Solomon 539 to 544, whereby the substance of older Roman buildings was often used as building material. Most of the fortresses are significantly smaller than their Roman predecessors and mostly classify as forts. Many of these forts were subsequently used and rebuilt by the Arabs and Ottomans. Some of them even served as a stylistic model for building your own fortresses. In addition, building material from Byzantine buildings was used for the construction of a number of Arab fortresses, such as the Fort Sidi Salem Bou Ghara near the Roman city of Gigthis. [5] This makes it considerably more difficult to identify a fortress in the Maghreb as Byzantine.
| Name (Latin) | Description | Location | Time of construction | Size | Bild |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aggar | Inland fortress in southern Africa Proconsularis | Sidi Amara | no data available | 0,05 ha |  |
| Ammaedara | Border fortress in the far west of the Byzacena | Haïdra | between 534 and 565 [6] | 2,55 ha |  |
| Capsa | Border fortress in southern Byzacena | Gafsa | no data available | k. A. |  |
| Chusira | Inland fortress | La Kesra | arguably between 534 and 565, more likely before 544 [7] | 0,28 ha |  |
| Civitas Vazitana Sarra | Inland fortress in Africa Proconsularis | Henchir-Bez | no data available [8] | 0,06 ha |  |
| Clupea | Inland fortress protecting the namesake city, modified in Ottoman times | Kelibia | no data available | k. A. |  |
| Cuicul | Inland fortress protecting the namesake city in Mauretania Sitifensis | Djémila | no data available [9] | 0,03 ha | ,_Numidia,_Algeria_-_52663783557.jpg) |
| Gadiaufala | Inland fortress in Numidia | Ksar Sbahi | between 539 and 544 [10] | 0,16 ha | https://www.leguidetouristique.com/ruinesbr/fort-byzantine-gadiovala-ksar-al-sobihi |
| Iunci | Inland fortress on the coast of the Byzacena | (Younga) near Sfax | during the tenure of Justin II. (566–578) [11] | no data available |  |
| Lamasba | Inland/border fortress in the Belezma range often called Ksar Belezma | Mérouana | between 536 and 544 [12] | 1,4 ha |  |
| Lambaesis | Inland/border fortress south of the Belezma range | Tazoult-Lambèse | no data available [13] | no data available |  |
| Leptis Magna | Fortified coastal city in Tripolitania | Leptis Magna | arguably between 533 and 565 [14] | 28 ha |  |
| Limisa | Inland fortress in the north of the Byzacena | Ksar Lemsa | arguably between 585 and 600 [15] | 0,09 ha |  |
| Mactaris | Inland fortress in Africa Proconsularis | Maktar | no data available [16] | 0,35 ha |  |
| Madauros | Inland fortress close to the coast in Mauretania Sitifensis | Madauros | between 534 and 544 [17] | 0,24 ha |  |
| Musti | Inland fortress in Africa Proconsularis | Mustis | no data available [18] | 0,2 ha |  |
| ? | Inland fortress | Ksar El Hadid | no data available | no data available |  |
| Oea | Fortified coastal city in Tripolitania | Tripolis | presumably by Phonicians in the 7th century b.C. | no data available |  |
| Sabratha | Fortified coastal city in Tripolitania | Sabrata | arguably between 533 and 565 [19] | 9,0 ha |  |
| Sicca Veneria | Inland fortress to protect the city | El Kef | arguably between 533 and 565 [20] | no data available |  |
| Sitifis | Inland fortress to protect the city | Sétif | between 539 and 544 [21] | 1,69 ha |  |
| Suas | Inland fortress in Africa Proconsularis | Chaouach | no data available | no data available. |  |
| Sufetula | Inland fortress in the far southwest of the Byzacena | Sbeitla | no data available | no data available |  |
| Thamugadi | Inland/border fortress in Numidia | Timgad | 539/540 [22] | 0,75 ha | .jpg) |
| Thagura | Inland fortress in Numidien | close to Souq Ahras | 539/or 548 („before the death of Theodora“) [23] | 0,53 ha | https://www.leguidetouristique.com/ruinesbr/thagura-taoura |
| Theveste | Fortified town in eastern Numidia | Tebessa | between 536 and 544 [24] | 7,5 ha |  |
| Thignica | Inland fortress in Africa Proconsularis | Ain Tounga | arguably before the death of Justinian I. 565 [25] | 0,28 ha |  |
| Tipasa | Basilika an der Küste von Mauretania Prima | Tipasa | no data available | no data available |  |
| Tipasa | Inland fortress, possibly city fortifications in Numidien | Tifech | presumably before 553 [26] | 2,25 ha [27] | https://harba-dz.com/annuaire-algerie/41-wilaya-de-souk-ahras/site-de-tiffeche-tipaza-de-numidie/ |
| Tubunae | Border fortress in Mauretania Sitifensis | Tobna | in the 6.th century, no details [28] | 0,50 ha | https://www.leguidetouristique.com/ruinesbr/tobna |
| Tubernuc | Structure of unknown purpose in Africa Proconsularis | close to Grombalia | no data available | no data available |  |
| Vaga | inland fortress in Numidia | Béja | before the death of Empress Theodora in 548 [29] | no data available |  |
| Vescera? | Possible border fortress in Numidien | Biskra | no data available | no data available |  |
| Zabi | Possible border fortress in Mauretania Sitifensis [30] | M'Sila, Ortsteil Bechilga | no data available | no data available | |
| Zaga? | Potential inland fortress in Africa Proconsularis [31] | Ksar Zaga | no data available | no data available |  |
| Zucchara | Inland fortress in southern Africa Proconsularis | Ain-Djoukar | no data available | no data available |  |
The 540s decade ran from January 1, 540, to December 31, 549.
Year 547 (DXLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 547 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Mauretania is the Latin name for a region in the ancient Maghreb. It extended from central present-day Algeria to the Atlantic, encompassing northern present-day Morocco, and from the Mediterranean in the north to the Atlas Mountains. Its native inhabitants, of Berber ancestry, were known to the Romans as the Mauri and the Masaesyli.
The Exarchate of Africa was a division of the Byzantine Empire around Carthage that encompassed its possessions on the Western Mediterranean. Ruled by an exarch (viceroy), it was established by the Emperor Maurice in 591 and survived until the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb in the late 7th century. It was, along with the Exarchate of Ravenna, one of two exarchates established following the western reconquests under Emperor Justinian I to administer the territories more effectively.
The Muslim conquest of the Maghreb or Arab conquest of the Maghreb by the Rashidun and Umayyad Caliphates commenced in 647 and concluded in 709, when the Byzantine Empire lost its last remaining strongholds to Caliph Al-Walid I. The North African campaigns were part of the century of rapid early Muslim conquests.
Khamissa, ancient Thubursicum Numidarum or Thubursicum, is an Ancient Roman and Byzantine archeological site, in Souk Ahras Province of northeastern Algeria.
The Praetorian Prefecture of Africa was an administrative division of the Byzantine Empire in the Maghreb. With its seat at Carthage, it was established after the reconquest of northwestern Africa from the Vandals in 533–534 by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. It continued to exist until 591, when it was replaced by the Exarchate of Africa.
Gregory the Patrician was a Byzantine Exarch of Africa. A relative of the ruling Heraclian dynasty, Gregory was fiercely pro-Chalcedonian and led a rebellion in 646 against Emperor Constans II over the latter's support for Monothelism. Soon after declaring himself emperor, he faced an Arab invasion in 647. He confronted the invaders but was decisively defeated and killed at Sufetula. Africa returned to imperial allegiance after his death and the Arabs' withdrawal, but the foundations of Byzantine rule there had been fatally undermined.
Mauri was the Latin designation for the Berber population of Mauretania, located in the west side of North Africa on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, Mauretania Tingitana and Mauretania Caesariensis, in present-day Morocco and northwestern Algeria.
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Altava was an ancient Romano-Berber city in present-day Algeria. It served as the capital of the ancient Berber Kingdom of Altava. During the French presence, the town was called Lamoriciere. It was situated in the modern Ouled Mimoun near Tlemcen.
Gennadius, was a Byzantine general who exercised the role of Exarch of Africa from 648 to 665. In 664 Gennadius rebelled against Emperor Constans II and was himself overthrown the next year by a loyalist uprising. He is sometimes enumerated as Gennadius II in reference to the 6th century governor of Africa with the same name.
Solomon was an East Roman (Byzantine) general from northern Mesopotamia, who distinguished himself as a commander in the Vandalic War and the reconquest of North Africa in 533–534. He spent most of the next decade in Africa as its governor general, combining the military post of magister militum with the civil position of praetorian prefect. Solomon successfully confronted the large-scale rebellion of the native Berbers, but was forced to flee following an army mutiny in spring of 536. His second tenure in Africa began in 539 and it was marked by victories over the Berbers, which led to the consolidation of the Byzantine position. A few years of prosperity followed, but were cut short by the rekindled Berber revolt and Solomon's defeat and death at the Battle of Cillium in 544.
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Eleutherios the Younger was a Byzantine official who overthrew Gennadios and possibly succeeded him as Exarch of Africa.
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The Kingdom of Altava was an independent Christian Berber kingdom centered on the city of Altava in present-day northern Algeria. The Kingdom of Altava was a successor state of the previous Mauro-Roman Kingdom which had controlled much of the ancient Roman province of Mauretania Caesariensis. During the reign of Kusaila, it extended from Volubilis in the west to the Aurès and later Kairaouan and the interior of Ifriqiya in the east. This Kingdom collapsed following Eastern Roman military campaigns to decrease its influence and power after Garmul invaded the Exarchate of Africa.
The Battle of Sufetula took place in 647 between the Arab Muslim forces of the Rashidun Caliphate and the Byzantine Exarchate of Africa.
The Mauro-Roman kingdom, also described as the kingdom of Masuna, was a Christian Berber kingdom which dominated much of the ancient Roman province of Mauretania Caesariensis from the capital city of Altava. Scholars are in disagreement about whether the polity aimed for independence as a kingdom or was part of a loose confederation, an alternative hypothesis drawn from contextual knowledge about Berber tribal alliances. In the fifth century, Roman control over the province weakened and Imperial resources had to be concentrated elsewhere, notably in defending the Roman Italy itself from invading Germanic tribes. Moors and Romans in Mauretania came to operate independently from the Empire. However, regional leaders may not have necessarily felt abandoned by the Romans.
The Kingdom of the Aurès was an independent Christian Berber kingdom primarily located in the Aurès Mountains of present-day north-eastern Algeria. Established in the 480s by King Masties following a series of Berber revolts against the Vandalic Kingdom, which had conquered the Roman province of Africa in 435 AD, Aurès would last as an independent realm until the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb in 703 AD when its last monarch, Queen Dihya, was slain in battle.
