Not that calm had descended altogether. Nor did Rome abandon aggression and content herself with consolidation. A series of proconsuls earned triumphs ex Africa, five of them in the period 24—19 B.C.[331]Details of the campaigns escape us for the most part, as do motives, location and the identity of the foe. Evidence does not permit characterization of them either as defence of the frontier or as extension of empire. The southern boundaries of the provinces were fluid. One can hardly draw a distinction between protection of Roman interests and intimidation of semi-nomadic tribes. The legio III Augusta remained as a continuing presence even after the Senate took official responsibility in 27 B.C. Of the triumphs recorded, details survive only for the campaign of L. Cornelius Balbus who gained his reward in 19 B.C. Balbus, a friend and loyal lieutenant of Augustus and a man experienced in Africa, drove deeply into the territory of the Garamantes, the restive Berber people who dwelled south of the Roman province. Pliny describes the triumph, with a catalogue of the towns and tribes whence came the spoils displayed by Balbus. The extent of his victories indicates carefully planned campaigns with a number of columns to penetrate the present Fezzan and its environs. Balbus' well-earned triumph suggests a systematic thrust to intimidate the Berber. And Augustus could take credit for his subordinate's accomplishment. Virgil's homage to the princeps' imperialism makes special mention of the subjugation of the Garamantes.[332]
The intimidation apparently took effect. Two decades passed with no evidence of trouble from the nomadic or semi-nomadic tribes on the fringes of the province. The stationing of legio III Augusta at Ammaedara no doubt helped to keep matters under control.[333] Troubles did not recommence until c. a.d. 2: another imperator, L. Passienus Rufus, gained triumphal honours for victories in Africa.[334] The triumph presupposes rebellion and upheaval. And other fragmentary evidence confirms it: the Gaetulians and Musulamii in the region of the Syrtes engaged in guerilla warfare against Roman rule and against Rome's commanders, until subdued in a.d. 6 by Cossus Cornelius Lentulus who would pass to his son the commemorative title of Gaetulicus.[335] It may have been during these same years that the Garamantes rose again, together with the
Marmarides, providing occasion for another Roman military success, that of Sulpicius Quirinius, who with modesty uncharacteristic of imperatores, declined the honorific name of Marmaricus.98 Testimony is thin and woefully inadequate. But it is plain that the stability imposed by Balbus' successes did not endure through the reign of Augustus. Native resistance to Roman rule resurfaced when opportunity arose, a periodic rejection of the pax Augusta.
Roman influence, limited on the southern borderlands, spread along the Mediterranean coast of Africa. The ruler of Mauretania, Bocchus, died in 3 j в.с. and Octavian took charge of his kingdom, keeping it out of the hands of any native prince and transforming it into a direct Roman dependency." Precisely how the region was administered in subsequent years remains obscure. Mauretania does not appear among the provinces enlisted on Octavian's side in 32 B.C., nor among those assigned in the settlement of 27 в.с.100 The nature of its governance eludes inquiry, but Rome directly or indirectly, took responsibility for it. In 25 B.C., however, the arrangement gave way to a new solution: Augustus turned the realm over to Juba II, son of the former king of Numidia whose dominion had been annexed by Caesar.101 The transfer had perhaps been anticipated from the start, or else Augustus gradually recognized the undue burden of extending Roman resources to administer north Africa all the way to the Atlantic. In any event, the scholarly Juba, now accorded a new throne and assigned new duties, accepted the role of loyal and dependent client.102
The princeps, however, did not pin his faith entirely upon the client king in Mauretania. Nor exclusively on military force in the border regions of Africa Vetus and Africa Nova. Augustus embarked on a systematic policy of colonization. In addition to restocking Carthage and Cirta, he planted three or four colonies in Africa Vetus, at least two in Africa Nova, and twelve in Mauretania. And he further setded veterans and other colonists in rural districts, the pagi outside the towns.103
Roman presence in north Africa increased markedly under Augustus. A garrison at Ammaedara, military action in the frontier zones, a dependent ruler in Mauretania and, perhaps, twenty colonial foundations all reinforced that presence. The need to secure an area which
SEG IX.6.65; Flor. 11.31.41. The date is quite uncertain; Rachet 1970 (c 297) 77, n. 4.
Dio xux.45.7. 100 Aug. RG 25.2; Dio l.6.3-4, lin.12.4-7.
Dio uu.26.2; Strab. vi.4.2 (288Q; xvii.3.7 (828Q. It is unlikely, despite Dio, li.ij.6, that Numidia had been restored to Juba II in the meantime and was now exchanged for Mauretania. See the arguments of Romanelli 1959 (e 760) 1 j6—8; Ritter 1987 (c 299) 137-42.
On Mauretania between 3 3 and 2 3 B.C., see Pavis d'Escurac 198 2 (c 296) 219-2 5; Mackie 1983 (e 753) 333-42 - highly conjectural. On Juba, see Romanelli 1959 (e 760) 162-74; Pavis d'Escurac 1982 (c 296) 225-9.
Evidence and discussion in Romanelli 1959 (e 760) 187-226; Benabou 1976 (e 715) 50-7; Kienast 1982 (c 136) 395-7; Pavis d'Escurac 1982 (c 296) 229-30; Mackie 1983 (e 753) 332-38.
served as an important source of grain supplied prime motivation. But the measures also provoked resentment and retaliation, guerrilla warfare and disruption by native peoples. The shoring up of Roman authority had at the same time generated challenges to that authority and stirred sentiments that would lead to even more explosive reaction in the reign of Augustus' successor.
VII. THE ALPS
The Alps loomed over northern Italy, a haven for fierce tribes and violent folk who might menace the Roman hold on Gaul and disrupt communications from Italy. For Augustus, ready access through that barrier and containment of restive tribes who could obstruct movement were important desiderata. And he made certain to achieve those goals. That larger motives held - a prelude to comprehensive conquests in the Balkans and Germany - would be a hasty conclusion and premature judgment.
The young triumvir recognized early the importance of controlling the Little and Great St Bernard passes, the routes to Helvetia and the Upper Rhine. His officer Antistius Vetus attacked the Salassi in 34 в.с., tough warriors who inhabited the higher reaches and represented constant danger to that region. Initial efforts miscarried, as the Salassi first surrendered and then expelled a Roman garrison with scorn and glee. The imperial legate Valerius Messalla retaliated a few years later, but success again was short-lived. Subjugation of the recalcitrant Salassi came only in 25 в.с. when Augustus' appointee Terentius Varro forced them to capitulate and sold the able-bodied into slavery. The military colony of Augusta Praetoria (Aosta) soon rose on the site of Varro's camp and facilitated Roman access to central Gaul.104
Determination to command the Alps did not slacken thereafter. Military installations gradually multiplied in strategic places during the next decade: Zurich, Basel, Vindonissa, Oberwinterthur and elsewhere.105 That provincial penetration prepared the way for outright conquest.