Kingdom of the Dorsale
Kingdom of the Dorsale | |||||||||
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 Map of the Romano-Berber Kingdoms, according to the French historian Christian Courtois. Number 7 is the Kingdom of the Dorsale. | |||||||||
| Status | Rump state of the Mauro-Roman Kingdom | ||||||||
| Common languages | Berber, African Romance Latin | ||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||
| King | |||||||||
| Historical era | Medieval | ||||||||
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| Today part of | Tunisia | ||||||||
The Kingdom of the Dorsale (also known as the Kingdom of the Grand Dorsale) was a political-military confederation of the Frexes and Naffur Berber tribes located in what is present-day Tunisia.[1] This kingdom seems to have been established as a functional polity c. AD 510 by the Berber chieftain Guenfan.[2][3] The tribes of the Dorsale soon came into conflict with the larger Vandalic Kingdom, and in 530, under the leadership of Guenfan's son Antalas, they defeated the Vandals at the Battle of Great Dorsale.[4]
Following the Vandalic War (533–534) and the capture of the Vandalic Kingdom by the Byzantine Empire, Antalas became an ally of the empire, receiving supplies for his allegiance. In 543, however, a revolt broke out among the Berbers of Byzacena, which resulted in the execution of Antalas's brother Guarizila and the cessation of the subsidies by the Byzantine governor, Solomon. This treatment alienated Antalas, and when the Leuathae rebelled in Tripolitania in the next year, he and his followers joined them. The united tribes inflicted a heavy defeat on the Byzantines in the Battle of Cillium, where Solomon himself was killed.[5][6]
References
Citations
- ^ Camps 1988, p. 706.
- ^ Evans 2002, p. 83.
- ^ Ilevbare 1955, p. 167.
- ^ Martindale, Jones & Morris 1992, p. 86.
- ^ Martindale, Jones & Morris 1992, pp. 86, 1175–1176.
- ^ Bury 2013, p. 145.
Bibliography
- Bury, John Bagnell (2013) [1923]. History of the Later Roman Empire: From the Death of Theodosius I to the Death of Justinian. Vol. 2. Dover Publications. ISBN 9780486143392.
- Camps, Gabriel (1988). "Antalas". Encyclopédie berbère (in French). International Union of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences. Retrieved July 31, 2025.
- Evans, J. A. S (2002) [1996]. The Age of Justinian: The Circumstances of Imperial Power. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781134559756.
- Ilevbare, J. A. Carthage, Rome and the Berbers. Ibadan University Press.
- Martindale, John Robert; Jones, Arnold Hugh Martin; Morris, J., eds. (1992). The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Volume III: A.D. 527–641. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521201605.