Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T14:51:37.142Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Laguatan: A Libyan Tribal Confederation in the Late Roman Empire

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2015

D. J. Mattingly
D. J. Mattingly*
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Manchester
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The tribal grouping known as the Laguatan, Leuathae and Lawata in various late Roman and Arabic sources are identified as a powerful confederation of Libyan tribes. The confederation comprised two main types of tribes. On the one hand there were neo-berbers who migrated from the east to the west through the Libyan desert in late antiquity; on the other, there were the original inhabitants of the desert oases, of Cyrenaica and of Tripolitania who formed alliances with the newcomers. The growth of the confederation had a destabilising effect on the Roman frontiers and severe raids were made against the more Romanised areas, notably the territoria of the coastal cities.

Through the sedentary agriculture of the allied Libyans, based on settlements such as Ghirza, and new conquest and exploitation, the Laguatan established an economic and agricultural regime largely independent of Rome. It is inappropriate, therefore, to view the Laguatan simply as camel-riding nomads as has been done in the past, nor was the diffusion of the camel a decisive factor in the timing of the onset of their raids. It is argued, on the contrary, that the camel was present at a much earlier date, that it was mainly used as a pack- and farm animal in pre-Islamic times and that the horse was the main instrument of the Laguatan in warfare and raiding. The Laguatan were the instigators of a Libyan cultural, religious and political revival and their history is of great importance to an understanding of the late Roman and Islamic eras.

Type
Articles
Information
Libyan Studies , Volume 14 , 1983 , pp. 96 - 108
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Libyan Studies 1983

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Barker, G. W. W. and Jones, G. D. B. 1981. The UNESCO Libyan Valleys Survey 1980. Libyan Studies 12: 9–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barker, G. W. W. and Jones, G. D. B. 1982. The UNESCO Libyan Valleys Survey 1979–1981: Palaeoeconomy and environmental archaeology in the pre-desert. Libyan Studies 13: 1–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bates, O. 1914. The Eastern Libyans. London, Macmillan.Google Scholar
Brogan, O. 1954. The camel in Roman Tripolitania. Papers of the British School at Rome 22: 126–131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brogan, O. 1975. Inscriptions in the Libyan alphabet from Tripolitania and some notes on the tribes of the region. In Bynon, J. and Bynon, T. (eds.), Hamito-Semitica. Mouston: 267–289.Google Scholar
Brogan, O. and Smith, D. E. 1957. The Roman frontier settlement at Ghirza: an interim report. Journal of Roman Studies 47: 173–184.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bulliet, R. W. 1981. Botr et Beranes: Hypotheses sur l'histoire des Berbers. Annales Economies, Sociétés, Civilisations 36: 104–116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Camps, G. 1980. Berbères. Aux marges d'histoire. Toulouse, Hesperides.Google Scholar
Chabot, J. B. 1940. Recueil des Inscriptions Libyques. Paris.Google Scholar
Chamoux, F. 1953. Cyrène sous la Monarchie des Battiades. Paris, Bibliothèque des Ecoles Francaises d'Athènes et de Rome, No. 177.Google Scholar
Courtois, C. 1955. Les Vandales et l'Afrique. Paris.Google Scholar
Daniels, C. M. 1971. The Garamantes of Fezzan. In Gadallah, E. F. (ed.), Libya in Hıstory. Benghazi: 261–285.Google Scholar
Demougeot, E. 1960. Le chameau et l'Afrique du Nord romaine. Annates Economies, Sociétés, Civilisations. 15: 209–247.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Desanges, J. 1962. Catalogue des Tribus Africains de l'Antiquité Classique à l'Ouest du Nil. Dakar, Faculté des lettres, Section d'Histoire, Publication 4.Google Scholar
De Slane, M. (trans.). 1913. Description de l'Afrique Septentrionale: El Bekri. Algiers.Google Scholar
De Slane, M. (trans.). 1925/1956. Ibn Khaldun. Histoire des Berberes et des Dynasties Musulmanes de l'Afrique Septentrionale. 4 vols, Paris, 1925-1956.Google Scholar
Diggle, J. and Goodyear, F. R. D. 1970. Flavii Cresconii Corippi Iohannidos seu de Bellis Libycis Lib viii. Cambridge, CUP.Google Scholar
Di Vita-Evrard, G. 1979. Quatre inscriptions du Djebel Tarhuna: le territoire de Lepcis Magna. Quaderni di Archeologie della Libia 10: 67–98.Google Scholar
Elmayer, A. F. 1982. The Libyan God Gurzil in a Neo-Punic inscription from Tripolitania. Libyan Studies 13: 49–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fitzgerald, A. (trans.) 1926. Letters of Synesius. London.Google Scholar
Fitzgerald, A. (trans.) 1930. The Essays and Hymns of Synesius of Cyrene. Vol. II. London.Google Scholar
Gateau, A. (trans.) 1947. Conquête de l'Afrique du Nord et de l'Espagne. 2nd Edition, Algiers.Google Scholar
Gautier, E. F. 1952. Le passé de l'Afrique du Nord. Les siécles obscurs. 2nd Edition, Paris, Payot.Google Scholar
Gellner, E. 1969. Saints of the Atlas. London, Weidenfield and Nicolson.Google Scholar
Goodchild, R. G. 1953. The Roman and Byzantine limes in Cyrenaica. Journal of Roman Studies 43: 65–76. Also in Goodchild 1976a: 195-209.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodchild, R. G. 1967. Byzantines, Berbers and Arabs in seventh century Libya. Antiquity 41: 114–124. Also in Goodchild 1976a: 255-267.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodchild, R. G. 1976a. Libyan Studies: Selected Papers of the late R. G. Goodchild. (Edited by Reynolds, J. M.). London, Elek.Google Scholar
Goodchild, R. G. 1976b. Synesius of Cyrene, Bishop of Ptolemais. In Goodchild, 1976a: 239–254.Google Scholar
Gsell, S. 1926. Tripolitaine et la Sahara au IIIe siecle de notre ère. Mémoires de l'Académie des Inscriptions 43: 149–166.Google Scholar
Guey, J. 1939. Note sur le limes romain de Numidia et le Sahara au IVe siecle. Mémoires de l'Ecole Francaise d'histoire et d'Archéologie de Rome 56 année, fasc. 1–4: 178–248.Google Scholar
Haynes, D. E. L. 1959. The Antiquities of Tripolitania. Tripoli, Dept. of Antiquities.Google Scholar
IRT. See Reynolds and Ward-Perkins 1952.Google Scholar
Jerary, M. T. 1976. The Luwata. Prolegomena, source book and preliminary study. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Wisconsin-Madison.Google Scholar
Jones, G. D. B. and Barker, G. W. W. 1980. Libyan Valleys Survey. Libyan Studies 11:11–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leschi, L. 1942. Rome et les Nomades du Sahara central. Travaux de l'Institut de Récherches Sahariennes I: 47–62.Google Scholar
Also in Leschi, L. 1955. Etudes d'Epigraphie, d'Archéologie et d'Histoire Africaines. Paris: 65–74.Google Scholar
Mann, J. C. 1974. The Northern frontier after AD 369. Glasgow Archaeological Journal 3: 34–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marichal, R. 1979. Les ostrac a de Bu Njem. Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres: 436–452.Google Scholar
MGHAA XI = Monumenta Germaniae Historica (Auctores Antiquissimum) XI, Berlin, 1894.Google Scholar
Mills, A. J.et al. 1980. The Dakhleh Oasis Project. The Journal of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities 10.4: 251–427.Google Scholar
Oates, D. 1953. The Tripolitanian Gebel: settlement of the Roman period around Gasr ed-Daun. Papers of the British School at Rome 21: 81–117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oates, D. 1954. Ancient settlement in the Tripolitanian Gebel II: the Berber period. Papers of the British School at Rome 22: 91–117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pringle, D. 1981. The Defence of Byzantine Africa from Justinian to the Arab Conquest. 2 vols. British Archaeological Reports Supplementary Series, S99, Oxford.Google Scholar
Rebuffat, R. 1970a. Zella et les routes d'Egypte. Libya Antiqua 6–7, 1969–1970: 181–187.Google Scholar
Rebuffat, R. 1970b. Routes d'Egypte de la Libye Interieure. Studi Magrebini 3: 1–20.Google Scholar
Reynolds, J. M. 1955. Inscriptions of Roman Tripolitania: a supplement. Papers of the British School at Rome 23: 124–147.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reynolds, J. M. 1977. The Austuriani and Tripolitania in the early fifth century. Society for Libyan Studies Annual Report 8: 13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reynolds, J. M., Brogan, O. and Smith, D. E. 1958. Inscriptions in the Libyan alphabet from Ghirza in Tripolitania. Antiquity 32: 112–115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reynolds, J. M. and Ward-Perkins, J. B. 1952. Inscriptions of Roman Tripolitania. London, British School at Rome.Google Scholar
Rosenthal, F. (trans.) 1980. Ibn Khaldun: the Muqaddimah. An Introduction to History. 3 vols. 2nd Edition, London.Google Scholar
SEG = Supplementem Epigraphicum Graecum, vol. IX, ed. Klaffenbach, G.et al. 1944.Google Scholar
Tomlin, R. S. O. 1979. Meanwhile in North Italy and Cyrenaica. In Casey, P. J. (ed.), The end of Roman Britain. British Archaeological Reports 71: 253–270.Google Scholar