VIRTUAL TANGIER: Visions of the City


 
c. 550 CE: PROCOPIUS OF CAESAREA (excerpt from History of the Wars)
   For it was a law among the Mauretanii that no one should be a ruler over them, even if he was hostile to the Romans, until the emperor of the Romans should give him the tokens of the office. And though they had already received them from the Vandals, they did not consider that the Vandals held the office securely… And Belisarius sent these things to them, and presented each one of them with much money. However, they did not come to fight along with him… but standing out of the way of both contestants, they waited to see what would be the outcome of the war…
   The Mauretanii live in stuffy huts both in winter and in summer and at every other time, never removing from them either because of snow or the heat of the sun or any other discomfort whatever due to nature. And they sleep on the ground, the prosperous among them, if it should so happen, spreading a fleece under themselves. Moreover, it is not customary among them to change their clothing with the seasons, but they wear a thick cloak and a rough shirt at all times. And they have neither bread nor wine nor any other good thing, but they take grain, either wheat or barley, and, without boiling it or grinding it to flour or barley-meal, they eat it… 
    Now there are lofty mountains there, and a level space near the foothills of the mountains, where the Mauretanii had made preparations for the battle and arranged their fighting order as follows. They formed a circle of their camels… making the front about twelve deep. And they placed the women with the children within the circle; for among the Mauretanii it is customary to take also a few women, with their children, to battle, and these make the stockades and huts for them and tend the horses skillfully, and have charge of the camels and the food; they also sharpen the iron weapons and take upon themselves many of the tasks in connection with the preparation for battle; and the men themselves took their stand on foot in between the legs of the camels, having shields and swords and small spears which they are accustomed to hurl like javelins. And some of them with their horses remained quietly among the mountains. . . .
   And there are fortresses also on the mountain which are neglected, by reason of the fact that they do not seem necessary to the inhabitants. For since the time when the Mauretanii wrested Aurasium from the Vandals, not a single enemy had until now ever come there or so much as caused the barbarians to be afraid that they would come…. 

You can view ALTERNATIVE TRANSLATIONS by holding your MOUSE CURSOR over the little DOWN ARROWS in the translated web page.
 
Source:
Procopius, History of the Wars, 7 vols., trans. H. B. Dewing (1914; reprinted., 1953-54)
Scanned and modernized by: J. S. Arkenberg, Cal. State Fullerton.

This text is part of the Internet Ancient History Sourcebook.
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