Byzantine Battles: Battle of Marta

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4 th century

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5 th century

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6 th century

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7 th century

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8 th century

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9 th century

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10 th century

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11 th century

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12 th century

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13 th century

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14 th century

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15 th century

Battle of Marta	year: 547 Summer 547
Defeat of the Byzantines by the army of the Moorish tribes	★ ★ ★ ★ ★

enemy: Berbers	location: Near modern town Mareth in central-east Tunisia	accuracy: ●●●●●
battle type: Pitched battle	war: Berber Tribes Rebellions	modern country: Tunisia

	▼ The Byzantines(emperor: Justinian I)	▼ The Enemies
Commander:	Iohannis Troglita	Carcasan (Berber King)
Forces:
Losses:

Background story:

After a succession of revolts by indigenous Moorish tribes in the Roman province of North Africa, and following a series of local conspiracies that led to the successive murders of the Byzantines governors of Carthage Areobindus and Guntharic, emperor Justinian appointed Ioannes Troglita (Ιωάννης Τρωγλίτης) as the new magister militum per Africam in late summer 546.
Upon his arrival in Carthage, Troglita reorganized his troops, bolstering the local forces with the veterans he had brought with him – mostly horse archers and cataphracts – and marched out to meet the Moorish rebels. He moved decisively and initially was successful, forcing Antalas, the leader of the rebels to lay down arms.
However,the tribes of Tripolitania reassembled and formed a coalition under the king of the Ifuraci (perhaps Tuaregs), Carcasan and started raiding the provinces again.
The Byzantine army had been weakened in the meantime by the need to reinforce Belisarius against the Ostrogoths in Italy: of the 9 regiments Troglita had brought with him, 3 were dispatched to Italy. Despite this and the hot summer, Troglita marched his men quickly to the southern limit of Byzacena (central Tunisia). The Moors initially withdrew into the arid interior, hoping to shake him off, but Troglita’s army, accompanied by a caravan with water and provisions, followed them into the desert. Both armies suffered from thirst and hunger, and discontent spread among the Byzantine soldiers. Finally, a near mutiny erupted when an epidemic killed off a large part of the army's horses, forcing Troglita to stop his campaign and turn north towards the coast.

The Battle:

Roman soldiers of the era

As the Byzantines approached the shores and while camping in Marta, the Moors appeared trying to reach nearby water sources. Troglita moved to stop them. Inevitably the two armies engaged in battle.
It is not clear what happened. Probably Troglitas’ men were more exhausted and had lower morale. The fact is that the Roman army was defeated.
The historian Koripos attributes the causes of the defeat to the Roman ally, the warlord Koutzina (also a Berber) whose men panicked and left the battlefield earlier, causing the collapse of the rest of the army.

Aftermath:

Following this defeat, Troglita retreated to the north to the fortress of Laribus (or Alorbos in NE Tunisia) where he tried to regroup his army. Learning of the battle, Antalas rose up again and joined the Tripolitanian tribes.
The Berbers were raiding Byzacena during the next months.

Byzantine Battles

Battle of Marta

547