Masuna

Masuna ( Central Atlas Tamazight ⵎⴰⵙⵓⵏⴰ ) was a Berber ( mauri ) king in the early 6th century.

Masuna is referred to in an inscription as "King of the Moors and Romans" ( rex gentium Maurorum et Romanorum ). The double titulature is very unusual for a late antique " barbarian ruler ". According to the inscription, which is dated to 508, a fortress was built in Altava under his rule . Masuna seems to have ruled over both Moors and Romans and also employed Roman officials - similar to masties in neighboring Numidia .

He is possibly identical to the Moorish prince Massonas mentioned by Prokopios .

literature

Wilhelm Enßlin : Masunas. In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume XIV, 2, Stuttgart 1930, Col. 2178 f.
Gabriel Camps : Rex Gentium Maurorum et Romanorum: recherches sur les royaumes de Maurétanie des VI et VII siècles . In: Antiquités africaines 20, 1984, pp. 183-218 ( digitized version ).
Paul-Albert Février: Masuna et Masties. In: Antiquités africaines 24, 1988, pp. 133-147 ( digitized version ).
Guy Halsall: Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West, 376-568 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2007, pp. 405ff.
John Robert Martindale: Masuna. In: The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire (PLRE). Volume 2, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1980, ISBN 0-521-20159-4 , pp. 734-735.
Roland Steinacher: The vandals. The rise and fall of a barbarian empire. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2016, ISBN 978-3-608-94851-6 , pp. 264f.

Remarks

↑ CIL 8, 9835 = AE 1998, 1595 ; Heidelberg epigraphic database : Pro sal (ute) et incol (umitate) reg (is) Masunae gent (ium) / Maur (orum) et Romanor (um) castrum (a) edific (atum) a Mas / givini pr (a) f (ecto) de Safar Iider proc (uratore) Cast / ra Severian (a) quem Masuna Altava posuit / et Maxim (us) proc (urator) Alt (avae?) perfec (erunt) pp (rovinciarum) CCCCLXVIIII .
↑ Jonathan Conant: Staying Roman: Conquest and Identity in Africa and the Mediterranean, 439-700 . Cambridge 2012, p. 276.
^ Prokop, Historien , 4, 13, 19. Cf. also Guy Halsall: Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West, 376-568 . Cambridge 2007, p. 407.

personal data
SURNAME	Masuna
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Massonas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	King of the Moors
DATE OF BIRTH	5th century
DATE OF DEATH	6th century

[1] CIL 8, 9835 = AE 1998, 1595 ; Heidelberg epigraphic database : Pro sal (ute) et incol (umitate) reg (is) Masunae gent (ium) / Maur (orum) et Romanor (um) castrum (a) edific (atum) a Mas / givini pr (a) f (ecto) de Safar Iider proc (uratore) Cast / ra Severian (a) quem Masuna Altava posuit / et Maxim (us) proc (urator) Alt (avae?) perfec (erunt) pp (rovinciarum) CCCCLXVIIII .

[2] Jonathan Conant: Staying Roman: Conquest and Identity in Africa and the Mediterranean, 439-700 . Cambridge 2012, p. 276.

[3] Prokop, Historien , 4, 13, 19. Cf. also Guy Halsall: Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West, 376-568 . Cambridge 2007, p. 407.