After the destruction of the Vandals by Belisarius, the new province of the Byzantine Empire, in today's Libya, Tunisia and Algeria, did not rest. The Moorish descendants of the ancient Numidians, rebelled against the empire. With Belisarius and the flower of the Byzantine Army in Italy, the administration of the troubled province was entrusted to general Solomon, who was destined to write new pages of glory, but also to die there, fighting heroically.
Justinian entrusted Solomon with both the military and political administration of the province in the late spring of 534 AD. giving him the title of Magister Militum Africae, but also Praetorian Prefect Africae (military commander of Africa and civil commander of Africa).
Prefect of Africa
In 534 AD the Moors had revolted and had gathered very large forces. Solomon, on the contrary, had at his disposal some Bucellarii (elite horsemen) entrusted to him by Belisarius, in Carthage. Byzantine garrisons had been established in the other provinces, but after the outbreak of the rebellion they had become isolated and were fighting only for their survival. The center of the rebellion was the province of Byzacion, which is identified with today's southern Tunisia.
Byzantine forces under General Rufinos were stationed in this area. However, these forces, only about 500 men, were crushed by the Moors and Rufinos was captured, and soon beheaded. This development made it clear to Solomon that strong forces were required to deal with the rebellion, in which the greatest warlords of the Moors, Koutzinas, Esdilasa, Iurfurthis and Medisinissas, now participated.
It was the latter who also beheaded Rufinus and even took his head as a trophy. Solomon decided to act immediately. At first he sent a message to Justinian asking him for reinforcements. At the same time, he tried to come to an agreement with the rebels, so that the whole issue could end peacefully.
Faced with the intransigence of the Moors, however, Solomon decided to send them a letter. He was essentially trying to buy time, waiting for reinforcements to be sent, which were expected in the early spring of AD 535.
The Moors responded boldly to Solomon's letter and announced to him that they were determined to fight. In the meantime the expected reinforcements arrived and Solomon had about 18,000 men at his disposal. This force was too small to face the many thousands of Moors.
Nevertheless, Solomon marched his army against the adversaries. The small Byzantine army moved southwest of Carthage and met the enemy at Mammes, on the borders of the provinces of Byzacium and Numidia.
Opposing forces
The Moorish leaders had joined forces and had an overwhelming numerical superiority over the Byzantines. Nevertheless, having no heavy cavalry at their disposal, the Moors decided to apply a strategy with which they had previously crushed the Vandals.
The Moors deployed their infantry on the Mammoth plain, bordering a range of hills. On the hills they ordered their cavalry, with the intention that, when the Byzantines engaged the infantry, the Moorish cavalry would attack their flanks, attempting to encircle them.
As for their infantry, it was drawn up in a circle, between a line of 12 yoke of camels, which they had forced to kneel. The horses of the Byzantines, not used to the sight, the voices and the smell of the camels, would panic, just as the horses of the Vandals had.
The Moorish infantry lined up between and behind the camels, ready to hit the advancing Byzantines with a shower of javelins. Moorish foot soldiers were equipped with javelins, sword and shield. Some carried bow and sling. They fought "peltastically", i.e. in loose order, striking the opponent with their javelins and retreating when pressured. Only when the enemy, exhausted by the rain of javelins and missiles, began to show signs of disorganization and disintegration did they rush against him.
Their cavalry was also light. The preferred tactic of the Moorish horsemen was to approach the enemy, strike them with javelins and retreat, without engaging in combat with them. Each horseman charged into battle with a few javelins, swords, and a small shield. Helmets and breastplates were worn only by the nobles and their bodyguards and not always.
There is no precise information about the composition of Solomon's army. However we do know that the core of the army was a group of elite Bucellarian horsemen of Belisarius' guard. He would certainly also have a number of Cavalry, the classic type of horseman of the Byzantine Army of the time, that is, and apparently a number of Scutati heavy infantry and a number of light infantry, archers, spearmen and slingers and perhaps some units of Huns and Germanic mercenaries.
The Bucellarians carried long lances, long swords, but also a bow. They began the battle by arching the opponent and as soon as he began to lose his coherence they charged at him with the lance and the sword. Cavaliers carried bows and swords, but no – yet – lances. Their tactics were similar to those of the Bucellarians, but they could fight even in a cremation formation.
The Skutatoi were the heavy infantry of the Byzantine Army. They owe their name to the "scutum", the oval-shaped shield they carried, a descendant of the ancient shield-type shield. They were armed with a light spear, which was used both as a spear and a long sword.
They fought in dense order. Against the enemy's infantry they threw their light spears before contact and then charged them with their swords, like the Roman legionnaires. Against opposing cavalry they thickened their ranks and offered their spears, forming a barrage of spears and shields, like the ancient Greek hoplites.
The Scutati also had other smaller javelins, the so-called "riptaria". In case of need, the infantry formed the so-called "Fulcon", an extremely dense formation, which allowed all-round defense, like the closed Napoleonic squares.
The Byzantine light infantry fought exclusively in acrobolism formation. In many cases, however, light infantry units were deployed as organic sub-units to the Scouta battalions, to provide them with "fire" support.
From the above it becomes clear that the Byzantine Army was overwhelmingly superior in "weight", organization and armament of its opponents, but not in number.
Crisis on the Plain
Arriving at the plain of Mammis, Solomon ordered the construction of a fortified camp to prevent an enemy surprise attack. Nevertheless he could see that the morale of his men was not as high as it should have been, as there was the recent precedent of the annihilation of Rufinus's forces.
Solomon, as an experienced general that he was, decided, before fighting, to encourage his men. For this reason he gathered them together and spoke to them. "You see that your equipment is better than that of your opponents and besides that you have courage of soul and experience of war and superior physical strength.
The Moors possess none of these, except great numbers. But it is easy for a few but well-armed men to defeat an uncoherent syrphetto. A brave soldier trusts in his own strength, a coward in the crowd...", said Solomon, among others. His men burst into cheers and immediately formed their lines.
Solomon, though outnumbered by at least 3:1, had decided to attack rather than wait for the opponent to move. His army left the fortified camp with exemplary order, but in which the necessary guard was left in case of an accident, and deployed for battle against the Moors.
Solomon took advantage of the passive arrangement of the opponents and moved his army diagonally to the right, so that his right flank would outflank the enemy circle, but also be covered by the enemy cavalry deployed on the nearby hills.
It was a risky maneuver, as the Byzantine left flank was left exposed and subject to hypercaricature movement. But the maneuver was based on cold logic and above all on the knowledge of the opponent.
The Moorish cavalry, the only one capable of performing the hypercathenic maneuver, was positioned opposite the Byzantine right and due to the existing mountains, could not maneuver on internal lines and move facing the Byzantine left.
The Moors could possibly use their numerous infantry. But then the defensive circle they had created would be broken even if the Byzantine cavalry, which formed the flank guard on the Byzantine left, charged, would sweep them, on the plain.
The best solution for the Moors would have been to try to outflank the Byzantine left flank with infantry units carried on camels. In this way, they would move even faster, but they would also neutralize the danger from the Byzantine cavalry.
Nevertheless, it seems that their previous victory over Rufinus' small division had raised the morale of the Moorish leaders to such an extent that it influenced their decisions. This can also be seen from the speech they gave to their men, before the battle.
In the meantime, the Byzantine army began to march against them in absolute silence and order. All that could be heard were the orders of the officers. But when the Byzantine cavalry of the left flank approached the circle of camels the horses were frightened by the camels and refused to advance.
This caused confusion which the Moors were quick to take advantage of, launching a counter-attack. Solomon saw what was happening and immediately found the solution. He ordered his horsemen to dismount and fight on foot.
The horses, apparently, retreated behind the men, under the control of the hippocampus. Solomon dismounted and himself placed himself at the head of 500 Bucellars under his immediate control. With this force he moved on foot against the enemy's left flank, the Bucellarians fighting covered by their small shields, using their lances as spears.
Before long this small force approached the circle of camels. Then Solomon ordered his men to attack by slaughtering the camels. The Bucellarians slaughtered about 200 camels, opening a corridor between the enemy line and reaching the center of the circle, where the Moors had gathered their families.
The civilians were terrified and attempted to escape, completely disorganizing the Moorish infantry, giving the remaining Byzantine cavalry the opportunity to mount their horses again and charge against the disorderly retreating enemy.
The Moorish women and children were captured, while 10,000 of their infantry were killed in the pursuit, without their cavalry attempting to cover them. The defeat of the Moors was as complete as Solomon's triumph.
Singing hymns, the victorious general's army returned to Carthage with prisoners, booty and all but 200 camels, as it could not remain in the enemy's hinterland with its supply lines exposed.