The Abanni (also called ''Abannae'') were an ancient tribe in the northwest of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

. They settled in the ancient region of

Mauretania Mauretania (; ) is the Latin name for a region in the ancient Maghreb. It extended from central present-day Algeria to the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, encompassing northern present-day Morocco, and from the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean in the ...

, which encompassed the north of the present-day states of

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

and

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

and was part of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

in the first centuries

anno Domini The terms (AD) and before Christ (BC) are used when designating years in the Gregorian calendar, Gregorian and Julian calendar, Julian calendars. The term is Medieval Latin and means "in the year of the Lord" but is often presented using "o ...

. Together with the adjacent tribe of the ''Caprarienses'', whose members lived in the mountains named after them, the Abanni in circa 375 AD took part in the uprising of the usurper

Firmus According to the ''Historia Augusta'', Firmus (died 273) was a usurper of Syrian origin during the reign of Aurelian. The apparently contradictory accounts of his life and the man himself are considered by some historians to be a complete fabrica ...

against the Roman Emperor

Valentinian I Valentinian I (; 32117 November 375), also known as Valentinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 364 to 375. He ruled the Western Roman Empire, Western half of the empire, while his brother Valens ruled the Byzantine Empire, East. During his re ...

. Both tribes were defeated by the Roman general

Theodosius Theodosius ( Latinized from the Greek "Θεοδόσιος", Theodosios, "given by god") is a given name. It may take the form Teodósio, Teodosie, Teodosije etc. Theodosia is a feminine version of the name. Emperors of ancient Rome and Byzantium ...

. After this success Theodosius is believed to have subsequently moved to Auzia.J. Desanges
''Abannae''
in: ''Encyclopédie berbère'', vol. 1 (1984), p. 56. According to the German classical philologist and epigraphist Johannes Schmidt (1850–1894) the Abanni probably lived in the Roman province of ''

Mauretania Sitifensis Mauretania Sitifensis was a Roman province in Northwest Africa. The capital was Setifis. History In the later division of the Roman Empire under the Emperor Diocletian, the eastern part of Mauretania Caesariensis, from Saldae to the river Amps ...

''. The Roman historian

Ammianus Marcellinus Ammianus Marcellinus, occasionally anglicized as Ammian ( Greek: Αμμιανός Μαρκελλίνος; born , died 400), was a Greek and Roman soldier and historian who wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from antiquit ...

states that they settled not far from the Ethiopians, possibly on the edge of the

Saharan Atlas The Saharan Atlas () is a range of the Atlas Mountain System. It is located mainly in Algeria, with its eastern end in Tunisia. Although not as tall as the High Atlas of Morocco its summits are more imposing than the Tell Atlas range that runs p ...

mountain chain. This localization seems to be confirmed by the Latin poet

Claudian Claudius Claudianus, known in English as Claudian (Greek: Κλαυδιανός; ), was a Latin poet associated with the court of the Roman emperor Honorius at Mediolanum (Milan), and particularly with the general Stilicho. His work, written almo ...

in a passage of his eulogy of the fourth consulate of Emperor

Honorius Honorius (; 9 September 384 – 15 August 423) was Roman emperor from 393 to 423. He was the younger son of emperor Theodosius I and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla. After the death of Theodosius in 395, Honorius, under the regency of Stilicho ...

. Here it is narrated that Theodosius travelled through the Ethiopian desert and advanced as far as the Atlas mountains. The French archaeologist Charles-Joseph Tissot (1828–1884) believes the modern ''Aït-Abenn'', who live in the mountains northwest of

M'Sila, Algeria M'sila (also spelled Msila) (); is the capital of M'Sila Province, Algeria, and is co-extensive with M'sila District. It has a population of 132,975 as per the 2008 census. M'sila University is also located in this city. History The city was f ...

, to be descendants of the ancient Abanni.Charles Joseph Tissot: ''Géographie comparée de la province romaine d’Afrique'', Paris, 1884, vol. 1, p. 465.

Notes

{{reflist, 2

References

* Johannes Schmidt
''Abanni''
In: ''

Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft The Pauly encyclopedias or the Pauly-Wissowa family of encyclopedias, are a set of related encyclopedias on Greco-Roman world, Greco-Roman classical studies, topics and scholarship. The first of these, or (1839–1852), was begun by compiler A ...

'', vol. I,1, Stuttgart 1893, col. 13. * J. Desanges
''Abannae''
in: ''

Encyclopédie berbère ''Encyclopédie berbère'' (English: ''Berber Encyclopaedia'') is a French-language encyclopaedia dealing with subjects related to the Berber peoples (''Imazighen'' in Berber language), published both in print editions and in a partial online ...

'', vol. 1 (1984), p. 56. Tribes of Africa Extinct ethnic groups