Saburra was a

Numidia Numidia was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunisia and Libya. The polity was originally divided between ...

n general who served the king of Numidia,

Juba I Juba I of Numidia (, ; –46BC) was a king of Numidia (present-day Algeria) who reigned from 60 to 46 BC. He was the son and successor to Hiempsal II. Biography In 81 BC, Hiempsal had been driven from his throne; soon afterwards, Pompey wa ...

, and fought

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

during

Caesar's Civil War Caesar's civil war (49–45 BC) was a civil war during the late Roman Republic between two factions led by Julius Caesar and Pompey. The main cause of the war was political tensions relating to Caesar's place in the Republic on his expected ret ...

. He managed to defeat one of Caesar's lieutenant, Gaius Scribonius Curio at the

Battle of the Bagradas The Battle of Bagradas, the Bagradas, or the Bagradas River (the ancient name of the Medjerda) may refer to: * Battle of the Bagradas River (255 BC), also known as the Battle of Tunis, during the First Punic War * Battle of the Bagradas River (240 ...

before eventually being killed in battle by a mercenary commander

Publius Sittius Publius Sittius (died 44 BC) was a Roman eques and mercenary commander. As a mercenary he was employed by king Bocchus II of East-Mauretania. Sittius fought for Bocchus against king Juba I of Numidia, capturing Juba's capital of Cirta and defea ...

, who was loyal to Caesar.

Biography

Virtually nothing is known of Saburra's early life, and the only main source of information about him is from Caesar himself. We first hear of Saburra in 49 BC, where Caesar's civil war had recently broke out in that same year. Caesar had already conquered Italy and Spain from his ally turned rival

Pompey the Great Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey ( ) or Pompey the Great, was a Roman general and statesman who was prominent in the last decades of the Roman Republic. ...

. Caesar wanted to control the three main grain hubs of the

republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

, Sardinia, Sicily, and Africa, so he dispatched two of his legates, 1 legion under

Quintus Valerius Orca Quintus Valerius Orca (''fl.'' 50s–40s BC) was a Roman praetor, a governor of the Roman province of Africa, and a commanding officer under Julius Caesar in the civil war against Pompeius Magnus and the senatorial elite. The main sources for Orca's ...

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

and another 2 under Gaius Scribonius Curio to

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

. From there Curio would push into

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 ...

to attack Pompey's governor of Africa,

Publius Attius Varus Publius Attius Varus (died 17 March 45 BC) was the Roman governor of Africa during the civil war between Julius Caesar and Pompey. He declared against Caesar, and initially fought Gaius Scribonius Curio, who was sent against him in 49 BC. Poli ...

. Upon news of Caesar's victory at the

Battle of Ilerda The Battle of Ilerda took place in June 49 BC between the forces of Julius Caesar and the Spanish army of Pompey Magnus, led by his legates Lucius Afranius and Marcus Petreius. Unlike many of the other battles of the civil war, this was more ...

, Curio crossed into Africa and defeated Varus at the

Battle of Utica The Battle of Utica took place early in 240 BC between a Carthaginian army commanded by Hanno and a force of rebellious mutineers possibly led by Spendius. It was the first major engagement of the Mercenary War between Carthage and the combi ...

. Juba I of Numidia, meanwhile who had supported Varus with soldiers during the defeat at Utica began to assemble a large army that included Saburra, and marched towards Curio. Juba then pulled a clever trick, by spreading false rumors in Curio's camp that he had been forced to deal with a rebellion and had left the area, leaving only a small force led by Saburra. Curio, who was over confident following the victory at Utica, marched towards the Bagradas river and met the Numidian force commanded by Saburra, which was now reinforced by Juba's army and he used his Numidian light cavalry to skirmish and surround Curio's army at the

. The Romans were defeated, Curio was killed, and the expedition failed. Africa would remain in Pompeian hands until Caesar himself would arrive in 47 BC following defeating Pompey at the

Battle of Pharsalus The Battle of Pharsalus was the decisive battle of Caesar's Civil War fought on 9 August 48 BC near Pharsalus in Central Greece. Julius Caesar and his allies formed up opposite the army of the Roman Republic under the command of Pompey. ...

. Pompey would be

assassinated Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

and once Caesar had settled affairs in the east he could now take the last bastion of resistance to his forces. Juba then answered a call to arms from

Metellus Scipio Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio (c. 95 – 46 BC), often referred to as Metellus Scipio, was a Roman senator and military commander. During the civil war between Julius Caesar and the senatorial faction led by Pompey, he was a staunch sup ...

and Cato the Younger, who were the leaders of the Pompeians faction against Caesar. However this would initially prove pointless as

Gnaeus Pompey Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey ( ) or Pompey the Great, was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman who was prominent in the last decades of the Rom ...

had wanted to prove himself and led a 2000 strong force against the kingdom of West Mauretania led by their king, Bogud. However the Mauretanians defeated the younger Pompey at the Battle of Ascurum. The defeat began to have great consequences for the Pompeians, as Bogud's brother the king of East Mauretania,

Bocchus II Bocchus II was a king of Mauretania in the 1st century BC. He was the son of Mastanesosus, who died in 49 BC, upon which Bocchus inherited the throne. Biography He was the son of Mastanesosus, king of Mauretania. His father was identified fro ...

dispatched an army against Numidia led by the Roman Mercenary Commander

. Sittius began raiding Numidian territory before capturing and sacking the Numidian capital of

Cirta Cirta, also known by #Names, various other names in classical antiquity, antiquity, was the ancient Berbers, Berber, Punic people, Punic and Roman Empire, Roman settlement which later became Constantine, Algeria, Constantine, Algeria. Cirta was ...

. Juba was forced to return to defend his kingdom. Juba would then leave Saburra in charge of a small army to defend Numidia from Sittius. Sittius once again invaded shortly after Juba left to join Scipio, and although little is known of Sittius's campaign, he defeated Saburra in a pitched battle, where he was killed. Caesar would go onto to crush the Pompeians at the

Battle of Thapsus The Battle of Thapsus was a military engagement that took place on April 6, 46 BC near Thapsus (in modern Tunisia). The forces of the Optimates, led by Quintus Caecilius Metellus Scipio, were defeated by the forces of Julius Caesar. It was fo ...

. Juba, along with

Marcus Petreius Marcus Petreius (110 BC – April 46 BC) was a Roman politician and general. He was a client of Pompey and like Pompey he came from Picenum a region in eastern Italy. He cornered and killed the notorious rebel Catiline at Pistoia. Career The chr ...

attempted to flee back to Numidia, however Sittius campaign convinced the locals the close the gates of

to him. Juba and Petreius then decided upon fighting a duel, so one of them could be honorably killed. Juba won the duel killing Petreius, who then killed himself with the help of a slave.

Notes

*Holland, pp. 316–317 *Holland, pg. 318 *Holmes, pg. 104 *Holmes, pg. 105 *Holmes, pg. 106 *Holmes, pg. 107 *Roller, pg. 33 *Holmes, pg. 108 *Goldsworthy, pg. 23 *Roller, pg. 34

Citations

*Estarán Tolosa, María José (22 November 2016)
Epigrafía bilingüe del Occidente romano: El latín y las lenguas locales en las inscripciones bilingües y mixtas
Prensas de la Universidad de Zaragoza. p. 486. ISBN 978-84-16515-63-9. *Huss (1985), p
568
*Mohand Akli, Haddadou. RECUEIL DE PRENOMS BERBERES (in French).

Haut commissariat à l'amazighité The Haut commissariat à l'amazighité (HCA, English: ''High Commission for Amazighity'') is a government department in Algeria overseeing the Berber (''Amazigh'') sphere. History It is an academic institute of the Algerian state responsible for ...

. p. 41. *Goldsworthy, Adrian (2006). "XXI". Caesar: Life of a Colossus. New Haven: Yale Press. p. 466. *C. Michael Hogan (2008) Chilean Wine Palm: Jubaea chilensis, GlobalTwitcher.com, ed. Nicklas Stromberg Archived 2012-10-17 at the

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by Internet Archive, an American nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California. Launched for public access in 2001, the service allows users to go "back in ...

* Tucker, Spencer C. (16 February 2017).
he Roots and Consequences of Civil Wars and Revolutions: Conflicts that Changed World History
ABC-CLIO. p. 29. . Retrieved 22 August 2018. *Gardner (translator), Jane F (1967). Julius Caesar – The Civil War. Penguin Books. p. 104.

Sources

, ''

Commentarii de Bello Civili '' Commentarii de Bello Civili'' (''Commentaries on the Civil War''), or ''Bellum Civile'', is an account written by Julius Caesar of his war against Gnaeus Pompeius and the Roman Senate. It consists of three books covering the events of 49– ...

'' 2.40 *'' Cassius Dio's Roman History'' *

Suetonius Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is ''De vita Caesarum'', common ...

, The Twelve Caesars - Caesar. *

Appian Appian of Alexandria (; ; ; ) was a Greek historian with Roman citizenship who prospered during the reigns of the Roman Emperors Trajan, Hadrian, and Antoninus Pius. He was born c. 95 in Alexandria. After holding the senior offices in the pr ...

, B.C. i. 80. *

Marcus Velleius Paterculus Marcus Velleius Paterculus (; ) was a Roman historian, soldier and senator. His Roman history, written in a highly rhetorical style, covered the period from the end of the Trojan War to AD 30, but is most useful for the period from the death o ...

ii. 54. * . *Goldsworthy, Adrian Keith, Caesar's Civil War, 49–44 BC, Osprey Publishing, 2002 *Holland, Tom, Rubicon: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic, Abacus, 2004 *Holmes, T. Rice, The Roman Republic and the Founder of the Empire, Vol III, Oxford University Press, 1923 *Roller, Duane W., The world of Juba II and Kleopatra Selene: royal scholarship on Rome's African frontier, Taylor & *Francis e-Library, 2004 *Gardner, Jane F (translator), Julius Caesar – The Civil War Penguin Books 1967 {{DEFAULTSORT:Saburra Military personnel of antiquity Numidia 46 BC deaths Year of birth unknown

Biography

See also

Notes

Citations

Sources