Stotzas ( Greek: Στότζας), also Stutias, Theophanes writes him Tzotzas (Τζότζας),A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, William Smith, Ed., Germanus
/ref> was an East Roman (Byzantine) soldier and leader of a military rebellion in the Praetorian prefecture of Africa in the 530s. Stotzas attempted to establish Africa as a separate state and had been chosen by the rebelling soldiers as their leader. Nearly succeeding in taking

Carthage Carthage was an ancient city in Northern Africa, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classic ...

, Stotzas was defeated at the Battle of the River Bagradas by

Belisarius BelisariusSometimes called Flavia gens#Later use, Flavius Belisarius. The name became a courtesy title by the late 4th century, see (; ; The exact date of his birth is unknown. March 565) was a military commander of the Byzantine Empire under ...

and fled into

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 ...

, where he regrouped. After another attempt at taking control of Africa, Stotzas was defeated by Germanus in 537 and fled with some of his followers into

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 ...

. In Mauretania, Stotzas would marry the daughter of a local noble and would allegedly be raised to King in 541 AD. He followed the Berber king Antalas in his rebellion against Eastern Roman rule in 544 AD. In the

Battle of Thacia The Battle of Thacia took place in the autumn of 545, in Thacia (now Bordj Messaoudi, in Tunisia). The Byzantine loyalists led by John the Armenian confronted the Berber rebel Antalas and his ally Stotzas, a renegade Byzantine. In the clash, the ...

in autumn of 545 AD, Stotzas would be mortally wounded by the Eastern Roman general John, dying shortly thereafter.

Biography

Eastern Roman rebel

Stotzas served as a

bodyguard A bodyguard (or close protection officer/operative) is a type of security guard, government law enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects an very important person, important person or group of people, such as high-ranking public offic ...

of the general Martinus in the army under

that had

conquered Conquest involves the annexation or control of another entity's territory through war or coercion. Historically, conquests occurred frequently in the international system, and there were limited normative or legal prohibitions against conquest ...

the

Vandal kingdom The Vandal Kingdom () or Kingdom of the Vandals and Alans () was a confederation of Vandals and Alans, which was a barbarian kingdoms, barbarian kingdom established under Gaiseric, a Vandals, Vandalic warlord. It ruled parts of North Africa and th ...

in Africa in 533–534. In 536, a military mutiny broke out in the Byzantine army in Africa against its leader,

Solomon Solomon (), also called Jedidiah, was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and Judah, according to the Hebrew Bible. The successor of his father David, he is described as having been the penultimate ...

. The rebels chose Stotzas to lead them, and aimed to expel the imperial loyalists and establish Africa as a separate state, ruled by themselves. Stotzas marched against the capital,

, with an army of 8,000 men, joined by at least a thousand surviving

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic people who were first reported in the written records as inhabitants of what is now Poland, during the period of the Roman Empire. Much later, in the fifth century, a group of Vandals led by kings established Vand ...

and several escaped slaves. He besieged the city, which was on the point of surrendering when Belisarius suddenly arrived from

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. ...

. Stotzas lifted the siege and retreated to Membresa, where his army was defeated by Belisarius. The rebels fled into

, where Stotzas persuaded most of the Byzantine garrison to join him, after murdering their officers; according to the historian

Procopius Procopius of Caesarea (; ''Prokópios ho Kaisareús''; ; – 565) was a prominent Late antiquity, late antique Byzantine Greeks, Greek scholar and historian from Caesarea Maritima. Accompanying the Roman general Belisarius in Justinian I, Empe ...

, at this point two thirds of the Byzantine army in Africa had gone over to the rebel camp. Belisarius had to return to Italy to prosecute the war against the

Ostrogoths The Ostrogoths () were a Roman-era Germanic peoples, Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Goths, Gothic kingdoms within the Western Roman Empire, drawing upon the large Gothic populatio ...

, but he was replaced by Emperor

Justinian Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...

's able cousin Germanus in late 536. Germanus's policy to win over the disaffected troops with promises of pardon and the payment of their arrears was successful, and a large part of the rebels went over to him. Hence, Stotzas resolved to force a decision, and marched against him in spring 537. The two armies met at Scalas Veteres, and Stotzas, abandoned by many of his allies, was defeated.

Mauretania

Stotzas was able to flee with a handful of followers to

, where he was welcomed, given the daughter of a local prince in marriage, and allegedly raised to king in 541. Kamel Mhamed Benameur In 544, however, he and the Moorish king Antalas rebelled against Byzantine rule. Stotzas and his men joined Antalas, but were attacked by the general John in autumn 545, despite being heavily outnumbered. In the ensuing

, John was able to inflict a mortal wound on Stotzas, although he too fell soon after.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stotzas 545 deaths 6th-century Byzantine military personnel 6th-century monarchs in Africa 6th-century rebels Byzantine rebels Byzantines killed in battle Byzantine North Africa Monarchs killed in action Year of birth unknown Vandalic War Medieval bodyguards Mauro-Roman Kingdom Monarchs of the Mauro-Roman Kingdom