In AD 253, the Quinquegentiani, who had formed a confederation with the
Bavares and the
Fraxinenses, two other
Berber tribes from the region, started attacking and pillaging
Roman and Roman-aligned settlements in
Numidia. These hostilities led to a Roman intervention, but because of more urgent troubles, such as the death of Emperor Aemilianus and the imperial succession, the war lasted for a decade and the Romans finally managed to restore order in AD 262. The tribal confederation was then disbanded and the tribes were driven back to their native lands. The Quinquegentiani once again rebelled against Roman rule in AD 289. This time, they were once again backed by the Bavares. The rebellion was successful at first, but in 297, the Roman forces of
Maximianus Herculius started a bloody offensive, which drove the rebels back to their native lands in the
Atlas and
Grand Kabyle Mountains; however, Maximianus wasn't satisfied with this, and in early 298 he invaded their native lands to inflict a bigger punishment upon the rebels; by using
scorched earth tactics and by killing as many as he could, he supposedly drove the Quinquegentiani into the
Sahara. By spring 298, the war was concluded, and the Quinquegentiani disappeared from Roman records. ==References==