Garmul was a

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

king of the

Mauro-Roman Kingdom The Mauro-Roman Kingdom (Latin: ''Regnum Maurorum et Romanorum'') was an independent Christianity, Christian Berbers, Berber kingdom centred in the capital city of Altava (present-day Algeria) which controlled much of the Ancient Rome, ancient R ...

. Garmul, who destroyed a

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

army in 571, launched raids into Byzantine territory, and three successive generals (the

praetorian prefect The praetorian prefect ( la, praefectus praetorio, el, ) was a high office in the Roman Empire. Originating as the commander of the Praetorian Guard, the office gradually acquired extensive legal and administrative functions, with its holders be ...

Theodore and the ''

magister militum (Latin for "master of soldiers", plural ) was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine the Great. The term referred to the senior military officer (equivalent to a war theatre commander, ...

'' Theoctistus in 570, and Theoctistus' successor Amabilis in 571) are recorded by

John of Biclaro John of Biclaro, Biclar, or Biclarum (''c.'' 540 – after 621), also ''Iohannes Biclarensis'', was a Visigoth chronicler. He was born in Lusitania, in the city of ''Scallabis'' (modern Santarém in Portugal). He was also bishop of Girona. Earl ...

to have been killed in a battle by Garmul's forces. His activities, especially when regarded together with the simultaneous

Visigoth The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is kno ...

attacks in

Spania Spania ( la, Provincia Spaniae) was a province of the Eastern Roman Empire from 552 until 624 in the south of the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands. It was established by the Emperor Justinian I in an effort to restore the western prov ...

, presented a clear threat to the province's authorities. Thus the new emperor,

Tiberius II Constantine Tiberius II Constantine ( grc-gre, Τιβέριος Κωνσταντῖνος, Tiberios Konstantinos; died 14 August 582) was Eastern Roman emperor from 574 to 582. Tiberius rose to power in 574 when Justin II, prior to a mental breakdown, procl ...

, re-appointed Thomas as praetorian prefect, and the able general

Gennadius Gennadius or Gennadios may refer to: People * Gennadius of Constantinople (died 471), Patriarch of Constantinople from 458 to 471 * Gennadius of Massilia (5th century) Roman historian, best known for his work ''De Viris Illustribus'' * Gennadius (m ...

was posted as ''magister militum'' with the clear aim of ending Garmul's campaigns. Preparations were lengthy and careful, but the campaign itself, launched in 577–78, was brief and effective, with Gennadius utilizing terror tactics against Garmul's subjects. Garmul was defeated and killed by 579, and the coastal corridor between Tingitana and Caesariensis secured.El Africa Bizantina, pp. 45-46

References

{{s-end 578 deaths Mauretania Caesariensis 6th-century Berber people 6th-century monarchs in Africa Berber rulers Monarchs killed in action Mauro-Roman Kingdom Monarchs of the Mauro-Roman Kingdom