Gætulia

Gætulia, an ancient country of Africa, situated south of Mauritania and Numidia, and embracing the western part of the Sahara. Its inhabitants belonged in all probability to the aboriginal Berber family of north and north-western Africa; they were not in general black, though a portion of them dwelling in the extreme south, towards the Niger, had approximated to this colour through intermixture with the natives and from climatic causes, and were called Melanogæuli, or 'Black Gætulians.' The Gætulians were savage and warlike, and paid great attention to the rearing of horses. They first came into collision with the Romans during the Jugurthine war, when they served as light-horse in the army of the Numidian king. Cossus Lentulus broke them to Roman rule, obtaining for his success a triumph and the surname of Gætulicus (6 A.D.). The ancient Gætulians are believed to be represented by the modern Tuareg.