The war of Justinian against Moors – an example of an asymmetric conflict?

The series of wars against Moors in North Africa, which took place after capturing these pro­vinces by Justinian’s army in AD 533, is sometimes compared by historians to modern asymmetric conflicts. The present paper is an attempt at a closer look at both the military aspect of the mentioned conflict and its political determinants, in order to answer the question of whether present-day asymmetric conflicts can in fact be regarded as a an accurate key for its description. The answer is not unambiguous. On the one hand, what we find here is asymmetry on many levels, exerting heavy influence on the character of this particular war. On the other hand, the conflict can be seen as part of a centuries-long history of complex interaction between the Roman state and ‘Moorish’ political organisms in the region, thus it is impossible here to speak of any ‘strategic surprise’ characteristic of modern conflicts of this type. Neither of the parties had in mind to destroy the opponent or to dislodge it from the disputed area; in fact, the Moorish Wars with Rome could rather be regarded as specific, rather violent negotiations of terms and conditions for a peaceful coexistence of two very different political organisms.
 

The series of wars against Moors in North Africa, which took place after capturing these pro­vinces by Justinian’s army in AD 533, is sometimes compared by historians to modern asymmetric conflicts. The present paper is an attempt at a closer look at both the military aspect of the mentioned conflict and its political determinants, in order to answer the question of whether present-day asymmetric conflicts can in fact be regarded as a an accurate key for its description. The answer is not unambiguous. On the one hand, what we find here is asymmetry on many levels, exerting heavy influence on the character of this particular war. On the other hand, the conflict can be seen as part of a centuries-long history of complex interaction between the Roman state and ‘Moorish’ political organisms in the region, thus it is impossible here to speak of any ‘strategic surprise’ characteristic of modern conflicts of this type. Neither of the parties had in mind to destroy the opponent or to dislodge it from the disputed area; in fact, the Moorish Wars with Rome could rather be regarded as specific, rather violent negotiations of terms and conditions for a peaceful coexistence of two very different political organisms.