rule." Later accounts contradict that description. Pliny the Elder claims that the Gaetuli were essentially different from other indigenous North African Numidian tribes despite sharing the same language. Contemporary historians acknowledge the significant ethnic divisions between the Berber tribes and the existence of individual kings and separate political spheres. History Roman records of the Gaetuli first emerge during the Jugurthine War when the group of tribes served as an auxiliary force in Jugurtha’s army against the Romans. This was the first recorded contact between the Romans and the Gaetuli and is the earliest Roman record of the tribes. During the Jugurthine War the Gaetuli attacked and harassed Roman forces and possessed cavalry regiments that provided a significant challenge to the Roman legions. After a truce negotiated between the Numidians and the Romans led to the end of the war the Gaetuli forces were disbanded. Gaetulian forces next appear as forces loyal to Gaius Marius during the Bellum Octavianum, a civil war in 87 BC. Possibly in return for land the Gaetulian forces fought for Marius against Gnaeus Octavius. After almost 90 years of documented peace between the Gaetuli and Rome the tribes invaded the Roman occupied area in what became known as the "Gaetulian War" in 3 AD. Some historians describe the war more as an uprising that occurred as a result of possible land incursions and Roman mandated control of the movement of the semi-nomadic Gaetuli. In response to the attack, forces led by Cossus Cornelius Lentulus were dispatched to put down the invasion which they successfully accomplished in 6 A.D. Cossus Cornelius Lentulus was given the surname Gaetulicus for his successful campaign. In 17 AD the Musulamii tribe, a Gaetulian sub-tribe, fought back against the Romans over the building of a road across Musulamii territory by the Legio III Augusta. The Musulamii were joined in the conflict against the Romans by the Gaetuli and the neighboring Garamantes. This was the largest war in the Algeria region of Roman Africa in the history of Roman occupation. After the defeat of the Musulamii the Gaetuli ceased to appear in Roman military record. Further records of the Gaetuli indicate that soldiers from the tribes served as auxiliary forces in the Roman army, while the tribes themselves provided the Empire with a range of exotic animals and purple dye among other goods through trade. Records indicate that many of the animals used