Gaetulia

Gaetuli was the romanised name of an ancient Berber tribe inhabiting Getulia. The latter district covered the large desert region south of the Atlas Mountains, bordering the Sahara. Other documents place Gaetulia in pre-Roman times along the Mediterranean coasts of what is now Algeria and Tunisia, and north of the Atlas. The Zenatas are believed to be descendants of the Gaetuli.

Getulia was the name given to an ancient district in the Maghreb, which in the usage of Roman writers comprised the nomadic Berber tribes of the southern slopes of the Aures Mountains and Atlas Mountains, as far as the Atlantic, and the oases in the northern part of the Sahara. The Gaetulian people were among the oldest inhabitants in northwestern Africa. They mainly occupied the area of modern-day Algeria as far north as Gigthis in the southwestern region of Tunisia. They were bordered by the Garamantes people to the right and were under the coastal Libyes people. The coastal region of Mauritania was above them and, although they shared many similar characteristics, were distinct from the Mauri people that inhabited it. The Gaetulians were exposed to the conditions of the harsh African interior near the Sahara and produced skillful hardened warriors. They were known for horse rearing, and according to Strabo had 100,000 foals in a single year. They were clad in skins, lived on meat and milk, and the only manufacture connected with their name is that of the purple dye that became famous from the time of Augustus, and was made from the purple shellfish Murex brandaris found on the coast, apparently both in the Syrtes and on the Atlantic.

The writings of several ancient Roman histories, most notably Sallust, depict the various indigenous North African tribes as a uniform state and refer to them collectively as the Libyans and Gaetuli. The misinformation is partly due to language and cultural barrier. When the period of Roman colonization in North Africa took off, Sallust writes that the Gaetuli were " ignarum nominis Romani," (Iug. 80.1), ignorant of the Roman name.Sallust also describes the Libyans and Gaetuli as a "rude and uncivilized folk" who were "governed neither by institutions nor law, nor were they subject to anyone’s rule."

...
Wikipedia