The Moors?

[SirPanic12]

Are the Moors supposed to be in the game, historically? Some guy from Steam kept confusing Moors for Berbers when I asked, but they are two different factions in the game. Furthermore, Moors are Muslims. Islam did not exist at the time. I think they introduced them centuries earlier?

[SirPanic12]

And this is about the Last Roman campaign, btw.

[You_Guess_Who]

Well, Arabs already exist before Islam, so does the Mauri. They're simply either Christians or Pagans.

[SirPanic12]

Arabs invading North Africa before Islam is a definite stretch. Islam is the only reason the Arab invasions happened. The Mauri could be a possibility, but why not call it that and instead call them Moors? Moors are Arabic/Berber Muslims. For them to be two centuries earlier (711 is when they appear, as opposed to 533 in game) is like the Mongols arriving before the First Crusades.

[You_Guess_Who]

What? Of course the Arabs haven't invaded Northern Africa.

The term "Moors" derived from "Maurus" does not have its muslim connotations at that time. Later, medieval europeans simply called every North African Muslims Moors, no matter if they're Berbers or Arabs.

[SirPanic12]

OH ok. That's new. I never thought Moors originally meant the native Mauri. I always though they were created when Islam spread to the Maghreb and the group of Berbers who converted and adopted Arabic language became the Moors. I think my problem was I though Mauri and Moor were two separate groups. Thanks for the clear up.

[Lugotorix]

I use the term in my AAR to refer to the Maurians, sometimes interchangably, as it's getting near the sixth century which is late for a campaign. That and them moving into Spain are the only reasons. If they had been a re-occurring antagonists earlier, I'd refer to them as Maurians, while referring to the Gaetuli as Numidians.