Mauretania - Wikipedia Mauretania From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search Region in the ancient Maghreb This article is about the ancient Maghreb territory. For the modern country, see Mauritania. For other uses, see Mauretania (disambiguation). For the passenger ship, see RMS Mauretania (1906) and RMS Mauretania (1938). Mauretania 3rd century BC – 44 AD[1] Mauretania Status Tribal Berber kingdoms (3rd century BC – 40 AD) Provinces of the Roman Empire (44 AD – 7th century AD) Independent kingdoms (431 AD[1] – 8th century) Capital Volubilis[2] Iol / Caesarea[3] Common languages Berber, Latin Religion Roman paganism, local beliefs, Christianity King   • 110–80 BC Bocchus I • 25 BC - 23 AD Juba II • 20–40 AD Ptolemy of Mauretania Historical era Classical Antiquity • Established before 200 BC • client state of the Roman Empire 25 BC • Division into Roman provinces 44 AD • Disestablished 44 AD Today part of  Algeria  Morocco  Spain  ∟ Ceuta  ∟ Melilla Mauretania (/ˌmɒrɪˈteɪniə, ˌmɔːrɪ-/; Classical Latin: [mau̯.reːˈt̪aː.ni.a])[4][5] is the Latin name for a region in the ancient Maghreb. It stretched from central present-day Algeria westwards to the Atlantic, covering northern Morocco, and southward to the Atlas Mountains.[6] Its native inhabitants, seminomadic pastoralists of Berber ancestry, were known to the Romans as the Mauri and the Masaesyli.[1] In 25 BC, the kings of Mauretania became Roman vassals until about 44 AD, when the area was annexed to Rome and divided into two provinces: Mauretania Tingitana and Mauretania Caesariensis. Christianity spread there from the 3rd century onwards.[7] After the Muslim Arabs subdued the region in the 7th century, Islam became the dominant religion. Contents 1 Moorish kingdom 1.1 Kings 2 Roman province(s) 3 Late Antiquity 3.1 Roman-Moorish kingdoms 3.2 Vandal kingdom 3.3 Praetorian prefecture of Africa 3.4 Exarchate of Africa 4 Religion 5 See also 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External links Moorish kingdom[edit] Further information: North Africa during Antiquity Coin of Faustus Sulla, with the reverse depicting the Mauretanian king Bocchus I (left) offering Jugurtha (right) to Faustus' father Lucius Sulla. Mauretania existed as a tribal kingdom of the Berber Mauri people. In the early 1st century Strabo recorded Maûroi (Μαῦροι) as the native name of a people opposite the Iberian Peninsula. This appellation was adopted into Latin, whereas the Greek name for the tribe was Mauroúsii (Μαυρούσιοι).[8][9] The Mediterranean coast of Mauretania had commercial harbours for trade with Carthage from before the 4th century BC, but the interior was controlled by Berber tribes, who had established themselves in the region by the Iron Age. The tomb of Juba II and Cleopatra Selene II in Tipaza, Algeria King Atlas was a legendary king of Mauretania credited with inventing the celestial globe.[10] The first known historical king of the Mauri, Baga, ruled during the Second Punic War of 218–201 BC. The Mauri were in close contact with Numidia. Bocchus I ([fl.] 110 BC) was father-in-law to the redoubted Numidian king Jugurtha. Mauretania became a client kingdom of the Roman Empire in 25 BC when the Romans installed Juba II of Numidia as their client-king. On his death in AD 23, his Roman-educated son Ptolemy of Mauretania succeeded him. The Emperor Caligula had Ptolemy executed in 40.[11] The Roman Emperor Claudius annexed Mauretania directly as a Roman province in 44, placing it under an imperial governor (either a procurator Augusti, or a legatus Augusti pro praetore). Kings[edit] Name Reign Notes Image Atlas 6th century BC mythical king of Mauretania[12] Bagas fl. 225 BC Bocchus I c. 110 – c. 80s BC Mastanesosus c. 80s BC – 49 Bocchus II 49 – c. 33 BC Co-ruler with Bogud Bogud 49 – c. 38 BC Co-ruler with Bocchus II Juba II 25 BC – AD 23 Roman client king Ptolemy 20–40 Last king of Mauretania Began reign as co-ruler with Juba II Assassinated by Caligula Roman province(s)[edit] Further information: Mauretania Tingitana and Mauretania Caesariensis In the 1st century AD, Emperor Claudius divided the Roman province of Mauretania into Mauretania Caesariensis and Mauretania Tingitana along the line of the Mulucha (Muluya) River, about 60 km west of modern Oran: Mauretania Tingitana was named after its capital Tingis (now Tangier); it corresponded to northern Morocco (including the current Spanish enclaves). Mauretania Caesariensis was named after its capital Caesarea (Mauretaniae) and comprised western and central Algeria. Mauretania gave the empire one emperor, the equestrian Macrinus. He seized power after the assassination of Caracalla in 217 but was himself defeated and executed by Elagabalus the next year. Emperor Diocletian's Tetrarchy reform (293) further divided the area into three provinces, as the small, easternmost region of Sitifensis was split off from Mauretania Caesariensis. The Notitia Dignitatum (c. 400) mentions themas still existing, two being under the authority of the Vicarius of the diocese of Africa: A Dux et praeses provinciae Mauritaniae et Caesariensis, i.e. a Roman governor of the rank of Vir spectabilis, who also held the high military command of dux, as the superior of eight border garrison commanders, each styled Praepositus limitis ..., followed by (genitive forms) Columnatensis, Vidensis, inferioris (i.e. lower border), Fortensis, Muticitani, Audiensis, Caputcellensis and Augustensis. A (civilian) Praeses in the province of Mauretania Sitifensis. And, under the authority of the Vicarius of the diocese of Hispaniae: A Comes rei militaris of Mauretania Tingitana, also ranking as vir spectabilis, in charge of the following border garrison (Limitanei) commanders: Praefectus alae Herculeae at Tamuco Tribunus cohortis secundae Hispanorum at Duga Tribunus cohortis primae Herculeae at Aulucos Tribunus cohortis primae Ityraeorum at Castrabarensis Another Tribunus cohortis at Sala Tribunus cohortis Pacatianensis at Pacatiana Tribunus cohortis tertiae Asturum at Tabernas Tribunus cohortis Friglensis at the Fortress of Friglas or Frigias, near Lixus[13] and to whom three extraordinary cavalry units were assigned: Equites scutarii seniores Equites sagittarii seniores Equites Cordueni A Praeses (civilian governor) of the same province of Tingitana Late Antiquity[edit] Further information: Diocese of Africa Roman-Moorish kingdoms[edit] Further information: Mauro-Roman Kingdom During the crisis of the 3rd century, parts of Mauretania were reconquered by Berber tribes. Direct Roman rule became confined to a few coastal cities (such as Septem in Mauretania Tingitana and Cherchell in Mauretania Caesariensis) by the late 3rd century.[14] Historical sources about inland areas are sparse, but these were apparently controlled by local Berber rulers who, however, maintained a degree of Roman culture, including the local cities, and usually nominally acknowledged the suzerainty of the Roman Emperors.[15] The Western kingdom more distant from the Vandal kingdom was the one of Altava, a city located at the borders of Mauretania Tingitana and Caesariensis....It is clear that the Mauro-Roman kingdom of Altava was fully inside the Western Latin world, not only because of location but mainly because it adopted the military-religious-sociocultural-administrative organization of the Roman Empire...[16] In an inscription from Altava in western Algeria, one of these rulers, Masuna, described himself as rex gentium Maurorum et Romanorum (king of the Roman and Moorish peoples). Altava was later the capital of another ruler, Garmul or Garmules, who resisted Byzantine rule in Africa but was finally defeated in 578.[17] The Byzantine historian Procopius also mentions another independent ruler, Mastigas, who controlled most of Mauretania Caesariensis in the 530s. In the 7th century there were eight Romano-Moorish kingdoms: Altava, Ouarsenis, Hodna, Aures, Nemenchas, Capsa, Dorsale and Cabaon.[18] The last resistance against the Arab invasion was sustained in the second half of the 7th century mainly by the Roman-Moorish kingdoms -with the last Byzantine troops in the region- under the leadership of the Christian king of Altava Caecilius, but later ended in complete defeat in 703 AD (when the queen Kahina died in battle). Vandal kingdom[edit] Main article: Vandal kingdom The Vandals conquered the Roman province beginning in the 420s. The city of Hippo Regius fell to the Vandals in 431 after a prolonged siege, and Carthage also fell in 439. Theodosius II dispatched an expedition to deal with the Vandals in 441, which failed to progress farther than Sicily.[clarification needed] The Western Empire under Valentinian III secured peace with the Vandals in 442, confirming their control of Proconsular Africa. For the next 90 years, Africa was firmly under the Vandal control. The Vandals were ousted from Africa in the Vandalic War of 533–534, from which time Mauretania at least nominally became a Roman province once again. The old provinces of the Roman Diocese of Africa were mostly preserved by the Vandals, but large parts, including almost all of Mauretania Tingitana, much of Mauretania Caesariensis and Mauretania Sitifensis and large parts of the interior of Numidia and Byzacena, had been lost to the inroads of Berber tribes, now collectively called the Mauri (later Moors) as a generic term for "the Berber tribes in the province of Mauretania". Praetorian prefecture of Africa[edit] Main article: Praetorian prefecture of Africa In 533, the Roman army under Belisarius defeated the Vandals. In April 534, Justinian published a law concerning the administrative organization of the newly acquired territories. Nevertheless, Justinian restored the old administrative division, but raised the overall governor at Carthage to the supreme administrative rank of praetorian prefect, thereby ending the Diocese of Africa's traditional subordination to the Prefecture of Italy (then still under Ostrogoth rule). Exarchate of Africa[edit] The emperor Maurice sometime between 585 and 590 AD created the office of "Exarch", which combined the supreme civil authority of a praetorian prefect and the military authority of a magister militum, and enjoyed considerable autonomy from Constantinople. Two exarchates were established, one in Italy, with seat at Ravenna (hence known as the Exarchate of Ravenna), and one in Africa, based at Carthage and including all imperial possessions in the Western Mediterranean. The first African exarch was the patricius Gennadius.[19] Mauretania Caesariensis and Mauretania Sitifensis were merged to form the new province of Mauretania Prima, while Mauretania Tingitana, effectively reduced to the city of Septem, was combined with the citadels of the Spanish coast (Spania) and the Balearic islands to form Mauretania Secunda. The African exarch was in possession of Mauretania Secunda, which was little more than a tiny outpost in southern Spain, beleaguered by the Visigoths. The last Spanish strongholds were conquered by the Visigoths in 624 AD, reducing "Mauretania Seconda" opposite Gibraltar to only the fort of Septem. Religion[edit] Christianity is known to have existed in Mauretania as early as the 3rd century.[7] It spread rapidly in these areas despite its relatively late appearance in the region.[20] Although it was adopted in the urban areas of Mauretania Caesariensis, the hinterlands retained the Romano-Berber religion.[21] Ancient episcopal sees of the late Roman province of Mauretania Sitifensis, listed in the Annuario Pontificio as titular sees:[22] Acufida (Cafrida) Arae in Mauretania (Ksar-Tarmounth) Assava (Hammam-Guergour) Asuoremixta Castellum in Mauretania (ruins of Aïn-Castellou?) Cedamusa (near the Fdoulès mountains) Cellae in Mauretania (Kherbet-Zerga) Cova (Ziama Mansouriah) Eminentiana Equizetum (Lacourbe, Ouled Agla) Ficus (in the region of El-Ksar or Djemâa-Si-Belcassem) Flumenpiscense (ruins of Kherbet-Ced-Bel-Abbas?) Gegi Horrea (ruins of Sidi-Rehane or of Aïn-Zada?) Horrea Aninici (ruins of Aïn-Roua) Ierafi (in the valley of Bou-Sellam?) Lemellefa (Bordj-Redir) Lemfocta (between Tiklat and Mlakou) Lesvi Macri Macriana in Mauretania Maronana (ruins of Aïn-Melloud?) Medjana (Medianas Zabuniorum) Molicunza (ruins of Makou?) Mons in Mauretania (ruins of Henchir-Casbalt?) Mopta (ruins of El-Ouarcha?) Murcona Novaliciana (Kherbet Madjouba or Beni-Fouda) Oliva (ruins of Drâa-El-Arba?, ruins of Tala, Mellal?) Parthenia Perdices (ruins of Aïn-Hamiet?) Privata (near Safiet-El-Hamra Mountain) Saldae Satafis (Aïn El Kebira) Sertei (Kherbet-Guidra) Sitifis, Metropolitan Archdiocese Socia Surista Tamagrista (near Mount Magris) Tamallula (Ras El Oued) Tamascani (Kerbet-Zembia-Cerez?) Thibuzabetum (Aïn-Melloul?) Thucca in Mauretania Tinista Vamalia (ruins of Biar-Haddada?) Zabi (Bechilga) Zallata See also[edit] Gaetuli tribe (namesake of Getulia) Mauretania Caesariensis Mauretania Tingitana Syphax Victor Maurus, a Christian Mauretanian martyr and saint Zeno of Verona References[edit] ^ a b c "region, North Africa". Encyclopedia Britannica. August 9, 2007. Retrieved 25 March 2017. ^ https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/836 ^ "Iol - ancient city, Algeria". Encyclopedia Britannica. 28 Aug 2008. Retrieved 25 March 2017. ^ The Classic Latin Dictionary, Follett, 1957, only gives "Mauritania" ^ Wells, John C. (2008), Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (3rd ed.), Longman, ISBN 9781405881180 ^ Phillip C. Naylor (7 May 2015). Historical Dictionary of Algeria. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 376. ISBN 978-0-8108-7919-5. ^ a b Early Christianity in Contexts: An Exploration across Cultures and Continents ^ Strabo, Geographica 17.3.2 (English translation): "Here dwell a people called by the Greeks Maurusii, and by the Romans and the natives Mauri, a populous and flourishing African nation, situated opposite to Spain" (οἰκοῦσι δ᾽ ἐνταῦθα Μαυρούσιοι μὲν ὑπὸ τῶν Ἑλλήνων λεγόμενοι, Μαῦροι δ᾽ ὑπὸ τῶν Ῥωμαίων καὶ τῶν ἐπιχωρίων, Λιβυκὸν ἔθνος μέγα καὶ εὔδαιμον, ἀντίπορθμον τῇ Ἰβηρίᾳ.). ^ Lewis and Short, Latin Dictionary, 1879, s.v. "Mauri". ^ Diodorus Siculus; Bib. IV, 27 ; Alexander Polyhistor, fr. 3, F.G.H. III, p. 212; John of Antioch, fr. 13, F.H.G. IV, p. 547. ^ Anthony A. Barrett, Caligula: The Corruption of Power (Routledge, 1989), pp. 116–117. ^ Rabasa, José (1993). Inventing America: Spanish Historiography and the Formation of Eurocentrism. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 180. ISBN 9780806125398. Retrieved 6 October 2019. ^ Villaverde Vega, Noé Tingitana en la antigüedad tardía, siglos III-VII: autoctonía y romanidad en el extremo occidente mediterráneo. Madrid, Real Academia de la Historia, 2001 ISBN 8489512949, 9788489512948 p. 275 (spanish) ^ Wickham, Chris (2005). Framing the Early Middle Ages: Europe and the Mediterranean, 400 - 800. Oxford University Press. p. 18. ISBN 978-0-19-921296-5. ^ Wickham, Chris (2005). Framing the Early Middle Ages: Europe and the Mediterranean, 400 - 800. Oxford University Press. p. 335. ISBN 978-0-19-921296-5. ^ Noé Villaverde, Vega: "El Reino mauretoromano de Altava, siglo VI" (The Mauro-Roman kingdom of Altava) p.355 ^ Aguado Blazquez, Francisco (2005). El Africa Bizantina: Reconquista y ocaso (PDF). p. 46. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-07. ^ "Map showing the eight romano-berber kingdoms". Archived from the original on 2016-10-13. Retrieved 2016-05-27. ^ Julien (1931, v.1, p.273) ^ Peasant and Empire in Christian North Africa, Leslie Dossey, page 25 ^ Early Christianity in Contexts: An Exploration across Cultures and Continents ^ Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1), "Sedi titolari", pp. 819-1013 Further reading[edit] Aranegui, Carmen; Mar, Ricardo (2009). "Lixus (Morocco): from a Mauretanian sanctuary to an Augustan palace". Papers of the British School at Rome. 77: 29–64. doi:10.1017/S0068246200000039. Papi, Emanuele (2014). "Punic Mauretania?". In Josephine Crawley Quinn, Nicholas C. Vella (ed.). The Punic Mediterranean. Identities and Identification from Phoenician Settlement to Roman Rule. Cambridge University. pp. 202–218. ISBN 978-1107055278. Roller, Duane W. (2003). The World of Juba II and Kleopatra Selene: Royal Scholarship on Rome's African Frontier. Routledge Classical Monographs. ISBN 0415305969. External links[edit] Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Mauretania . Tingitana[permanent dead link] v t e Provinces of the early Roman Empire (117 AD) Achaea Aegyptus Africa proconsularis Alpes Cottiae Alpes Maritimae Alpes Graiae et Poeninae Arabia Petraea Armenia Asia Assyria Bithynia and Pontus Britannia Cappadocia Cilicia Corsica and Sardinia Crete and Cyrenaica Cyprus Dacia Dalmatia Epirus Galatia Gallia Aquitania Gallia Belgica Gallia Lugdunensis Gallia Narbonensis Germania Inferior Germania Superior Hispania Baetica Hispania Lusitania Hispania Tarraconensis Italia † Iudaea Lycia et Pamphylia Macedonia Mauretania Caesariensis Mauretania Tingitana Mesopotamia Moesia Inferior Moesia Superior Noricum Pannonia Inferior Pannonia Superior Raetia Sicilia Syria Thracia † Italy was never constituted as a province, instead retaining a special juridical status until Diocletian's reforms. v t e Late Roman and Byzantine provinces (4th–7th centuries AD) History As found in the Notitia Dignitatum. Provincial administration reformed and dioceses established by Diocletian, c. 293. Permanent praetorian prefectures established after the death of Constantine I. Empire permanently partitioned after 395. Exarchates of Ravenna and Africa established after 584. After massive territorial losses in the 7th century, the remaining provinces were superseded by the theme system in c. 640–660, although in Asia Minor and parts of Greece they survived under the themes until the early 9th century. Western Roman Empire (395–476) Praetorian Prefecture of Gaul Diocese of Gaul Alpes Poeninae et Graiae Belgica I Belgica II Germania I Germania II Lugdunensis I Lugdunensis II Lugdunensis III Lugdunensis IV Maxima Sequanorum Diocese of Vienne1 Alpes Maritimae Aquitanica I Aquitanica II Narbonensis I Narbonensis II Novempopulania Viennensis Diocese of Spain Baetica Balearica Carthaginensis Gallaecia Lusitania Mauretania Tingitana Tarraconensis Diocese of the Britains Britannia I Britannia II Flavia Caesariensis Maxima Caesariensis Valentia (?) Praetorian Prefecture of Italy Diocese of Suburbicarian Italy Apulia et Calabria Campania Corsica Lucania et Bruttii Picenum Suburbicarium Samnium Sardinia Sicilia Tuscia et Umbria Valeria Diocese of Annonarian Italy Alpes Cottiae Flaminia et Picenum Annonarium Liguria et Aemilia Raetia I Raetia II Venetia et Histria Diocese of Africa2 Africa proconsularis (Zeugitana) Byzacena Mauretania Caesariensis Mauretania Sitifensis Numidia (divided as Cirtensis and Militiana during the Tetrarchy) Tripolitania Eastern Roman/Byzantine Empire (395–c. 640) Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum Diocese of Pannonia3 Dalmatia Noricum mediterraneum Noricum ripense Pannonia I Pannonia II Savia Valeria ripensis Diocese of Dacia Dacia Mediterranea Dacia Ripensis Dardania Moesia I Praevalitana Diocese of Macedonia Achaea Creta Epirus Nova Epirus Vetus Macedonia Prima Macedonia II Salutaris Thessalia Praetorian Prefecture of the East Diocese of Thrace5 Europa Haemimontus Moesia II4 Rhodope Scythia4 Thracia Diocese of Asia5 Asia Caria4 Hellespontus Islands4 Lycaonia (370) Lycia Lydia Pamphylia Pisidia Phrygia Pacatiana Phrygia Salutaris Diocese of Pontus5 Armenia I5 Armenia II5 Armenia Maior5 Armenian Satrapies5 Armenia III (536) Armenia IV (536) Bithynia Cappadocia I5 Cappadocia II5 Galatia I5 Galatia II Salutaris5 Helenopontus5 Honorias5 Paphlagonia5 Pontus Polemoniacus5 Diocese of the East5 Arabia Cilicia I Cilicia II Cyprus4 Euphratensis Isauria Mesopotamia Osroene Palaestina I Palaestina II Palaestina III Salutaris Phoenice I Phoenice II Libanensis Syria I Syria II Salutaris Theodorias (528) Diocese of Egypt5 Aegyptus I Aegyptus II Arcadia Augustamnica I Augustamnica II Libya Superior Libya Inferior Thebais Superior Thebais Inferior Other territories Taurica Quaestura exercitus (536) Spania (552) 1 Later the Septem Provinciae 2 Re-established after reconquest by the Eastern Empire in 534 as the separate Prefecture of Africa 3 Later the Diocese of Illyricum 4 Placed under the Quaestura exercitus in 536 5 Affected (i.e. boundaries modified, abolished or renamed) by Justinian I's administrative reorganization in 534–536 Authority control: National libraries Czech Republic Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mauretania&oldid=1025897276" Categories: Mauretania Roman client kingdoms Countries in ancient Africa Ancient history of North Africa States and territories established in the 3rd century BC States and territories disestablished in the 1st century 3rd-century BC establishments 1st-century disestablishments Ancient Greek geography of North Africa 44 disestablishments Hidden categories: Articles containing Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text Articles with short description Short description is different from Wikidata Wikipedia articles needing clarification from April 2013 All articles with dead external links Articles with dead external links from December 2017 Articles with permanently dead external links Wikipedia articles with NKC identifiers Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Wikimedia Commons Languages العربية Azərbaycanca Беларуская Български Brezhoneg Català Čeština Cymraeg Dansk الدارجة Deutsch Eesti Español Euskara Français 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌹𐍃𐌺 한국어 Bahasa Indonesia Italiano עברית ქართული Kongo Latviešu Lietuvių Magyar Nederlands 日本語 Norsk bokmål Polski Português Română Русский Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska Українська Edit links This page was last edited on 30 May 2021, at 06:38 (UTC). 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