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[4] |
King | |
• 110–80 BC | Bocchus I |
• 25 BC - 23 AD. | Juba II |
• 20–40 AD | Ptolemy of Mauretania. |
Historical era | Classical Antiquity |
• Established | 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])[5][6] is the Latin name for a region in the ancient Maghreb. It extended from central present-day Algeria to the Atlantic, encompassing northern present-day Morocco, and from the Mediterranean in the north to the Atlas Mountains.[7] Its native inhabitants, 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.[8] After the Muslim Arabs subdued the region in the 7th century, Islam became the dominant religion.
Exploration
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).