Mauretania
Mauretania | |
|---|---|
| 3rd century BC – 7th century AD | |
Mauretania | |
| Status | Tribal Berber kingdoms (3rd century BC – 40 AD) Provinces of the Roman Empire (44 AD – 7th century AD) Independent kingdoms (431 AD – 8th century) |
| Capital | Volubilis Iol / Caesarea |
| 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 | 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]) 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. Its native inhabitants, of Berber ancestry, were known to the Romans as the Mauri and the Masaesyli.
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. After the Muslim Arabs subdued the region in the 7th century, Islam became the dominant religion.