Mauretania

In Antiquity, Mauretania was originally an independent Amazigh kingdom on the Mediterranean coast of north Africa (named after the Maure tribe, after whom the Moors were named), corresponding to western Algeria, and northern Morocco. The kingdom of Mauretania was not sited where modern Mauritania lies, on the Atlantic coast south of Moroccan Sahara. Pre-Roman Mauretania

Pre-Roman Mauretania

The coastal regions of present-day Morocco shared in an early Neolithic culture that was common to the whole Mediterranean littoral. Archaeological remains point to the domestication of cattle and the cultivation of crops in the region during that period. Eight thousand years ago, south of the great mountain ranges in what is now the Sahara Desert, a vast savanna supported Neolithic hunters and herders whose culture flourished until the region began to desiccate as a result of climatic changes after 4000 B.C. The Imazghen entered Moroccan history toward the end of the second millennium B.C., when they made initial contact with oasis dwellers on the steppe who may have been the remnants of the earlier savanna people.

The Phoenicians and Carthaginians:

The first invaders are believed to have been the Phoenicians, coming from the land known then as Caanan in the Eastern Mediterranean in the 12C BC. Gradually they established trading posts along the north coast of Africa and traces at their occupation have been found at Lixus (Liks), which was probably the earliest, Tangier (Tangis)Mellilia (Russadir) Chellah part of Rahat and Tamuda (near Tetuan). These traces are usually in the form of fish-salting factories and are often heavily overlaid by Roman remains. The Phoenicians were essentially a maritime people, not interested in conquering or colonizing, and paying attention to the primitive Amazigh tribes and poor agricultural land of the interior; therefore, their colonies were little more than enclaves along the coast, separated by great open spaces of wasteland which they did not need. Their main center of influence was Carthage (Tunisia).

When Carthage became an independent state, the more civilized Carthaginians arrived and turned the north coast settlements into prosperous towns:they are known to have developed the fish salting and preserving into quite a major industry and their anchovy paste, called "garum" was widely exported. They also grew wheat and probably introduced the grape The Carthaginians exercised a considerable cultural influence on the Imazghen even long after the Sack of Carthage in 146 BC; indeed, it probably increased at that time as hundreds of Carthagians fled westwards and took refuge from the Romans in the friendly enclaves along the coast . The arrival of Phoenicians heralded many centuries of rule by foreign powers for the north of Morocco. Carthage developed commercial relations with the Imazghen tribes of the interior and paid them an annual tribute to ensure their cooperation in the exploitation of raw materials. By the fifth century B.C., Carthage had extended its hegemony across much of North Africa. By the second century B.C., several large, although loosely administered, Amazigh kingdoms had emerged. The Amazigh kings ruled in the shadow of Carthage and Rome, often as satellites. After the fall of Carthage, the area was annexed to the Roman Empire in A.D. 40.

Roman Mauretania

Rome controlled the vast, ill-defined territory through alliances with the tribes rather than through military occupation, expanding its authority only to those areas that were economically useful or that could be defended without additional manpower. Hence, Roman administration never extended outside the restricted area of the coastal plain and valleys. This strategic region formed part of the Roman Empire, governed as Mauretania Tingitana. In the 5th century the region fell to the Vandals, Visigoths, and then Byzantine Greeks in rapid succession. During this time, however, the high mountains of most of modern Morocco remained unsubdued, and stayed in the hands of their Amazigh inhabitants. Roman Mauretania With the rise of the Roman Empire, Mauretania became a Roman 'client' (i.e. vassal) kingdom.

The Romans placed Juba II of Numidia there as client-king. When Juba died in 23, his Roman-educated son Ptolemy of Mauretania succeeded him on the throne, but Caligula killed him in 40 and Claudius annexed Mauretania directly as a Roman province in 44, under an imperial (not senatorial) governor. Not depriving the Mauri of their line of kings would have contributed to preserving loyalty and order, it appears: "The Mauri, indeed, manifestly worship kings, and do not conceal their name by any disguise," Cyprian observed in 247, doubtlessly quoting a geographer rather than personal observation, in his brief euhemerist exercise in deflating the gods "On the Vanity of Idols". In the first century, 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, named after its capital Tingis (now Tangier); it corresponded to the Spanish plaza de soberanía, "sovereign enclave") and northern Morocco * Mauretania Caesariensis, comprising western and central Algeria as far as Kabylia. Mauretania gave to the empire one emperor, the equestrian Macrinus, who seized power after the assassination of Caracalla in 217 but was himself defeated and executed by Elegabalus the next year. Since emperor Diocletian's Tetrarchy reform (293), the country was further divided in three provinces, as the small, easternmost region Sitifensis was split off from Mauretania Caesariensis. The Notitia Dignitatum (circa 400) mentions them still, 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 holds the high military command of 'duke', as the superior of eight border garrison commanders, each styled Praepositus limitis, named (genitive forms) Columnatensis, Vidensis, Praepositus limitis inferioris (i.e. lower border), Fortensis, Muticitani, Audiensis, Caputcellensis and Augustensis.

* an (ordinary, 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 -, but not mentioning that part of the name) 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 and Tribunus cohortis Friglensis at (and apparently also from, a rarity) Friglas; and to whom three extraordinary cavalry units are assigned: Equites scutarii seniores, Equites sagittarii seniores and Equites Cordueni, * a Praeses (civilian governor) of the same province of Tingitana.

A.M

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