1st century BCE – 1st century
Western Maghrib
Mauretania was a North African client kingdom extending across parts of the western Maghrib. Its development was concentrated in fertile valleys and Atlantic coastal zones, while mountain tribes retained considerable autonomy. The kingdom was divided among rulers including Bocchus and Bogud, then reconstituted under Juba, a son of the last Numidian king, whom Augustus installed in 25 BCE. Juba promoted urbanization and Hellenized culture before the kingdom was annexed and organized into Roman provinces in 44 CE.
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The Story
Mauretania developed more slowly than Numidia, although the apparent difference may partly reflect limited information. Phoenician influence was weaker in the Atlas massif, while sedentary settlement expanded in fertile areas such as the Moulouya Valley and along the Atlantic coast. Mountain regions preserved the identity of individual tribes into Roman times and beyond, giving the kingdom a politically uneven character.
The Mauri appear in accounts of several earlier conflicts, including the expedition to Sicily in 406 BCE, Hanno’s revolt in the 350s BCE, and the Roman invasion of Africa in 256 BCE. In the late second and first centuries BCE, Bocchus I first supported Jugurtha against Rome and later betrayed him. Rome rewarded him with territory east of the Moulouya, after which Mauretania was divided between Bocchus II in the east and Bogud II in the west.
Bocchus II and Bogud II became involved in the Roman civil wars, supporting Caesar and later opposing factions associated with Mark Antony and Octavian. After both rulers died, Augustus avoided immediate direct annexation, apparently because of the military difficulties posed by mountain tribes. In 25 BCE he installed Juba, son of the last Numidian king, as a loyal client ruler of a temporarily reconstituted kingdom.
Juba ruled for more than forty years and encouraged urban and cultural development. He was deeply Hellenized and wrote numerous books in Greek, while his capital Iol, renamed Caesarea, and probably Volubilis became fully urbanized. His son Ptolemaus ruled until 40 CE, when the emperor Gaius summoned and executed him. The act provoked a revolt, but Roman suppression was followed in 44 CE by the division of Mauretania into two provinces.
1st century BCE – 1st century
Western Maghrib
Mauretania was a North African client kingdom extending across parts of the western Maghrib. Its development was concentrated in fertile valleys and Atlantic coastal zones, while mountain tribes retained considerable autonomy. The kingdom was divided among rulers including Bocchus and Bogud, then reconstituted under Juba, a son of the last Numidian king, whom Augustus installed in 25 BCE. Juba promoted urbanization and Hellenized culture before the kingdom was annexed and organized into Roman provinces in 44 CE.
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The Story
Mauretania developed more slowly than Numidia, although the apparent difference may partly reflect limited information. Phoenician influence was weaker in the Atlas massif, while sedentary settlement expanded in fertile areas such as the Moulouya Valley and along the Atlantic coast. Mountain regions preserved the identity of individual tribes into Roman times and beyond, giving the kingdom a politically uneven character.
The Mauri appear in accounts of several earlier conflicts, including the expedition to Sicily in 406 BCE, Hanno’s revolt in the 350s BCE, and the Roman invasion of Africa in 256 BCE. In the late second and first centuries BCE, Bocchus I first supported Jugurtha against Rome and later betrayed him. Rome rewarded him with territory east of the Moulouya, after which Mauretania was divided between Bocchus II in the east and Bogud II in the west.
Bocchus II and Bogud II became involved in the Roman civil wars, supporting Caesar and later opposing factions associated with Mark Antony and Octavian. After both rulers died, Augustus avoided immediate direct annexation, apparently because of the military difficulties posed by mountain tribes. In 25 BCE he installed Juba, son of the last Numidian king, as a loyal client ruler of a temporarily reconstituted kingdom.
Juba ruled for more than forty years and encouraged urban and cultural development. He was deeply Hellenized and wrote numerous books in Greek, while his capital Iol, renamed Caesarea, and probably Volubilis became fully urbanized. His son Ptolemaus ruled until 40 CE, when the emperor Gaius summoned and executed him. The act provoked a revolt, but Roman suppression was followed in 44 CE by the division of Mauretania into two provinces.
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