With the decline and destruction of Carthage, political power in North-West Africa shifted toward states established among indigenous peoples of the littoral plain west of Carthaginian territory. Rome was initially unwilling to extend its control across large areas of North Africa, creating space for local kingdoms to exercise authority. These states became the principal centers of effective power for approximately a century and a half.

The passage distinguishes two major populations. The Numidians, called Numidae in Latin and Nomades in Greek, occupied a country extending westward as far as the Moulouya River. Beyond that river lived the Mauri, known in Greek as the Maurousioi. Their territories formed a broad political and cultural zone across North-West Africa.

The growth of these kingdoms was closely connected with Carthage’s weakening. Numidian power expanded at Carthaginian expense, and Numidian rulers absorbed substantial elements of Carthaginian culture. In the century after Carthage’s destruction, Phoenician culture was diffused over parts of the interior that Carthage itself had never effectively ruled.