Iulia Valentia Banasa was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

city in northern

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

. It was one of the three colonias in

Mauretania Tingitana Mauretania Tingitana (Latin for "Tangerine Mauretania") was a Roman province, coinciding roughly with the northern part of present-day Morocco. The territory stretched from the northern peninsula opposite Gibraltar, to Sala Colonia (or Chella ...

founded by emperor

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...

between 33 and 25 BC for veterans of the

battle of Actium The Battle of Actium was a naval battle fought between a maritime fleet of Octavian led by Marcus Agrippa and the combined fleets of both Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII Philopator. The battle took place on 2 September 31 BC in the Ionian Sea, nea ...

, on top of a

Mauretania Mauretania (; ) is the Latin name for a region in the ancient Maghreb. It stretched from central present-day Algeria westwards to the Atlantic, covering northern present-day Morocco, and southward to the Atlas Mountains. Its native inhabitants, ...

n village. The site was in fact already occupied by the local Amazigh people from the 4th century BC, or perhaps earlier.

Characteristics

Iulia Valentia Banasa was located on the southern bank of the

Sebou River Sebou (Berber language, Berber: Asif en Sbu, ar, سبو) is a river in northern Morocco. At its source in the Middle Atlas mountains it is known as the Guigou River (Berber: Asif n Gigu). The river is 496 kilometers long and has an average wat ...

on the site now known as Sidi Ali Boujenoun. At the start of the reign of

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good ...

, Banasa became ''Colonia Aurelia Banasa''. In 285 AD, the Roman province of

was reduced to the territories located north of the

Lixus Lixus may refer to: * ''lixus'', the Latin word for "boiled" * Lixus (ancient city) in Morocco * ''Lixus (beetle)'', a genus of true weevils * Lixus, one of the sons of Aegyptus In Greek mythology, Aegyptus or Ægyptus (; grc, Αἴγυπτος) ...

. Banasa was then abandoned. Among the stone ruins at Iulia Valentia Banasa are some characteristic elements of

ancient Roman architecture Ancient Roman architecture adopted the external language of classical Greek architecture for the purposes of the ancient Romans, but was different from Greek buildings, becoming a new architectural style. The two styles are often considered one ...

: a

forum Forum or The Forum (plural forums or fora) may refer to: Common uses * Forum (legal), designated space for public expression in the United States *Forum (Roman), open public space within a Roman city **Roman Forum, most famous example *Internet ...

with a

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...

capitol A capitol, named after the Capitoline Hill in Rome, is usually a legislative building where a legislature meets and makes laws for its respective political entity. Specific capitols include: * United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. * Numerous ...

and baths, as well as streets in a regular pattern. Many of the buildings date from the early third century AD. Beautiful mosaics decorated the buildings and now most are shown at the Rabat archeological museum The

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

name ''Valentia'' means young, strong and may be compared to Valence (France) and

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

(Spain), also colonies. Augustus founded at least twelve Roman colonias in

, although it was a client-kingdom and not yet a province of the empire. Some of the other major Roman companion cities to Iulia Valentia Banasa of this early era are

Chellah The Chellah or Shalla ( ber, script=Latn, Sla or ; ar, شالة), is a medieval fortified Muslim necropolis and ancient archeological site in Rabat, Morocco, located on the south (left) side of the Bou Regreg estuary. The earliest evidence of th ...

and

Volubilis Volubilis (; ar, وليلي, walīlī; ber, ⵡⵍⵉⵍⵉ, wlili) is a partly excavated Berber-Roman city in Morocco situated near the city of Meknes, and may have been the capital of the kingdom of Mauretania, at least from the time of Kin ...

, the latter of which shares the features of basilica and regular street pattern. Objects recovered at Banasa may be seen at the

Rabat Archaeological Museum The Museum of History and Civilizations (, french: Musée de l'histoire et des civilisations) is an archaeological museum in Rabat, Morocco. Opened in 1932, it contains the most extensive collection of archaeological artifacts found in the country. ...

Gallery

File:Banasa bagn.JPG, Roman ruins of Banasa:

thermae In ancient Rome, (from Greek , "hot") and (from Greek ) were facilities for bathing. usually refers to the large Roman Empire, imperial public bath, bath complexes, while were smaller-scale facilities, public or private, that existed i ...

with

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

File:حجر مكتوب باللغة اللاتينية.jpg, Stone written in

File:Banasa tiesse di colone.JPG, Section of Roman column File:بناصا.JPG, View of Banasa ruins File:وسط بناصا.JPG, View of the Roman Forum and Basilica

References

Bibliography

William Seston William Seston (2 June 1900 – 2 October 1983) was a 20th-century French historian and epigrapher, a specialist of the history of the Roman Empire. He was professor at the Sorbonne and a member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres ...

Maurice Euzennat Maurice Euzennat (15 Novembre 1926 – 25 July 2004) was a French historian and archaeologist. Career After he passed his agrégation in history and resided at the école française de Rome between 1951 and 1954, Maurice Euzennat made a par ...

, « La citoyenneté romaine au temps de Marc Aurèle et de Commode, d'après la ''Tabula Banasitana'' », ''CRAI'', 105-2, 1961, p. 317-324

External links

Diplomatie FranceTabula Banasitana Manar al-Athar digital photo archive
(photos of different areas and angles of the site) {{Authority control Archaeological sites in Morocco Roman towns and cities in Morocco Mauretania Tingitana Coloniae (Roman) Populated places established in the 1st century BC Kénitra Province Roman towns and cities in Mauretania Tingitana

Characteristics

Gallery

See also

References

Bibliography

External links