Mauretania Caesariensis (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, 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 ...

for " Caesarean Mauretania") was a

Roman province The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...

located in what is now

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

in the

Maghreb The Maghreb (; ar, الْمَغْرِب, al-Maghrib, lit=the west), also known as the Arab Maghreb ( ar, المغرب العربي) and Northwest Africa, is the western part of North Africa and the Arab world. The region includes Algeria, ...

. The full name refers to its capital Caesarea Mauretaniae (modern

Cherchell Cherchell (Arabic: شرشال) is a town on Algeria's Mediterranean coast, west of Algiers. It is the seat of Cherchell District in Tipaza Province. Under the names Iol and Caesarea, it was formerly a Roman colony and the capital of the k ...

). The province had been part of the Kingdom of Mauretania and named for the Mauri people who lived there. Formerly an independent kingdom, and later a

client state A client state, in international relations, is a state that is economically, politically, and/or militarily subordinate to another more powerful state (called the "controlling state"). A client state may variously be described as satellite sta ...

of Rome, it was annexed into the Empire formally during the reign of

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54) was the fourth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Drusus and Antonia Minor ...

and divided into two provinces about 42 AD. A third province, named Mauretania Sitifensis, was later split off from the eastern portion during the reign of

Diocletian Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...

in 293 AD. During and after the

Fall of the Western Roman Empire The fall of the Western Roman Empire (also called the fall of the Roman Empire or the fall of Rome) was the loss of central political control in the Western Roman Empire, a process in which the Empire failed to enforce its rule, and its va ...

in the 5th century, most of the

hinterland Hinterland is a German word meaning "the land behind" (a city, a port, or similar). Its use in English was first documented by the geographer George Chisholm in his ''Handbook of Commercial Geography'' (1888). Originally the term was associate ...

area was lost, first to the Vandal Kingdom and later to the Mauro-Roman Kingdom, with Roman administration limited to the capital of Caesarea. The land was reconquered by Rome during the reign of

Justinian Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized '' renova ...

. This province was a part of Praetorian prefecture of Africa, later Exarchate of Africa. The

Muslim conquest of the Maghreb The Muslim conquest of the Maghreb ( ar, الْفَتْحُ الإسلَامِيُّ لِلْمَغرِب) continued the century of rapid Muslim conquests following the death of Muhammad in 632 and into the Byzantine-controlled territories of ...

brought an end to Roman rule in Mauretania, permanently this time, which became ruled by the

Umayyad Caliphate The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by th ...

as part of Medieval Muslim Algeria.

History

In the middle of 1st century AD, Roman emperor

divided the westernmost

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, named Mauretania (land of the Mauri people, hence the word

Moors The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinc ...

), into Mauretania Caesariensis (named after its capital, one of many cities simply named Caesarea after the imperial cognomen that had become a title) and

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 Chel ...

. Mauretania Caesariensis included eight colonies founded by the 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 Pr ...

: Cartennas,

Gunugu Gunugus or Gunugu ( xpu, 𐤂𐤍𐤂𐤍 , ) was a Berber and Carthaginian town in northwest Africa in antiquity. It passed into Roman control during the Punic Wars and was the site of a colony of veteran soldiers. It survived the Vandals and ...

, Igilgili,

Rusguniae Tamentfoust ( ar, تمنتفوست), the classical Rusguniae and colonial , is a site in the Dar El Beïda District of Algiers in Algeria. Geography Tamentfoust lies on Cape Matifou, which forms the northeast side of the Bay of Algiers. Name ...

Rusazu Rusazus was a Phoenician, Carthaginian, and Roman town located near Cape Corbelin, Algeria. Its ruins are near the town of Azeffoun. Name ( phn, 𐤓‬𐤔‬𐤆‬) was the Phoenician and Punic name of Cape Corbelin and meant "Cape o ...

Saldae Saldae was an important port city in the ancient Roman Empire, located at today's Béjaïa (in Kabylia, eastern Algeria). It was generally a crossroads between eastern and western segments of Northern Africa, from the time of Carthage to the end o ...

Zuccabar Zuccabar (or Zucchabar) was an ancient town in the Roman province of Mauretania Caesariensis. It is located in present-day Miliana, Algeria. History Zuccabar was constituted as a Roman colony (''Colonia Iulia Augusta Zucchabar'') under the Emper ...

Tubusuctu Tubusuctu also known as Colonia Iulia Augusta Legionis VII, was a Roman colony founded by Augustus for military veterans and known for its olive oil. Location The town is located at 36.667565, 4.8462225 near El Ksour, Algeria and flourished from ...

; two by the Emperor

: Caesarea formerly the capital of Juba, who gave it this name in honour of his patron Augustus, and Oppidum Novum; one by the Emperor Nerva:

Setifis Sétifis (Arabic: سطيف; Berber: Sṭif), was a Romano town located in northeastern Algeria. It was the capital of the Roman province called ''Mauretania Sitifensis'', and it is today Setif in the Sétif Province (Algeria). History Sitifis ...

; and in later times,

Arsenaria Arzew or Arzeu ( ar, أرزيو Berber; ) is a port city in Algeria, 25 miles (40 km) from Oran. It is the capital of Arzew District, Oran Province. History Antiquity Like the rest of North Africa, the site of modern-day Arzew was orig ...

, Bida, Siga, Aquae Calidae,

Quiza Xenitana Quiza ( grc, Κούϊζα) also known as Vuiza (Βούϊζα), which Pliny the Elder called Quiza Xenitana,This is sometimes mistakenly written ''Quiza Cenitana'' was a Roman– Berber colonia, located in the former province of Mauretania Caes ...

Rusucurru Dellys ( ar, دلّس, Berber: Delles) is a small Mediterranean town in northern Algeria's coastal Boumerdès Province, almost due north of Tizi-Ouzou and just east of the Sebaou River. It is the district seat of the daïra of Dellys. The town ...

Auzia Auzia was a Roman- Berber colonia in present-day Sour El-Ghozlane, Algeria. The area was located around 150 km south-east of Algiers, in the ancient province of Mauretania Caesariensis. History Auzia probably took the name from the Berbe ...

, Gilva, Icosium and Tipasa in all 21 well-known colonies, besides several ''municipia'' and ''oppida Latina''. Under

's Tetrarchy reform, the easternmost part was broken off from Mauretania Caesariensis as a separate small province, Mauretania Sitifensis, called after its inland capital

Sitifis Sétifis (Arabic: سطيف; Berber: Sṭif), was a Romano town located in northeastern Algeria. It was the capital of the Roman province called ''Mauretania Sitifensis'', and it is today Setif in the Sétif Province (Algeria). History Sitifis ...

(now Sétif) with a significant port at

(presently Béjaïa). At the time of Diocletian and

Constantine the Great Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to convert to Christianity. Born in Naissus, Dacia Mediterran ...

, both Sitifensis and Caesariensis were assigned to the administrative Diocese of Africa, under the

Praetorian prefecture of Italy The praetorian prefecture of Italy ( la, Praefectura praetorio Italiae, in its full form (until 356) ) was one of four praetorian prefectures into which the Late Roman Empire was divided. It comprised the Italian peninsula, the Western Balkans ...

, while Tingitana belonged to the Diocese of Hispania under the Praetorian prefecture of Gaul, so it was an enclave separate from the European territory of Diocese and Prefecture it belonged to. After the

fall of the Western Roman Empire The fall of the Western Roman Empire (also called the fall of the Roman Empire or the fall of Rome) was the loss of central political control in the Western Roman Empire, a process in which the Empire failed to enforce its rule, and its va ...

, a Germanic Vandal Kingdom was founded, but the remaining Eastern Empire (now known to historians as the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

) recaptured the area around 533, but most of Mauretania Caesariensis remained under the control of local Moorish rulers such as Mastigas, and it was not until the 560s and 570s that Byzantine control was established inland. During the reign of Maurice, the empire was reorganized and a number of

Exarchate An exarchate is any territorial jurisdiction, either secular or ecclesiastical, whose ruler is called an exarch. The term originates from the Greek word ''arkhos'', meaning a leader, ruler, or chief. Byzantine Emperor Justinian I created the fir ...

s were founded, among them the Exarchate of Africa which included Mauretania, among other territories. Mauretania Sitifensis was re-merged back into this province, and was granted the name "Mauretania Prima". The

for the

caliphate A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

under the Umayyad dynasty meant the end of the Byzantine Exarchate of Africa and Late Antique Roman culture there and Mauretania Caesariensis became part of the westernmost Islamic province called

Economy

The principal exports from Caesariensis were purple dyes and valuable woods; and the Amazigh or Mauri were highly regarded by the Romans as soldiers, especially light cavalry. They produced one of

Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...

's best generals, Lusius Quietus, and the emperor Macrinus.

Religion

Caesarea was a major center of

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in th ...

before 330, and Sitifis was one of the centres of the soldier cult of Mithraic mysteries.

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...

spread throughout in the 4th and 5th centuries. Among the ruling class,

Trinitarian Christianity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the ...

was replaced by

Arianism Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God ...

under the Germanic kingdom of the

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal Kingdom, Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century. The ...

, which was established in 430, when the Vandals crossed the Strait of Gibraltar.

Episcopal sees

Ancient episcopal sees of Mauretania Caesariensis listed in the ''

Annuario Pontificio The ''Annuario Pontificio'' ( Italian for ''Pontifical Yearbook'') is the annual directory of the Holy See of the Catholic Church. It lists the popes in chronological order and all officials of the Holy See's departments. It also provides name ...

'' as

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbi ...

s:''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2013, ), "Sedi titolari", pp. 819-1013

References

Sources