Roman military camp of Tamuda, Morocco (39233951222)

Tamuda was an ancient

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 and military camp 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 ...

. It is located 6 km (4 miles) west of the present-day Tetouan 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 ...

. Stone ruins from the site are found by the south bank of the

Martil Valley Martil Valley () is situated to the northeast of Tetouan, Morocco. It is about 10 to 15 km long. The name comes from the river that crosses the valley, formerly known as Rio Martin, during the Spanish protectorate period in the first hal ...

. It was considered a city in accordance with the rules of urbanization of the time.

History

The ancient city was founded in the 3rd century BC by the

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, ...

Berbers , image = File:Berber_flag.svg , caption = The Berber ethnic flag , population = 36 million , region1 = Morocco , pop1 = 14 million to 18 million , region2 = Algeria , pop2 ...

of northern Morocco. Probably there was a Phoenician presence during the next century, mainly for commerce. A type of a seahorse, representing Phoenician iconography, with rider encountered on a clay jar was found at Tamuda. Under 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 Pri ...

Romans occupied the city. Around 42 AD, Roman garrisons leveled Tamuda during an insurrection and in its stead erected a fortified settlement. The Emperor Augustus' successors later rebuilt the city as a Roman

castrum In the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a po ...

. Tamuda became later one of the major cities of the

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 ...

and enjoyed a development during

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 ...

and

Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa (Roman province), Africa. As a young man he advanced thro ...

rule. It was used for fish salting and purple production, according to researcher from the University of Cadiz. On the ''

Notitia Dignitatum The ''Notitia Dignitatum'' (Latin for "The List of Offices") is a document of the late Roman Empire that details the administrative organization of the Western and the Eastern Roman Empire. It is unique as one of very few surviving documents of ...

'', written in the fifth century, it is stated that at the end of the fourth century Tamuda's castrum was the headquarters of an " Ala Herculea" (cavalry unit) of local

limitanei The ''līmitāneī'' (Latin, also called ''rīpēnsēs''), meaning respectively "the soldiers in frontier districts" (from the Latin phrase līmēs, meaning a military district of a frontier province) or "the soldiers on the riverbank" (from the ...

and that was related to a ''cohortes'' of

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 and Caliadne Caliadne (; Ancient Greek: Καλιάδνης ) or Cali ...

. The region around Tamuda was fully Romanized, Christianized and "pacified" during the fifth century and the fort probably was dismantled. By the time the

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

s arrived in the fifth century the city had been possibly abandoned as no contemporary chronicle mentions it anymore. In the late 13th century small fortifications existed near the Roman ruins with the name "Tittawin", that later were renamed "Tetouan".

Excavations

Artifacts from both the

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 ...

and the Phoenician era have been found in the site of Tamuda. In 1933, a third century (circa 253-257 A.D.) stone recording a Roman victory over some unnamed

barbarian A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either Civilization, uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by som ...

s was discovered at the site of Tamuda. It is believed that the inscription refers to the

Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...

. In July 2018, a group of researchers discovered at the site a

rib In vertebrate anatomy, ribs ( la, costae) are the long curved bones which form the rib cage, part of the axial skeleton. In most tetrapods, ribs surround the chest, enabling the lungs to expand and thus facilitate breathing by expanding the ches ...

fragment from a

North Atlantic right whale The North Atlantic right whale (''Eubalaena glacialis'') is a baleen whale, one of three right whale species belonging to the genus ''Eubalaena'', all of which were formerly classified as a single species. Because of their docile nature, their ...

dated from 180 A.D. 396 A.D. They suggest that the Romans may have conducted industrial-scale whaling in the coasts of the Western Mediterranean.

References

Bibliography

*El Azifi, M.R. ''L'habitat ancien de la vallée de Martil'' in "Revue de la Faculté des lettres de Tétouan", année 4, n° 4 Tetouan, 1990 {{Authority control Mauretania Tingitana Populated places established in the 3rd century BC Roman towns and cities in Morocco Tétouan Ancient Berber cities Archaeological sites in Morocco History of Tétouan Roman towns and cities in Mauretania Tingitana

History

Excavations

See also

References

Bibliography