When is Mauretania shown on the map?

The border data draws Mauretania AD 1–42. The source samples borders at fixed dates, so a span can begin late or run on past the end.

How large was Mauretania?

At its greatest extent drawn on this map, Mauretania covered about 216,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.

Africa · Antiquity and Christian Nubia

Mauretania

drawn on the map AD 1–42

See it on the map → Wikipedia ↗

Shown on the map: AD 1–42
Peak area: 216k km²
Region: Africa

Overview

Mauretania is the Latin name for the ancient kingdom of the Mauri (Moors) in the northwestern Maghreb, covering at its height northern-central Morocco and western-central Algeria, with capitals at Volubilis and later Iol (renamed Caesarea). Its inhabitants were of Imazighen (Berber) and Phoenician ancestry; Berber, Latin, and Punic were spoken. Though mythology gave it a legendary founder in the Titan Atlas, the first historically documented king was Baga, who around 225 BC freed the region from Carthaginian influence and maintained armed neutrality during the Second Punic War.

History

The kingdom entered history's spotlight with Bocchus I (r. c. 110–80 BC), who allied with the Numidian king Jugurtha against Rome, then betrayed him in 106 BC, handing Jugurtha over to the Roman commander Sulla in exchange for western Numidian territory. After a brief separatist revolt at Tingis, the kingdom was co-ruled by the brothers Bogud and Bocchus II from 49 BC; during Caesar's civil war they backed Julius Caesar, and Bocchus II annexed Numidian lands eastward to the Ampsaga River. On his death in 33 BC, Bocchus II bequeathed the unified kingdom to Octavian.

In 25 BC Augustus restored Mauretania as a Roman client kingdom under the scholarly Juba II, who married Cleopatra Selene II, daughter of Cleopatra and Mark Antony. The couple rebuilt the cities in Greco-Roman style and developed lucrative exports — Atlantic purple dye from Mogador, cedar wood, and wild animals for Roman arenas — while Juba's Romanizing policies alienated the Moorish nobility. His son Ptolemy was executed by Caligula in AD 40, sparking revolts under Aedemon and Sabalus; Emperor Claudius crushed the resistance by 44 AD and annexed the kingdom as two provinces, Mauretania Tingitana (capital Tingis/Tangier) and Mauretania Caesariensis (capital Caesarea/Cherchell).

Decline and legacy

Christianity spread from the 3rd century. After the Vandal and Byzantine interludes, the interior fragmented into Romano-Berber kingdoms (Altava, Hodna, and others) that resisted the Arab conquest until around 703. Mauretania gave Rome one emperor (Macrinus) and left its name to the modern country of Mauritania, as well as archaeological treasures at Volubilis and Tipaza, both UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Common questions

What was Mauretania?: Mauretania is the Latin name for the ancient kingdom of the Mauri (Moors) in the northwestern Maghreb, covering at its height northern-central Morocco and western-central Algeria, with capitals at Volubilis and later Iol (renamed Caesarea). Its inhabitants were of Imazighen (Berber) and Phoenician ancestry; Berber, Latin, and Punic were spoken.
When is Mauretania shown on the map?: The border data draws Mauretania AD 1–42. The source samples borders at fixed dates, so a span can begin late or run on past the end.
How large was Mauretania?: At its greatest extent drawn on this map, Mauretania covered about 216,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
Who ruled Mauretania?: The kingdom entered history's spotlight with Bocchus I (r. c. 110–80 BC), who allied with the Numidian king Jugurtha against Rome, then betrayed him in 106 BC, handing Jugurtha over to the Roman commander Sulla in exchange for western Numidian territory.
How did Mauretania end?: Christianity spread from the 3rd century. After the Vandal and Byzantine interludes, the interior fragmented into Romano-Berber kingdoms (Altava, Hodna, and others) that resisted the Arab conquest until around 703.

Sources

Every source below was consulted while writing this entry.

Wikipedia – Mauretania en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauretania

This entry was written from the sources above and last updated 10 September 2026.

This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made

Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.

Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).

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