Kingdom of Mauretania

Most of what is known about Mauretania's history revolves around its interactions with Rome and Numidia. A Mauretanian king, Baga, was first mentioned in 206 BC, when he allied with the Numidian king Massinissa. A century later king Bocchus I intervened in the Jugurthine War and expanded the kingdom as far east as Saldae. During the reigns of Bocchus II and Bogud it was briefly seperated into two parts before Bocchus II managed to reunify the kingdom and even annexed territories as far east as the Rhumel River, but his death in 33 BC left it practically defunct. Emperor Augustus restored the kingdom in 25 BC and installed Juba II and Cleopatra Selene as vassal rulers seated in Caesarea. Mauretania was finally annexed by Emperor Caligula in 40 AD and turned into the provinces of Mauretania Tingitana and Mauretania Caesariensis.

It originated as a confederation led by the Mauri people, who due to their dominant position lend their name to the polity, but which also encompassed other tribal groups. It began to mint coins in the second half of the 2nd century BC. Its society was divided in sedentary farmers and nomadic pastoralists. Most of the population encompassed Berber-speakers, which was written in an alphabet called Libyco-Berber, but the elite also used Punic. Juba II, who was highly educated and Romanized, was a proficient author employing Greek.

Geography

The ancients applied the term "Mauretania" to a vast and loosely defined region in northern Africa that originally stretched from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to Numidia in the east. In the late 2nd century BC, just before the eastward expansion of the kingdom, the border between Mauretania and Numidia was said to be the Muluccha river, likely corresponding to either the Moulouya River or the Wadi Kiss slightly further east. The region is dominated by the Rif Mountains, which practically divided Mauretania in a western and an eastern part and the Atlas Mountains, which provided a natural southern boundary separating Mauretania from the Sahara. The mountainscape is interrupted by arid plains and, especially in western Mauretania, fertile rivers like the Sebou.

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History

Origins (before 2nd century BC)

From Bocchus I to the interregnum (late 2nd century BC–25 BC)

What happened to Bocchus I after 91 BC remains unknown, although he might have ruled as late as 81 BC.

Roman client kingdom (25 BC–40 AD)

Languages

The Mauretanians and Numidians spoke a Berber language that may have been related to Kabyle, which is still spoken in Kabylia in northeastern Algeria. This language was written in the Libyco-Berber alphabet, which originated in the 3rd or 2nd century BC. There were two variants of the alphabet: an eastern one used east of Kabylia with 24 letters and a western one with 37 letters used as far west as the Canary Islands. The inscriptons are usually very short and correspond to epitaphs engraved on stone, although some inscriptions were also carved into pottery. A notable example is a carefully crafted stele found near a tumulus in Sidi Slimane, likely from the 2nd century BC.

Contrary to Numidia there is only limited evidence for Carthaginian influence in Mauretania, including the usage of Punic. It was to some degree used by the elite: a few Neo-Punic (the form of Punic written after the fall of Carthage) inscriptions dating to the late 2nd–1st century BC were found at Volubilis, mentioning individuals bearing the Punic title suffet, meaning as much as "magistrate" or "prince".

After 46 BC Latin quickly grew to become North Africa's Lingua Franca. Around that time Latin began to be featured on the coins of Bogud, which only used Latin, and Bocchus II, which used Latin and Punic. After the fall of Mauretania Latin replaced Berber throughout most of the northern Maghreb, reducing it to a few isolated pockets. This state persisted until a mass migration of Berber-speakers from the Sahara in the 5th century, although African Romance remained dominant along the Mediterranean coast line until the arrival of the Arabs in the late 7th century.

Numismatics

Coins were introduced to Mauretania around the turn of the 3rd century BC, with the Numidian issues produced by Syphax and Massinissa. Numidian issues were highly popular and remained in circulation even after the Roman annexation. Carthaginian and Iberian coins also found their way into the country. Under Bocchus I Mauretania finally began to mint its own coins, although there is some evidence that coins were struck as early as the mid-2nd century BC. Several Mauretanian towns minted their own bronze coins with Neo-Punic inscriptions, among them Lixus, Tingi and Rusadir. The iconography is repetitive, usually depicting a bare head on the obverse and wheat and grapes on the reverse. After the annexation of western Numidia in 105 BC Mauretania also acquired a royal mint in Siga. Siga produced a limited number of coins bearing the Neo-Punic inscription bqs ("Bocchus"), who is likely to be identified with Bocchus I rather than Bocchus II.

After Bocchus I there was a hiatus until the issues produced by Bogud and Bocchus II, still very few in number and hence still serving prestigious purposes. While the coins of Bocchus II remained relatively orthodox the silver issues produced under Bogud already show strong Roman influences.

Literature

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