Mauretania Caesariensis

Provincia Mauretania Caesariensis
Province of the Roman Empire
42 AD–Late 7th Century

The province of Mauretania Caesariensis within the Roman Empire, c. AD 125
CapitalCaesarea
Historical eraClassical antiquity, Late Antiquity
• Incorporated into the Roman Empire as a full province
42 AD
• Vandal Conquest
430s AD
• Byzantine partial reconquest by Vandalic War
534 AD
Late 7th Century
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Mauretania
Vandal Kingdom
Vandal Kingdom
Umayyad Caliphate
Today part ofAlgeria

Mauretania Caesariensis (Latin for "Caesarean Mauretania") was a Roman province located in present-day Algeria.[1] The full name refers to its capital Caesarea Mauretaniae (modern Cherchell).

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 of Rome, it was annexed into the Empire formally during the reign of Claudius 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 in 293 AD. During and after the Fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century, most of the hinterland 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. This province was a part of Praetorian prefecture of Africa, later Exarchate of Africa. The Muslim conquest of the Maghreb brought an end to Roman rule in Mauretania, permanently this time, which became ruled by the Umayyad Caliphate as part of Medieval Muslim Algeria.

  1. ^ Michael Brett (2013). Approaching African History. Boydell & Brewer Ltd. p. 120. ISBN 978-1-84701-063-6.