- published: 22 Apr 2014
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Mauretania is a part of the historical Ancient Libyan land in North Africa. It corresponds to present day Morocco and a part of western Algeria. Mauretania in antiquity was the western neighbour of the ancient kingdom of Numidia.
In antiquity, Mauretania was originally an independent kingdom on the Mediterranean coast of north Africa (named after the Mauri tribe, after whom the Moors were named), corresponding to northern Morocco. Some of its earliest recorded history relates to Phoenician and Carthaginian settlements such as Lixus, Volubilis, Mogador and Chellah. The kingdom of Mauretania was not situated on the Atlantic coast south of Western Sahara, where modern Mauritania lies.
After the defeat of Carthage by the Roman Empire Mauretania became a Roman client kingdom. The Romans placed Juba II of Numidia as their client-king. When Juba died in 23 AD, his Roman-educated son Ptolemy of Mauretania succeeded him on the throne. Caligula killed Ptolemy in 40. Claudius annexed Mauretania directly as a Roman province in 44, under an imperial (not senatorial) governor.