Antiquity to third century AD Phoenicians from
Carthage founded a settlement on the northern coast of Africa, 100 km west of the present-day city of
Algiers at present
Cherchell around 400 BC to serve as a trading station and named the city
Iol or
Jol. It became a part of the kingdom of
Numidia under
Jugurtha, who died in 104 BC, and it became very significant to the
Berber monarchy and generals of Numidia . The Berber King
Bocchus II lived there. During the 1st century BC, due to the city’s strategic location, new defences were built. The last Numidian king
Juba II, was forced to flee the other part of Numidian kingdom because the local population disapproved of their king being too Romanized, which caused civil unrest between 26 and 20 BC. Roman Emperor
Augustus had intervened in the situation and in 33 BC Rome and divided the Numidian Kingdom into two. One half of the kingdom became a part of the
Roman province of
Africa Nova, while western Numidia it was annexed to the kingdom of Mauretania and the kingdom was entrusted to Juba II. Although his father was once an ally of
Pompey, Juba had lived in Rome under the tutelage of
Julius Caesar, learning to read and write Greek and Latin. As he was considered too Roman to rule, Juba was at the mercy of civil unrest when Emperor
Augustus intervened. Juba II renamed Iol
Caesarea or
Caesarea Mauretaniae, in honor of the emperor. Caesarea would become the capital of the Roman client kingdom of
Mauretania, which became one of the important client kingdoms in the
Roman Empire, and their dynasty was among the most loyal client Roman vassal rulers. Juba II the same year he became king of Mauretania he married
Cleopatra Selene II, daughter of
Cleopatra VII and
Mark Antony, the rulers did not just renamed the capital, but rebuilt the town as a typical Graeco-Roman city in fine Roman style on a large, lavish and expensive scale, complete with street grids, a theatre, an art collection and a lighthouse similar to the one at
Alexandria. The construction and sculptural projects in Caesarea and throughout the kingdom were built in a rich mixture of
ancient Egyptian,
Greek and
Roman architectural styles. The monarchs are buried in their mausoleum, the
Royal Mausoleum of Mauretania which can still be seen. The seaport capital and its kingdom flourished during this period with most of the population being of
Greek and Phoenician origin with a minority of
Berbers. It remained a significant power center with a
Greco-Roman civilization as a veneer, until 40 AD, when its last monarch
Ptolemy of Mauretania was murdered on a visit to
Rome. The murder of Ptolemy set in motion a series of reactions resulting in a devastating war with Rome. In 44 AD after a four-year bloody revolt, the capital was captured and Roman Emperor
Claudius divided the Mauretanian kingdom into two provinces. The province of which Caesarea became the capital was called
Mauretania Caesariensis after it. The city itself was settled with Roman soldiers and was given the rank of a
colonia, and so was also called
Colonia Claudia Caesarea. In later centuries, the Roman population expanded, as did the Berber population, resulting in a mixed Greco-Phoenician, Berber and Roman population. The city featured a
hippodrome,
amphitheatre,
basilica, numerous
Greek temples and Roman civic buildings. During this heyday, the city had its own
school of philosophy,
academy and
library. As a significant city of the
Roman Empire it had trading contacts across the Roman world.
Romanization and Christianity center Considered to be one of the more loyal of Roman provincial capitals, Caesarea grew under Roman rule in the 1st and 2nd century AD, soon reaching a population of over 30,000 inhabitants. In 44 AD, during the reign of Emperor
Claudius it became the capital of the imperial province of Mauretania Caesarensis. Later, the emperor made it a colonia, “Colonia Claudia Caesarea”. As with many other cities throughout the empire, he and his successors further
Romanized the area, building monuments, enlarging the bath houses, adding an amphitheatre, and improving the aqueducts. Later, under the Severan dynasty, a new forum was added. The city was sacked by Berber tribes during a revolt in 371/372 AD, but recovered. In later centuries, the Roman population expanded, as did the Berber population, resulting in a mixed Berber and Roman population. The city was mostly Romanized under
Septimius Severus and it grew to be a very rich city with nearly 100,000 inhabitants, according to historian Gsell. In about 165 AD, it was the birthplace to the future Roman Emperor
Macrinus. It became a target of the
Vandals, who arrived in Africa in 429 by which time much of Mauretania Caesariensis had become became virtually independent. Christianity had spread rapidly there in the 4th and 5th centuries. One of the 80 cities in the Maghreb was populated by Roman colonists from Italy. It remained an extremely loyalist force for the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire largely relied on its North African dominion for essential grain supply. The Vandal army and fleet burnt the town and turned many of its old magnificent Roman era buildings into Vandal citadels. Although this devastation was significant, the Vandal era saw restoration of much of the damage, an expansion in population, and the creation of a vibrant Romanized Germanic community. The area remained in Vandal hands until 533 AD, when the city was captured by the Byzantine Emperor
Justinian I. The new rulers used the Greek language (along with
Latin), but the Neo-Latin local dialect remained in use by the inhabitants. The city declined. The Roman and the semi-Romanised Vandal population held a stratified position over the growing numbers of Berbers it allowed to settle in return for cheap labor. This reduced the economic status of small freeholders and urban dwellers, especially what remained of the Vandal population, who comprised most of the local military forces. Furthermore, the increasing use of Berber workers ground down the Roman population of free peasants. By the 8th century, the city and surrounding area had neither a strong urban middle class of free citizens, nor a rural population of freehold farmers, nor a crack military aristocracy of Vandal warriors and their retinue. == Ecclesiastical history ==