Background prior to its collapse in the sixth century. The Mauro-Roman Kingdom was established in the early fifth century after following partial
Berber conquests of Roman Mauretania. Direct Roman rule had already become confined to a few coastal cities (such as
Septem in
Mauretania Tingitana and
Caesarea in
Mauretania Caesariensis) by the late 3rd century. Historical sources about inland areas are sparse, but these were apparently controlled by local Berber rulers who, however, maintained a degree of Roman culture, including the local cities, and usually nominally acknowledged the suzerainty of the Roman Emperors. After the
Vandal conquest of Northern Africa and the establishment of the
Vandal Kingdom, these cities became completely isolated and eventually fell into the control of the romanized berber people of the region. The berbers would form an independent barbarian kingdom, dubbed the
Regnum Maurorum et Romanorum, the "Kingdom of the Moors and Romans". This kingdom would be a local power, often finding itself at war with the neighboring Vandal Kingdom. When the
Eastern Roman Empire invaded the Vandals in their successful attempt at reconquering Northern Africa, the Mauro-Roman Kingdom under
Masuna allied with them against the Vandals. However, subsequent rulers would come into conflict with the Empire. After a failed military campaign under King
Garmul against the Eastern Roman Empire, the Empire reincorporated some coastal territories and the Kingdom collapsed.
Altavan rump-state Though the domain of the Mauro-Roman Kingdom had collapsed, a romanized Berber kingdom continued to be ruled from the city of Altava, though it was significantly smaller in size than the Kingdom ruled by Garmul had been. The last recorded ruler of the Kingdom of Altava was Caecilius, called Koceila or
Kusaila ("leopard" in
Tamazight). He died in the year 690 AD fighting against the
Muslim conquest of the Maghreb. He was also leader of the Awraba tribe of the
Imazighen and possibly Christian head of the
Sanhadja confederation. He is known for having led an effective Berber martial resistance against the
Umayyad Caliphate's conquest of the Maghreb in the 680s. Indeed, in 683 AD
Uqba ibn Nafi was ambushed and killed in the
Battle of Vescera near
Biskra by Kusaila, who forced all Arabs to evacuate their just founded
Kairouan and withdraw to
Cyrenaica. But in 688 AD Arab reinforcements from
Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan arrived under Zuhair ibn Kays. Caecilius met them in 690 AD -with the support of Byzantine troops- at the
Battle of Mamma. Vastly outnumbered, the Awraba and Byzantines were defeated and Caecilius was killed. With the death of Caecilius, the torch of resistance passed to a tribe known as the Jerawa tribe, who had their home in the
Aurès Mountains: his Christian Berber troops after his death fought later under
Kahina, the last Queen of the
romanized Berbers. == List of Kings of Altava ==