in the time of
Hadrian (ruled 117–138), showing the
imperial province of Mauretania Caesariensis (roughly modern
Algeria, in the
Maghreb) In the middle of the
1st century,
Roman emperor Claudius divided the westernmost
Roman province in
Africa, named
Mauretania ('land of the
Mauri', hence the word
Moors), into Mauretania Caesariensis (named after its capital,
Caesarea in Mauretania, one of many cities named Caesarea after the imperial cognomen that had become a title) and
Mauretania Tingitana. Mauretania Caesariensis included eight colonies founded by the Emperor
Augustus:
Cartennae,
Gunugus,
Igilgili,
Rusguniae,
Rusazus,
Saldae,
Zuccabar,
Tubusuctu; two by the Emperor
Claudius: Caesarea in Mauretania, formerly the capital of
Juba II, who gave it this name in honour of his patron Augustus, and
Oppidum Novum; one by the Emperor
Nerva:
Setifis; and in later times,
Arsenaria,
Bida,
Siga,
Aquae Calidae,
Quiza Xenitana,
Rusucurru,
Auzia,
Gilva,
Icosium and
Tipasa in all 21 well-known colonies, besides several
municipia and
oppida Latina. Under
Diocletian's
Tetrarchy reform, the easternmost part was broken off from Mauretania Caesariensis as a separate small province,
Mauretania Sitifensis, called after its inland capital
Setifis (now
Sétif) with a significant port at
Saldae (presently
Béjaïa). At the time of Diocletian and
Constantine the Great, both Sitifensis and Caesariensis were assigned to the administrative
Diocese of Africa, under the
Praetorian prefecture of Italy. Tingitana belonged to the
Diocese of Hispania under the
Praetorian prefecture of Gaul, so it was an enclave separate from the European territory of the Diocese and Prefecture it belonged to. After the
fall of the Western Roman Empire, a Germanic
Vandal Kingdom was founded, but the remaining Eastern Empire (now known to historians as the
Byzantine Empire) recaptured the area around 533. Most of Mauretania Caesariensis remained under the control of local Moorish rulers such as
Mastigas, and it was not until the 560s and 570s that Byzantine control was established inland. During the reign of
Maurice, the empire was reorganized, and a number of
Exarchates were founded, among them the
Exarchate of Africa, which included Mauretania, among other territories. Mauretania Sitifensis was re-merged back into this province and granted the name "Mauretania Prima." The
Muslim conquest of the Maghreb for the
caliphate under the
Umayyad dynasty meant the end of the Byzantine
Exarchate of Africa and Late Antique Roman culture there, and Mauretania Caesariensis became part of the westernmost Islamic province called
Maghreb. == Economy ==