HESPERIA; Part Fifteen; Interlude Mauritania
HESPERIA; Part Fifteen; Interlude Mauritania
Hesperia was Founded by traders far to the south in Africa. But this wouldn't have been possible except that a large portion of the Atlantic coast along the way was already under the control of Rome. When Rome conquered Carthage in the third Punic war they completely destroyed the city. The problem was that Carthage was were it was due to being a crossroad between African & Mediterranean trade routes. In Fact Carthage was simply the great Trading Center of the Numidian kingdom of Mauritania, which extends from the Atlantic to Algeria.
The Numidian kingdom came to an end under Juba I, In 46 BC who entered the fierce civil wars among the Romans on the [wrong] side of Pompey, and was defeated by Julius Caesar. Receptive to both Carthaginian's and Hellenistic Greek customs, the Numidians had splendid palaces in the Hellenistic style, Greek philosophers to counsel them, and temples dedicated to the Phoenician god Baal Hammon, sometimes assimilated into the Greek Zeus. In Caesar's triumphal procession, resplendent booty worthy of Numidian wealth and taste is paraded through the streets of Rome, along with Juba II, infant son of the defeated king.
Augustus, who emerges victorious at Rome after a century of war, grants Juba II the client kingship of Mauritania. His domain corresponds to a portion of the former Numidian kingdom. Reared at Rome, Juba II is a man of extraordinary learning, a collector and a patron of the arts. He marries Cleopatra Selene, daughter of the great Cleopatra defeated by Augustus. Copies of Greek statues adorn his palace, and he authors several volumes in Greek on a wide range of subjects, including a history of Rome, the antiquities of various nations, and research on language and the theater.
Unfortally, Ptolemy, son of Juba II and king of Mauritania, is murdered in Rome in 42 AD. The kingdom comes to an end and is incorporated into the Roman empire. Within four years, colony settlements with garrisons of soldiers are established in Mauritanian territory. These settlements extent down the coast along the Atlas Mountains, were ever there are watering spots, at the mouths of creeks, streams, & Rivers. Along with these settlements go Defense walls, Farms, & Irrigation Projects, and of course Roads. The Great Coast Road will extent from A Rebuilt Carthage [ The City was Needed, so the Romans rebuilt it in the 40's BC.] to Tangeirs at the Pillar of Hercules,where it turned south,
By 150 A.D. Carthage and Tangeirs are thriving and populous cities. Thanks to Their fine ports and strategic location, . By the second century, They Are filled with splendid buildings of Roman design, including bath complexes overlooking the sea. Numerous other cities in the region follow the Roman model. They have streets organized on a grid plan, a forum to serve as a civic and commercial center, theaters and amphitheaters for entertainment, and temples to the Roman deities Saturn and Juno, often erected on the sites of sanctuaries dedicated to their Carthaginian counterparts Baal Hammon and Tanit.
By 300 the Great Coastal Road Reaches to the End of the Atlas Mountains, to the Town of Remus, Where it encounters the Great Sahara Desert. This is also the end of the settlements till they resume on the other side of the Desert in Hesperia.
In 429 A.D. The Vandals, a Germanic tribe, invade North Africa from Spain. Their conquests are both brutal and swift, and they occupy Carthage as their capital. Although chaos reigns in the years just after they arrive, order returns in time, and Roman customs continue. The illiterate Vandals adopt the written Latin language, maintain country villas in the Roman style, and restore baths, theaters, and churches. While several Groups of Vandals pillaged down the Coast, all the way to Remus, By the time they reached here, they were more interested in Settling down.
During this Several groups of Refugees flee to Hesperia and for a while trade is ended. Within Thirty years trade resumes, thro with the ongoing collapse of the western Empire, It never reaches the level from before the invasions.
By 500 North Africa is in the hands of Vandal rulers, adherents of a form of Christianity called Arianism. The Vandals are few in number, however, and rely on the Romanized African elite to maintain local institutions. The Western Church based in Rome remains powerful, with the Latin language dominant. Cities founded under Roman rule begin to lose vitality, Several cities in the interior up in the mountains and along the southern border are abandoned, as the urban population dwindles and civic buildings fall into disrepair. Artists continue to work in the styles current before the Vandal invasions.
In 533 The Byzantine commander Belisarius leads an army into North Africa and conquers it for Emperor Justinian within a year. An edict of 535 establishes the power of the church of Rome over the region, although disputes persist over matters of doctrine and leadership. The Byzantine's assert their rule by restoring some North African cities and even building new churches, for example, at Leptis Magna and Timgad (ancient Thamugadi). Nomadic raiders on the margins of their domain, however, present a constant threat. The Byzantine's dismantle the ruins of Interior cities near the border and reuse the stones in defensive fortresses.
Between 644 & 656 Muslim Arab armies, under the reign of the Rightly Guided Caliph cUthman ibn cAffan, launch raids into and conquer parts of North Africa. And by 670 Under the leadership of Arab warrior cUqba ibn Nafic, Muslim armies conquer an area stretching from present-day northern Tunisia to Tangier (ancient Tingis) in Morocco, establishing the Umayyad dynasty in North Africa. Ibn Nafic founds the city of Kairouan [Rebuilds] (al-Qayrawan, Tunisia). In 711 the Muslims cross over to Gibalter and into Hiberia.
In 836 The Great Mosque of Kairouan is built (with additions 862, 875, and later) by the Aghlabids (800-909), a dynasty that recognizes cAbbasid suzerainty [Eygpt]. Although this monumental mosque's architecture reflects the influence of Umayyad Damascus and cAbbasid Iraq, various elements, such as the building's T-shaped plan, are distinctly Maghribi.
To the South along the Coast the Remains of the Byzantine Armies and the Vandal Tribesmen manage to hold out . Dispute a slow motion ongoing decline.
By the early 800's century, however, caravans between North Africa and the western Sudan, and Close contacts with Islamic Spain and trans-Saharan trade bring wealth to the region. The Area still considers itself as part of the greater Roman Empire, The Population is Stableizing, and thanks to the Byzantine's in the 600's, Some of the irrigation systems still work. If it can hold against the Muslims, it may just survive.
HESPERIA; Part Fifteen; Interlude Mauritania
Hesperia was Founded by traders far to the south in Africa. But this wouldn't have been possible except that a large portion of the Atlantic coast along the way was already under the control of Rome. When Rome conquered Carthage in the third Punic war they completely destroyed the city. The problem was that Carthage was were it was due to being a crossroad between African & Mediterranean trade routes. In Fact Carthage was simply the great Trading Center of the Numidian kingdom of Mauritania, which extends from the Atlantic to Algeria.
The Numidian kingdom came to an end under Juba I, In 46 BC who entered the fierce civil wars among the Romans on the [wrong] side of Pompey, and was defeated by Julius Caesar. Receptive to both Carthaginian's and Hellenistic Greek customs, the Numidians had splendid palaces in the Hellenistic style, Greek philosophers to counsel them, and temples dedicated to the Phoenician god Baal Hammon, sometimes assimilated into the Greek Zeus. In Caesar's triumphal procession, resplendent booty worthy of Numidian wealth and taste is paraded through the streets of Rome, along with Juba II, infant son of the defeated king.
Augustus, who emerges victorious at Rome after a century of war, grants Juba II the client kingship of Mauritania. His domain corresponds to a portion of the former Numidian kingdom. Reared at Rome, Juba II is a man of extraordinary learning, a collector and a patron of the arts. He marries Cleopatra Selene, daughter of the great Cleopatra defeated by Augustus. Copies of Greek statues adorn his palace, and he authors several volumes in Greek on a wide range of subjects, including a history of Rome, the antiquities of various nations, and research on language and the theater.
Unfortally, Ptolemy, son of Juba II and king of Mauritania, is murdered in Rome in 42 AD. The kingdom comes to an end and is incorporated into the Roman empire. Within four years, colony settlements with garrisons of soldiers are established in Mauritanian territory. These settlements extent down the coast along the Atlas Mountains, were ever there are watering spots, at the mouths of creeks, streams, & Rivers. Along with these settlements go Defense walls, Farms, & Irrigation Projects, and of course Roads. The Great Coast Road will extent from A Rebuilt Carthage [ The City was Needed, so the Romans rebuilt it in the 40's BC.] to Tangeirs at the Pillar of Hercules,where it turned south,
By 150 A.D. Carthage and Tangeirs are thriving and populous cities. Thanks to Their fine ports and strategic location, . By the second century, They Are filled with splendid buildings of Roman design, including bath complexes overlooking the sea. Numerous other cities in the region follow the Roman model. They have streets organized on a grid plan, a forum to serve as a civic and commercial center, theaters and amphitheaters for entertainment, and temples to the Roman deities Saturn and Juno, often erected on the sites of sanctuaries dedicated to their Carthaginian counterparts Baal Hammon and Tanit.
By 300 the Great Coastal Road Reaches to the End of the Atlas Mountains, to the Town of Remus, Where it encounters the Great Sahara Desert. This is also the end of the settlements till they resume on the other side of the Desert in Hesperia.
In 429 A.D. The Vandals, a Germanic tribe, invade North Africa from Spain. Their conquests are both brutal and swift, and they occupy Carthage as their capital. Although chaos reigns in the years just after they arrive, order returns in time, and Roman customs continue. The illiterate Vandals adopt the written Latin language, maintain country villas in the Roman style, and restore baths, theaters, and churches. While several Groups of Vandals pillaged down the Coast, all the way to Remus, By the time they reached here, they were more interested in Settling down.
During this Several groups of Refugees flee to Hesperia and for a while trade is ended. Within Thirty years trade resumes, thro with the ongoing collapse of the western Empire, It never reaches the level from before the invasions.
By 500 North Africa is in the hands of Vandal rulers, adherents of a form of Christianity called Arianism. The Vandals are few in number, however, and rely on the Romanized African elite to maintain local institutions. The Western Church based in Rome remains powerful, with the Latin language dominant. Cities founded under Roman rule begin to lose vitality, Several cities in the interior up in the mountains and along the southern border are abandoned, as the urban population dwindles and civic buildings fall into disrepair. Artists continue to work in the styles current before the Vandal invasions.
In 533 The Byzantine commander Belisarius leads an army into North Africa and conquers it for Emperor Justinian within a year. An edict of 535 establishes the power of the church of Rome over the region, although disputes persist over matters of doctrine and leadership. The Byzantine's assert their rule by restoring some North African cities and even building new churches, for example, at Leptis Magna and Timgad (ancient Thamugadi). Nomadic raiders on the margins of their domain, however, present a constant threat. The Byzantine's dismantle the ruins of Interior cities near the border and reuse the stones in defensive fortresses.
Between 644 & 656 Muslim Arab armies, under the reign of the Rightly Guided Caliph cUthman ibn cAffan, launch raids into and conquer parts of North Africa. And by 670 Under the leadership of Arab warrior cUqba ibn Nafic, Muslim armies conquer an area stretching from present-day northern Tunisia to Tangier (ancient Tingis) in Morocco, establishing the Umayyad dynasty in North Africa. Ibn Nafic founds the city of Kairouan [Rebuilds] (al-Qayrawan, Tunisia). In 711 the Muslims cross over to Gibalter and into Hiberia.
In 836 The Great Mosque of Kairouan is built (with additions 862, 875, and later) by the Aghlabids (800-909), a dynasty that recognizes cAbbasid suzerainty [Eygpt]. Although this monumental mosque's architecture reflects the influence of Umayyad Damascus and cAbbasid Iraq, various elements, such as the building's T-shaped plan, are distinctly Maghribi.
To the South along the Coast the Remains of the Byzantine Armies and the Vandal Tribesmen manage to hold out . Dispute a slow motion ongoing decline.
By the early 800's century, however, caravans between North Africa and the western Sudan, and Close contacts with Islamic Spain and trans-Saharan trade bring wealth to the region. The Area still considers itself as part of the greater Roman Empire, The Population is Stableizing, and thanks to the Byzantine's in the 600's, Some of the irrigation systems still work. If it can hold against the Muslims, it may just survive.
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