Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Amazigh rebuf Rome and its calendar year, and start tracking Berber history on their own
calendar on 13 January; it's maintained for centuries after the Muslim Hejira calendar is in-
troduced.
800-500 BC
The Maghreb gets even more multiculti as Phoenicians and East Africans join the Berbers,
making the local population as complex a mix as a
ras al-hanout
spice blend.
4th-1st century BC
Romans arrive to annex Mauretania, and 250 years later they're still trying, with limited
success and some Punic Wars to show for their troubles.
49 BC
North African King Juba I supports Pompey's ill-fated power play against Julius Caesar.
Rome is outraged - but senators pick up where Pompey left of, and assassinate Caesar.
25 BC-AD 23
Rome gets a toehold in Mauretania with farms, cities and art, thanks to Juba II. He ex-
pands Volubilis into a metropolis of 20,000 residents, including a sizeable Jewish Berber
community.
200-429
Vandals and Visigoths take turns forcing one another out of Spain and onto the shores of
Morocco, until local Rif warriors convince them to bother the Algerians instead.
533
Justinian ousts the last Vandals from Morocco, but his grand plans to extend the Holy Ro-
man Empire are soon reduced to a modest presence in Essaouira, Tangier and Salé.
662-682
Arabs invade the Maghreb under Umayyad Uqba bin Nai, introducing Islam to the area.
Berber warriors eventually boot out the Umayyads, but decide to keep the Quran.
711
Northern Morocco and most of Spain come under Umayyad control, and Berbers are stra-
tegically settled throughout Andalusia.
788-829
