Mastigas or Mastinas (, ) ruled the

Mauro-Roman Kingdom The Mauro-Roman Kingdom (Latin: ), also described as the Kingdom of Masuna, was a Christianity, Christian Berbers, Berber kingdom which dominated much of the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman province of Mauretania Caesariensis from the capital city o ...

during the sixth century as King of the Moors and Romans, succeeding Masuna. During the reign of Mastigas, the Mauro-Roman Kingdom governed almost the entire ancient Roman province of

Mauretania Caesariensis Mauretania Caesariensis (Latin for "Caesarea, Numidia, Caesarean Mauretania") was a Roman province located in present-day Algeria. The full name refers to its capital Caesarea, Numidia, Caesarea Mauretaniae (modern Cherchell). The province had ...

, except for the former capital of Caesarea which was held by the

Eastern Roman Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

. Mastigas would ally with Iaudas, ruler of the

Kingdom of the Aurès The Kingdom of the Aurès (Latin: ''Regnum Aurasium'') was an independent Christianity, Christian Berbers, Berber kingdom primarily located in the Aurès Mountains of present-day north-eastern Algeria. Established in the 480s by King Masties foll ...

and an enemy of both the Eastern Roman Empire and the previous Mauro-Roman king, Masuna, in an attempt at capturing territory from other smaller Berber kingdoms in the region. Unlike Iaudas and his kingdom, the realm of Mastigas would not face any Eastern Roman attacks, possibly due to its more distant location, and would later on provide a safe haven for surviving defeated Berber forces and rebel Romans.

Reign

Mastigas ruled the

Berbers Berbers, or the Berber peoples, also known as Amazigh or Imazighen, are a diverse grouping of distinct ethnic groups indigenous to North Africa who predate the arrival of Arab migrations to the Maghreb, Arabs in the Maghreb. Their main connec ...

in the late 530s, succeeding Masuna. The Eastern Roman historian

Procopius Procopius of Caesarea (; ''Prokópios ho Kaisareús''; ; – 565) was a prominent Late antiquity, late antique Byzantine Greeks, Greek scholar and historian from Caesarea Maritima. Accompanying the Roman general Belisarius in Justinian I, Empe ...

is the only source on him, briefly mentioning Mastigas and other local Berber rulers in Book II of the ''De Bello Vandalico''. Mastigas was identified as an independent ruler with control of much of the former Roman province except for the former capital, Caesarea, which had been in

Vandal The Vandals were a Germanic people who were first reported in the written records as inhabitants of what is now Poland, during the period of the Roman Empire. Much later, in the fifth century, a group of Vandals led by kings established Vandal ...

possession and later reconquered by the

under the famous general

Belisarius BelisariusSometimes called Flavia gens#Later use, Flavius Belisarius. The name became a courtesy title by the late 4th century, see (; ; The exact date of his birth is unknown. March 565) was a military commander of the Byzantine Empire under ...

in 533 AD. Southern

Numidia Numidia was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunisia and Libya. The polity was originally divided between ...

, known as the

, was ruled by King Iaudas, an enemy of the Eastern Roman Empire and of the previous Mauro-Roman King Masuna, and large parts of the former province of Mauretania Sitifensis was under the rule of King Ortaias, who had been an ally of Masuna. Mastigas allied with Iaudas in an attempt at capturing territory held by Ortaias. Iaudas would be defeated by the Eastern Roman Empire, but Mauretania would not see any Eastern Roman attacks, perhaps due to it being located further away from the African capital of

Carthage Carthage was an ancient city in Northern Africa, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classic ...

. Perhaps due to its further off location, the Mauro-Roman Kingdom would act as a safe haven for surviving defeated Berber warriors and even rebel Romans, such as for the African rebel

Stotzas Stotzas (Greek language, Greek: Στότζας), also Stutias, Theophanes writes him Tzotzas (Τζότζας), was an Byzantine Empire, East Roman (Byzantine) soldier and leader of a military rebellion in the Praetorian prefecture of Africa in the 5 ...

and his followers. Stotzas married the daughter of a local noble (perhaps the daughter of Mastigas or Masuna) and was allegedly named as King in 541 AD, potentially succeeding Mastigas as King of the Moors and Romans. Mastigas struck coins bearing his own

monogram A monogram is a motif (visual arts), motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or other graphemes to form one symbol. Monograms are often made by combining the initials of an individual or a company, used as recognizable symbo ...

as well as the portrait of the

Eastern Roman Emperor The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised sovereign authority are ...

, at this time

Justinian I Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...

, much like the rulers of other

Barbarian kingdoms The barbarian kingdoms were states founded by various non-Roman, primarily Germanic, peoples in Western Europe and North Africa following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century CE. The barbarian kingdoms were the princip ...

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * {{s-end Monarchs of the Mauro-Roman Kingdom