Masuna or Massonas () was a Berber from what is now western Algeria who was said to have been a Christian, he 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 ...

with its capital based in Altava which is now in present-day Algeria around the Tlemcen area. He was able to maintain the independence of his kingdom by resisting occupation from the

Vandals 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 Vand ...

. King Masuna allied with the Eastern Roman Emperor

Justinian 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 ...

and assisted him in a war against the Vandals in 533 and also against other invading Berber tribal confederations. During his reign he was obeyed by the tribes of

Mauretania Mauretania (; ) is the Latin name for a region in the ancient Maghreb. It extended from central present-day Algeria to the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, encompassing northern present-day Morocco, and from the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean in the ...

.Oudjda et l'Amalat (Maroc)
Louis Voinot. L. Fouque.

Reign

Masuna is the earliest recorded ruler of the

, a Berber kingdom that sprung up in the former 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 ...

following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. This kingdom, unlike many other Barbarian kingdoms, extended beyond the borders of the former Roman Empire, encompassing

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

territories that had never been under Roman control. Masuna is known only from an inscription on a fortification in Altava (modern Ouled Mimoun, in the region of

Oran Oran () is a major coastal city located in the northwest of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria, after the capital, Algiers, because of its population and commercial, industrial and cultural importance. It is w ...

), dated 508 AD, where he styles himself as the ''Rex gentium Maurorum et Romanorum'', the "King of the Roman and Moorish peoples". He is known to have possessed Altava, assumed to have been the capital due to its prominence under subsequent kings, and at least two other cities, '' Castra Severiana'' and '' Safar'', as mention is made of officials he appointed there. As the seat of an ecclesiarchal

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

(the diocese of Castra Severiana, an ancient bishophoric which flourished during Late Antiquity), the control of ''Castra Severiana'' may have been particularly important.

Relations with the Eastern Roman Empire

The Eastern Roman historian Procopius mentions a Berber king called "''Massonas''", often assumed to be the same person as Masuna, as having allied with the forces of the Eastern Roman Empire in the 530s against the

Vandal Kingdom The Vandal Kingdom () or Kingdom of the Vandals and Alans () was a confederation of Vandals and Alans, which was a barbarian kingdoms, barbarian kingdom established under Gaiseric, a Vandals, Vandalic warlord. It ruled parts of North Africa and th ...

in the

Vandalic War The Vandalic War (533–534) was a conflict fought in North Africa between the forces of the Byzantine Empire (also known as the Eastern Roman Empire) and the Germanic Vandal Kingdom. It was the first war of Emperor Justinian I's , wherein the ...

. Masuna is assumed to have been among the Berber rulers that willingly submitted to

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 ...

and the Eastern Roman forces, demanding in return the symbols of their offices: a silver crown, a staff of silver gilt, a tunic and gilded boots. After the Vandals were defeated and the Eastern Roman Empire restored Roman rule over Northern Africa, the local Byzantine governors would begin to experience problems with some of the local Berber tribes and kingdoms. The province of

Byzacena Byzacena (or Byzacium) (, ''Byzakion'') was a Late Roman province in the central part of Roman North Africa, which is now roughly Tunisia, split off from Africa Proconsularis. History At the end of the 3rd century AD, the Roman emperor Dioclet ...

was particularly affected, seeing repeated invasions and the destruction of the local garrison and death of its commanders. The Praetorian prefect of Africa,

Solomon Solomon (), also called Jedidiah, was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and Judah, according to the Hebrew Bible. The successor of his father David, he is described as having been the penultimate ...

, waged several wars against these Berbers and defeated them twice. Surviving Berber soldiers retreated into Numidia, joining forces with Iaudas, King of the Aurès. Masuna and another Berber king allied with the Eastern Empire, Ortaias (who ruled a kingdom in the former province of Mauretania Sitifensis), suggested that Solomon pursue the enemy Berbers into Numidia, which he did. Solomon did not engage Iaudas in battle however as he distrusted the loyalty of his allies, and instead constructed a series of fortified posts along the roads linking Byzacena with Numidia.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{s-end Berber Christians Christianity in Algeria Monarchs of the Mauro-Roman Kingdom