Friday, Sept 20, Fes, Morocco

Greetings!

An Roman Arc de Triompe built in Morocco in 215 AD?  Today's expedition took us to Volubilis, a 3rd century BC Berber city, then Phoenician/Carthagenian, and from the 1st to 4th century AD the ancient Roman capital of Mauretania. 

Its 42 hectares of public buildings includes a basilica, temple, and triumphal arch.  Juba II of Numidia (Tunisia and Algeria) was placed on the Mauretanian throne by Augustus in 25 BC.  Educated in Rome, and married to Cleopatra Selene II, daughter of Mark Anthony and Cleopatra, Juba and his son Ptolemy were thoroughly Romanised Kings, though of Berber ancestry.  Containing 20,000 inhabitants at the time the arch was built, the city contains dozens of large houses, one containing 74 rooms and over 30,000 square feet of floor space.

The mosaic floors which survived the Roman abandonment, earthquakes, and pillaging by subsequent civilizations are stunning.  Spanning a period of at least two hundred years of design, they depict life in the upper classes of the Roman empire.

The roads, and gates and arched columns rival those we seen in more well-known areas of the Roman world.  Were it not for the fact that Volubilis was located on western-most edge of the Rome's control, it might have lasted longer as a vital center of art and architectural innovation.

Today, we went to visit Meknes, the last of the four imperial cities of Morocco.  Built in the 11th century by the son of the founder of the Alaouite dynasty (Sultan Moulay Ismail), the Spanish/Moorish, European/Islamic architectural themes are beautiful and powerful.  The Sultan sought to compete with France's King Louis XIV, and the granary/stables (for 12,000 horses) we visited today would have impressed any vain, paranoid, and glory-seeking despot. 

To see all of the photos taken today, click on: Friday, Sept 20th, Fes, Morocco.