Volubilis

▪ ancient city, Morocco

      North African archaeological site, located near Fès in the Jebel Zerhoun Plain of Morocco. Under the Mauretanian king Juba II in the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD, Volubilis became a flourishing centre of late Hellenistic culture. Annexed to Rome about AD 44, it was made a municipium (a community that exercised partial rights of Roman citizenship) as a reward for supporting Rome during the revolt of Aedmon, and it became the chief inland city of the Roman province of Mauretania Tingitana. Ancient Volubilis and its hinterland were deserted about 285, when Diocletian reorganized Mauretania Tingitana. Known to the Arabs as Oulili, Walīla, or Walīlī, it became the capital of Idrīs I (founder of the Idrīsid dynasty) after 788.

      Roman ruins on the site are extensive; among the most noteworthy are a forum, a 2nd-century AD basilica, and the Arch of Caracalla (AD 217).

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