Iulia Valentia Banasa

Iulia Valentia Banasa was one of three Roman colonies established in the North African province of Mauretania Tingitana. Augustus founded it between 33 and 25 BC to settle veterans of the Battle of Actium — the naval engagement that secured his sole rule over Rome — granting them farmland in the fertile Sebou valley. Excavations have revealed the classic Roman urban grid: a forum, bathhouses, and street networks that testify to a deliberately planned colonial settlement. The site near Ksar-el-Kebir remains one of the least-visited Roman ruins in North Africa, offering a rare chance to walk an ancient colonial city without the crowds typical of better-known Moroccan antiquity sites such as Volubilis.