Morocco (Mauretania) is one of the few places the Roman Empire could have reasonably expanded into but for reasons or another, chose not to. All throughout the Imperial period, Mauretania (I'll use Mauretania to refer to Mauretania Tingitana and not the other Roman provinces of that name) was pretty much a backwater, with very few soldier colonies and only some outposts, all located in the north of the country.
So what if the Romans decided to conquer deeper into the country? It isn't bad land, no worse than the deep forests of Germania Rome tried to rule or likewise Caledonia. As long as you stick to the Atlas Mountains and the coastal regions, you have solid enough land. Granted, possibly not enough to totally justify military rule, but the other option is setting up client states in the south of Mauretania and bringing them more firmly into the Roman sphere.
I was thinking the best way to get this done is to increase Roman efforts in Mauretania. More settlement, more people there. The region was known for its purple dye, after all. And this is a long shot, but what if a son or grandson of Ptolemy of Mauretania (descendent of Mark Antony, Cleopatra/Ptolemaic dynasty, cousin of Gemanicus and Claudius) becomes Emperor, perhaps after the extinction of the Julio-Claudians and with a favourable marriage on the part of Ptolemy? He'd have Rome's grain supply in Africa under his rule, and could take power, and hopefully naturally favour the land of his ancestors despite being Roman in all other aspects.
Basically, can Rome rule or nominally control all of modern-day Morocco (minus Western Sahara), and what might the effects be?
So what if the Romans decided to conquer deeper into the country? It isn't bad land, no worse than the deep forests of Germania Rome tried to rule or likewise Caledonia. As long as you stick to the Atlas Mountains and the coastal regions, you have solid enough land. Granted, possibly not enough to totally justify military rule, but the other option is setting up client states in the south of Mauretania and bringing them more firmly into the Roman sphere.
I was thinking the best way to get this done is to increase Roman efforts in Mauretania. More settlement, more people there. The region was known for its purple dye, after all. And this is a long shot, but what if a son or grandson of Ptolemy of Mauretania (descendent of Mark Antony, Cleopatra/Ptolemaic dynasty, cousin of Gemanicus and Claudius) becomes Emperor, perhaps after the extinction of the Julio-Claudians and with a favourable marriage on the part of Ptolemy? He'd have Rome's grain supply in Africa under his rule, and could take power, and hopefully naturally favour the land of his ancestors despite being Roman in all other aspects.
Basically, can Rome rule or nominally control all of modern-day Morocco (minus Western Sahara), and what might the effects be?