other · Egypt, North Africa and Sudan

Septem

534 CE – 711 CE (approx.) · capital Septem

The Byzantine fortress of Ceuta on the Strait of Gibraltar, the last outpost of Roman rule in north-west Africa.

Origins

After Justinian's conquest of the Vandal Kingdom in 534, Byzantine forces occupied Septem (Ceuta), named after its seven hills, at the African side of the Strait of Gibraltar. Justinian had its walls rebuilt and a church to the Virgin built there, as Procopius records.

Rule and society

Septem was a small garrison town, commanded by a tribune and supported by a fleet watching the Strait and Visigothic Spain. It belonged to the province of Mauretania Secunda and later the Exarchate of Africa. Little is known of its internal life, though it remained Christian and Latin-speaking amid Berber territory.

Decline and legacy

After the Arab conquest of the rest of North Africa, Septem stood isolated. Tradition says its governor, Count Julian, aided the Arab invasion of Spain, and the town passed to the Umayyad Caliphate around 711. Ceuta later became Portuguese and then Spanish.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Connections (2)

More states of Egypt, North Africa and Sudan →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Septem. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/septem
MLA
“Septem.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/septem. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Septem.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/septem.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Septem’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/septem (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻