meaning of "volubilis" as "that [which] is turned round or (more freq.) that [which] turns itself round, turning, spinning, whirling, circling, rolling, revolving." The word is mentioned in Horace's Epistles (I, 2, 43): ("It flows and will flow, swirling on forever.") In Classical Latin, the "v" in "volubilis" was pronounced like a "w," making the pronunciation closer to modern Amazigh and Arabic pronunciations. (1828–1884) discovered that what some sources in Arabic referred to as "Qasr Fara'on" ( Pharaoh's Palace) corresponded with Volubilis. This term is still used nowadays by the locals, sometimes shortened as El Ksar, meaning "The Palace". Foundation and Roman occupation Built on a shallow slope below the Zerhoun mountain, Volubilis stands on a ridge above the valley of Khoumane (Khuman) where it is met by a small tributary stream called the Fertassa. It overlooks a rolling fertile alluvial plain north of the modern city of Meknes. The area around Volubilis has been inhabited at least since the Late Atlantic Neolithic, some 5,000 years ago; archaeological excavations at the site have found Neolithic pottery of design comparable to pieces found in Iberia. By the third century BC, the Carthaginians had a presence there, as evidenced by the remains of a temple to the Punic god Baal and finds of pottery and stones inscribed in the Phoenician language. The city lay within the kingdom of Mauretania, which became a Roman client state following the fall of Carthage in 146 BC. The Punic influence lasted for a considerable time afterwards, as the city's magistrates retained the Carthaginian title of suffete long after the end of Punic rule. Juba II of Numidia was placed on the Mauretanian throne by Augustus in 25 BC and turned his attention to building a royal capital at Volubilis. Educated in Rome and married to Cleopatra Selene II, the daughter of Mark Antony and Cleopatra, Juba and his son Ptolemy were thoroughly Romanised kings, although of Berber ancestry; their preference for Roman art and architecture was clearly reflected in the city's design. After Claudius annexed Mauretania in 44 AD, the city grew substantially due to its wealth and prosperity, derived from the fertile lands of the province which produced valuable export commodities such as grain, olive oil and wild animals for gladiatorial spectacles. At its peak in the late 2nd century, Volubilis had around 20,000 inhabitants – a very substantial population for a Roman provincial town