 With Constantius ' victorious return , Maximian was able to focus on the conflict in Mauretania ( Northwest Africa ) . As Roman authority weakened during the third century , nomadic Berber tribes harassed settlements in the region with increasingly severe consequences . In 289 , the governor of Mauretania Caesariensis ( roughly modern Algeria ) gained a temporary respite by pitting a small army against the <unk> and <unk> , but the raiders soon returned . In 296 , Maximian raised an army , from Praetorian cohorts , <unk> , Egyptian , and Danubian legionaries , Gallic and German auxiliaries , and Thracian recruits , advancing through Spain that autumn . He may have defended the region against raiding Moors before crossing the Strait of Gibraltar into Mauretania Tingitana ( roughly modern Morocco ) to protect the area from Frankish pirates . 
