History of Roman-era Tunisia

History of Tunisia
ANCIENT HISTORY OF TUNISIA
Early History
Berber origins, culture, religion, society, language
Punic Era
Phoenicia, City of Carthage; Berbers; Romans
Roman Era
Berber kings; Africa Province; Vandals; Byzantines
MEDIEVAL HISTORY OF TUNISIA
Early Islamic Era
Ifriqiya: Umayyad, Aghlabid; Berbers; Fatimid
Medieval Era
Berber states: Zirid, Almohad, Hafsid; Ibn Khaldun
Ottoman Era
Pasha & Dey; Muradid, Husaynid; Modern reform
MODERN HISTORY OF TUNISIA
French Era
Protectorate; Independence movement
Modern Era
Republic: Bourghiba, Ben Ali; Society & culture

The History of Roman era Tunisia describes the region while under the Roman Republic and Empire during its peak centuries, as well as during its decline until Rome's fall. During and after the Second Punic War (218-202) existing Berber kingdoms became allied with Rome, especially significant being King Masinissa of Numidia. Following the Third Punic War the lands surrounding Carthage were annexed and organized as the Roman Province of Africa. The city of Carthage was later rebuilt. A long period of prosperity ensued; a cosmopolitan culture evolved. During the eclipse of the Roman Empire the Vandals, a Germanic kingdom, reigned over the former Africa province for nearly a century, while the Berbers established self-rule in adjacent lands. The Byzantine Empire eventually reestablished its dominion in 534, which endured until the Islamic conquest, completed in 705. Then came the final undoing of ancient Carthage.^[1][2]

Rome and the Berber kingdoms

In the third and final Punic war, Roman forces lay siege to the great city of Carthage. When it fell to the Romans the wealthy city had become a burning ruin. Thus ended a long rivalry between two major powers of the western Mediterranean. Rome annexed Carthage and its immediate vicinity. Territories of North Africa to the west remained in the hands of Berbers who were allies of Rome. These Berber states continued to be courted by Rome as independent kingdoms.

Previously Carthage had enjoyed fabled wealth through commerce.^[3] Accordingly the Punic city-state had once exerted great economic influence on the surrounding Berber polities and peoples. Yet Carthage directly ruled only an ample territory adjacent to the city, and its developed network of trading posts. These many enclaves were situated at short intervals all along the Mediterranean coast of Africa from Tripolitania westward.^[4] Thus many Berber groups, although within a commercial sphere dominated by Carthage, lived in territories outside its direct political control.

Mosaic from Roman era residence of El Djem (Latin: Thysdrus), Tunisia.

Comparatively little is known of the most ancient Berber peoples. Their artifacts and inscriptions do offer us clues and hints, but the few surviving writings of Carthage shed little light. Starting around the period of the Punic Wars, however, additional written sources are available from the works of classical Greek and Roman authors. These writings occasionally provide more detailed and sustained descriptions of the events of Berber history and of its culture.^[5]

During the Punic Wars, Rome had entered into permanent relations with the Berber people. In the aftermath of the fall of Carthage, Rome's attention for a time had become focused on the eastern Mediterranean. Then there began a long period of Roman civil wars, whose intermittent military actions and civil strife eventually brought to the fore the rôle of the Berber kings. Amid the oscillating demands and shifting fortunes of the later civil wars, Berber alliances were sought after by rival Roman factions. Hence Berber relations with Rome became multivalent and fluid, characterized as, e.g., working alliances, functional ambivalence, partisan hostility, political maneuvering, or fruitful intercourse. Yet during the decades of Roman civil conflict, the status of Berber states began generally to erode from that of independent sovereign, to required ally, to client.^[6]

The last of these civil wars came to an end with the fall of the Roman Republic (510-44). Under the long rule of Augustus (31 B.C. to 14 A.D.), Roman-Berber state-to-state relations became redefined. Berber kings then reigned alongside, adjacent to a triumphant Roman dominion which spanned the entire Mediterranean. Their relation to Rome had become that of client to patron. Probably a majority of Berbers would come to live, at least for a time, within the political boundaries of the Roman world.^[7]

Masinissa, and Syphax

The Berber King Masinissa (c.240-148) was for many decades both well known and well regarded at Rome. He was the first and the most important of the early Berber leaders to undertake major relations with the Roman state. His family became what may be considered the royal house of Numidia and vicinity for eight generations.^[8] A biligual inscription (in Punic and Libyan) from the city of Thugga, made a few years after his death, commences:

"The citizens Thugga have built this temple to king Masinissa, son of the king Gaia, son of the sufete Zilasan, in the year ten of Micipsa." Here the office translated "king" was written GLD (cognate to modern Berber "aguellid" [paramount tribal chief]). The throne came to Masinissa in a roundabout way (father to uncle to cousin to him). The "sufete" (Hebrew: Shophet) was a Punic title often translated as "judge" as in the biblical Book of Judges, Hebrew being a sister Semitic language to Punic. King Micipsa was the son of Masinissa.^[9][10]

Masinissa.

Masinissa was in Hispania for several years early during the Second Punic War (218-201), as a young commander of cavarlry for Carthage. There Masinissa had met discreetly with the Roman general Scipio; eventually he went over to Rome. At the death of his father King Gala [Gaia], Masinissa returned home to Massyli, fighting against usurpers for the throne. Then a neighboring Berber king Syphax invaded; Masinissa escaped to continue fighting from the countryside. When Scipio's armies later landed in Africa, Masinissa and his cavalry joined him. At the Battle of Zama in 202, Masinissa led the right wing of Numidian cavalry for the Romans under Scipio Africanus. At battle the cavalry while engaged in fighting had disappeared from Scipio's view. At a crucial moment Masinissa's Numidian and Roman cavalry suddenly returned to attack the Punic army and gain victory. Hannibal's defeat here ended the long conflict.^[11]

The ancient Roman writer Livy (59 BC-AD 17) in his history of Rome, Ab urbe condita, digresses a half-dozen pages to tell of Masinissa's personal career, turbulent and colorful, up to the Roman victory.^[12][13] That the Roman author Livy admired Masinissa is clear from his many favorable comments about the Berber king (constantissima fides), summarized here by a modern Latin scholar, citing Livy's Ab urbe condita:

"Masinissa is in fact a foreigner with almost all the Roman virtues. He is religious, for he tells Scipio that he was awaiting any chance to [leave Carthage for Rome] which 'the kindness of the immortal gods offered'. As a general he shows forethought, but also boldness. At Scipio's command, he controls his wayward passions by administering poison to Sophoniba [wife of Syphax]. Above all, his valour is conspicuous; even at age ninety-two, just before the Third Punic War, he leads his army to defeat the Carthaginians. Masinissa is one of Livy's great heroes, and throughout the fourth decade [Livy's books XXX to XL] he is mentioned in speeches as an example to the peoples of the East of all that a king-ally should be. Hasdrubal is made to say: 'There is greater talent of nature and mind in Masinissa that in any previous member of his race.' And Livy calls him 'by far the greatest king of his day'."^[14]

Regarding Sophoniba, her story provides a perspective on the rivalry between the two kings, Syphax of Masaesyli (west Numidia) and Masinissa of Massyli (east Numidia).^[15] Her story also sheds light on the relationship between Carthage and the Berbers, with particular reference to Rome. Livy (59 BC-AD 17), the Roman historian, presents a rather detailed portrait of these circumstaces, especially events following the defeat of her husband Syphax. Such details may shed light on the personality of Masinissa, or at least on the world in which he lived. Yet ancient historians were not unfamiliar with propaganda and their readers expected them to recreate scenes, giving memorable, probable versions of what might have happened.^[16]

The Death of Sophonisba, by Giambattista Pittoni.

Sophoniba was the young and beautiful daughter of Hasdrubal Gisco, a leading general of Carthage. To secure allegiance of the Berber kingdom of Massyli, she was pledged to Masinissa, but as he turned to Rome, she instead was given to his rival, the Berber king Syphax of neighboring Masaesyli, for similar purpose. Syphax then invaded Massyli, forcing Masinissa to flee. As the Second Punic War neared its climax (which would be at Zama), Scipio was landing his Roman armies in Africa, where Masinissa joined him. Syphax then quickly met defeat, with Masinissa triumphant.^[17] Here then, Sophoniba's attentions win the affection of Masinissa, and his allegiance; he quickly marries her, to present the Romans with a fait accompli. Days later Scipio persuades him that the politics of the Rome-Carthage conflict make his marriage to Sophoniba impossible;^[18] she must be taken to Rome. Sophoniba speaks with Masinissa, saying there is a bond between Carthaginian and Berber, both of Africa, as against Rome; reluctantly accepting that their marriage must end, she pleads with him that she not be humiliated. Masinissa agrees and gives her poison, which she takes.^[19][20] Hers may be compared to Dido's suicide 650 years earlier, but there Dido died to avoid marriage to the Mauretani Berber leader Hiarbus. Here, however, Sophoniba married first Syphax, then Masinissa; it was not the Berber husband she refused; she rejected the ordeal of being paraded in a Roman triumph.^[21]

A modern historian characterizes Masinissa, noting in particular his "tremendous ideal of uniting the Berber peoples, which would motivate many of his actions during his long reign:

"Masinissa, who was thirty-seven years old at Zama, preserved his vigour into a ripe old age: at eighty-eight he still commanded his army in battle, mounting his horse unaided and riding bareback. But he had other outstanding qualities besides physical vigour. Fearless and unscrupulous, diplomatic and masterful, he conceived the tremendous ideal of welding the native tribes of North Africa into a nation. ... His fame soon exceeded the confines of Africa; he cultivated relations with the Greek world, and at Delos at least three statues were erected in his honour. Throughout he remained a faithful ally of Rome... ."^[22]

Delos was long famous as a cultural center of Ancient Greece, where its deities and acclaimed figures were honored. The three statues of Masinissa at Delos mentioned were erected on behalf of the kingdom of Bithynia in Anatolia, the isle of Rhodes, and the city of Athens. The Numidian king Masinissa was "treated, by the Romans as well as the Carthaginians, with all the honour due to Hellenistic monarchs." "As an established king, [Masinissa] carefully cultivated the image of the perfect Hellenistic monarch through his coinage and the participation of at least one of his sons in the Panathenaic games."^[23]

After the Battle of Zama, Masinissa became famous and was held in high esteem as a friend of the Roman people. For fifty years he ruled as King of Numidia (lands west of Carthage) until his death in 148.^[24] During his reign farming and trade prospered, and the vital pulse of Berber culture quickened. Government institutions were established, evidently having an independent Berber origin, althouogh informed by Punic civil traditions; indeed, Masinissa now encouraged the cultural influence of Carthage. "The state, the life of the cites, art, religion, writing--all underwent a rapid process of Punicization."^[25] The language used at court was Punic.^[23] "He successfully developed agriculture and commerce, and encouraged the spread of Punic civilization."^[26]

Said to be the Tomb of Massinissa, King of Numidia (r. circa 206, 203-148).

Yet Masinissa also cultivated a grand vision in which he would unite all the Berbero-Libyan peoples from the frontiers of Egypt to the Atlantic. His expanionist actions became directed mainly against the surviving city-state of Carthage. Eventually Masinissa's aggressive designs managed to accomplish several major acquisitions of lands previously held by Carthage, not only at the proximous border of Numidia and Carthage, but extending also well south of Punic territory, in fact encompassing Mediterranean seaports in Tripolitania to the east of Carthage. Indeed, his last war against Carthage turned out to be a prelude to the Third Punic War (149-146). Here, Rome intervened and eventually besieged Carthage, and by Rome Carthage was destroyed.^[27][28][29]

A not altogether novel view would say bluntly that "Rome destroyed Carthage to prevent Masinissa from seizing it and becoming a Mediterranean power."^[30] Confronting the Roman siege, Carthage entrusted the defense of the city to one Hasdrubal, a grandson of Masinissa. Accordingly, suspicions arose among the Romans about the elderly yet still able king, now in his nineties.

"Masinissa caused slight anxiety. It was a grandson of his that was organizing the defense of Carthage, and the king himself, who saw the fruits of his ambitions now snatched from his grasp, was somewhat cold when asked for assistance; when later he proffered it, he was told abruptly that the Romans would let him know when they needed help."^[31]

The ancient Numidian king died during this Third Punic War. The Greek historian Polybius (c.200-118) wrote for him high praise in his Histories, what might be regarded as an obituary for the celebrated Berber leader:

"Massanissa, the king of the Numidians in Africa, one of the best and most fortunate men of our time, reigned for over sixty years, enjoying excellent health and attaining a great age, for he lived till ninety. ... And he could also continue to ride hard by night and day without feeling any the worse. [When] he died, he left a son of four years old... besides nine other sons. Owing to the affectionate terms they were all on he kept his kingdom during his whole life free from all plots and from any taint of domestic discord. But his greatest and most godlike achievement was this. While Numidia had previously been a barren country thought to be naturally incapable of producing crops, he first and alone proved that it was as capable as any other country of bearing all kinds of crops... . It is only proper and just to pay this tribute to his memory on his death."^[32]

Yet Polybius continues: "Scipio arrived in Cirta two days after the king's death and set everything in order." One may interpret this closing remark as a sign of the great affection and care given this long-term friend of Rome, or merely as an important Roman politician-soldier's prudent attention to state interests after the death of a very important ally in time of war, or both. Livy gives the Roman view of the king's character when he imagines Hasdrubal saying of the young Numidian: "Masinissa was a man of far loftier spirit and far greater ability than had ever been seen in anyone of his nation. ...he had often given evidence to friends and enemies alike of a valour rare amongst men."^[33]

Micipsa, Jugurtha, Hiempsal

Northern Africa during late Roman Republic. Top map, east to west: initial borders of Africa Province, Numidia, Mauritania, Tingitania.

Micipsa, Mastanabal, and Gulussa were Masinissa's three sons, among whom he divided his kingdom of Numidia, but only Micipsa endured; his two brothers soon fell victim to disease. Micipsa's reign lasted thirty years (148-118). Maicipsa continued the alliance with Rome, during which Numidia enjoyed relative peace and prosperity. His own two sons, Adherbal and Hiempsal, were raised for the throne, but when still young they were joined by their older cousin Jugurtha, Mastanabal's illegitimate son. Jugurtha's evident talents became a cause of concern to Micipsa, who then sent him to Hispania to serve the Romans in their war against Numantia, which ended in 133. As a warrior Jugurtha performed very well, winning great favor among the Roman commanders, one of whom, Scipio Aemilianus, wrote a favorable letter to Micipsa. Upon his return Micipsa adopted Jugurtha and made him co-heir with his own two young sons. Sallust's rendering of Scipio's letter:

"Your nephew Jugurtha has distinguished himself in the Numantine War above everyone else, which I'm sure will give you pleasure. I hold him in affection for his services and will do all I can to make him equally esteemed by the Roman Senate and People. As your friend I congratulate you personally; you have in him a man worthy of yourself and of his grandfather Masinissa."^[34]

At Micipsa's death in 118, the three became rulers of adjacent lands carved out of Numidia. Yet Jugurtha's suspicions were soon aroused. He had Hiempsal killed; then defeated Adherbal in battle. Rome intervened and, due to bribes paid by Jugurtha, merely caused the lands to be divided again. Eventually Jugurtha again attacked Adherbal, besieging him in the city of Cirta. Rome again sent its agents to broker a settlement. But in 112 Jugurtha accepted the city's terms of surrender; nonetheless Adherbal was tortured and killed, and Italian traders there slaughtered. Jugurtha became King of all Numidia.^[35] Whether or not he then intended to "unite all the Berbers in a patriotic war" following the vision of Masinissa (see above) is uncertain.^[36]

To the west of Numidia was the Berber Kingdom of Mauretania (in modern Algeria), under the reign of Bocchus I. Jugurtha married his daughter. Farther west Tingis (modern Tangier) was the capital of another Berber realm, comprising western Mauretania, under its King Bogud, brother of Bocchus I. To the south of Numidia and Mauritania and Africa Province, lay the lands of the Berber Gaetulians, who were not politically united. On these lands Berber pastoralist managed their flocks, and in lean years would naturally seek better paturage. A major advantage sought by Rome in its Numidian alliance was leverage in dealing with the other Berbers, in order to continue the peace.^[37] "[T]he policy of Rome appears to have been to co-opt the tribal leaders, and through them to control the tribes."^[38]

Africa Province became the scene of military actions involving key Roman leaders toward the end of the Roman Republic (c.510-44 BC.). Here Numidia played a significant rôle. That "a political and military importance was given to this state, such as no other client-state of Rome ever possessed... is shown by the share of Numidia in the civil wars of Rome."^[39] This appears to follow Livy's assessment of Masinissa given above. A modern Maghribi historian puts it differently: "The Berber princes let themselves be drawn into alliances with the leaders of the warring Roman factions."^[40] As a side result, Roman soldiers serving came to know first hand the fertile agricultural lands of the Province, where many as veterans would arrange to retire.

Reverse: Surrender of Jugurtha. Sulla (notice the written "FELIX") seated center; before him Bocchus on one knee, offering an olive-branch; Jugurtha kneels with hands tied behind his back. Obverse: Diana. Denarius, minted 62 B.C.^[41]

Jugurtha (r.118-105), the Berber King of Numidia (to the west of the Province) and grandson of the revered king Masinissa (r.202-148), became well known to his Roman allies. In part due to the favors he gave to Roman politicians, Jugurtha had managed to enlarge the scope of his power; yet eventually his dealings resulted in a notorious bribery scandal at Rome. Jugurtha's assassinations of his regal cousins, his military aggression and overreach, and his slaughter of Italian traders at Cirta, led to war with Rome.^[42]

The war's prosecution involved the hands-on participation of two controversial Roman political and military leaders. Gaius Marius celebrated his triumph due to his success in finishing Rome's long war against Jugurtha. A wealthy novus homo and populares, Marius was the first Roman general to enlist proletari (landless citizens) into his army; as a politician he was chosen Consul an unprecedented seven times (107, 104-100, 86), but his career ended badly. On the opposing side politically, the optimate Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix, later Consul (88, 80), and Dictator (82-79), had served as quaestor under Marius here in Numidia. In 106 Sulla bravely had persuaded Bocchus I of Mauritania to hand over Jurgurtha, which ended the war. This conflict was later (circa 40 B.C.) described by the ancient Roman political writer Sallust (86-35), in his well-known monograph Belum Jugurthinum.^[43][44]

Thereafter Hiempsal II (r.106-60) became king of Numidia (being a nephew of Jugurtha).^[45] During an armed phase of political-economic struggle for Rome between populares then led by Marius and optimates under Sulla, Hiempsal II apparently favored the aristocratic Sulla. In 88 B.C. after Sulla's army entered Rome nearly unopposed, the aging Marius was forced to flee, landing in Africa for asylum. King Hiempsal welcomed Marius, but decided to hold his guest prisoner. Marius sensed the danger and effected his escape.^[46]

Later Hiempsal lost his crown for several years. The populares being led by Marius and Cinna, allies of Cinna deposed Hiempsal favor of "a Numidian pretender named Iarbus". But Cinna was killed, and a shift in the Roman struggle favored the optimate Sulla who emerged victorious in November of 82. Marius committed suicide. Sulla sent the young Pompey to Numidia to restore Hiempsal to the throne.^[47]

Juba, Bocchus, Juba

Juba I (85-46, r.60-46) of Numidia.

Decades later, the Numidian King Juba I (r.60-46) played a significant rôle in Rome's civil wars, now being contested between Pompey and Julius Caesar. Juba I was king by descent (being in the line of the famous Masinissa (240-148), per Jugurtha, by Jugurtha's half-brother Gauda (king, 106-88), by Gauda's son Hiempsal II (king thereafter), who was father of Juba I).^[48] In 47 B.C., Julius Caesar and his forces landed in Africa in pursuit of Pompey's remnant army, which was headquartered at Utica near Carthage. There they enjoyed the support of Juba I.

Juba I had long held a personal animus against Julius Caesar dating back to an incident when Caesar was praetor (62 BC) in Africa; the story is related by the ancient Roman writer Suetonius and regarded King Hiempsal II, father of Juba I. Caesar judged as unfair and oppressive the King's treatment of his noble vassal Masintha and effectively interfered, not without physical altercation between Caesar and Juba I.^[49]

With Juba I at Utica was Cato 'Uticensis', praetor in 54, a political leader of Caesar's optimate opponents. Cato was widely admired.^[50] Caesar's victory nearby at the Battle of Thapsus almost put an end to this Roman civil war. Cato committed suicide by his sword.^[51] Juba I lost his kingdom and also committed suicide.^[52][53] Caesar annexed Numidia for Rome.

The Berber kings of Mauretania, Bocchus II of the east (roughly the modern Algerian coast), and his brother Bogud of the west (capital at Tingi, modern Tangier), both had favored Julius Caesar (100-44), while Juba I had opposed him (see above). Both had significantly aided Caesar's campaigns: Bogud fought with Caesar in the second Hispanic War; and in Africa, Bocchus II captured the Numidian capital city of Cirta from Juba I. In the final Roman civil war (circa 34-30), the contest lay between Octavius and Marcus Antonius. Bocchus II favored Octavius, Julius Caesar's adopted son, later renowned as Augustus; but Bogud inclined to Antonius. The victory of Augustus cost Bogud his kingdom. Before Bocchus II died, he had willed his kingdom to Rome.^[48][54]

Augustus (imperial rule, 31 BC to AD 14) controlled the Roman state following the civil wars that marked the end of the Republic (c.510-44). He established a quasi-constitutional regime known as the Principate, commonly included as the Empire. Roman actions in Africa throughout their period of civil wars are subjected to harsh criticism by a modern Maghribi historian, Abdallah Laroui, who comments on the cummulative lands lost by Berbers to Romans, and how the Romans had steadily steered events to their benefit.^[55]

Circa 26 B.C. Augustus moved to "restore" the Berber Juba II to the throne, but not as King of Numidia, but of Mauritania (west of Numidia). This Juba II was in Masinissa's line (as son of Juba I). Raised and educated at Rome, he was as king obviously a client of the Empire. Juba wrote books on the culture and history of Africa, and a best seller about Arabia, writings unfortunately lost. He married Cleopatra Selene II, the daughter of Marcus Antonius, consul (44, 34) and triumvir (43-38, 37-33), and Cleopatra, the Ptolemaic Queen of Egypt. Juba II was not accepted by the more independent Berbers. Juba II enjoyed a very long reign (r. 25 B.C.E.- c.23 C.E.). The unpopular reign of his son Ptolemy (r.23-40) was cut short by his assassination ordered by the notorious Emperor Caligula; the kingdom and other lands of the Maghrib were annexed to Rome as the Provinces of Mauritania Caesaria and Mauritania Tingitana (approximately the central and western coast of modern Algeria, and northern Morocco).^[56][57]

Roman Province of Africa

The Roman Empire, its extent under the emperor Trajan (r. 98-117), in 117. With Numidia added, the Province became Africa Proconsularis.

Following the defeat of Carthage in the Third Punic War (149-146), the Roman Republic annexed the vicinity, including its rich and developed agricultural lands; their long-time Berber ally Massinissa died shortly before the fall of the city. This region became the Roman Province of Africa, named after the Berbers for the Latins knew Afri as a local word for region's Berber people.^[58][59]

Adjacent lands further to the west were allocated to their Berber allies, who continued to enjoy recognition as independent Berber kingdoms. Africa Province itself, with rebuilt Carthage as its capital, soon came to encompass the northern half of modern Tunisia, an adjacent region of Algeria (i.e., ancient Numidia), and coastal regions stretching about 400 km to the east (northwest Libya), known then as Tripolitania.^[60]

Renaissance and prosperity

City of Carthage

Rebuilding the city of Carthage began under Julius Caesar (100-44) and continued under Augustus (63-AD 14), notwithstanding reported ill omens. Resident in the capital city of Africa Province was a Roman praetor or proconsul. Although originally sited in ancient Utica, the capital was soon transferred south to nearby Carthage. Carthage as an urban center not only recovered, but flourished, especially during the first, second, and third centuries.^[61][62] Yet only about one sixth of the population could participate fully in the culture of city life, as "the other five sixths lived in a poverty that was at times terribly hard to bear and almost impossible to escape." Nonetheless, public buildings and spaces, such as the thermal baths, were available. "For a pittance, a poor man could surround himself with splendid marble halls, the finest art and the most pleasant of atmospheres."^[63]

Roman Carthage, showing major civic institutions.

As the city expanded, the building industry drew on local materials, on marble and on wood. Africa Province became well-known for its fine mosaics, of both decorative and representational designs, crafted by its artisans. These are found within Carthage and also in rural villas.^[64] Outside the city, many prior Punic and Berber towns found fresh vigor and prosperity. Completely new settlements were founded, especially in the Majarda valley northwest of Carthage.^[65] An aqueduct about 120 km. in length, built by the Emperor Hadrian (r.117-138), travels from a sanctuary high up Jbel Zaghouan overland about 70 km. to ancient Carthage. It was repaired and put into use during the 13th century, and again in modern times.^[66][67]

Evidence from remaining artifacts and the mosaics indicates that one favorite sport of the elite was the hunt. Depicted are well-dressed sportsmen (in embroidered riding tunics with striped sleeves) mounted on horseback in pursuit perhaps of a jackal. Various birds are also shown as desired prey, to be gotten with traps. A greyhound appears to be chasing a hare across the mosaic.^[68] Carthage, and other cities in Roman Africa, contain the ruins or the remains of large structures dedicated to popular spectacles. The urban games performed there included the infamous blood sports, with gladiators who fought wild beasts or each other for the whim of the crowd. The Telegenii was one of the gladiator associations of the region. Although often of humble origins, a handsome, surviving gladiator might be "considered someone worthy of adulation by the young ladies of the audience."^[69]

Another city entertainment was the theater. The renown Greek tragedies and comedies were staged, as well as contemporary Roman plays. Burlesque performances by mimes were popular. Much more costly and less vulgar were productions featuring pantomimes.^[70] The African writer Apuleius (c.125-c.185) describes attending such a performance which he found impressive and delightful. An ancient epitaph here celebrates Vincentius, an popular pantomime (quoted in part):

He lives forever in the thoughts of the people... just, good and in his every relationship with each person irreproachable and sure. There was never a day when, during his dancing of the famous pieces, the whole theater was not captivated enough to reach the stars."^[71]

Peace and prosperity came to Carthage and Africa Province. Eventually Roman security forces began to be drawn from the local population. Here the Romans governed well enough that the Province became integrated into the economy and culture of the Empire, attracting immigrants. Its cosmopolitan, Latinizing, and diverse population enjoyed a reputation for its high standard of living. Carthage emerged near the top of major Imperial cities, behind only Alexandria and Rome.^[72][73]

Commerce and trade

Rich agricultural lands made the province wealthy.^[74] Olives and grapes had for long been popular products, but the vineyards and orchards had been devastated during the last Punic war and also competed with the produce of Roman Italy. Instead Africa Province acquired fame as the source of large quantities of fine wheat, widely exported. The ancient writers Strabo (64-c. AD 21), Pliny (AD 23-c.79), and Josephus (37-c.95) praised the quality of African wheat. Later, as Egypt began to supplant Africa Province as the supplier of wheat, the grape and the olive began reappearing back in the fields of the province during toward the end of the first century. St. Augustine (354-430) wrote that in Africa lamps using olive oil burned well throughout the night, lighting up the neighborhoods.^[75]

Mosaic of a Roman Trireme, likely dated to Africa Province.

Ceramics and pottery, skills practiced during centuries of urban life in the region, continued as an important industry,^[76] Both oil lamps and amphorae (containers with two handles) were produced. These goods, of course, complemented the local production of olive oil; the amphorae being useful for transportation locally and for export by ship. Also crafted were various statuettes of animals, humans, and gods, found in abundance in regional cemeteries of the period. Later, terra-cotta plaques showing biblical scenes were designed and made for the churches. This industry was chiefly located in central Tunisia, e.g., in and around Thysdrus (modern El Djem), a drier area with less fertile agricultural lands, but ample in rich clay deposits.^[77]

Another ancient industry at Carthage involved cooking up a Mediterranean condiment called garum, a fish sauce made with herbs, an item of durable popularity. Rugs and wool clothing were fabricated, and leather goods. The famed purple dye, murex, first discovered by the Phoenicians, was locally produced. Marble and wood, as well as mules, were also important exports.^[78]

Expeditions ventured south into the Sahara. Cornelius Balbus, Roman governor at Utica, in 19 B.C. occupied Gerama, desert capital of the Garamantes in the Fezzan.^[79][80] These Berber Garamantes had long-time, unpredictable, off-and-on contacts with the Mediterranean.^[81][82] Extensive trade across the Sahara, directly with the more productive and populous lands south of the deserts, had not yet developed; nor would it for many centuries.^[83][84]

Salvius Julianus

An example might serve to illustrate the depth and scope of social integration in the Empire, as it reached to people living far from the capital, to those born in a provincial city of no great importance. Such an example from the second century is Julian and his remarkable legal career. His life demonstrates not opportunites available to talented provincials, and also provides a pespective on the working of Roman Law, which provided much of the structure that held together different nationalities and societies of the Empire. Apparently he came from a family living comfortably in the prevailing Latin culture which had gradually became established in Africa Province, although his youth and early career are not recorded.

Salvius Julianus (c.100-c.170), Roman jurist, Consul 148, was a native of Hadrumetum (modern Sousse, Tunisia) on the east coast of Africa province. He was a teacher; one of his students, Africanus, was the last recorded head of the influential Sabinian school of Roman jurists.^[85] In Roman public life, Julian eventually came to hold several high positions during a long career. He eventually acquired fame as a jurist, one of the best in Roman legal history. "The task of his life consisted, in the first place, in the final consolidation of the edictal law; and, secondly, in the composition of his great Digest in ninety books."^[86]

Julian served on the Councilium (imperial council) of the emperor Hadrian (r. 117-138) and of the emperor Antonius Pius (r. 138-161), during a beneficial era of Roman rule. He was Tribune; he "held all the important senatorial offices from Quaestor to Consul". Later he became the Roman governor of Germania Inferior, of Hispania Citerior, and lastly of his native Province of Africa.^[87][88] His career is recounted by an inscription found near his native Hadrumetum (modern Sousse).^[89]

Senatus Populusque Romanus.

The emperor Hadrian appointed him to revise the Praetor's Edict or Edictum perpetuum, issued by the Praetor urbanus. This document was at that time a most pervasive legal authority in Roman Law. "The Edict, that masterpiece of republican jurisprudence, became stabilized. ... [T]he famous jurist Julian settled the final form of the praetorian and aedilician Edicts."^[90]

Later Julian, the native of a small city in Africa province, authored his Digest in 90 books; this work generally followed the sequence of subjects found in the praetorian edict, and presented a "comprehensive collection of responsa on real and hypothetical cases".^[85][91] The purpose of his Digest was to expound the whole of Roman Law.

"His vast acquaintance with practical case-law, the ingenuity of his own countless decisions, his genius for bringing out, in each separate case, the general rule of law which... sheds its light over the whole subject around--these are features which constitute the power of his work. Roman jurisprudence had completed its dialectic training under Labeo and Sabinus, and the time had now arrived for applying to the immense mass of materials the principles, categories, and points of view that had been thus worked out. Julian's Digest exhibited Roman jurisprudence in all its strength, and its success was proportionately great.^[92]

In the sixth century this second-century Digest of Salvius Julianus was repeatedly excerpted, hundreds of times, by the compilers of the Pandectae, created under the authority of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I (r. 527-265). This Pandect (also known as the Corpus Juris Civilis) was a compendium of juristic experience and learning. "It has been thought that Justinian's compilers used [Julian's Digest] as the basis of their scheme: in any case nearly 500 passages are quoted from it."^[93][94]

Julian died during the reign of the philosophical emperor Marcus Aurelius (r.161-180), who described him in a rescript as amicus noster.^[95] "His fame did not lessen as time went on, for later Emperors speak of him in the most lauditory terms. ... Justinian speaks of him as the most illustrious of the jurists."^[96] "With Iulianus, the Roman jurisprudence reached its apogee."^[97]

"No other jurist exercized so great an influence on the destinies of the law." His Digest was "a comprehensive treatise on both civil and praetorian law. ... The principal characteristics of Julian's work seem to be a very lucid style and a clear recognition of the fact that legal conceptions must move with the times. ... He did a great work of co-ordination and generalisation, sweeping away unreal and pedantic distinctions. [T]he appearance of Julian was epoch making."^[98]

Latin culture and the Berbers

Assimilation

Amphitheatre of Thysdrus (modern El Djem).

People from all over the Empire began to migrate into Africa Province, most importantly merchants, traders, and veterans in early retirement who settled in Africa on farming plots promised for their military service. A sizable Latin speaking population developed that was multinational in background; they shared the region with those speaking Punic and Berber languages.^[99][100] Imperial security forces began to be drawn from the local population, including the Berbers. The Romans apparently sounded the right notes, which facilitated general acceptance of their rule.

"What made the Berbers accept the Roman way of life all the more readily was that the Romans, though a colonizing people who captured their lands by the might of their arms, did not display any racial exclusiveness and were remarkably tolerant of Berber religious cults, be they indigenous or borrowed from the Carthaginians. However, the Roman territory in Africa was unevenly penetrated by Roman culture. Pockets of non-Romanized Berbers continued to exist throughout the Roman period, even in such areas as eastern Tunisia and Numidia."^[101]

That the majority of the Berbers adjusted to the Roman world, of course, does not signify their full acceptance. Often the presence of cosmopolitan cultural symbols coexisted with the traditional local customs and beliefs, i.e., the Roman did not supplant the Berber, but merely augmented the prior Berber culture, often the Roman being on a more transient level of adherence.^[102]

Apuleius

Apuleius (c.125-c.185) managed to thrive in the professional and literary communities of Latin-speaking Carthage. A self-described full Berber (Numidian and Gaetulian) of Madaura, his father was a provincial magistrate. His studies began at Carthage, and continued at Athens (philosophy) and at Rome (oratory), where he evidently served as a legal advocate. He also traveled to Asia Minor and Egypt. Returning to Cathage he married an older, wealthy widow; he then was prosecuted for using magic to gain her affections. His speech in defense makes up his Apology;^[103] apparently he was acquitted.

His celebrated work of fiction, Metamorphosus, or the Golden Ass, is an urbane, inventive, vulgar, extravagant, mythic tale of the ancient world.^[104] The plot unfolds in Greece where the hero, while experimenting with the ointment of a sorceress, is changed not into an owl but into a donkey. Accordingly, his ability to speak leaves him, but he can understand others. In a famous digression, the love story of Cupid and Psyche is artfully told. After many adventures, in which he finds comedy, cruely, and a companion, the hero manages to regain his human form.^[105]

At Carthage Apuleius continued his writing in Greek philosophy, oratory and rhetoric, and poetry; several statues were erected in his honor.^[106] St. Augustine discusses him in his The City of God.^[107] Apuleius used a Latin style that registered as "New Speech" recognized by his literary contemporaries. It expressed the every day language used by the educated, along with embedded archaisms, which transformed the more formal, classical grammar favored by Cicero (106-43), and pointed toward the development of modern Romance idioms.^[108] Apuleius was drawn to the mystery religions, particularly the cult of Isis.^[109]

Social strata

The Berber success of Apuleius, however, may be regarded as more an exception than the rule. Evidently many native Berbers adopted to the Mediterranean-wide influences operating in the province, eventually intermarrying, or otherwise entering the front ranks as notables. Yet the majority did not. There remained a social hierarchy consisting of the Romanized, the partly assimilated, and the unassimilated (here were many Berbers). Yet in this schema considered among the "assimilated" might be very poor immigrants from other regions of the Empire. These imperial distinctions overlay the preexisting stratification of economic classes, e.g., there continued the practice of slavery, and there remained a coopted remnant of the wealthy Punic aristocracy.^[110][111]

The stepped-up pace and economic demands of a cosmopolitan urban life could impact very negatively on the welfare of the rural poor. Large estates (latifundia) that produced cash crops for export often were managed for absentee owners and used slave labor; these agrobusiness operations occupied lands previously tilled by small local farmers.^[112] On another interface: the fundamental disagreement and social tensions between pastoral nomads, who had their herds to graze, and sedentary farmers; the best lands were usually appropriated for planting, often going to the better-connected. These economic and status divisions would become manifest from time to time in various ways, e.g., the collateral revolt in 238,^[113][114] and the radical edge to the Donatist schism.^[115]

Berber resistance, dissent

Tacfarinas

Firmus and Gildo

Firmus (d.375) and Gildo (d.398) were half-brothers, from a family of Berber landowners whose Roman affiliation was recognized by the imperial government at Constantinople. Their father Nubel was known as a regulus ("little king") of the Mauri tribe of Berbers, according to the historian Ammianus.^[116][117] Thus Nubel held three interdependent positions: as an influential leader in Berber tribal politics; as a Roman official with high connections; and, as a master of private lands. Nubel probably is the same person as Flavius Nuvel, son of a vir perfectissimus and Comes (Roman titles of some prestige); Flavius Nuvel himself was a commander of Roman calvary, whose inscription also links him to the construction of a Christian church. Six sons of Nubel are listed: Firmus, Sammac, Gildo, Mascezel, Dius, and Mazuca.^[118]

Sammac became holder of "a fortified estate built up... like a city" occupied by local Mauris. An inscription erected by Sammac refers to his endorsement by the Mauris and to his Imperial authority, Sammac being a close friend of the Comes ("Count") of Africa, a man named Romanus. By order of his brother Firmus, however, Sammac was assassinated for unstated reasons (sibling rivalry perhaps). Firmus sought to justify his actions, but Romanus effectively blocked his efforts, and denounced him to Rome. In despair he took up arms. Hence Ammianus calls Firmus perduellis (national enemy), rebellis (insurgent), and latro (brigand); Augustine calls him rex barbarus (barbarian king).^[119]

Firmus gained support for his revolt (372-375) from three of his brothers and from Mauri tribal allies the family could summons to the struggle. Also attracted were the dissendent Donatist Church (see below), and anti-Roman, anti-taxation sentiment.^[120] Allegedly Firmus styled himself king of Mauritania. Yet he was opposed by his brother Gildo, who remained aligned with Rome. The formidable Comes Theodosius (father of the future Emperor) led a Roman force to Africa against Firmus. The subsequent military campaign "disrupted the balance of power relationships in the region."^[121] In the campaign and pursuit that defeated Firmus, Gildo served the Roman forces under Theodosius.^[122][123]

Gildo a decade later, in 386, became the Comes of Africa, commander of its Roman military forces. Gildo's appointment resulted from long association with the house of Theodosius, whose son then reigned as the Emperor Theodosius I the Great (r.379-395).^[124] Gildo's daughter Salvina "had married into the ruling house and into the Constantinopolitan establishment."^[125] Then control of the Empire was contested by Magnus Maximus who had overthrown Gratian in 383 and thus reigned in the West. Theodosius eventually declared Maximus an "usurper" and defeated him in battle in 388.^[126] In the meantime in Africa Gildo's position had become problematic; his loyalty to Theodosius had been put to the test with questioned but passable results. Yet then Stilicho assumed de facto rule at Milano in the West; with Egypt's grain assigned to the East, Africa's became the Italy's main source. The idea arose of the "transfer" of Africa to the East, anathema to Milano. Stilicho's propaganist Claudian in his poem De bello Gildonico accused Gildo of disloyalty.^[127]

In 395 after the death of the Emperor Theodosius, Gildo "gradually waived his loyalty" to the Empire of the West. His regime drew upon Mauri alliances, and was supportive of Donatist Church (which then was internally divided).^[128] "Gildo started his rebellion by withholding the shipment of wheat to Rome."^[129] Ironically, Gildo's defiance was opposed by his own brother Mascezel, who was serving Stilicho. The struggle between the brothers had become bitter. Driven from the field, Gildo failed to escape east by ship and died a captive in 398. Mascezel died soon after. Gildo's daughter Salvina raised her children at the imperial court, in its Christian community.^[130][131]

These events show a powerful, 4th-century, Berbero-Roman family in the context of the Mediterranean-wide Empire. "As Roman aristocrats, Nubel's family was not unique in exploiting a local power base in order to play a role at the centre." They also demonstrate the complexities of the loyalties tugging on the Africans of that time and place.^[132]

Emperors from Africa

Aureus, minted in 193: obverse, Septimius Severus; reverse, Legion insignia of XIIII Gemina Martia Victrix.

Septimus Severus

Septimus Severus (145-211, r.193-211) was born of mixed Punic Ancestry in Lepcis Magna, Tripolitania (now Libya), where he spent his youth.^[133] Although he was said to speak with a North African accent, he and his family were long members of the Roman cosmopolitan elite. His eighteen year reign was noted for frontier military campaigns. His wife Julia Domna of Emesa, Syria, was from a prominent family of priestly rulers there; as empress in Rome she cultivated a salon which may have included Ulpian of Tyre, the renowned jurist of Roman Law.

After Severus (whose reign was well regarded), his son Caracalla (r.211-217) became Emperor; Caracalla's edict of 212 granted citizenship to all free inhabitants of the Empire. Later, two grand nephews of Severus through his wife Julia Domna became Emperors: Elagabalus (r.218-222) who brought the black stone of Emesa to Rome; and Severus Alexander (r.222-235) born in Caesarea sub Libano (Lebanon). Though unrelated, the Emperor Macrinus (r.217-218) came from Iol Caesarea in Mauretania (modern Sharshal, Algeria).^[134][135]

Gordion I, II, III

There were also Roman Emperors from the Province of Africa. In 238 local proprietors rose in revolt, arming their clients and agricultural tenants who entered Thysdrus (modern El Djem) where they killed their target, a rapacious official and his bodyguards. In open revolt, they then proclaimed as co-emperors the aged Governor of the Province of Africa, Gordian I (c.159-238), and his son, Gordian II (192-238). Gordion I had served at Rome in the Senate and as Consul, and had been the Governor of various provinces. The very unpopular current Emperor Maximinus Thrax (who had succeeded the dynasty of Severus) was campaigning on the middle Danube. In Rome the Senate sided with the insurgents of Thysdrus. When the African revolt collapsed under an assault by local forces still loyal to the emperor, the Senate elected two of their number, Balbinus and Pupienus, as co-emperors. Then Maximus Thrax was killed by his disaffected soldiers. Eventually the grandson of Gordian I, Gordian III (225-244), of the Province of Africa, became the Emperor of the Romans, 238-244. He died on the Persian frontier. His successor was Philip the Arab.^[136][137]

Christianity, and its schism

Felicitas & Perpetua

The Roman Imperial cult was based on a general polytheism that, by combining veneration for the paterfamilias and for the ancestor, developed a public celebration of the reigning Emperor as a divine leader. From time to time displays of patriotism were required; those refusing the state cult might face a painful death.^[138] While polytheists might go along with little conviction, such a cult ran contrary to the dedicated Christian life.

In the Province of Africa lived two newly baptised Christians, both young women: Felicitas a servant to Perpetua a noble, Felicitas pregnant and Perpetua a nursing mother; both together were publicly torn apart by wild animals at Carthage in A.D. 203. Felicitas and Perpetua became celebrated among Christians as saints. An esteemed writing circulated, containing the reflections and visions of Perpetua (181-203), followed by a narrative of the martyrdom.^[139][140] These Acts were soon read aloud in Churches throughout the Empire.^[141][142]

Tertullian, Cyprian

Three significant theologians arose in the Province, all enjoying Berber ancestry: Tertulian, Cyprian, Augustine.

Tertullian (160-230) was born, lived, and died at Carthage. An expert in Roman law,^[143] a convert and a priest, his Latin books on theology were once widely known, including his early understanding of the Trinity.^[144] He later came to espouse an unforgiving puritanism, after Montanus, and so ended in heresy.^[145][146]

St. Augustine, by Botticelli (1480).

St. Cyprian (210-258) was Bishop of Carthage, and a martyr. Also a lawyer and a convert, he considered Tertullian his teacher. Many of Cyprian's writings kindly offer moral counsel, yet his book De Uniate Ecclesia [On Church Unity] (251) also became well known. He accepted the Church's correction of these his views: that a repentant heretic required a new baptism;^[147] that a bishop in his diocese was supreme.^[148][149]

Augustine

St. Augustine (354-430), Bishop of Hippo (modern Annaba), was born at Tagaste in Numidia (modern Souk Ahras), his mother being St. Monica (who evidently was of Berber heritage).^{[150][151][152]} At Carthage, Augustine received his higher education. While professor of Rhetoric at Milano (then the Roman imperial capital) he followed Manichaean teachings. Following his conversion to Christianity he returned to Africa, where he became a church leader and the author of many works. Augustine remains one of the most prominent and most admired of all Christian theologians. His moral philosophy remains influential, e.g., his contribution to the further evolved doctrine of the Just War, used to test whether or not a military action may be considered just and ethical. His books (e.g., The City of God, and Confessions) are still today widely read and discussed.^{[153][154][155][156][157]}

Donatist Schism

The Donatist schism was a major disruption to the church.^[158][159] The schism followed a severe Roman persecution of Christians ordered by the Emperor Diocletian (r.284-305). An earlier persecution had caused divisions over whether or how to accept back into the church contrite Christians who had apostatized under state threats, abuse, or torture. Then in 313 the new Emperor Constantine by the Edict of Milan had granted tolerance to Christianity, himself becoming a Christian. This turnabout led to confusion within the Church; in North Africa this accentuated the divide between wealthy urban members aligned with the Empire, and the local rural poor who were salt-of-the-earth believers, which included as well social and political dissidents. Agrarian Christian Berbers tended to be Donatists, although some more assimilated urban Berbers were Catholic.^{[160][161][162]} To this challenge the Church did not respond well. The Donatists became centered in southern Numidia, the Catholics in Carthage.

One issue was whether a priest could perform his spiritual office if not personally worthy of the holy sacraments. The Donatist schismatics set up parallel churches in order to practice a ritual purity not required by the Catholic Church.^[163]

Some Donatists sought to become martyrs by provocative acts.^[164] A disorderly, rural extremist group became associated with the Donatists, the circumcellions, who opposed taxes, debt collection, and slavery, and would obstruct normal commerce to protect the poor.^{[165][166][167]} The Donatist were also linked to the two revolts led by the Berber half-brothers, Firmus (372-375), and Gildo (395-398) [see above].^[168][169] Augustine as Bishop came to condemn the Donatists throngs for rioting; at one time there were Imperial persecutions. Long negotiations lasted until finally the Catholics declared Donatism a heresy in 405, though general tolerance persisted until the ban became enforced late in the 6th century.^{[170][171][172]}

Berbers, Vandals, Byzantines

Berber states

The Decline of the Roman Empire in the West was a gradual process punctuated by unheard of events. After eight centuries secure from foreign attack, Rome fell to the Visigoths in 410. By 439 Carthage had been captured by Vandals under Gaiseric (see below). These changes were traumatic to Roman citizens in Africa Province including, of course, those acculturated Berbers who long enjoyed the prospects for livelihood provided by the now fading Imperial economy.

Yet also other Berbers might see a chance for betterment if not liberation in the wake of Rome's slide toward disorder. Living within the empire in urban poverty or as rural laborers, or living beyond its frontiers as independent pastorialists primarily but also as tillers of the soil, were Berbers who might find new political-economic opportunities in Rome's decline, e.g., access to better land and trading terms. The consequent absence of Imperial authority at the periphery soon led to the emergence of new Berber polities. These arose not along the sea coast in the old Imperial cities, but centered inland at the borderland (the limes) of empire, between the steppe and the sown. This "pre-Sahara" geographic and cultural zone ran along the mountainous frontier, the Tell, hill country and upland plains, which separated the "well-watered, Mediterranean districts of the Maghreb to the north, from the Sahara desert to the south." Here Berber tribal chiefs acted through force and negotiation to establish a new source of governing authority.^[173]

From west to east across North Africa, eight of these new Berbers states have been identified, being the kingdoms of: Altava (near present-day Tlemcen); the Ouarsenis (by Tiaret); Hodna; the Aures (southern Numidia); the Nemencha; the Dorsale (at Thala, south of El Kef); Capsus (at Capsa) and, Cabaon (in Tripolitania, at Oea).^[174] The eastern-most five of these Berber kingdoms were located within the expansive territory of Africa Proconsularis. Similar to the newly formed Germanic kingdoms within the fallen Empire in Europe to the north,^[175] these Berber kingdoms served two disparate populations: the Romani who were "the settled communities of provincial citizens" and the "barbarians", here the Mauri, "Berber tribes along and beyond the frontier". The Romani contributed the urban resources and fiscal structure for which a civil administration was required, while the Mauri provided fruits of the countryside and satisfied essential military and security requirements. This functional and ethnic duality at the core of the Berber successor states is reflected in the title of the political leader at Altava (see here above), one Masuna, found on an inscription: rex gent(ium) Maur(orum) et Romanor(um).^[176]

In the Kingdom of Ouarsenis were built thirteen large funerary monuments known as Djedars, dating to the fifth and sixth centuries, many being square measuring 50 meters on a side and rising 20 meters high. "While their architectural form echoes a long tradition of massive North African royal mausolea, stretching back to Numidian and Mauretanian kingdoms of the third-first centuries B.C., the closest parallels are with the tumuli or bazinas, with flanking 'chapels', which are distributed in an arc through the pre-Saharan zone and beyond" perhaps several thousand kilometers to the southwest (to modern Mauritania). Some display "decorative carvings and Christian motifs" although the bilingual dedicatory inscriptions are virtually illegible. "The Djedars could thus be considered the ultimate development of an indigenous, pre-Saharan funerary architectural tradition, adapted to fit a Christian, Romanized environment."^[177]

An unresolved issue concerns the Christianity of independent Berbers after Roman rule, as well as Berber Christianity under the Vandals, Byzantines, and Arabs.^[178]

Later under the Byzantines, several Berber political entities proximous to Imperial power became nominally vassals states pledging loyalty to the Empire. Other Berber polities at the periphery of Imperial power remained independent.^[179]

{IN PROCESS}

Vandal Kingdom

Migrations of the Vandals in blue (circa 270 to 530) from the Vistula river, southeast into Pannonia, westward to Gaul, south into Hispania, across to Africa and Carthage; raids by sea.^[180]

In the fifth century the western Roman Empire was in a steep decline. Carthage and its Africa province were captured in 439 by the Vandals under Gaiseric (r. 428-477), becoming the center of their Germanic kingdom.^[181][182] The western imperial capital at Ravenna recognized his rule in 442. Initially Berbers fought with the Vandals; after the conquest, they remained the only military threat.^[183] Yet in governing their kingdom the Vandals did not maintain in full their martial culture, having made alliances with Berber forces upon entering the region. In 455 the Vandals sailed with an army to the city of Rome, which was occupied without resistance and looted.^[184]

In religious policy, the Vandals tried to convert the urban Catholic Christians of Africa to their Arian heresy (named after the Egyptian Christian priest Arius, who taught that the Father is greater than the Son and the Spirit), e.g., by sending the clergy into exile and by expropriating churches; in the 520s their efforts turned to persecution, including martyrdom, all without success. The Berbers remained aloof. In all Vandal rule would last 94 years.^[185][186]

The Vandals did provide functional security and governed with a light hand, so that the former Roman province prospered at first. Roman officials and Roman law continued, and Latin was used for government business. Agriculture provided more than enough to feed the region and trade flourished in the towns. Yet because of their desire to maintain a superiority in status, the Vandals refused to intermarry or agreeably assimilate to the advanced culture of the Romans. Consequently, finer points were overlooked; they failed to sustain in its entirety the workable society. The Berbers confederacies beyond the frontier grew increasingly powerful and troublesome to the prevailing rule.^[187][188]

Byzantine Empire

Byzantine Empire in 565, at its height.

The Eastern Romans, known also as the Byzantine Empire, eventually recaptured Rome's Africa province during the Vandalic War in 534, when led by their celebrated general Belisarius. The Byzantines rebuilt fortifications and border defenses (the limes), and entered into treaties with the Berbers. Nevertheless, for many decades security and prosperity were precarious and were never fully restored. Direct Byzantine rule didn't extend far beyond the coastal cities. The African interior remained under the control of various Berber tribal confederacies, e.g., the Byzantines contested against the Berber Kingdom of Garmules.^[189]

Early in the seventh century, several new Berber groups (the Jarid and Zanata of the Auruba) converted to Catholicism, joining Berbers already Christian, although other Berbers remained attached to their gods.^[190][191] In the 540s the restored Catholic Church in Africa was disrupted by the Emperor Justinian's position in favor of the Monophysite doctrine.

In the early 600s AD, the Byzantine Empire entered a period of serious crises that would alter the future of Tunisia. For centuries Byzantium's greatest enemy had been the Sassanid Persians, and the two powers were chronically at war with each other (the Roman-Persian Wars). The warfare was often intense but usually resulted in small border changes. By the seventh century however, the situation changed dramatically. Persistent religious discord within the Empire, followed by the overthrow of Emperor Maurice by the tyrant Phocas, severely weakened the Byzantines. The Persians under Chosroes II invaded the Byzantine Empire, along with allies from the north: the Eurasian Avars and Slav confederacies. Much of the Empire was overrun and its end seemed near.^[192]

It was a Roman citizen born in Carthage, Flavius Heraclius Augustus (575-641), who managed to play a crucial role in restoring the imperial destiny.^[193][194] Heraclius was the son of the Exarch of Carthage, whose own origins were Armenian.^[195] Heraclius sailed east across the Mediterranean with an African fleet to the Byzantine capital city of Constantinople and overthrew the usurper Phocas. Heraclius then became Roman Emperor in 610. He began reorganizing the government and erecting defenses to counter threats to the capital. Notwithstanding, the Persians continued their invasion, meeting little resistance, taking Antioch in 611, Jerusalem in 614, and Alexandria in 619, in an astonishing series of victories. The hostile forces of Chosroes soon stood before Constantinople. In response, Heraclius at great risk moved quickly a Roman army by ship east over the Black Sea, landing near his Armenian allies. In subsequent fighting the Byzantines managed to out-flanked the Persians. By 627 Heraclius was marching on their capital Ctesiphon in a complete reversal of fortune. Then in 628 the Persian Shah, Chosroes II, was killed in a revolt by his generals.^[196]

Byzantine Empire, 650 A.D., still with its Exarchate of Carthage, yet after its recent loss of Syria (634-636) and of Egypt (639-641) to the Arabs of Islam.

As a result of these dramatic and tumultuous events, Sassanid Persia was in disarray and confusion. Consequently, the Byzantines were able to retake their provinces of Egypt and Syria. Yet with the return of the Romans, the pre-existing religious discord between the local Monophysite Christians of Egypt and the official imperial Chalcedonian Church also returned. In order to mediate this Christological conflict, the former Exarch of Africa Heraclius (575-641, r.610-641), now the Chalcedonian emperor of the Byzantines, attempted to work out a theological compromise. The result was Monothelitism, which compromise doctrine satisfied neither Egyptian nor Byzantine; the religious discord among Christians continued to conflict the Empire.^[197]

Yet events along the imperial frontier did not rest. To the south, the Arab peoples of the desert began to stir under the influence of a new monotheistic vision, being unified and energized by the foundational teachings of the Prophet, Muhammad (570-632). In 636 at the Battle of Yarmuk to the east of the Sea of Galilee the Arab Islamic armies decisively defeated the Byzantine forces.^[192] Soon the recently lost and regained Roman provinces of Syria and Egypt would be lost again by the Byzantines, with finality to emerging Islam.^[198]

Following the Arab invasion and occupation of Egypt in 640, there were Christian refugees who fled west, until arriving in the Exarchate of Africa (Carthage), which remained under Byzantine rule. Here serious disputes arose within the Catholic churches at Carthage over Monophysite doctrines and Monothelitism, with St. Maximus the Confessor leading the orthodox Catholics.^[199]

Reference notes

See also

• Berber people
• Berber languages
• Ancient Lybia
• Shoshenq I
• Phoenician languages
• Phoenicia
• Utica
• Carthage
• Hanno the Great
• Hannibal Barca
• Syphax
• Masinissa
• Scipio Africanus
• Jugurtha
• Juba
• Septimius Severus
• Apuleius
• Augustine
• Africa Province
• Exarchate of Africa
• Praetorian prefecture of Africa
• North Africa during the Classical Period
• History of Tunisia