Raven S. Rome in Africa

London – New York: Routledge, 1993. – 289 p.
ISBN: 0-203-41844-1 Master e-book ISBN:
ISBN: 0-203-72668-5 (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN: 0-415-08261-7
0-415-08150-5 (pbk)Nearly three thousand years ago the Phoenicians set up trading colonies on the coast of North Africa, and ever since successive civilizations have been imposed on the local inhabitants, largely from outside. Carthaginians, Romans, Vandals, Byzantines, Arabs, Turks, French and Italians have all occupied the region in their time.
The Romans governed this part of Africa for six hundred years. Throughout the region their genius for building was readily apparent: there were some six hundred cities, twelve thousand miles of roads and hundreds of aqueducts, some fifty miles long. The remains of many of these structures can be seen today. At the height of its prosperity, during the second and third centuries AD, the area was the granary of Rome, and produced more olive oil than Italy itself.
The broadening horizons of the Roman Empire provided scope for the particular talents of a number of Africa’s sons: the writers Terence and Apuleius; the first African Roman Emperor Septimius Severus; famous Christian theologians like Tertullian and Augustine.
Susan Raven recounts the story of this important part of the Roman Empire in North Africa, drawing on a wide variety of historical and archaeological evidence in addition to her own experience of the region, and revivifies the ghosts of the crumbling remains.List of illustrationsAcknowledgements
Chronology
A note on certain words xxvi IntroductionBetween the desert and the sea
A land of drought
Flora and fauna
The first North Africans
Colonists from the sea
The threat from the Greeks
The neighbours of CarthageThe rise of Carthage
The ghost of ancient Carthage
The recovery of greatness
The threat from the Libyans
War against the Greeks
The Greeks ‘conquer’ Carthage
The new African kingdomsThe wars between Rome and Carthage
The Mercenary War
The move to Spain
Hannibal’s great enterprise
Sophonisba: a heroine for Carthage
Scipio’s revenge
The Third Punic WarNew masters for Africa
The Jugurthine War
The end of Numidian independence
The Roman occupation
Juba, King of Mauretania
The Third Augustan Legion
The revolt of Tacfarinas
A new modus vivendiThe conquest of a country
Roads
Ports and aqueducts
The new model towns
The limesGranary of the Empire
Landlords and serfs, town and country
The harvester of Mactar
A mixed economy
Agriculture’s golden age
The importance of olives
The great irrigation schemes
Crafts and industryThe six hundred cities
Building to impress
Building for pleasure and comfort
At home in a town houseCareers open to talent
Apuleius of Madauros
Soldiers from AfricaThe first African Emperor
The slow rise to power
The seat of power
The legacy of Septimius Severus
The Gordian rebellionThe new religion
Survivals from the past
The cult of loyalty
The emergence of Christianity
The martyrdom of St. Perpetua
The father of Latin Christianity
St. Cyprian, bishop and martyr
The reforms of Diocletian
A taste of la dolce vitaA Church divided
The conversion of Numidia
How the schism began
Tragedy turns to farce
Donatus, anti-bishop of Carthage
The involvement of the Emperor
The first appeal to force
The rise of terrorism
The rebellion of Firmus
The rebellion of GildoThe greatest African
Progress of a soul
Augustine’s early life
The crusade against the Donatists
The sack of Rome
A Catholic victory
The Vandal invasionThe Vandal interregnum
A pirate king
The tablettes Albertini
The coming of the camel
The last of the VandalsAfrica returns to the east
Victory over the Vandals
Resistance and rebellion
The new Africa
A precarious peace
The return of civil war
A Church militant
The house of Heraclius
The coming of the ArabsAppendix of site plansModern and ancient place names