Download North Africa from Human Origins to Islam Brett Kaufman

ARCH 1616
Between Sahara and Sea:
North Africa from Human Origins to Islam
Brett Kaufman
[email protected]
Office Hours: Tuesdays, 2:30-4:30 pm
Rhode Island Hall 007
Rome and its North African Provinces
Roman expansion during the Republic
Roman approach to provinces in general
Roman North Africa
Rome
Sardinia
Sicily
Mauretania
Carthage (Tunis)
Africa
Proconsularis
Colonial timeline
Foundation of Carthage ~800 BC
Carthaginian expansion ~580-201 BC
Rome destroys Carthage 146 BC
Roman settlement begins to intensify 46 BC
Phoenician; Canaanite
Punic; Carthaginian
Libyo-Phoenician
Neo-Punic
Zita Tripoli
Lepcis Magna
Cyrenaica
3
Reconstruction of remains of mud huts found on the Palatine Hill in Rome,
dating to the 8th C BCE
The Growth of Rome during the Republic (~5th-1st C BCE)
Early Relations between Rome and
Carthage
• 508-507 BCE: First treaty between Rome
and Carthage
• 348 BCE: Renewal of earlier treaty
• 306 BCE: Third treaty, barring
Carthaginians from Italy and Romans
from Sicily
• 279 BCE: Fourth treaty to fight against a
king from Illyria named Pyrrhus
Roman approach to provinces in general
The Roman Empire ca. 117 CE
“If a man were called upon to fix that period in the
history of the world during which the condition of
the human race was most happy and prosperous,
he would, without hesitation, name that which
elapsed from the deaths of Domitian to the
accession of Commodus.” (Edward Gibbon 1776)
“Throughout the entire empire, in provinces and
towns, we see that each local group of people has
its own religious rituals and worships local gods. .
. The Romans, however, worship all the gods in
the world. . . When they have captured a town,
even in the fierceness of victory, the Romans
respect the deities of the conquered people. They
invite to Rome gods from all over the world and
make them their own, raising altars even to
unknown gods and to the shades of the dead. And
thus, while the Romans were adopting the
religious rites of all nations, they also earned for
themselves dominion.”
~Minucius Felix, Octavius
“Romanization”
“Julius Agricola, Roman Governor in
Britain under the Emperor Domitian
introducing the Roman Arts and Sciences
into England, the Inhabitants of which
are astonished and soon become fond of
the Arts and manners of their cruel
Invaders.”
Agricola by J. Goldar (from E. Barnard’s “The New, Comprehensive, Impartial and
Complete History of England.” (1790))
“[The Romans] are few in number, scared and bewildered, staring round at the sky
itself and the sea and the forests, all strange to them—they are in a way like men
imprisoned and chained, and the gods have delivered them into our hands....There
is nothing beyond them to fear: just empty forts, coloniae of old men, towns sick
and disunited between unwilling subjects and unjust rulers.”
Tacitus, Agricola (XXXII)
Speech of Scottish leader Calgacus to his army before the great battle
at Mons Graupius that Agricola and his Roman army fought against
the Caledonians
“They have pillaged the world: when the land has nothing left for men who
ravage everything, they scour the sea. If an enemy is rich, they are greedy, if
he is poor, they crave glory. Neither East nor West can sate their appetite. They
are the only people on earth to covet wealth and poverty with equal craving.
They plunder, they butcher, they ravish, and call it by the lying name of
‘empire’. They make a desert and call it ‘peace’.” (XXX).
Thuburbo Maius,
Tunisia
“[Agricola’s] object was to accustom them to a life of peace and quiet by the provision of amenities.
He therefore gave official assistance to the building of temples, public squares and good houses.
He educated the sons of the chiefs in the liberal arts, and expressed a preference for British ability
as compared to the trained skills of the Gauls. The result was that instead of loathing the Latin
language they became eager to speak it effectively. In the same way, our national dress came into
favour and the toga was everywhere to be seen. And so the population was gradually led into the
demoralizing temptation of arcades, baths and sumptuous banquets. The unsuspecting Britons
spoke of such novelties as ‘civilization', when in fact they were only a feature of their enslavement.”
Tacitus Agricola XXI
Urban design of Rome replicated in the provinces
Roman North Africa
Was the earth
really salted at
Carthage?
Roman theater at Carthage
Roman amphitheater at Carthage
Antonine Baths at Carthage
Roman Villas at Carthage
Roman Aqueduct at Carthage
Not salted, watered
The Third Punic War and the Jugurthine War
• Massinissa reigned for 55 years and built up a sizeable
Numidian kingdom, while he also proved a faithful ally
of the Roman Senate
• Third Punic War: 149-146 BCE
• Massinissa died in 148 BCE and his kingdom was
divided up between his 3 sons
• The nephews of one of these sons was Jugurtha, who
began to consolidate power in Numidia, provoking war
with Rome from 112-106 BCE
• The Roman victory increased its subjugation of North
Africa, although Numidia did not become a province
until 46 BCE
Loss of Numidian independence and early
revolts
• The Roman victory increased its subjugation of North
Africa, although Numidia did not become a province
until after Battle of Thapsus in 46 BCE under Julius
Caesar. North Africa loses its independence
• Augustus establishes Africa Proconsularis and grants
Juba II Mauretania in 25 BCE, who along with the Third
Augustan Legion (21 CE) preserved some stability.
• 19 BC Proconsul L. Cornelius Balbus awarded a triumph
for defeating Garamantes in the Fezzan, Libya
• 17 CE, a deserter named Tacfarinas revolted using
guerilla tactics to which the Romans had to adapt,
quelled in 23 AD
• Emperor Claudius makes Mauretania part of Empire in
41 CE
The Roman Provinces of Africa
Juba I
King of Numidia, 60-46 BCE
Coins of Juba I – bearded king with diadem around head and scepter
over his shoulder – lettering reads “Rex Juba”
Sided with Pompey against Caesar in Battle of Thapsus
Battle of Thapsus
Caesar lost 50 soldiers, Pompey 10,000
Juba II
Brought to be raised in the Roman court, send by
Augustus to rule Mauretania from Cherchel
Cherchel
Thugga/Dougga
Utica
Kerkouane
Carthage
Dougga
Thugga: The Imperial Cult
“Sacred to the Divine Augustus
and Tiberius Claudius Caesar
Augustus Germanicus. . . Julius
Venustus, son of Thinoba, has
accomplished all the magistracies,
priest of the Divine Augustus. . .
the Senate and the people. . . have
bestowed him freely with the
insignia of the sufes. . .”
ILS 6797: Altar to the Divine
Augustus and Claudius, ca. 48
CE
donated by Julius Venustus, son of Faustus
Thinoba, members of an elite indigenous
family. The father possessed a half-Latin,
half-African name, but gave a fully Latin
name to his son, who also became a priest
of the divine emperor Augustus
Capitoline, Thugga: Inscription
“Sacred to Jupiter Optimus
maximus, Juno Regina, Minerva
Augusta; on behalf of the health
of the emperors Marcus
Antoninus Augustus and Lucius
Verus Augustus, victors over
Armenia, Media, and Parthia; L.
Marcius Simplex and L. Marcius
Simplex Regillianus built at their
own expense.” (166-169 CE)
The establishment of a Capitoline cult at Thugga in the second century CE is
extremely significant, for at this time, Thugga did not even have the status of
municipia, yet here we have one of the most potent and fundamental expressions of
Roman religious identity by a new citizen, endowing this provincial community
with a direct link to the gods of Rome
Cult of Saturn, Thugga
ILAfr 551 Restoration of the Shrine of Saturn
“Sacred to Saturn Augustus; the civitas [the
indigenous population] of Thugga has restored the
temple, having collapsed from age, with their own
money and has dedicated the same.”
The cult of Saturn=Ba’al was one of the most well-established cults in Proconsular
Africa, on both a public and private scale, and particularly noted among African
worshippers, both lower and upper class. The Romanized Punic cult carried out
worship “on behalf of the health of the emperor” again linking them to imperial cult.
Inscription to Concord, Frugifer, Liber Pater and
Neptune (Thugga)
Concordia is the most well-known, particularly under Hadrian, already with two
shrines at Thugga, and not to mention was the patron deity at Carthage. The other
deities, although bearing Latin names, may actually be connected to pre-Roman
divinities. Frugifer is simply an epithet meaning “crop-bearing”, and outside Africa it
nd Century CE
is usually paired with the name of an2actual
deity. The title is found alone in over 20
inscriptions within Africa, however, suggesting the presence of an earlier local deity
with a Latinized name.
Constantine monogram from Djerba