AH3020 North Africa in Late Antiquity...Bagnall, Roger. 1993. Egypt in Late Antiquity. Princeton:...

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School of Archaeology & Ancient History

AH3020 North Africa in Late Antiquity

Academic Year: 2009-2010

Semester: 2

Time and location: Tue. 2-3pm. KE 526 (provisional) Fri. 1-2pm ATT SB 2.07

First meeting: Tue. January 26

2pm KE 526 (provisional)

Module coordinator: Andy Merrills

e-mail: [email protected]

Room: 110

Office hours: Thursdays 9.30-11.30

Your individual appointments (e.g. tutorials, seminars):

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document prepared by: AHM 1/12/09

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AR3020 North Africa in Late Antiquity Weighting: 20 credits

Coordinator: Andy Merrills

Other tutors: Dave Edwards; David Mattingly

Module outline: Classical North Africa was shaped profoundly by the imperial

domination of Rome and Meroe. When these great empires began to

fragment from the later fourth century, the region experienced a number

of political, cultural and economic convulsions every bit as profound as

those experienced elsewhere in the classical world. This module explores

the ‘forgotten’ history of Africa from c.350-c.550 CE, from a consciously

comparative perspective. We will examine a variety of different post-

imperial societies, and post-imperial phenomena, from Egyptian

monasticism and Berber pyramid-building to the warrior aristocracies of

Nubia and Vandal Carthage.

Aims: To examine a crucial (but neglected!) area in the history of late

Antiquity, and in the history of Africa.

To introduce students to a wide array of translated sources and

documents, the archaeological data and secondary works, and to

encourage their critical analysis and evaluation.

To develop further skills in written presentation

Intended learning

outcomes:

On completion of the module, students will be able to:

Research a well-defined aspect of a topic and communicate the

results effectively in an oral presentation

Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of many of the

principal historical themes of this period

Display a nuanced appreciation of the themes and controversies

surrounding the study of North Africa in the Roman and post-

Roman period.

Evaluate critically translated sources and archaeological data

and employ them effectively as appropriate.

Method(s) of

teaching: 9x 1 hour lectures; 9 x seminars

Method of assessment:

Source-based presentation: 10%

Final written project (3,000 words): 40%

Final Written Examination: 2 hours 50%

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Teaching schedule

Preparation for each class is listed in the weekly bibliographies

listed at the end of this module handbook.

Week 13 Tues. 26 Jan. Introduction: Getting to know North Africa

GEOGRAPHY QUIZ!

Fri 29 Jan Introduction: Getting to know North Africa

ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY QUIZ!

Week 14 Tues. 2 Feb. Lecture: Egypt: monasticism, heresy and paganism in Late

Antiquity (AHM)

Fri 5 Feb Seminar: The Desert a City: Egyptian Monasticism

Week 15 Tues 9 Feb. Lecture: Philae and Nubia: new military aristocracies (DNE)

Fri 12 Feb Seminar: The Nubian Treasure

Week 16 Tues 16 Feb. Lecture: Cyrenaica in Late Antiquity (AHM)

Fri 19 Feb Seminar: Synesius Goes it Alone

Week 17 Tues 23 Feb Lecture: Augustine of Hippo and the Donatists (AHM)

Fri 26 Feb Seminar: Dunkin’ Donatists

Week 18 Tues. 2 Mar Lecture: Vandalpocalypse now? The Vandals in Carthage (AHM)

Fri 5 Mar Seminar: Vandal Society

Week 19 Tues. 9 Mar Lecture: Pyramids in the west (AHM)

Fri 12 Mar Seminar: Moorish Society

Week 20 Tues 16 Mar Lecture/Seminar: Summary of themes: Power and Politics

Fri 19 Mar Lecture/Seminar: Summary of themes: Religion

Week 21 Tues 23 Mar Lecture/Seminar: Summary of themes: Identity

Fri 26 Mar Lecture/Seminar: Summary of themes

EASTER VACATION

Week 22 Tues. 4 May. Presentation Session 1

Fri 7 May Presentation Session 2

Week 23 Tues. 11 May Presentation Session 3

Fri 14 May Revision Session

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Week 24 Fri. 16 May Revision Session

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Assignments and Deadlines (non-graded)

Along with this module handbook, you will have received a ‘Gobbets Pack’ for this

course (extra copies are available on Blackboard). This pack includes a short selection of

primary source passages (or archaeologically relevant images) related to the different

topics of the course. You will be expected to prepare AT LEAST ONE of these gobbets

each week in preparation for Friday’s seminar: these will provide the basis for discussion

for the class itself.

For each gobbet you should include a short discussion of 300-500 words. (You may do

more than one, or write more than 500 words if you wish!). These discussions should

include:

i) A short account of the context of the passage concerned, including the

nature of the text in which it appears, or its physical context in the case of

inscriptions and other sources.

ii) A brief summary of the content of the source to demonstrate that you have

grasped its meaning.

iii) A more detailed analysis of the historical significance of the gobbet in

question. How does the passage in question illuminate our understanding of late

Antique North Africa? Does it contain information found nowhere else? Or is it

directly contradicted by other evidence available?

Suggestions about how to approach each of the passages will be provided in the

lecture, and in the suggested secondary reading. All of the passages have been

chosen carefully, and all have a great deal to say about the topics under discussion!

These gobbets will be marked, but will not contribute directly to your overall grade.

Nevertheless, this exercise is a central part of the course: the gobbets themselves will

form the basis for discussion in many of the seminars, and will provide an essential

platform for both your longer essays and your exams (which will be assessed!)

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Assignments and deadlines (graded)

Group presentations: (10%) In the last week of the semester (after Easter), you will have the

opportunity to present to the rest of the class a short summary of the principal themes

discussed in one of the seminars this term. This will serve both as a graded presentation

exercise, and as an opportunity for group revision of the principal themes of the course. The

distribution of presentation topics will be decided in the first class.

Essay: (40%) you are required to write a 3,000 word essay for this course. Please read the

section on essay writing in the School Handbook. If you have any questions about your

essay, please arrange to see me well before the due date.

All essays must be word-processed and properly referenced (consult the Handbook). Essays

should be submitted to the third year box in the SAAH Foyer by 5pm on the deadline, or

lateness penalties will be incurred (see the Handbook).

Essays are expected to be well researched. You may start with the reading recommended on

the Blackboard website but you must go further. Ancient sources are essential reading and

should be studied closely; modern literature is there to help you identify and understand

the key issues and the problems the ancient sources may present. Introductory

bibliographies for these essays are available on Blackboard.

These topics are suggestions only. You should feel free to develop your own research topic

on any of the areas covered in class.

1. Why did monks and holy men play such a prominent role in the society of Late Antique

Egypt?

2. To what extent does Procopius’ account provide a misleading impression of Nubia in Late

Antiquity?

3. What does the career of Synesius tell us about the changing role of bishops in the late

Antique world?

4. ‚A nationalist movement masquerading as a religious dispute‛. Is this a fair assessment of

the Donatist controversy?

5. Do the Vandals deserve their reputation?

6. To what extent was Berber rulership shaped by Roman precedent?

Exam: (50%). The remainder of your assessment for this course will come from an exam.

This will last 2 hours, and you will be expected to answer 2 questions from a selection of 8.

There will be a sample exam paper posted on Blackboard and we will cover aspects of exam

technique during the course. Bear in mind that good exam answers will always pay

particular attention to the primary sources available.

Essay Deadline: FRIDAY 14 MAY

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Bibliographies

Part of the appeal of this subject is the opportunity to engage directly with primary

sources. A full list of North African sources available in translation is included on

Blackboard, and you should feel free to read as widely as you can: you’ll pick up more

from this reading than you ever will from the secondary literature.

Secondary literature is somewhat patchy (especially in English). Some studies are terrific,

some are less good, some are wide-ranging and some are mind-numbingly specific. I don’t

expect you to read everything on this list (obviously), but have included quite full

bibliographies to allow you to pursue topics you’re interested in, and to prevent anguish

from excess demand for a few key works. Texts that are particularly recommended are

marked with a *. Everything should be available, either online, via blackboard or in the

library, but if there’s anything you can’t get hold of, let me know and I’ll supply you with

a photocopy.

KEY TEXTS

Bagnall, Roger. 1993. Egypt in Late Antiquity. Princeton: Princeton UP

Outstanding survey of Egypt in this period. A little dry in places, but well worth

struggling through!

Frankfurter, David. 1998. Religion in Roman Egypt : assimilation and resistance. Princeton:

Princeton UP.

Brilliant summary of religious change in the region, from the occupation to

Christianization.

Edwards, David N. 2004. The Nubian Past. An Archaeology of the Sudan. London: Routledge.

Useful English survey of the Nubian Material.

Welsby, Derek. A. 2002. The Medieval Kingdoms of Nubia. London: British Museum Press.

Brown, Peter. 1972. Augustine of Hippo. London: Routledge.

Superlative biography of one of the great figures of late Antiquity by the great

modern scholar of the period. You might also benefit from the more recent

biographies of Augustine by Garry Wills and by Serge Lancel (both of which are in

the library).

Merrills, Andy and Miles, Richard. Forthcoming. The Vandals. Oxford and Boston: Blackwell.

Helpful for the ‘Vandals’ section of the course. This will only be published during the

semester, but to allow you a sneak preview (and to save me covering a lot of this

material in a series of dull lectures), I’ve put the individual chapters on blackboard

for you to access. It is *strongly* recommended that you read these chapters where

relevant. And buy multiple copies of the book for your friends and family when it

comes out.

Elizabeth Fentress and Martin Brett, The Berbers. Oxford and Boston: Blackwell.

Excellent English summary of the Moorish polities in Antiquity. Helpful for both the

‘Laguatan/Ghirza/eastern Moors’ sessions and those on the western Moors.

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Reference

*Bowersock, G.W., Brown, Peter and Grabar, Oleg. (eds), 1999. Late Antiquity: A Guide to the

Postclassical World. Cambridge MA: Harvard.

Half survey articles, half encyclopaedia; the latter is especially useful when you’re trying

to grapple with things like the heresies of late Antiquity.

Jones, A.H.M. and Martindale, J.R. (eds) 1980. Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire II. 395 –

527 AD. Cambridge: CUP.

Essential reference for those confusing minor characters in Late Roman history

*Hornblower, S., and Spawforth, A. eds 1996. The Oxford Classical Dictionary. 3rd edition.

Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Essential

Talbert, Richard J.A. (ed.) 2000. The Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World Princeton:

Princeton University Press. 3 vols.

This is the standard reference Atlas, but may be a little cumbersome for everyday use. At

the very least you should be familiar with the major provinces, cities and physical features

of North Africa and the Later Roman Empire more generally.

General Works

Clover, Frank M. 1993. The Late Roman West and the Vandals. Aldershot: Variorum.

Many useful articles.

Jones, A.H.M. 1964. The Later Roman Empire. 284-602. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins. 3 vols

Staggering work on the structure of the Later Roman Empire. Not exactly a light read,

but the one-stop shop for all of your questions about any aspect of the imperial (and

post-imperial) world.

Raven, Susan. 1993. Rome in Africa London: Routledge.

As with Paul MacKendrick’s The North African Stones Speak, this provides a rather old-

fashioned survey. Use with care.

Shaw, Brent. D. 1995a Environment and Society in Roman North Africa : Studies in History and

Archaeology. Aldershot: Variorum


Shaw, Brent D. 1995b. Rulers, Nomads, and Christians in Roman North Africa. Aldershot:

Variorum


Wickham, Chris. 2005. Framing the Early Middle Ages : Europe and the Mediterranean 400-800

Oxford: OUP.

Extraordinary new survey of the ‘Fall of the Roman Empire’ from a Marxist

perspective. Heavy going, but essential.

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WEEK 13.

(Introductory Class).

Starting your reading of key primary and secondary sources at this stage will greatly help

things later in the term! Try to read at least one of:

The Life of St. Antony (from the Week 14 reading list)

Passages from the Fontes Historiae Nubiorum (from the Week 15 reading list)

Synesius’ selected letters (from the Week 16 reading list)

Optatus Against the Donatists (from the Week 17 reading list)

Passages from Victor of Vita’s History of the Vandal Persecution (from the Week 18 reading list)

Passages from Procopius (from the Week 19 reading list)

All are available on Blackboard

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WEEK 14: EGYPT

Egypt was the most fertile of the Mediterranean provinces, and was to remain so throughout the

medieval period. Wealthy and well-populated, Roman Egypt also witnessed the fusion of different

cultural influences – Pharaonic, Greek, Nubian and (to a lesser extent) Latin. Egypt retained its

economic importance in Late Antiquity, and also proved to be a major battleground in the development

of the early Church, experiencing both an explosion of extreme Christian activity, and particularly

violent conflicts between different sects. This week we will explore the development of Christianity at

the fringes of the world.

Seminar Source: Passages from early Egyptian hagiography

Gobbets: At least one from section 1 of the ‘Gobbets’ handout.

Further Primary Source Reading:

‘The Life of Saint Antony’, and ‘The Life of Paul’ in Carolinne White (ed. and tr.) 1998. Early

Christian Lives. Harmondsworth: Penguin.

‘The Lausiac History’ in E.C. Butler, 1898. The Lausiac history of Palladius : a critical discussion

together with notes on early Egyptian monachism. Cambridge: CUP.

Secondary Reading:

Frankfurter, David. 1998. Religion in Roman Egypt : assimilation and resistance. Princeton:

Princeton UP.

Frankfurter, David. 2003. ‘Syncretism and the Holy Man in Late Antique Egypt’, Journal of

Early Christian Studies, 11: 339-385.

Frank, Georgia. 2000. The Memory of the Eyes: Pilgrims to Living Saints in Christian Late

Antiquity. Berkeley: UC Press.

Bagnall, Roger. 1993. Egypt in Late Antiquity. Princeton: Princeton UP

Bagnall, Roger. 2007. Egypt in the Byzantine world, 300-700. Cambridge: CUP.

Goehring, James E. 1993. ‘The Encroaching Desert: Literary Production and Ascetic Space in

Early Christian Egypt’, Journal of Early Christian Studies, 1.3: 281-296.

Rousseau, Philip. 1985. Pachomius : The Making of a Community in Fourth-Century Egypt.

Berkeley: UC Press.

Brown, Peter. 1990. The Body and Society: Men, Women and Sexual Renunciation in Early

Christianity. London: Faber.

Brown, Peter. 1978. The Making of Late Antiquity. Cambridge MA: Harvard UP. esp. ch. 4.

Chitty, Derwas J. 1966. The Desert a City: An Introduction to the Study of Egyptian and Palestinian

Monasticism under the Christian Empire. Oxford: Blackwell.

Bowman, Alan K. 1986. Egypt After the Pharaohs. 332 BC – AD 642. London: British Museum

Press. Esp. ch. 6.

Keenan, James J. 2000. ‘Egypt’, in CAH XIV. Cambridge: CUP.

Bagnall, Roger and Dominic W. Rathbone (eds), 2004. Egypt from Alexander to the Early

Christians. An Archaeological and Historical Guide. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum Press.

Esp. pp.107-23 and 174-82 on the archaeological contexts of Egyptian monasticism.

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Markus, R.A. 1990. The End of Ancient Christianity. Cambridge: CUP. esp. ch.12.

Haas, Christopher. 1997. Alexandria in Late Antiquity. Topography and Social Conflict Baltimore,

MD: Johns Hopkins.

Online Resources:

The Life of Antony: http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/2811.htm

The Life of Paul: http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3008.htm

The Lausiac History:

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/pearse/morefathers/files/palladius_lausiac_02_text.htm#C19

http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/2811.htmhttp://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3008.htmhttp://www.ccel.org/ccel/pearse/morefathers/files/palladius_lausiac_02_text.htm#C19

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WEEK 15: NUBIA

Lower Nubia developed in the penumbra between two great empires: Rome in the North and Meroe to

the south. As the influence of both started to contract from the third century, the Nile valley witnessed

the rise of new forms of political and religious authority. Events in the region can be discerned only as

distorted reflections in our textual sources, but have been explored archaeologically in increasing

detail. Here, as elsewhere, we may see the dramatic changes wrought by the end of empire(s).

Seminar Source:



Fontes Historiae Nubiorum Volume III (Textual Sources for the History of the Middle Nile

Region)

Blockley, R.C. 1981. The fragmentary classicising historians of the later Roman Empire : Eunapius,

Olympiodorus, Priscus and Malchus, (2 volumes) Liverpool: Francis Cairns

The 3 volumes of the Fontes Historiae Nubiorum provide a comprehensive coverage of just

about ALL known ‘historical’ texts (there are fewer than 400) in several languages (Greek,

Latin, Egyptian, Coptic, Meroitic) relating to ancient Sudan/Nubia – this volume including

texts spanning 1st-6th century AD. The relatively limited textual material is balanced by a

mass of archaeological material (mainly burials) from Nubia.

Secondary Reading:

Dijkstra, Jitse H.F. 2005. Religious encounters on the Southern Egyptian frontier in late

antiquity (AD 298-642) , (a published PhD text) Rijksuniversiteit Groningen,

Dijkstra, Jitse H.F. 2008. Philae and the end of Ancient Egyptian religion : a regional study of

religious transformation (298-642 CE), Leuven

Edwards, David N. 2004. The Nubian Past. An Archaeology of the Sudan. London: Routledge.

Emery, Walter B. 1948. Nubian treasure : an account of the discoveries at Ballana and Qustul

London : Methuen

A more general and well-illustrated account of the spectacular archaeological discoveries of

Nubian royal burials at Ballana and Qustul in 1930s.

Kirwan, Laurence 2002. Studies on the history of late antique and Christian Nubia, Aldershot :

Ashgate Variorum.

- Collected papers of Sir Laurence Kirwan, who excavated Nubian royal tombs in

1930s and wrote many seminal papers on this period, many still worth reading.

Many can be accessed in their original form elsewhere.

Strouhal, Eugen 1984. Wadi Qitna and Kalabsha-South : Late Roman-early Byzantine tumuli

cemeteries in Egyptian Nubia. Vol.1, Archaeology, Prague : Charles University

Excellent examples of 3rd-4th century Blemmye cemeteries in Nubia

Torok, L. 1988. Late Antique Nubia. Budapest, Archaeological Institute of the Hungarian

Academy of Sciences. (find as Antaeus Vol. 16)

Welsby, Derek. A. 2002. The Medieval Kingdoms of Nubia. London: British Museum Press.

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Williams, Bruce Beyer 1991. Noubadian X-group remains from royal complexes in cemeteries Q

and 219 and from private cemeteries Q, R, V, W, B, J, and M at Qustul and Ballana, Chicago, Ill :

Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.

More, sometimes quite spectacular archaeology from Nubian cemeteries of 4th-6th centuries

WEEK 16: SYNESIUS IN CYRENAICA

Synesius provides an illuminating glimpse into the changing power structures in Late Antiquity. A

pupil and friend of the great Alexandrian philosopher Hypatia, he was at different times an astute

political commentator, a satirist, a commander of militia, a pagan civic leader and a bishop. He was

also bald. Late Antique Cyrenaica is known almost exclusively through his accounts, and it is his

letters that provide the fullest picture of the increasing tensions between coastal civic society and the

transhumant and semi-nomadic pastoralists of the interior.

Seminar Source: Selected Letters of Synesius



Read as widely as you can in Synesius’ voluminous writing (on the website below). AT THE

VERY LEAST read Letters ; the Constitutio and Catastasis. On Imperial Rule is a crucial text

(and worth reading if you choose to attempt that gobbet). On Baldness and On Dreams also

give some sense of Synesius’ intellectual interests (and hairline).

Secondary Reading:

Synesius and his world

Bregman, J. 1982. Synesius of Cyrene. Berkeley: UC Press.

Liebeschuetz, J. H. W. G. 1986. Why Did Synesius Become Bishop of Ptolemais? in: Byzantion,

56: 180-195

Liebeschuetz, J. H. W. G. 1985. Synesius and the Municipal Politics of Cyrenaica in the 5th

Century AD’, Byzantion, 55: 146-64.

J. H. W. G. Liebeschuetz 1990. Barbarians and bishops : army, church, and state in the age of

Arcadius and Chrysostom. Oxford: Clarendon.

Kraeling, Carl H. with D. Brinkerhoff, R.G. Goodchild, J.E. Knudstad, L. Mowry and G.R.H.

Wright, Ptolemais. City of the Libyan Pentapolis, University of Chicago Oriental Institute

Publications, 90 (Chicago, 1962).

The eastern Moors

Brett, Martin and Fentress, Elizabeth. 1996. The Berbers Oxford: Blackwell.

Brogan, Olwen and Smith, D.J. 1984. Ghirza. A Libyan Settlement in the Roman Period. Libyan

Antiquities Series, 1. Tripoli: Department of Antiquities.

Mattingly, David J. 1983. The Laguatan: A Libyan Tribal Confederation in the Later Roman

Empire, Libyan Studies, 14: 96–108. available online at

http://www.columbia.edu/itc/history/conant/Mattingly.pdf and on Blackboard.

http://www.columbia.edu/itc/history/conant/Mattingly.pdf

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Online Resources:

http://www.livius.org/su-sz/synesius/synesius_cyrene.html is a tremendous resource, which

includes many of Synesius’ most important works, and all of his letters.

http://www.livius.org/su-sz/synesius/synesius_cyrene.html

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WEEK 17 AUGUSTINE AND THE DONATISTS

Late Roman Africa has often been cast as a breeding ground for extremist Christian cults, or as a

rebellious province, anxious to throw off the shackles of Roman rule. Often the two images have

coincided. But is this a fair assessment of the province before the arrival of the Vandals? Just how

extreme were the so-called ‘Donatists’? How did the cult of martyrs develop in the region and why was

it so long-lasting? How much did North Africa differ from the other provinces of the Late Roman

West?



The important thing here is to get some flavour of the intensity (and complexity) of religious

feeling in North Africa during the fourth and early fifth centuries. This provides an essential

context for later religious upheaval. Read a selection from:

The ‘Donatist Martyr Stories’ in Tilley 1996 (all are entertaining, but the Passion of Maxima and

Donatilla, and the Acts of the Abitinian Martyrs are particularly good).

Possidius’ Life of Augustine, in R.J. Deferrari (ed.), Early Christian Biographies, pp. 73-124.

‘The Acts of the Christian Martyrs’ in Herbert Musurillo (ed.) The Acts of the Christian Martyrs.

(Again, they all have their moments, but those of Maximian and Crispina should give you a

decent flavour)

For all of this material consider primarily why it was written – and how such texts might have

helped in the wider Christian disputes within North Africa.

Also make sure you read at the very least Frend 1999 (short and straightforward!); Shaw 1992

(a crucial reappraisal); Matthews 1976 (a vivid demonstration of the slow process of

acculturation).

Secondary Reading:

The ‘Donatists’ and Religious dispute:

Birley, A.R. 1987. Some Notes on the Donatist Schism, Libyan Studies, 18: 29-41.

*Brown, Peter 1972. Augustine of Hippo: A Biography London: Routledge. esp. ch. 20.

--, 1961. Religious Dissent in the Later Roman Empire: The case of North Africa, History,

46: 83-101.

Mark Edwards (ed. and tr.), 1997. Optatus: Against the Donatists. Translated Texts for

Historians, 27 Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. esp. the introduction

Frend, W.H.C. 1952. The Donatist Church Oxford: OUP.

* --, 1999. Donatism in Bowersock et al. 1999: 417-9.

--, 1969. Circumcellions and Monks, Journal of Theological Studies, 20: 542-9

Grig, Lucy. 2004. Making Martyrs in Late Antiquity. London: Duckworth.

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Tilley, Maureen A. (ed. and tr.), 1996. Donatist Martyr Stories: The Church in Conflict in Roman

North Africa. Translated Texts for Historians, 24. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.

Esp. the introduction

--, 1997a. The Bible in Christian North Africa. The Donatist World Minneapolis: University of

Minnesota Press.

--, 1997b. Sustaining Donatist Self-Identity: From the Church of the Martyrs to the

Collecta of the Desert, Journal of Early Christian Studies 5: 31-5.

Raven, Susan. 1993. Rome in Africa London: Routledge: 167-195.

*Shaw, Brent D. 1992. African Christianity: disputes, definitions and ‘Donatists’, in Shaw

1995b.

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WEEK 18. APOCALYPSE THEN?: THE VANDALS

For many writers of the time, the arrival of the Vandals spelled the end of Roman civilization within

North Africa, and the popular modern conception of ‘the barbarians’ would seem to support this view.

But just who were the Vandals? How did they come to settle in North Africa? And what did their

settlement entail? How did they govern their kingdom? How were they received by Romano-Africans?

No less importantly, why do so many of our written sources seek to portray the Vandals in a certain

light? And is there a danger in attempting to rehabilitate this barbarian group uncritically?



On the Vandal occupation: Victor of Vita HP I.1-15; I.17-18; I.22; I.30; III.59; III.62

Procopius BV III.5.11-17; IV.3.26-7

On Vandal ‘identity’: Victor of Vita HP I.2; I.43; I.48-50; II.8-9; III.31; III.62-3;

Procopius BV III.5.18-21; III.14.8f; III.19.8; IV.6.5-14.

On Vandal Kingship: Victor of Vita HP I.17; II.12-16;

Procopius BV III.7.7f; III.7.30; III.8.12; III.17.9-10; III.20.17; IV.4.33.

On the Persecution: Victor of Vita HP. I.16; I.19; I.24-7; I.41; I.48-50; I.51; II.8-9; II.12-16; II.23-

28; II.30-38; II.46-52; III.2-21; III.26; III.29; III.31-7; III.42; III.47-8; III.54; III.71.

(This is a lot less than it looks!)

Secondary Literature:

*Cameron, Averil. 2000. Vandal and Byzantine Africa, in CAH, XIV: 552-69.

Clover, Frank M. 1989 The Symbiosis of Romans and Vandals in Africa, in Clover 1993.

Conant, Jonathan P. 2004. Staying Roman: Vandals, Moors and Byzantines in late Antique

North Africa, 400-700, unpubl. Ph.D. Thesis. Harvard University. see esp. chs 1 and 2.

*Merrills, Andy and Miles, Richard. 2010. The Vandals. Oxford and Boston: Blackwell. [esp.

chapters 3 and 4]

Moorhead, John. (ed. and tr.), 1992. Victor of Vita: History of the Vandal Persecution. Translated

Texts for Historians, 10 Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. (Useful notes).

*Liebeschuetz, J.H.W.G. 2003. Gens into Regnum: The Vandals, in H-W Goetz, J. Jarnut and

W. Pohl (eds), Regna and Gentes. The Relationship between Late Antique and Early Medieval

Peoples and Kingdoms in the Transformation of the Roman World Leiden: Brill: 55-83.

Shanzer, in Merrills 2004. [On Blackboard]

Wolfram, Herwig 1997. The Roman Empire and its Germanic Peoples, tr. T. Dunlap Berkeley:

University of California Press. ch. 7.

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WEEK 19: FORGOTTEN AFRICA? MOORS AND ‘RESISTANCE’.

Christian Courtois described the periphery of Roman Africa as ‘L’Afrique oubliée’ – forgotten Africa.

For Courtois and many scholars of his generation, this nomadic and semi-nomadic fringe was

essentially unchanged from the Punic and Roman periods down to the period of French occupation.

But was this really the case? And were the ‘Moorish’ or ‘Berber’ polities really so different from the

Germanic successor states that evolved at the same time? Who were the Berbers? What was their

religion? Had they been Christianized? What language did they speak? Did the Berbers constitute a

monolithic bloc, or were they divided into many smaller kingdoms? How much do we know about the

Berber state(s)?

This week we will explore the ‘other side’ of the social changes already hinted at in our investigations

of Cyrenaica, Africa Proconsularis and Numidia. What caused the attacks that created such anguish

for Synesius? Which groups struggled for influence on the fringes of the Vandal kingdom? And how

far did the ‘Donatists’ draw upon genuinely autonomous political impulses?

Presentation Source: Corippus, The Iohannis in G.W. Shea (tr.) The Iohannis or De bellis Libycis

of Flavius Cresconius Corippus (Lewiston, 1998).

Why did Corippus write the Iohannis? To what extent was his representation of events

shaped by literary form? How do these factors influence his presentation of the Moors?



Read the Moorish inscriptions on Blackboard.

Secondary Literature:

Brett, Martin and Fentress, Elizabeth. 1996. The Berbers Oxford: Blackwell.

Cherry, J. 1998. Frontier and Society in Roman North Africa Oxford: OUP (for background)

*Fentress, Elizabeth. 1983.Forever Berber, Opus, 2: 161-75

*Mattingly, D.J. 1996. ‘From One Colonialism to Another: Imperialism and the Maghreb’, in J.

Webster and N. J. Cooper (eds), Roman Imperialism: Post-Colonial Perspectives, Leicester

Archaeology Monographs, 3 Leicester: Leicester Archaeological Services: 49–69.

--, 1995. Tripolitania London: Batsford.

--, 1992. War and Peace in Roman North Africa: Observations and Models of State–Tribe

Interaction, in R. B. Ferguson and N. L. Whitehead (eds), War in the Tribal Zone:

Expanding States and Indigenous Warfare Santa Fe: James Currey: 31–60.

--, 1987. Libyans and the limes: Culture and Society in Roman Tripolitania, Ant. af., 23:

71–93.

* --, 1983. The Laguatan: A Libyan Tribal Confederation in the Later Roman Empire, Libyan

Studies, 14: 96–108.

*Rushworth, Alan. 2000. From Periphery to Core in Late Antique Mauretania, in G. Fincham,

G. Harrison, R. R. Holland and L. Revell (eds), TRAC 99. Proceedings of the Ninth Annual

Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference Oxford: Oxbow: 90–103.

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*--, 2004. ‘From Arzuges to Rustamids: State Formation and Regional Identity in the Pre-

Saharan Zone’, in Merrills 2004.

--, 1996. ‘North African deserts and mountains: comparisons and insights’, in D.

Kennedy (ed.), The Limits of Empire: The Roman Army in the East Ann Arbor: University

of Michigan Press: 297-316.

Salama, P. 1981. From Rome to Islam, in G. Mokhtar (ed.), The General History of Africa. II.

Ancient Civilizations of Africa London: Henemann: 499-512.

Shaw, B.D. 1982. Fear and Loathing: The Nomad Menace and Roman North Africa’, in Shaw

1995b.

*--, 1980. Archaeology and Knowledge: The History of the African Provinces of the Roman

Empire, in Shaw 1995b.

Whittaker, C.R. 1994. The Frontiers of the Roman Empire Baltimore: Johns Hopkins. esp. pp.

143-151, 246-248, 264-265.

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