The History of Northern Africa

7/29/2019 The History of Northern Africa

1/196


2/196


3/196


4/196

Pulishd in 2010 y Britannia Eduational Pulishing(a tradmark o Enylopdia Britannia, In.)in assoiation with Rosn Eduational Srvis, LLC29 East 21st Strt, Nw York, NY 10010.Copyright 2011 Enylopdia Britannia, In. Britannia, Enylopdia Britannia,and th Thistl logo ar rgistrd tradmarks o Enylopdia Britannia, In. All

rights rsrvd.

Rosn Eduational Srvis matrials opyright 2010 Rosn Eduational Srvis, LLC.All rights rsrvd.

Distriutd xlusivly y Rosn Eduational Srvis.For a listing o additional Britannia Eduational Pulishing titls, all toll r (800) 237-9932.

First Edition

Britannia Eduational PulishingM I. Lv: Ev E

Marilyn L. Barton: Snior Coordinator, Prodution ControlStvn Boso: Dirtor, Editorial ThnologisLisa S. Brauhr: Snior Produr and Data Editor

Yvtt Charonau: Snior Copy EditorKathy Nakamura: Managr, Mdia AquisitionAmy MKnna: Snior Editor, Gography and History

Rosn Eduational SrvisHop Louri Killoyn: Snior Editor and Projt ManagrNlson S: Art DirtorCindy Riman: Photography ManagrMatthw Cauli: Dsignr, Covr DsignIntrodution y Shalini Saxna

L C C--P D

Th history o northrn Aria / ditd y Amy MKnna. 1st d.p. m. (Th Britannia guid to Aria)

In assoiation with Britannia Eduational Pulishing, Rosn Eduational Srvis.Inluds iliographial rrns and indx.ISBN **&1. Aria, NorthHistory. I. MKnna, Amy, 1969-DT167.H58 2011961d22

2010021702

O v: A Brr man stands in southastrn Moroo, surroundd y th wind-rippld sands o th Sahara dsrt. Th largst dsrt in th world, th Sahara fills narly allo Northrn Aria. Herman du Plessis/Gallo Images/Getty Images

O 1, 21, 38, 58, 63, 83, 100, 109, 126, 156, 166: Piturd hr in 1961, ths Brrwomn o At Bn Haddou, Moroo, war traditional drss or a marriag markt, whrthy may hoos a husand. Ingebore Lehmann/Hulton Archive/Getty Images


5/196

CONTENTS

16

Introduction x

Chapter 1: Early History 1

Early Humans and Ston Ag Soity 3

Arab 4

Th Carthaginian Priod 6Th Phoniian Sttlmnts 6

Carthaginian Suprmay 7

Trad 9

Wars Outsid Aria 10

Tratmnt o Sujt Popls 11

Politial and Military Institutions 12

Th City 13

Rligion and Cultur 13

Carthag and Rom 14

Human Sacrifice 15Th Grks in Cyrnaia 16

Th Ris and Dlin o Nativ Kingdoms 18

Chapter 2: Roman North Africa 21

Administration and Dns 21

Th Growth o Uran Li 23

Eonomy 25

Latr Roman Empir 27

Christianity and th Donatist Controvrsy 29

Extnt o Romanization 32Th Vandal Conqust 33

Th Byzantin Priod 34

Arianism 35

Roman Cyrnaia 37

Chapter 3: From the Arab Conquest to

1830 38

Khrijit Brr Rsistan to Ara Rul 41

Th Maghri Undr Muslim Dynastis in th

8th11th Cnturis 42

Th Rustamid Stat o Thart 43

Th Ban Midrr o Sijilmssah 43

Th Idrsids o Fz 44

Th Aghlaids 44

Th Ftimids and Zrids 46

17

26


6/196

Th Maghri Undr th Almoravids and th

Almohads 48

Politial Fragmntation and th Triumph o Islami

Cultur (c. 1250c. 1500) 51

Th Maghri rom Aout 1500 to 1830 53

Moroo Undr Sharifian Dynastis 54Ottoman Rul in th Maghri 55

Chapter 4: North Africa After 1830 58

Advnt o Europan Colonialism 58

Nationalist Movmnts 61

Sansiyyah 62

Chapter 5: Algeria 63

Early History 63

Frnh Algria 63

Th Conqust o Algria 64

Colonial Rul 66

Nationalist Movmnts 68

World War II and th Movmnt or

Indpndn 70

Th Algrian War o Indpndn 71

Indpndnt Algria 75

From Bn Blla to Boumdinn 76

Bndjdids Mov Toward Dmoray 77

Civil War: th Islamists Vrsus th Army 78

Forign Rlations 81

Chapter 6: Egypt 83

Early History Through th 19th Cntury 83

British Oupation 84

Constitutional Monarhy 88

Th Rpuli 92Th First Dads 92

Th Rpuli in th 1970s and 80s 95

Th Rpuli Sin th 1980s 97

Chapter 7: Libya 100

Early History 100

Ottoman Rul 102

Italian Colonization 103

Indpndn 103

56

74

101


7/196

Th Disovry o Oil 103

Muammar al-Qaddafi 105

Th Qaddafi Rgim 106

Chapter 8: Morocco 109

Early History 109Abd al-Bukhr 111

Dlin o Traditional Govrnmnt 111

Th Frnh Prottorat 113

World War II and Indpndn 115

Th Frnh Zon 115

Th Spanish Zon 117

Indpndnt Moroo 120

Forign Poliy 122

Wstrn Sahara 122

Hassans Last Yars 123Into th 21st Cntury 125

Chapter 9: Sudan 126

Anint Nuia 126

Egyptian Influn 126

Th Kingdom o Kush 127

Darfur 128

Christian and Islami Influn 129

Mdival Christian Kingdoms 131

Islami Enroahmnts 132Th Funj 133

Th Sprad o Islam 134

Egyptian-Ottoman Rul 135

Muhammad Al and His Sussors 135

Isml Pasha and th Growth o Europan

Influn 136

Th Mahdiyyah 139

Th Rign o th Khalah 140

Th British Conqust 142

Th Anglo-Egyptian Condominium 143Th Early Yars o British Rul 143

Th Growth o National Consiousnss 144

Th Rpuli o Th Sudan 146

Th Ad Govrnmnt 147

Sudan Sin 1964 148

141

130

110


8/196

Chapter 10: Tunisia 156

Early History 156

Th Growth o Europan Influn 157

Th Prottorat 158

Young Tunisians 160

World War II 160Indpndn 162

Domsti Dvlopmnt 162

Forign Rlations 164

Chapter 11: Western Sahara 166

Conclusion 170

Glossary 171

Bibliography 173

Index 175

168

169


9/196


10/196INT

RODUC

TIO

N


11/196

Introduction | xi

Srving as an intra twnArian, Europan, and Ara ulturs,northrn Aria has n a ruil o

oth onflit and xhang. Th rgion,

whih nompasss th Maghri oun-

tris o Moroo, Tunisia, and Algria

as wll as Liya, Egypt, and Sudan, has

in many ways n insulatd rom th

riss that hav plagud muh o th

Arian ontinnt. Howvr, as th histo-

ris rountd in this volum will attst,

ths ountris hav n sujt to thir

own shar o turuln ovr th ntu-

ris. Still, amidst th volatility, northrn

Arians hav displayd thir rmark-al adaptaility and nduring import to

Aria, th Middl East, and th world.

Prhistori vidn o Palolithi

and Nolithi ulturs suggsts that th

arly soitis o th Maghri and Liya

supportd thmslvs initially y hunt-

ing and gathring and latr y raring

animals and ultivating ood prodution

thniqus. Th rgion gan to thriv

atr th arrival o th Phoniians rom

th ara that is now prsnt-day Lanon.

By stalishing numrous ommu-

nitis around th Mditrranan in th

1st millnnium bce, Phoniian trad-

rs institutd an nduring link twn

northrn Aria and Europ. Atr su-

ssully staving of hostil Grk ors

that thratnd thir Siilian sttlmnts

in 580 bce, th Phoniians surd thirooting in parts o Sardinia, Corsia, and

southrn Spain as wll. With larg stors

o walth aumulatd via th xtnsiv

trading ntworks it had institutd, th

ity o Carthag, loatd in prsnt-day

Tunisia, provd to th most powrul

Phoniian sttlmnt and am th

ntr o wstrn Phoniian powr.

By th 3rd and 2nd nturis bce,

Carthaginian suss oundrd as

Carthag and Rom wr involvd in

trritorial disputs in Siily and Spain

that ld to th thr Puni Wars. Th

dstrution o Carthag markd th

nd o th Third Puni War in 146 bce,

and proplld th asndany o Romaninflun in northrn Aria. Atr

Carthag was ronstitutd as a Roman

olony, th rgion witnssd an influx o

migrants rom Italy who inflund th

administration, inrastrutur, and ul-

tur o th land.

Evn as nativ sttlmnts rtaind

muh o thir autonomy undr Roman

authority, Roman ultur prvadd

Tunisia as wll as parts o Algria and

Moroo, many aras o whih wr

highly uranizd. Th Romanization

o th Maghri was aompanid

y th proliration o Christianity,

whih attratd a sustantial ollow-

ing among oth th walthy and poor.

Following a shism ovr dotrin and

soial issus, th Christian ommunity

o northrn Aria was dividd twnorthodox Christians, who typially wr

The Medersa Slimania in Tunisia, shown here around 1895, was at that time a Quranic school

for girls. The stucco and tile building was built in the mid-1700s. LL/Rge Vlle/Gey Images


12/196

xii | The History of Northern Africa

walthir than th gnral population,

and Donatists, who tndd to among

th poor. Whil th Donatist movmnt

was largly supprssd ginning in 411

ce, th ontrovrsy gnratd y this

shism waknd Roman administration.

Still, th Roman grip on northrn

Aria outlastd th rst o th Roman

Empir. Howvr, narly two dads

atr th Visigoths apturd Rom in

410 ce and opnd th floodgats to

othr Grmani invadrs, th Maghri

ll to th Vandals as wll. Evntually th

Vandals wr datd y th Byzantin

mpror Justinians ors in 53334,and thy wr supplantd, in turn, y th

Aras in th 7th ntury.

Th Ara onqusts markd a nw

phas in th history o th Maghri. As

th lous o powr shitd to Damasus

th sat o th Umayyad aliphatand

Islam gan to sprad throughout th

rgion, th hgmony on njoyd y

th Christians thr dissolvd. Th arly

stags o Ara powr wr haratrizd

y onstant struggls with th nativ

Brrs (now known y thir prrrd

nam, Imazighn), who dspit thir

onvrsion to Islam, wr lassifid as

inrior to thir Ara onqurors. Atr

th Asids assumd aliphal author-

ity, th Brrs allid with othr Muslims

who opposd aliphal rul. As a rsult,

our Muslim stats wr ratd, ahruld rom th 8th until 11th nturis y

Muslim dynastis with ithr wak tis

to th aliphat or non at all. In th 11th

ntury, th Maghri was finally unifid

undr Brr Muslims y th Almoravids.

In th nturis that ollowd, th

Maghri was variously dividd y its

difrnt rulrs, xprining a sris

o intrnal and intrnational on-

flits. Tnsions twn th Muslims

o th rgion and Irian Christians

ld to th stalishmnt o Spanish

and Portugus strongholds on th

Maghrii oast. In th arly 16th n-

tury, th lash twn th Muslims

and Christians drw th attntion o th

Ottoman Turks, who had rntly ou-

pid Egypt. As th Ottomans prodd

to aptur muh o Algria, Tunisia, and

Liya, Muslims rtaind primay in thrgion, and Europan thrats rdd

until 1830.

Atr ousting th Ottoman rulr o

Algria in 1830and nding thr n-

turis o Ottoman authority thrth

Frnh would go on to sustain mor than

a ntury o olonial rul in th Maghri.

As suh, thy wr ritial in shaping

th rgion as it stands today. Th Frnh

wnt on to oloniz Tunisia, whil Liya

am a provin o th Ottoman

Empir and Moroo was al to rtain

its indpndn in th 19th ntury. By

1939, howvr, th Frnh and Italians

had sttld Tunisia, Moroo, and Liya.

Only atr World War II did nationalist

movmnts in ah o th our ountris

om strong nough to finally shak

orign rul.Whn th Algrian ity o Algirs

suumd to Frnh advans in 1830,

th rulrs o northrn Aria ftivly

lost th hop o rgaining thir powr in

th Maghri. Massiv misommuniation


13/196

Introduction | xiii

twn th Frnh and th Algrians

thy ruld as wll as xssiv violn

ost many Algrians thir livlihoods, i

not thir livs. With rsours and inra-

strutur disproportionatly availal to

th walthir Europan sttlrs, nativ

Algrians rsiding in rural aras, who

wr largly Muslim, otn rmaind

unmployd.

In 1947 Algrians wr finally grantd

Frnh itiznship with th right to main-

tain thir prsonal status undr Islami

law as wll as th opportunity to work in

Fran. Dissatisfid with th normnt

o ths rights and vying or ull ind-pndn rom th Frnh, th National

Liration Front wagd th Algrian War

o Indpndn in 1954. Th war ndd

in 1962 whn an agrmnt was rahd

to hold a rrndum on indpndn

or Algria that would allow Frnh aid

to ontinu and would provid Europan

rsidnts with th option to rmain,

ithr with orignr status or y rqust-

ing Algrian itiznship, or lav Algria;

th rrndum was ovrwhlmingly

approvd.

A stal govrnmnt, howvr, did

not nssarily aompany indpn-

dn. Although unstal ladrship was

vntually ollowd y a mov towards

dmoray, a ivil war launhd in 1992

twn Islamists and th army rnwd

violn in th ountry. Algrias otnontntious orign poliis hav also

straind its rlations with th intrna-

tional ommunity. By partnring with

th Europan Union, th Unitd Nations,

and othr intrnational organizations in

rnt yars, howvr, Algria ontin-

us to mov orward y sking paul

and mutually nfiial solutions to its

prolms.

Th history o Egypt has ollowd a

difrnt trajtory than th ountris

o th Maghri. Dspit th difrns,

howvr, it too was variously hld y th

Romans, Byzantins, and Ottomans, and

was latr sujt to Europan imprial-

ism. Rsistan to British oupation,

whih gan in 1882, ulminatd in ind-

pndn in 1922. Th British rtaind

rtain powrs with rspt to Egypts

orign rlations, howvr, whih r-atd tnsion twn th British and th

Egyptian monarhs who assumd powr

atr indpndn. Egyptian indpn-

dn onsquntly rmaind tnuous

or th nxt w dads.

Following World War II, Egypt gan

assuming a gratr rol in th Ara world.

With its support o Ara opposition to

th ration o th Jwish stat o Isral

in Palstin, Egypt gaind nw intrna-

tional ommitmnts that would om

ntral to th ladrs o th nxt hal n-

tury and yond. Atr th monarhy was

toppld in a 1952 oup y military ors,

Egypt am undr th ladrship o thr

powrul mn: Col. Gamal Adl Nassr,

Anwar l-Sdt, and Hosn Murak.

Dspit th turuln o thir rgims

and th various onomi, politial, andintrnational issus that wrakd Egypt

in th lattr hal o th 20th ntury and

into th 21st ntury, Egypt has om

a powrul playr in th Middl East and

on th world stag.


14/196

xiv | The History of Northern Africa

Although it ordrs Algria and

Tunisia and has muh in ommon with

its nighours, Liya, lik Egypt, is not

onsidrd part o th Maghri. Italy

invadd Liya in 1911, unsating th

Ottomans who had ruld thr sin th

16th ntury. With an influx o Italian st-

tlrs into Liya, th Italian govrnmnt

dvlopd th rgions inrastrutur to

aommodat thm. Howvr, muh o

th nwly dvlopd towns, roads, and

agriultural ommunitis wr dstroyd

during World War II and th ountry was

lt dividd and impovrishd.

Liya otaind indpndn in1951, and through 1969 Liya rtaind

los tis to th Wst. Howvr, with th

disovry o its oil rsrvs in 1959 and

its susqunt drasing rlian on

intrnational aid, Liya gan to pursu

larg-sal dvlopmnt without muh

Wstrn influn, and a oup ld y Col.

Muammar al-Qaddafi in 1969 oially

svrd Liyas rlations with th Unitd

Stats and Britain and transormd Liya

rom a monarhy to a rpuli. Undr

Qaddafi, Liya has alinatd a numr

o Ara and Wstrn ountris, ut in an

fort to om mor intgratd into th

intrnational ommunity, it has gun

taking masurs to inras usinss

opportunity and tourism.

Unlik th othr ountris o th

Maghri, Moroo was al to rsist olo-nial authority and survivd through th

19th ntury as an indpndnt Islami

monarhy. Howvr, in th arly 20th n-

tury, it too am within th grasp o th

Frnh. Although th Frnh and Spanish

had alrady stalishd a prsn at

Moroan ports, Moroos status as a

Frnh prottorat rsultd lss rom

aggrssiv Frnh dsigns on th rgion

and rathr as a onsqun o th sultan

Ad al-Azizs nd or Frnh prottion.

Fran grantd Spain prottorat sta-

tus ovr aras o Moroo as wll. Both

ountris largly ontrolld thir rsp-

tiv trritoris and Moroans hld only

nominal sway ovr th administration

and govrnan.

As with othr olonis, Moroo

irthd nationalist movmnts that

dmandd liration rom Europanrul. In 1956 Fran finally agrd to

rstor powr to th sultan, and an

agrmnt was rahd with th Spanish

authoritis as wll. In th yars ol-

lowing indpndn, Moroo has

otn difrd rom th Ara world with

rspt to its orign rlations. Rjting

allians with volatil stats and nour-

aging pa talks and ompromis in

th Middl East, Moroo positiond

itsl losr to th Unitd Stats and th

Wst than hav most othr Ara stats.

Th ountry has, howvr, n sujt

to ritiism rgarding its stan on th

adjant trritory known as th Wstrn

Sahara. Although Moroo laims this

trritory, its laim is not intrnationally

rognizd. Th inhaitants o Wstrn

Sahara, known as Saharawis, hav advo-atd and ought or thir indpndn,

ut th situation rmaind unrsolvd

into th 21st ntury.

Th ntrality o Islam to th rnt

nturis o Sudans history as wll as its


15/196

o Frnh aggrssion rathr than y

outright Frnh aptur. Following its

indpndn rom Frnh rul in 1956,

Tunisia stalishd a rpuli, whos

rlativ staility and ommitmnt to

rorm distinguishd it rom its nigh-

ours. Whil rorm has n stymid

onsidraly undr Prs. Zin al-Aidin

Bn Ali, th ountry ontinus to align

itsl mor losly with th Wst than

som othr Ara stats on a numr o

intrnational mattrs.

Northrn Aria is a rgion that has

onstantly n ord to onront advr-

sity and adjust aordingly. Although ithas its own long history with slavry, it

has n spard th lgay o th Atlanti

slav trad, whih am to dvastat

numrous rgions and ommunitis

throughout th Arian ontinnt. Still, it

is ound in othr ways to its su-Saharan

Arian nighours. Likwis, although

it rmains physially sparatd rom th

ountris o th Middl East, it has xp-

rind many o th sam hallngs that

hav ad thos ountris. Whil doggd

y onflit or nturis, th ountris o

northrn Aria hav provn also that

oxistn dos not rquir asolut

uniormity.

Introduction | xv

los tis to Egypt dating ak to or

th Common Era has ound Sudan to

th othr ountris o northrn Aria.

Evntually sujt to Ottoman rul y

way o its Egyptian nighour, Sudan,

lik Egypt, also vntually am su-

jt to British rul. In th as o Sudan,

howvr, th British ruld alongsid th

Egyptians, vn as thy otn dominatd

th Egyptians in dision-making and

administration. Colonial rul hr, as

lswhr, vntually ndd, produing a

stat that would raturd along th-

ni and rligious lins and mroild

in lngthy ivil war.Today, th population o north-

rn Sudan is prdominantly Ara and

Muslim, whil southrn Sudans popula-

tion is prdominantly Arian popls

who adhr to ithr animist or Christian

lis. Th ountry ontinus to strug-

gl to ahiv staility atr dads o

ivil war, as wll as dal with th dvas-

tating onflit o th Darur rgion that

was launhd in 2003.

Th history o th final Maghri

ountry, Tunisia, in ways parallls that

o Algria. Both wr Frnh olonial

sujts, although Tunisia was dsig-

natd a prottorat y traty atr yars


16/196


17/196

CHAPTER

Th northrn rgion o th Arian ontinnt is sujt to

various mthods o dfinition. It has n rgardd ysom as strthing rom th Atlanti shors nar Moroo inth wst to th Suz Canal and th Rd Sa in th ast. Thisrgion is ommonly rrrd to as northrn Aria and om-priss th modrn ountris o Moroo, Algria, Tunisia,Liya, Egypt, and Sudan, as wll as th trritory o WstrnSaharaall o whih ar inludd in this ook.

Th dsignation North Aria is also assoiatd with thisrgion o th ontinnt. It rrs to a smallr gographial arathan that mrad y th trm northrn Arianamly thountris o Moroo, Algria, and Tunisia, a rgion knowny th Frnh during olonial tims as Ariqu du Nordand y th Aras as th Maghri (Wst). Th most om-monly aptd dfinition o North Aria, and on that isalso usd in this ook, inluds th thr aov-mntiondountris as wll as Liya. Th rgions hr dsignatd NorthAria, howvr, hav also n alld Northwst Aria.

Th anint Grks usd th word Liya (drivd romth nam o a tri on th Gul o Sidra) to dsri th land

north o th Sahara, th trritory whos nativ popls wrsujts o Carthag, and also as a nam or th whol on-tinnt. Th Romans applid th nam Aria (o Phoniianorigin) to thir first provin in th northrn part o Tunisia,as wll as to th ntir ara north o th Sahara and also to

Early History


18/196

2 | The History of Northern Africa

2008 map produced by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, highlighting the northern region o

Arica. C Uv T L, T Uv T A


19/196

Early History | 3

Although gographially proxi-mat to th othr ountris o northrnAria, Egypts anint ivilization andlong historial ontinuityon markdy th and flow o major rligions,ultural trnds, and orign powrsistraditionally tratd as a sparat ntity,on ultimatly losr in distan andultur to th ountris o th MiddlEast than to th ountris to its wst. Itsrol in this rgion o Aria, howvr, isundnial. Sudan too is a pla tradi-tionally tratd as atypial within itsimmdiat gographi ontxt, with its

northrn rgions, today dominatd yIslam and th Arai languag, losr toth Mditrranan world than its south-rn parts, whr Arian languags andulturs hold th gratst sway. Sudanand Egypt ar plas whr multiariousulturs hav mt, mixd, and lashd;thy ar th rossroads o th ultursand rgions surrounding thm. Thhistoris o th two ountris ar alsotightly ound. Thy may in northrnAria, ut thy ar not omortaly ofthat rgion. Thir prsn in this ook,howvr, hlps to undrsor thir otnovrlookd onntions to th Arianountris nary to thm.

EARLY HUMANS ANDSTONE AGE SOCIETY

Although thr is unrtainty aoutsom ators, An l-Hanh (in Algria)is th sit o on o th arlist traso hominin oupation in th Maghri.Somwhat latr ut ttr-attstd ar

th ntir ontinnt. Th Aras usdth drivd trm Irqiyyah in a similarashion, though it originally rrrd toa rgion nompassing modrn Tunisiaand astrn Algria.

In all liklihood, th Aras also or-rowd th word Barar (Brr) romth Latin barbari to dsri th non-Latin-spaking popls o th rgion atth tim o th Ara onqust, and it hasn usd in modrn tims to dsrith non-Arai-spaking populationalld Brrs y th Frnh and knowngnrally as th Brrs (although thir

trm or thmslvs, Amazigh [plural:Imazighn], is now prrrd). As a rsult,Europans hav otn alld North Ariath Barary Stats or simply Barary.(A rqunt usag rrs to th non-Phoniian and non-Roman inhaitantso lassial tims, and thir languag,as Brr. It should strssd, how-vr, that th thory o a ontinuity olanguag twn anint inhaitantsand th modrn Imazighn has not nprovd; onsquntly, th word Liyanis usd hr to dsri ths popl inanint tims.)

Th ountris o Moroo, Algria,and Tunisia hav also n knownas th Atlas Lands, or th AtlasMountains that dominat thir north-rn landsaps, although ah ountry,

spially Algria, inorporats sizalstions o th Sahara. Farthr ast inLiya, only th northwstrn and north-astrn parts o th ountry, alldTripolitania and Cyrnaia rsptivly,ar outsid th dsrt.


20/196


Suding ths arly hand

ax rmains ar th Lvalloisian andMoustrian industris similar to thosound in th Lvant. It is laimd thatnowhr did th Middl Palolithi(Old Ston Ag) volution o flaktool thniqus rah a highr stat o

sits at Trnifin (nar Tighni, Alg.)

and at Sidi Ad l-Rahman, Mor. Handaxs assoiatd with th hominin Homoerectus hav n ound at Trnifin, andSidi Ad l-Rahman has produd vi-dn o th sam hominin dating to atlast 200,000 yars ago.

Beore the spread o Islam and, with it, the Arabic language, Arab reerred to any o the largely

nomadic Semitic inhabitants o the Arabian Peninsula. In modern usage, it embraces any o

the Arabic-speaking peoples living in the vast region rom Mauritania, on the Atlantic coasto Arica, to southwestern Iran, including the entire Maghrib o North Arica, Egypt and Sudan,

the Arabian Peninsula, and Syria and Iraq.

This diverse assortment o peoples defies physical stereotyping, because there is consider-

able regional variation. The early Arabs o the Arabian Peninsula were predominantly nomadic

pastoralists who herded their sheep, goats, and camels through the harsh desert environment.

Settled Arabs practiced date and cereal agriculture in the oases, which also served as trade

centres or the caravans transporting the spices, ivory, and gold o southern Arabia and the

Horn o Arica to the civilizations arther north. The distinction between the desert nomads,

on the one hand, and town dwellers and agriculturists, on the other, still pervades much o the

Arab world.Islam, which developed in the west-central Arabian Peninsula in the early 7th century CE,

was the religious orce that united the desert subsistence nomadsthe Bedouinswith the town

dwellers o the oases. Within a century, Islam spread throughout most o the present-day Arabic-

speaking world, and beyond, rom Central Asia to the Iberian Peninsula. Arabic, the language

o the Islamic sacred scripture (the Quran), was adopted throughout much o the Middle East

and North Arica as a result o the rapidly established supremacy o Islam in those regions.

Other elements o Arab culture, including the veneration o the desert nomads lie, were inte-

grated with many local traditions. Arabs o today, however, are not exclusively Muslim; some o

the native speakers o Arabic worldwide are Christians, Druzes, Jews, or animists.

Traditional Arab values were modified in the 20th century by the pressures o urbaniza-

tion, industrialization, detribalization, and Western influence. This is particularly evident

with Arabs who live in cities and towns, where amily and tribal ties tend to break down, and

where women, as well as men, have greater educational and employment opportunity. It is not

as evident with Arabs who continue to live in small, isolated arming villages, where traditional

values and occupations prevail, including the subservience and home seclusion o women.

Arab


21/196

Qasah). Th limat during oth Iro-Maurusian and Capsian tims apparsto hav n rlativly dry and th aunaon o opn ountry, idal or hunting.Btwn aout 9000 and 5000 bce upprCapsian industry sprad northward toinflun th Iro-Maurusian and alsoastward to th Gul o Sidra. Sin thris muh vidn that th Nolithi ul-tur o th Maghri was introdud noty invasion ut through th aptano nw idas and thnologis y thCapsian popls, it is proal that thywr th anstors o th Liyans known

in histori tims.Th sprad o arly Nolithi ultur

in Liya and th Maghri ourrd duringth 6th and 5th millnnia bce and is har-atrizd y th domstiation o animalsand th shit rom hunting and gathringto sl-supporting ood prodution (otnstill inluding hunting). Th pastoralonomy, with attl th hi animal,rmaind dominant in North Aria untilth lassial priod. Although th nwtyp o onomy may hav originatd inEgypt or th Sudan, th haratr o thflint-working tradition o th MaghriianNolithi argus in avour o th survivalo muh o th arlir ultur, whih hasn alld Nolithi-o-Capsian tradi-tion. Aordingly, th thnology o thtransition, i not o indpndnt loal

origin, is st xplaind y th gradualdifusion o nw thniqus rathr thany th immigration o nw popls.

Th Nolithi-o-Capsian traditionin th Maghri prsistd at last into th1st millnnium bce with rlativly littl

dvlopmnt than in North Aria. Itshigh point in varity, spialization,and standard o workmanship is namdAtrian or th typ sit Bir al-Atir inTunisia; assmlags o Atrian mat-rial our throughout th Maghri andth Sahara. Radioaron tsting romMoroo indiats a dat o aout 30,000yars ago or arly Atrian industry. Itsdifusion ovr th rgion appars to havtakn pla during on o th priodso dsiation, and th arrirs o thtradition wr larly adpt dsrt hunt-rs. Th w assoiatd human rmains

ar Nandrthal, with sustantial difr-ns twn thos ound in th wstand thos in Cyrnaia. In th lattr araa dat o aout 45,000 yars ago or thLvalloisian and Moustrian industrishas n otaind (at Haua Ftah, Liya).Th tools and a ragmntary human ossilo Nandrthal typ ar almost idntialto thos o Palstin.

Th arlist lad industry o thMaghri, assoiatd as in Europ withth final suprsssion o Nandrthalsy modrn Homo sapiens, is namdIro-Maurusian or Oranian (typ sit LaMouilla, nar Oran in wstrn Algria).O osur origin, this industry smsto hav sprad along all th oastal araso th Maghri and Cyrnaia twnaout 15,000 and 10,000 bce. Following

th Iro-Maurusian was th Capsian,th origin o whih is also osur. Itsmost haratristi sits ar in th ara oth grat salt laks o southrn Tunisia,th typ sit ing Jaal al-Maqta(El-Mkta), nar Gasa (Capsa, or

Early History | 5


22/196


[54 mtrs] in diamtr) and th mauso-lum known as th Mdran (131 t[40 mtrs] in diamtr) ar proalyrom th 4th and 3rd nturis bce andshow Phoniian influn, though thris muh that appars to purly Liyan.

THE CARTHAGINIAN PERIOD

North Aria (with th xption oCyrnaia) ntrd th mainstram oMditrranan history with th arrivalin th 1st millnnium bce o Phoniiantradrs, mainly rom Tyr and Sidon in

modrn Lanon. Th Phoniians wrlooking not or land to sttl ut oranhorags and staging points on thtrad rout rom Phoniia to Spain, asour o silvr and tin. Points on an altr-nativ rout y way o Siily, Sardinia, andth Balari Islands also wr oupid.Th Phoniians lakd th manpowrand th nd to ound larg olonis asth Grks did, and w o thir sttl-mnts grw to any siz. Th sits hosnwr gnrally ofshor islands or asilydnsil promontoris with shltrdahs on whih ships ould drawnup. Carthag (its nam drivd rom thPhoniian Kart-Hadasht, Nw City),dstind to th largst Phoniianolony and in th nd an imprial powr,onormd to th pattrn.

The Phoenician Settlements

Tradition dats th oundation o Gads(modrn Cdiz; th arlist knownPhoniian trading post in Spain) to

hang and dvlopmnt; thr was nograt flourishing o lat Nolithi ul-tur and littl that an dsrid asa Bronz Ag. North Aria was whollylaking in mtalli ors othr than iron,hn most tools and wapons ontinudto mad o ston until th introdutiono ironworking thniqus.

Prhistori rok arvings hav nound in th southrn oothills o thAtlas Mountains south o Oran and inth Ahaggar and Tisti rangs. Whilsom ar rlativly rnt, th gratmajority appar to o th Nolithi-

o-Capsian tradition. Som show animalsnow loally or vn totally xtint, suhas th giant ufalo, lphant, rhinoros,and hippopotamus, in aras now ovrdy dsrt. Whil Egyptian-lik pattrnsmay disrnd, th haratr o throk art is so difrnt rom that o Egyptthat it an hardly said to driv romit. On th othr hand, it is vry muh latrthan th rok paintings o Palolithitims in southwstrn Europ, and anindpndnt dvlopmnt is proal.Th art is primarily that o a ultur thatontinud to dpnd larglythoughnot xlusivlyon hunting and thatsurvivd on th Saharan rings until his-torial tims.

Thr ar many thousands o larg,ston-uilt sura toms in North Aria

that appar to hav no onntion witharlir mgalithi struturs ound innorthrn Europ, and it is unlikly thatany o thm is arlir than th 1st mil-lnnium bce. Larg struturs in Algriasuh as th tumulus at Mzora (177 t


23/196

rom th wakning o Tyr (th hi ityo Phoniia) y th Baylonians thanrom growing prssur rom th Grksin th wstrn Mditrranan; in 580 bcesom Grk itis in Siily attmptd todriv th Phoniians rom Motya andPanormus (Palrmo) in th wst o thisland. Th Carthaginians ard that, ith Grks won th whol o Siily, thywould mov on to Sardinia and yond,isolating th Phoniians in North Aria.Thir sussul dns o Siily was ol-lowd y attmpts to strngthn limitdootholds in Sardinia; a ortrss at Mont

Sirai is th oldst Phoniian militaryuilding in th wst. Th thrat rom thGrks rdd whn Carthag, in alli-an with Etrusan itis, hkd thPhoaans of Corsia aout 540 bce andsudd in xluding th Grks romontat with southrn Spain.

Carthaginian Supremacy

By th 5th ntury bce ativ militarypartiipation in th wst y Tyr haddoutlssly asd; rom th lattr halo th 6th ntury Tyr had n undrPrsian rul. Carthag thus am thladr o th wstrn Phoniians andin th 5th ntury ormd an mpir oits own, ntrd on North Aria, whihinludd xisting Phoniian sttl-

mnts, nw ons oundd y Carthagitsl, and a larg part o modrn Tunisia.Nothing is known o rsistan rom thindignous North Arian populations,ut it was proaly limitd aus oth sattrd natur o loal soitis and

1110 bce, Utia (Utiqu) to 1101 bce, andCarthag to 814 bce. Th dats apparlgndary, and no Phoniian ojt ar-lir than th 8th ntury bce has yt nound in th wst. At Carthag somGrk ojts hav n ound, datalto aout 750 or slightly latr, whih omswithin two gnrations o th traditionaldat. Littl an larnd rom thromanti lgnds aout th arrival o thPhoniians at Carthag transmittd yGro-Roman sours. Though individ-ual voyags doutlss took pla arlir,th stalishmnt o prmannt posts is

unlikly to hav takn pla or 800bce, antdating th paralll movmnt oGrks to Siily and southrn Italy.

Matrial vidn o Phoniianoupation in th 8th ntury bce omsrom Utia and in th 7th or 6th nturybce rom Hadrumtum (Souss, Ssahin Tunisia), Tipasa (ast o Chrhll,Alg.), Siga (Rahgoun, Alg.), Lixus, andMogador (Essaouira, Mor.), th lasting th most distant Phoniian sttl-mnt so ar known. Finds o similar aghav n mad at Motya (Mozia) inSiily, Nora (Nurri), Sulis, and Tharros(San Giovanni di Sinis) in Sardinia, andCdiz and Almuar in Spain. Unlikth Grk sttlmnts, howvr, thos oth Phoniians long dpndd politi-ally on thir homland, and only a

w wr situatd whr th hintrlandhad th potntial or dvlopmnt. Thmrgn o Carthag as an indpn-dnt powr, lading to th ration o anmpir asd on th sur possssiono th North Arian oast, rsultd lss

Early History | 7


24/196


shortst rout aross th Sahara linkingth Mditrranan with th Nigr Rivr.A Carthaginian namd Mago is said tohav rossd th dsrt svral tims, utdoutlss muh o th trad (in priousstons and othr xotis) am throughintrmdiat tris. Othr stations on thGul o Gas inludd Zouhis, knownor its saltd fish and purpl dy, Gigthis(Boughrara, or B Ghirrah), and Taap(Gas, or Qis). North o Thana wrAholla, traditionally an ofshoot o thPhoniian sttlmnt on Malta, Thapsus(nar Taulah, Tun.), Lptis Minor, and

Hadrumtum, th largst ity on th astoast o Tunisia. From Napolis (Nul,or Naul) a road ran dirt to Carthagaross th as o th Shark Pninsula.

Wst o Carthag thr hav nhangs in th ours o th MajardahRivr; as a rsult, Utia, a port inCarthaginian and Roman tims, is nowsom 7 mils (11 km) rom th sa. Utiawas sond only to Carthag in impor-tan among th Phoniian sttlmntsand always maintaind at last a nomi-nal indpndn. Byond Cap SidiAli l-Mkki (Farina) as ar as th Straito Giraltar, th oast ofrd a numro anhorags, ut w o th stationsrahd anything lik th prosprity othos on th Gul o Gas and th astoast o Tunisia. On o th mor impor-

tant was Hippo Diarrhytus (Bizrt,Banzart), whos natural advantags as aport wr utilizd at an arly dat; anothrHippo, latr alld Hippo Rgius (Bn;modrn Annaa, Alg.), was also proalyo Carthaginian origin. Along th sam

th lak o stat ormation. Th atualstags o th growth o Carthaginianpowr ar not known, ut th pross waslargly ompltd y th ginning oth 4th ntury. Th whol o th Shark(Cap Bon) Pninsula was oupid arly,nsuring Carthag a rtil and surhintrland. Susquntly it xtndd itsontrol southwstward as ar as a linrunning roughly rom Sia Vnria(El-K) to th oast at Thana (Thyna,or Thnah; now in ruins). Pntrationourrd south o this lin latr, Thvst(Tssa, Tssa) ing oupid in th

3rd ntury bce. In th Shark Pninsula,whr th Carthaginians dvlopd aprosprous agriultur, th nativ popu-lation may hav n nslavd, whillswhr thy wr oligd to pay tri-ut and urnish troops.

Carthag maintaind an iron grip onth ntir oast, rom th Gul o Sidrato th Atlanti oast o Moroo, sta-lishing many nw sttlmnts to prottits monopoly o trad. Ths wr mostlysmall, proaly having only a w hun-drd inhaitants. Th Grks alld thmmporia, markts whr nativ trisrought artils to trad, whih ouldalso srv as anhorags and watringplas. Prmannt sttlmnts in mod-rn Liya wr w and dat to atr thattmpt y th Grk Dorius to plant

a olony thr. Though in tim fishingand agriultur playd a part in thirwalth, Lptis Magna with its nigh-ours Saratha and Oa (Tripoli) amwalthy through trans-Saharan trad;Lptis Magna was th trminus o th


25/196

ourrd two voyags o xploration andtrad, vidntly o partiular importansin rports o thm wr known to latrgnrations o Grks and Romans. Onwas along th Atlanti oast o Moroo,th othr northward along th Atlantioast o Spain. Thy wr ld y Hannoand Himilo, rsptivly, oth mmrso a lading amily in Carthag.

Hannos voyag is gnrally assoi-atd with Hrodotuss aount, writtnaout 430 bce, o Carthaginian trad onth Atlanti oast o Moroo. Hrodotusdsris a systm o dum artr

with th oastal popls, y whih thCarthaginians xhangd manuaturdgoods or gold. It is not known whrth xhangs took pla; th Ro d Orois a possiility, and it is proal thatHannos xpdition wnt yond CapVrd. Nvrthlss, th gold routdid not surviv th all o Carthag andwas not xploitd y th Romans. Thishas ld som sholars to argu that thCarthaginians intrst in th Atlantioast o Moroo was stimulatd y thmor prosai attration o aundant fishstoks thr.

Himilos voyag also was knownto th Grks and Romans. H saildnorth along th Atlanti oast o Spain,Portugal, and Fran and rahd th tr-ritory o th Ostrymnids, a tri living

in Brittany. Th purpos o this voyagwas apparntly to onsolidat ontrol oth trad in tin along th Atlanti oasto Europ. It ollowd th rout usdy th Tartssians, a popl o south-rn Spain (in th ara whr Cdiz had

strth o oast wr Rusiad (Skikda, orPhilippvill) and Collo. Still arthr wsta numr o pla-nams known rom thRoman priod show an arlir Phoniianintrst, through th inorporation o aPhoniian linguisti lmnt, rus, man-ing ap.g., Rusuuru (Dllys) andRusgunia (Borj l-Bahri). Tingis (Tingi,or Tangir, Mor.) was alrady sttld inth 5th ntury bce.

Trade

Anint sours agr that Carthag had

om prhaps th rihst ity in thworld through its trad, yt w traso its walth hav n disovrd yarhaologists. This is aus most oit was in prishalstxtils, unworkdmtal, oodstufs, and slavs; its trad inmanuaturd goods was only a part oth whol. Thr an no dout thatth most profital trad was that inhr-itd rom th Phoniians in th wstrnMditrranan, in whih tin, silvr, gold,and iron wr otaind in xhang ormanuaturs and onsumr goods osmall valu. Carthag ruthlssly main-taind its monopoly o this trad romth lat 6th to th nd o th 3rd nturybce y sinking th vssls o intrudrsand xating rognition o its positionrom othr stats. Its walth is attstd

y th vast mrnary armis it was alto maintain with a mintag o gold oinsin th 4th ntury ar in xss o thatknown or othr advand stats.

It was apparntly in onntion withthis trad that during th 5th ntury thr

Early History | 9


26/196


oinags or at last a ntury orthat. Carthaginian mrhants, howvr,did not as to rqunt Grk ports,and a numr o thm wr stalishdat Syraus in 398. From that dat o-nomi ontats with advand statssm to hav rvivd, spially atrth onqusts o Alxandr th Gratin th astrn Mditrranan ratd anw markt or th hap Carthaginianmanuaturd goods. Th Carthaginianmrhant am a amiliar figur insuh onomi ntrs o th Grkworld as Athns and Dlos, so muh

so that thr wr Grk omdisin whih th ntral figur was thCarthaginian tradr.

Wars Outside Africa

Expt in politially akward or thinlypopulatd aras, Carthags orignpoliy was nonxpansiv. On majordpartur rom this poliy was a disastr:in 480 bce Carthag intrvnd in intr-ity struggls among th Grks o Siilyand sufrd a havy dat at Himra.Atr a long priod o pa, it wnt in410 to th aid o Sgsta, an ally in Siily,and turnd th war into on o rvng orth arlir dat. Atr initial susss,inluding th dstrution o Himra, atraty onfirmd Carthags ontrol o th

wst o th island. During th 4th nturymost o th rgions wars wr ausd yth attmpts o various rulrs o Syrausto driv th Carthaginians out o Siily;thr o ths (398392, 382375, and 368)wr with Dionysius I o Syraus. Most o

n oundd) who knw o Irland andBritain. This trad was no dout th lat-st phas o ontat twn th variousaras o th Atlanti saoard that wntak to lat Nolithi tims. Thr is novidn that Himilo rahd Britain,nor indd has any Phoniian ojtvr n ound on th island, ut pro-aly Cornish tin was otaind throughth tris o Brittany. Tin was alsootaind rom northwstrn Spain. Itis notal that th Carthaginian tomsat Cdiz, ound at intrvals sin 1900,hav produd nothing arlir than th

5th ntury bce, whih would indiatthat it was not until that dat that Cdizam a larg and prmannt as orth xploitation o trading opportunitisin th wst.

Trading ontats with th Grkworld had n sustantial rom tharlist priod o Phoniian oloniza-tion, in spit o th intrmittnt warswith th Grks o Siily. Pottry romCorinth, Athns, Ionia, Rhods, andothr Grk ntrs has n ound atCarthag, Utia, and many othr sits,as wll as imports rom Phoniia itsland rom Egypt. It is known that Slinus,a Grk ity in Siily, grw walthyrom trad with Carthag, proaly inoodstufs, or Carthag nlargd itsSiilian trritory. During th 5th n-

tury bce imports rom th Grk worldsm to hav dlind. On ator thatmay hav inhiitd trad was th lako a Carthaginian oinag or tharly 4th ntury, though most impor-tant Grk stats had had thir own


27/196

apparntly to on-tnth o thir produ.It was th Liyans o th intrior who su-rd most, though w wr rdud toslavry. During th First Puni War (264241 bce) Liyans ar said to hav had topay hal thir rops as triut, and it issupposd that th normal xation wason-ourthstill a urdnsom imposi-tion. Thy wr also rquird to providtroops, and rom th arly 4th nturythy ormd th largst singl lmnt inth Carthaginian army; it is unlikly thatthy rivd pay xpt in ooty orth Puni Wars. Th Carthaginians ar

said to hav admird not thos gov-rnors who tratd thir sujts withmodration ut thos who xatd thgratst amount o supplis and tratdth inhaitants most ruthlssly. Thishostil judgmnt (y th Grk histo-rian Polyius) was mad in onntionwith th Liyans and a dstrutivrvolton o a numr knownthat ol-lowd th First Puni War. In that rvolt(241237 bce) mrnaris, unpaid atrth Carthaginian dat in th FirstPuni War, rvoltd and or a whilontrolld muh o Carthags NorthArian trritory. Grat atroitis wrommittd on oth sids during thfighting, and th Liyans wr amongth most rvnt o th rls. Thy vnissud oins on whih th nam Liyan

appars (in Grk), whih proalyindiats a growing thni onsious-nss. Notwithstanding this rlationship,Carthaginian ivilization had prooundfts on th matrial ultur o thLiyans.

th tim th astrn limit o Carthaginianpowr in th island was rognizd as thHalyus (Platani) Rivr. Th only oa-sion in whih Carthag sufrd dirtly(sin its armis wr largly mrnary)was in 310, whn th rulr o Syraus,Agathols, undr havy prssur inSiily, launhd a daring invasion oAria, th first xprind y Carthag.Ovr a priod o thr yars h ausdgrat dvastation in Carthaginian trri-tory in astrn Tunisia, ut in th nd hwas datd.

Treatment of Subject Peoples

Carthag was ausd y its nmisin antiquity o opprssing and xatingxssiv triut rom its sujts. Thrwr, howvr, difrnt atgoris osujt ommunitis, th most-avourding th original Phoniian sttlmntsand th olonis o Carthag itsl. Thris littl vidn o opposition amongthm to Carthaginian ontrol. Similarinstitutions and laws may attriutdto a ommon ultural akground rathrthan to an attmpt to impos uniormity.Carthag xatd dus on imports andxports and lvid troops and proalysailors. Carthaginian sujts o vari-ous nationalitis in Siily also rivdavoural tratmnt, at last in o-

nomi mattrs. Rlativly r trad wasallowd until th nd o th 5th nturybce, and a numr o itis had thirown oinag. In th 4th ntury somSiilian Grk stats am sujt toCarthag, paying a triut amounting

Early History | 11


28/196


apparntly dissoiatd rom ivil o.Evn in th tim o th kings, militaryauthority appars to hav n on-rrd upon th kings only or spifiampaigns or in mrgnis. Th gn-rals ar said to hav n rgardd aspotntial ovrthrowrs o th lgal gov-rnmnt, ut in at thr is no rordthat any army ommandr attmptd aoup dtat.

Until th 6th ntury bce th armiso Carthag wr apparntly itizn lv-is similar to thos o all ity-stats oth arly lassial priod. But Carthag

was too small to provid or th dnso widly sattrd sttlmnts, andit turnd inrasingly to mrnar-is, who wr undr th ommand oCarthaginians, with itizn ontingntsapparing only oasionally. Liyanswr onsidrd partiularly suital orlight inantry and th inhaitants o thlatr Numidia and Maurtania or lightavalry; Irians and Cltirians romSpain wr usd in oth apaitis. In th4th ntury th Carthaginians also hirdGauls, Campanians, and vn Grks.Th disadvantags o mrnary armiswr mor than outwighd y th atthat Carthag ould nvr hav stoodth losss inurrd in a whol sriso wars in Siily and lswhr. Littlis known aout how th Carthaginian

flt was opratd; thnially, it wasnot ovrwhlmingly suprior to thoso th Grks, ut it was largr and hadth nfit o xprind sailors romCarthags maritim sttlmnts.

Political and MilitaryInstitutions

Hrditary kingship prvaild inPhoniia until Hllnisti tims, andGrk and Roman sours rr to king-ship at Carthag. It appars to havn not hrditary ut ltiv, thoughin prati on amily, th Magonid,dominatd in th 6th ntury bce. Thpowr o th kingship was diminishdduring th 5th ntury, a dvlopmntthat has its parallls in th politial vo-lution o Grk ity-stats and o Rom.

Roman sours dirtly transri onlyon Carthaginian politial trmsufet,tymologially th sam as th Hrwshofet, gnrally translatd as judgin th Hrw Bil ut implying muhmor than mrly judiial untions. Atsom stag, proaly in th 4th n-tury, th sufets am th politialladrs o Carthag and othr wstrnPhoniian sttlmnts. Two sufets wrltd annually y th itizn ody, utall wr rom th walthy lasss. Ralpowr rstd with an oligarhy o thwalthist itizns, who wr li mm-rs o a ounil o stat and diddall important mattrs unlss thr wassrious disagrmnt with th sufets.A panl o judgs hosn rom amongits mmrs had osur ut ormida-

l powrs o ontrol ovr all organs ogovrnmnt.

During th 6th and 5th nturisbce most military ommands wr hldy kings, ut latr th gnralship was


29/196

figur ould aout 400,000, inludingslavs, a siz similar to that o Athns.

Religion and Culture

Th Carthaginians wr notorious inantiquity or th intnsity o thir rli-gious lis, whih thy rtaind toth nd o thir indpndn andwhih in turn inflund th rligion oth Liyans. Th hi dity was BaalHammon, th ommunitys divin lordand prottor, who was idntifid y thGrks with Cronus and y th Romans

with Saturn. During th 5th ntury bce agoddss namd Tanit am to widlyworshipd and rprsntd in art. It ispossil that hr nam is Liyan and thathr popularity was onntd with landaquisition in th intrior, as sh is asso-iatd with symols o rtility. Ths twoovrshadow othr ditis suh as Mlqart,prinipal dity o Tyr, idntifid withHrals, and Eshmoun, idntifid withAslpius. Human sarifi was th l-mnt in Carthaginian rligion mostritiizd; it prsistd in Aria muh lon-gr than in Phoniia, proaly into th3rd ntury bce. Th hild vitims wrsarifid to Baal (not to Moloh, an intr-prtation asd on a misundrstandingo th txts) and th urnd ons uridin urns undr ston markrs, or stla. At

Carthag thousands o suh urns havn ound in th Santuary o Tanit, andsimilar urials hav n disovrd atHadrumtum, Cirta (Constantin, Alg.),Motya, Caralis (modrn Cagliari, Italy),

THE CITY

Th Romans ompltly dstroydCarthag in 146 bce and a ntury latruilt a nw ity on th sit, so that littlis known o th physial apparano th Phoniian ity. Th anintartifiial harourth Cothonis rp-rsntd today y two lagoons north oth ay o Al-Karm (El-Kram). In th 3rdntury bce it had two parts, th outrrtangular part ing or mrhantshipping, with th intrior, irular divi-sion rsrvd or warships; shds and

quays wr availal or 220 warships.Th harours small siz proaly mansthat it was usd hifly in wintr whnnavigation almost asd. Th ity wallswr o grat strngth and wr 22 mils(35 km) in lngth; th most vulnralstion, aross th isthmus, was morthan 40 t (12 mtrs) high and 30 t(9 mtrs) thik. Th itadl on th hillalld Byrsa was also ortifid. BtwnByrsa and th port was th hart o thity: its marktpla, ounil hous, andtmpls. In apparan it may hav nnot dissimilar to towns in th astrnMditrranan or Prsian Gul orth impat o modrn ivilization, withnarrow winding strts and houss upto six storis high. Th xtrior wallswr lank xpt or a solitary strt

door, ut thy nlosd ourtyards. Afigur o 700,000 or th ity populationis givn y th gographr Strao, utthis proaly inludd th population oth Shark Pninsula. A mor rasonal

Early History | 13


30/196


mainstram o th advaning ivilizationo th Mditrranan world; mor par-tiularly, it introdud into North Ariaadvand thniqus lading to agriul-tural progrss, whih implid, in turn, ahang y many Liyans rom a smi-nomadi to a stal way o li and thpossiilitis o uranization, whih wrully ralizd in th Roman priod.

Carthage and Rome

In th 3rd and 2nd nturis bce Carthagwas waknd and finally dstroyd y

Rom in th thr Puni Wars. Tratistwn Carthag and Rom had nmad in 508, 348, and 279, and or a longpriod th two powrs had no onflit-ing intrsts. But y th 3rd nturyRom dominatd all o southrn Italyand thus approahd th Carthaginiansphr in Siily. In 264 Rom aptdth sumission o Mssana (Mssina),though this stat had prviously had aCarthaginian garrison, partly ausit had xaggratd ars o a possilCarthaginian thrat to Italy and partlyaus it hopd to gain a oothold inSiily. For Carthag a Roman prsn inSiily would upst th traditional alano powr on th island. Th nsuing FirstPuni War, whih lastd until 241, washighly ostly in human li, with losss o

tns o thousands ing rordd in somnaval ngagmnts. Contrary to xpta-tion, th Carthaginian flt was worstdon svral oasions y th nwly uiltRoman navy; on land th Romans aildto driv th Carthaginians out o Siily,

Nora, and Sulis. Carthaginian rligionappars to hav taught that human ingsar wak in th a o th ovrwhlm-ing and apriious powr o th gods.Th grat majority o Carthaginian pr-sonal nams, unlik thos o Gr andRom, wr o rligious signifian.g., Hannial, Favourd y Baal, orHamilar, Favourd y Mlqart.

In omparison with th xtnt oits powr and influn, th artisti andintlltual ahivmnts o Carthagar small. What limitd rmains o uild-ings survivmostly in North Aria and

Sardiniaar utilitarian and uninspird.In th dorativ artspottry, jwlry,mtalwork, trra-otta, and th thousandso arvings on stlaa similar lak oinspiration may lt. Th influn oPhoniian, Egyptian, and Grk artis-ti traditions an osrvd, ut thyaild to stimulat as thy did, or xam-pl, in Etruria. Thr is no vidn thatGrk philosophy and litratur madmuh impat, though rtainly manyCarthaginians in th itys latr historyknw Grk and thr wr liraris inth ity. On writtn work is known, a tra-tis on agriultur y a rtain Mago, utthis may hav n asd on Hllnistimodls. On th whol, th Carthaginiansadhrd to traditional mods o thought,whih no dout gav thm a sns o

solidarity amid mor numrous and hos-til popls. Thir anatial patriotismnald thm to ofr a mor prolongdrsistan to Rom than any othr powr.Thir influn on North Arian historywas, in th first pla, to ring it into th


31/196

oupid hal o th Irian Pninsula.Finally, in 219, Hannial, Hamilars son,ignord Roman thrats dsignd to pr-vnt th onsolidation or xtnsion oth nw mpir. His invasion o Italy andth rushing dats h inflitd on thRomans at Lak Trasimn (217) and thBattl o Canna (216) wr th gravstdangr Rom had vr ad. Th major-ity o Roms allis and sujts in Italyrmaind loyal, howvr, and Hannialound it inrasingly di ult to gt sup-

plis and rinormnts. Atr laringSpain o th Carthaginians (209206),Sipio Arianus th Eldr landd narUtia in 204 with a Roman army. In 203Hannial was ralld rom Italy, uth was datd y Sipio at th Battl

and a Roman invasion o Tunisia nddin atastroph. Carthag mad paatr a final naval dat of th Agats(Egadi) Islands, surrndring its holdon Siily. Sardinia and Corsia ll toRom in 238.

In rspons to th dat, Carthag,undr th ladrship o Hamilar Baraand his sussors (usually dsrid asth Barid amily), st aout stalish-ing a nw mpir in Spain. Th ojtappars to hav n to xploit th min-

ral walth dirtly rathr than throughintrmdiaris and to moiliz th man-powr o muh o Spain into an army thatould math that o Rom. Hamilar andhis son-in-law Hasdrual uilt up an armyo mor than 50,000 Spanish inantry and

The ofering o the lie o a human being to a deity is reerred to as human sacrifice. The occur-

rence o human sacrifice can usually be related to the recognition o human blood as the sacred

lie orce. Bloodless orms o killing, however, such as strangulation and drowning, have beenused in some cultures. The killing o a human being, or the substitution o an animal or a per-

son, has oten been part o an attempt to commune with a god and to participate in divine lie.

Human lie, as the most valuable material or sacrifice, has also been ofered in an attempt at

expiation.

There are two primary types o human sacrifice: the ofering o a human being to a god

and the entombment or slaughter o servants or slaves intended to accompany the deceased into

the aterlie. The latter practice was more common. In various places in Arica, where human

sacrifice was connected with ancestor worship, some o the slaves o the deceased were buried

alive with him, or they were killed and laid beneath him in his grave. The Dahomey o west-

ern Arica instituted especially elaborate sacrifices at yearly ceremonies related to the cult odeceased kings. Excavations in Egypt and elsewhere in the ancient Middle East have revealed

that numerous servants were at times interred with the unerary equipment o a member o the

royal amily in order to provide that person with a retinue in the next lie. The Chinese practice

o burying the emperors retinue with him continued intermittently until the 17th century.

Human Sacrifice

Early History | 15


32/196


Eighteenth-century engraving by J.A. Pierron ater S. de Mirys depicting the Battle o Zama,

202 BCE. The decisive Roman victory, led by Scipio Aricanus the Elder over Hannibal and the

Carthaginian army, ended the Second Punic War. H Av/G I

th Carthaginians wr ord to hoostwn vauating thir ity and st-tling inland or a doomd rsistan. Thyhos th lattr, and, atr a thr-yarsig, trmd th Third Puni War (149146), th ity was dstroyd and its sitrmonially ursd y Sipio Arianusth Youngr.

The Greeks in Cyrenaica

Th natural ontats o Cyrnaia wrnorthward with Crt and th Agan

o Zama (in th viinity o prsnt-day Sakit Siddi Youss, Tun.) in 202.Carthag mad pa soon atrward,surrndring its flt, its ovrsas posss-sions, and som o its Arian trritory,thus ringing an nd to th Sond PuniWar (218201). During th nxt 50 yarsit rtaind som masur o prosprity,although rquntly undr prssur romth Numidians undr King Masinissa.From 155 irrational ars o a Carthaginianrvival wr stimulatd at Rom y Catoth Eldr, and in 149, on flimsy prtxts,


33/196

Ruins at the ancient Greek city o Apollonia on the coast o Cyrenaica, modern Libya. H

A/H Av/G I

o th Akhdar Mountains. Th oundrsnam was, or was hangd to, Battus, aLiyan word maning king. For som timrindly rlations xistd with th loalpopls, and thr was mor intrmar-riag twn Grk mn and non-Grkwomn than was usual in Grk olonis.Latr, whn mor olonists wr attratdy Cyrns inrasing prosprity, hos-tilitis rok out in whih th sttlrswr sussul. Cyrn also rpulsdan invasion y th Egyptians (570) utin 525 sumittd to Prsia. Manwhil,

world. In th lat 12th ntury bce SaPopls landing in Cyrnaia armdth Liyans and with thm attmptdunsussully an invasion o Egypt.Cyrnaias oast was visitd y Crtanfishrmn in th 7th ntury, and thGrks am awar that it was th onlyara in North Aria still availal orolonization. Svr ovrpopulation onth small Cylads island o Thra (ThraSantorini) ld to Cyrn ing oundd (c.630) on a sit within asy rah o th sa,wll watrd, and in th rtil oothills

Early History | 17


34/196


th royal stats ut lt th itis r.Disordrs ld Rom to rat a rgularprovin out o Cyrnaia in 74 bce, towhih Crt was addd svn yars latr.Atr th Roman gnral Mark Antonytmporarily grantd th provin tohis daughtr (y th Egyptian qunClopatra) Clopatra Sln, th mprorAugustus rstalishd it, togthr withCrt, as a snatorial provin.

THE RISE AND DECLINEOF NATIVE KINGDOMS

Btwn th dstrution o Carthag andth stalishmnt o ftiv Romanontrol ovr th Maghri, thr was ari priod in whih nativ kingdomsflourishd. Amid th shiting trialnomnlatur usd in th sours ovarious priods, two main groups orlativly sdntary tris may dis-tinguishd: th Mauri, living twnth Atlanti Oan and th Moulouya orprhaps th Chli Rivr, who gav thirnam to Maurtania; and th Numida,or whom Numidia was namd, in thara to th wst o that ormrly on-trolld y Carthag. A third group, thGatuli, was a largly nomadi poplo th dsrt and its ring. Th varioustris first mrg into history in th lat3rd ntury bce, atr a priod o soial

volution rsulting rom ontat withCarthaginian ivilization. This is diultto tra, as Carthaginian produts wrsar in th intrior o th Maghrior th 2nd ntury bce, ut th largtumuli at Mzora, Sd Sulaymn, Souk

Cyrn had stalishd othr Grk it-is in th ara o modrn LiyaBar(Al-Marj), Tauhira (Al-Aqriyyah), andEuhsprids (Banghz), all o whihwr indpndnt o thir oundingity. During th 6th ntury Cyrnrivald th majority o othr Grk itisin its walth, manistd in part y su-stantial tmpl uilding. Prosprity wasasd on grain, ruit, horss, and, aovall, a mdiinal plant alld silphium(apparntly an xtint spis o thgnus Ferula).

Th dynasty o Battus ndd aout

440 bce with th stalishmnt o a dm-orati onstitution lik that o Athns,and th gnral prosprity o Cyrnaiaontinud through th 4th ntury inspit o som politial trouls. Cyrnaiasumittd to Alxandr th Grat inth lat 4th ntury and susquntlyam sujt to th Ptolmis oEgypt. Th itis, nvrthlss, njoyda good dal o rdom in running thirown afairs. Th onstitution o Cyrnlaoratd a airly liral oligarhy, witha itizn ody o 10,000 and two oun-ils. During th 3rd ntury a dralonstitution or all th Cyrnaian it-is was introdud. Apollonia, th porto Cyrn, am a ity in its own right;Euhsprids was roundd as Brni,and a nw ity, Ptolmais (Tulmaythah),

was oundd, whil Bar dlind; thtrm Pntapolis am to usd or thfiv itis Apollonia, Cyrn, Ptolmais,Tauhira, and Brni.

In 96 bce Ptolmy Apion quathdCyrnaia to Rom, whih annxd


35/196

prodution was muh nlargd. This wasahivd y dliratly nouragingCarthaginian ivilization. Along with nwthniqus, Carthaginian languag, rli-gion, and art pntratd rapidly inland,and Masinissas apital, Cirta, took on thaspts o a Carthaginian ity; inipinturanization o a numr o Liyan vil-lags is also possil. Masinissa issudoppr, ronz, and lad oinag or loalus, as did som o th Carthaginianoastal towns undr his rul.

On Masinissas dath in 148, his king-dom was dividd among his thr sons,

possily on th insistn o th Romans,who did not, howvr, prvnt it romruniying undr Miipsa (148118 bce).Th progrss gun undr Masinissaontinud as rugs rom th dstru-tion o Carthag fld to Numidia.Manwhil, th Romans had ormd aprovin in th ara o Tunisia north-ast o a lin rom Tharaa (Taarka)to Thana ut showd littl intrst inxploiting its walth. Th attmpt yth Roman rormr Gaius Grahusin 122 bce to ound a olony on th sito Carthag aild, though individualolonists who had takn up allotmntsrmaind. Whn Miipsa did, anothrdivision o Numidia among thr rulrstook pla, in whih Jugurtha (118105)mrgd suprm. H might hav n

rognizd y Rom, ut h provokdwar whn h killd som Italian mr-hants who wr hlping a rival dndCirta. Atr som susss ausd yth inomptn o Roman gnrals,Jugurtha was surrndrd y Bohus

l-Gour, and th Mdran, apparntlyroyal toms o th 4th and 3rd nturisbce, tstiy to a dvloping onomyand soity. No dout srvi in thCarthaginian mrnary armis was amajor stimulus to hang.

This was most notial inNumidia and rahd a high pointundr Masinissa. Th son o a hi oth Massyli, a tri dominating th aratwn Carthaginian trritory and thAmpsaga Rivr (Wadi al-Kar), h hadn rought up at Carthag and was 20yars old at th outrak o th Sond

Puni War. At first his tri was at vari-an with Carthag, ut in 213 bce itam ronild whn its powr-ul wstrn nighours, th Masasyli,undr Syphax, dsrtd Carthag. From213 to 207 bce Masinissa ommanddNumidian avalry in Spain or thCarthaginians against Rom. On Romsvitory at th Battl o Ilipa in 206, hrturnd to Aria whr Syphax, nowronild with Carthag, had oupidsom o his trial trritory, inludingCirta, and his own laims to sussionto th hitainship wr disputd. Whnth Romans landd in Aria in 204,Masinissa rndrd thm invalualassistan. Rognizd y th Romansas king, h annxd th astrn part oSyphaxs kingdom and rignd with su-

ss until 148 bce. Th Grk gographrStrao said that Masinissa turnd thnomads into a nation o armrs. This isxaggratd, sin ral ultur had longn stalishd in parts o Numidia, ytthr is no dout that th ara o grain

Early History | 19


36/196


II o Maurtania did, quathing hiskingdom to Rom, ut Augustus wasunwilling to apt rsponsiility or solarg and rlativly akward an ara. In25 bce h installd Jua II, son o Jua I,as king; h ruld until his dath aout 24ce. H was marrid to Clopatra Sln,and undr thm Iol, rnamd Casara(Chrhll), and also Voluilis, nar Fz(Fs, Mor.), a sondary apital o thrulrs o Maurtania, am ntrs olat Hllnisti ultur. Jua himsl wasa prolifi writr in Grk on a numr osujts, inluding history and gogra-

phy. His son Ptolmy sudd as kingut, or rasons unknown today, was x-utd y th Roman mpror Caligulain 40 ce. A ri rvolt ollowd utwas asily supprssd, and th king-dom was dividd into two provins,Maurtania Casarinsis, with its apitalat Casara, and Maurtania Tingitana,with its apital at Tingis (Tangir, Mor.).

I, king o Maurtania. Th kingdom wasagain ronstitutd undr othr dsn-dants o Masinissa. Th oundaris o thRoman provin wr slightly nlargdin th ara o th uppr Majardah val-ly, whr vtrans o th army o GaiusMarius rivd lands. During th nxt50 yars individual Roman sttlrs andmrhants ontinud to immigrat toth rgion, ut thr was no dliratattmpt to stalish a stat. Th last rla-tivly ormidal king o Numidia wasJua I (c. 6046 bce), who supportd thPompian sid in th Roman ivil war

twn Pompy th Grat and JuliusCasar. Th kingdom ll in 46 bce atth Battl o Thapsus. A nw provin,Aria Nova, was ormd rom th mostdvlopd part o th old Numidiankingdom ast o th Ampsaga; it wassusquntly (or 27 bce) amal-gamatd with th original provin oAria y Augustus. In 33 bce Bohus


37/196

Roman NorthAfrica

CHAPTER

Ovr tim, th Romans xpandd th ordrs o thir

Arian provin. Colonization was nouragd, and thrgion njoyd our nturis o prosprity.

ADMINISTRATION AND DEFENSE

For mor than a ntury rom its aquisition in 146 bce, thsmall Roman provin o Aria (roughly orrsponding tomodrn Tunisia) was govrnd rom Utia y a minor Romano ial, ut hangs wr mad y th mpror Augustus,rflting th growing importan o th ara. Th govrnorwas thnorward a proonsul rsiding at Carthag, atr itwas roundd y Augustus as a Roman olony, and h wasrsponsil or th whol trritory rom th Ampsaga Rivrin th wst to th ordr o Cyrnaia. Th proonsul alsoommandd th army o Aria and was on o th w pro-vinial govrnors in ommand o an army and yt ormallyrsponsil to th Snat rathr than to th mpror. Thisanomaly was rmovd in 39 ce whn Caligula ntrustd tharmy to a legatus Augusti o pratorian rank. Although th

provin was not ormally dividd until 196, th army om-mandr was d ato in harg o th ara latr known as thprovin o Numidia and also o th military ara in south-rn Tunisia and along th Liyan Dsrt. Th proonsulshipwas normally hld or only on yar; lik th proonsulshipo Asia, it was rsrvd or ormr onsuls and rankd high


38/196


mountains wr pntratd during thnxt gnration ut wr nvr dvlopdor Romanizd. During th 2nd nturystrths o ontinuous wall and dithth fossatum Africaein som arasprovidd urthr ontrol ovr movmntand also markd th division twnth sttld and nomadi ways o li.To th southwst o th Aurs a ortifidzon ompltd th rontir dnsivsystm, or limes, whih xtndd ora whil as ar as Castllum Dimmidi(Mssad), th most southrly ort inRoman Algria yt idntifid. South o

Lptis Magna in Liya, orts on th trans-Saharan rout ultimatly rahd as aras Cydamus (Ghadmis).

In th Maurtanias th prolm wasmor diult aus o th ruggdnatur o th ountry and th distansinvolvd. Th nirlmnt o mountain-ous aras, a poliy ollowd in th Aurs,was again pursud in th Kaylia rangsand th Ouarsnis (in what is now north-rn Algria). Th ara round Sitifis (Sti)was sussully sttld and dvlopdin th 2nd ntury, ut arthr wst thimpat o Rom was or long limitdto oastal towns and th main militaryroads. Th most important o ths roadsran rom Zarai (Zraa) to Auzia (Sourl-Ghozlan) and thn to th vally o thChli Rivr. Susquntly th rontir ran

south o th Ouarsnis as ar as Pomaria(Tlmn). Wst o this ara it is dout-ul whthr a prmannt road onntdth two Maurtanias, sa ommunia-tion ing th rul. In Tingitana, Romanontrol xtndd as ar as a lin roughly

in th administrativ hirarhy. In th1st ntury ce it was hld y svral mnwho susquntly am mpror.g.,Gala and Vspasian. Th ommandrso th army normally hld th post ortwo or thr yars, and in th 1st and 2ndnturis it was an important stag in tharr o a numr o sussul gnr-als. Th two Maurtanian provins wrgovrnd y mn o qustrian rank whoalso ommandd th sustantial numrso auxiliary troops in thir aras. In timso mrgny th two provins wrotn unitd undr a singl authority.

Tris on th ring o th dsrtand yond onstitutd mor o a nui-san than a thrat as th ara o uranand smiuran sttlmnt graduallyapproahd th limit o ultival land. Anumr o minor onflits with nomaditris ar rordd in th 1st ntury,th most srious o whih was thrvolt o Taarinas in southrn Tunisia,supprssd in 23 ce. As th ara o sttl-mnt xtndd wstward as wll as to thsouth, so th hadquartrs o th lgionmovd also: rom Ammadara (Hadra,Tun.) to Thvst undr Vspasian,thn to Lamasis (Tazoult-Lams,Alg.) undr Trajan. Trial lands wrrdud and dlimitd, whih omplldth adoption o sdntary li, and thtris wr plad undr th suprvision

o Roman prts. A southrn ron-tir was finally ahivd undr Trajanwith th nirlmnt o th Aurs andNmnha mountains and th ration oa lin o orts rom Vsra (Biskra, Alg.)to Ad Majors (Bssriani, Tun.). Th


39/196

Roman North Africa | 23

Also thr was th inipint uran-ization o som parts, owing to thCarthaginians and th amitions oLiyan rulrs suh as Masinissa. In addi-tion, Italian immigrants wr sttling inAria; though rlativly w in ompari-son with th population as a whol, thyprovidd th imptus to xpand. JuliusCasar sttld many vtrans in olo-nis, mostly oastal towns, and, quallyimportant, stalishd a military advn-turr namd Pulius Sittius along withmany Italians at Cirta, ginning thRomanization o Numidia. Casar also

plannd to round Carthag, and thiswas ftd y Augustus. Th numro his original sttlrs was 3,000, ut tholony grw rmarkaly quikly auso its gographi position avoural orontat with Rom and Italy. A numro othr olonis wr oundd in thintrior o Tunisia and at widly spa-ratd plas on th Maurtanian oasts.In addition, privat individuals romItaly immigratd at that tim. Vtransoundd olonis in Maurtania undrth mpror Claudius, inluding Tingis,Casara, and Tipasa. Cuiul (Djmila,Alg.) and Sitifis wr oundd y Nrva,and Thamugadi and a numr o plasnary, in th ara north o th Aurs,wr oundd y Trajan. Th army wasa potnt vhil in th sprad o Roman

ivilization and playd a major part inuranizing th rontir rgions. On lim-itd vidn it has n suggstd thata total o som 80,000 immigrants amto th Maghri rom Rom and Italy inthis priod.

rom Mkns to Raat, Mor., inludingVoluilis. Evidn attsts to priodidisussions twn Roman govrnorsand loal hitains outsid Romanontrol, suggsting paul rlations.Howvr, th tris o th Ri Mountainsmust hav livd in virtual indpndn,and thy wr proaly rsponsil or anumr o wars rordd in Maurtaniaundr Domitian, Trajan, Antonius Pius(whih lastd six yars), and othrs in th3rd ntury. Thy did littl or no dam-ag to th uranizd aras and nvrnssitatd a prmannt inras in

th Arian garrison. Th dns o thNorth Arian provins was ar lss aprolm than that o thos on th north-rn priphry o th mpir. For Numidiaand th military distrit in th south oTunisia and Liya, aout 13,000 mn su-fid; th Maurtanias had auxiliary unitsonly, totaling som 15,000. This may ontrastd with th position in Britain,whr thr lgions and auxiliaris (alltold, som 50,000 mn) wr rquird.From th mid-2nd ntury ce th Ariangarrison was largly rruitd loally.

THE GROWTH OF URBAN LIFE

Th most notal atur o th Romanpriod in North Aria was th dvlop-mnt o a flourishing uran ivilization

in Tunisia, northrn Algria, and somparts o Moroo. This was possilaus nomadi and pastoral mov-mnts wr ontrolld, whih opndlarg aras o thinly sttld ut potn-tially rih land to onsistnt xploitation.


40/196


aristorais, as in th Hllnizd prov-ins o Asia Minor, nor on stronglyasd trial aristorais, as in CltiGaul. Roman administration and thdvlopmnt o uran soity in gnraldpndd, apart rom immigrants, on thloal ladrship o small lan and trialunits and on th ativity o individuals. Inth 1st ntury ce thr wr a w largstats ownd y asnt Roman sna-tors, most o whih wr susquntlyasord into th xtnsiv imprialstat in Aria. Th latr pattrn was olandowning on a mor modratthough

still sustantialsal y rsidnts, othimmigrant and indignous. Many land-ownrs mad thir homs in th townsand ormd a loal muniipal ladr-ship. Small indpndnt landownrsalso xistd, ut th grat majority o thinhaitants wr tnant armrs (coloni).A signifiant portion o ths armrsworkd on a sharropping asis and hadlaour oligations to thir landlords. Thnumr o slav workrs was proalysmallr than in Italy.

Many o th walthir Ariansntrd th imprial administration.Th irst Arian onsul hld oi inth rign o Vspasian; at th gin-ning o th 3rd ntury, mn o Arianorigin hld on-sixth o all th posts inth qustrian grad o th administra-

tion and also onstitutd th largstgroup o provinials in th Snat. Itis unrtain what proportion wr onativ Liyan or mixd origin, ut inth 2nd ntury thy wr rtainly thmajority.

Though at first inrior to th Romantowns, nativ ommunitis njoyd thloal autonomy that was th hallmark oRoman administration. Btwn 400 and500 suh ommunitis wr rognizd,th majority o thm villags or smalltrial ations. Many, howvr, advandin walth and standing to rival th Romanolonis, aquiring th grant o Romanitiznship, whih put th sal o imp-rial approval on th prosprity, staility,and ultural volution o dvlopingommunitis. Naturally, th arlist toshow signs o inrasing prosprity wr

th surviving Carthaginian sttlmntson th oast and plaspartiularly inth Majardah vallywhr th Liyanpopulation had n muh inflund yCarthaginian ultur and whih now alsohad Italian immigrants. Lptis Magnaand Hadrumtum rivd Roman iti-znship and th status o a olony romTrajan, and Thuursiu Numidarum(Khmissa) and Calama (Gulma) inmodrn Algria proaly th rank omuniipality. But it was undr Hadrian,th first mpror to visit Aria, that thflood tid o suh grants ourrd; Utia,Bulla Rgia (nar Jndoua, Tun.), Lars(Lorus, Tun.), Thana, and Zamaahivd olonial rank, and th prossontinud throughout th 2nd ntury.Finally, Sptimius Svrus, who origi-

natd rom a walthy amily o LptisMagna and was o largly mixd dsnt,am mpror in 193 ce and gratlyavourd his nativ land.

In th Maghri, Roman rul wasnot suprimposd on stalishd ivi


41/196

Tunisia and along th northrn slopso th Aurs and Bou Tal mountainsin Algria. By th 4th ntury Ariaxportd oil to all parts o th mpir.Sussul ultivation o olivs dmanddarul managmnt o availal watr,and th arhaologial vidn indi-ats that muh attntion was paid toirrigation in th Roman priod.

Livstok was an important part o thonomy o Roman Aria, though dirtvidn is slight. Arian horss wrusd in raing and no dout also in thRoman avalry. Cattl, shp, pigs, goats,

and muls wr also raisd. Aria wasth major sour o th wild animals orshows in Rom and othr major itis oth mpirin partiular lopards, lions,lphants, and monkys. Fishing, whihhad n dvlopd along th oast asar as th Atlanti in th Carthaginianpriod, ontinud to flourish. Timr, romth orsts along part o th north oast,and marl, th most important NorthArian sour o whih was Simitthu(Shimt, Tun.), wr also xportd.

Thr wr no larg-sal indus-tris, vn y anint standards, in NorthAria, xpt pottry. By th 4th nturyprodution o amphora, nssitatd yth oil trad, was sustantial, and thsand othr loally produd wars wrtradd throughout th Mditrranan.

Mosai pavmnts wr xtrmly popu-lar among th walthy throughout NorthAria, and mor than 2,000 hav ndisovrd, with normous variations inquality. Th majority wr mad y loalratsmn, though som o th dsigns

During th 2nd and arly 3rd n-turis th walthy lasss in th townsspnt vast sums on thir ommunitisin gits o puli uildings suh as th-atrs, aths, and tmpls, as wll asstatus, puli asts, and distriutions omony. This was a gnral phnomnonthroughout th Roman Empir, as mm-rs o loal lits omptd or am andprstig among thir llow itizns, utit is partiularly wll attstd in Aria.

ECONOMY

Th dnsity o th towns in no way implisthat trad or industry wr prdominant;all ut a w wr rsidns o othlandownrs and pasants, and thir pros-prity dpndd on agriultur. By th 1stntury ce Arian xports o grain pro-vidd two-thirds o th nds o th ityo Rom. Som o this, or distriutiony th mprors to th uran proltariat,am rom th imprial stats and romtaxs, ut muh wnt to th opn mar-kt. Annual grain prodution in RomanAria has n stimatd at mor thana million tons, o whih on-ourth wasxportd. Aras o grain prodution wrth Shark Pninsula, th Miliana andMajardah vallys, and trats o rlativlylvl land north o a lin rom Sitifis toMadauros (MDaourouh, Alg.). Cral

rops wr th most important in thsaras, ut ruits, suh as figs and graps,and ans also wr produd.

Th prodution o oliv oil amalmost as important as rals y th2nd ntury ce, partiularly in southrn



42/196


An olive harvest in Meknes, Mor.a city amous or its olive grovesc.1955. Ev/H

Av/G I


43/196

natural port or th walthist ara oNorth Aria. Nvrthlss, most o thports originally oundd y Phoniiansand Carthaginians xpandd during thRoman priod; in viw o th high ostso land transport, it was natural that agri-ultural produts would go to th narstport or shipmnt.

LATER ROMAN EMPIRE

Th whol Roman Empir undrwnt amilitary and politial risis twn thdath o Svrus Alxandr (235 ce) and

th assion o Dioltian (284), rsult-ing rom srious attaks rom outsid onth mpirs northrn and astrn ron-tirs and rom a sris o oups dtat andivil wars. Aria sufrd lss than mostparts o th mpir, though thr was anunsussul rvolt y landownrs in 238against th fisal poliis o th mprorMaximinus, whih ndd in widspradpillag. Thr wr trial rvolts in thMaurtanian mountains in 253254, 260,and 288, and th situation finally roughta visit rom th mpror Maximian in297298. Th rvolts had littl ft onth uranizd aras, ut th towns wrinjurd y onomi diultis and infla-tion, and uilding ativity almost asd.Confidn rturnd at th nd o th 3rdntury undr Dioltian, Constantin,

and latr mprors. Administrativhangs introdud at this tim inluddth division o th provin o Aria intothr sparat provins: Tripolitania(apital Lptis Magna), ovring thwstrn part o Liya; Byzana, ovring

originatd lswhr. It is also lar thatth uilding trads wr major mploy-rs o oth skilld and unskilld laour.

Prosprity undoutdly ld to a risin th population o th Maghri in thfirst two nturis ce; in th asn orlial statistis, population stimatshav varid rom our to ight million(th lattr ing also th populationaout th ginning o th 20th ntury).On study proposd aout 6.5 million, owhom aout 2.5 million wr in prsntTunisia. Som two-fiths o th lattr (pr-haps mor) livd in th towns. O ths

Carthag was in a lass o its own, havingat last 250,000 popl. Th nxt largstwas Lptis Magna (80,000), ollowd yHadrumtum, Thysdrus (El-Djm, Tun.),Hippo Rgius, and Cirta, with 20,000 to30,000 ah. Many towns in los prox-imity to ah othr, spially in thMajardah vally, avragd twn 5,000and 10,000.

Th road systm in Roman Aria wasth most omplt o any wstrn prov-in; a total o som 12,500 mils (20,000km) has n supposd. Most roadswr military in origin ut wr opnto ommr, and a numr o minorroads linking towns of th main routswr uilt y th loal ommunitis.Th main artris wr rom Carthagto Thvst, Carthag to Cirta through

Sia Vnria, Thvst to Taapathrough Capsa, Thvst to Lamasis,Cirta to Sitifis, Cirta to Rusiad, andCirta to Hippo Rgius. Carthag handldy ar th gratst volum o ovrsasoial tra and trad, ing th



44/196


The Arch o Septimius Severus, at the entrance to the Roman citadel o Leptis Magna, Libya. C

B/AFP/G I


45/196

th tasks o loal govrnmnt that hadarlir n agrly undrtakn y thwalthy am urdnsom, and againth imprial govrnmnt sought to makthm ompulsory and hrditary, whilth ounillors thmslvs sought yany mans to ntr th imprial admin-istration or prossions that providdimmunity. Th pross is wll attstdin Aria. Nvrthlss, th viw thaturan li gnrally dlind throughoutth mpir during th 4th ntury must modifid, spially in th as oAria, whr th itis and towns with-

stood th prssurs ttr than lswhrand whr som townsThamugadi, orxamplsm to hav inrasd inpopulation. Thamugadi grw doutlsslyaus it was rlativly immun romdamag in ivil and xtrnal wars andhad a solid as o agriultural prosprity.

CHRISTIANITY AND THEDONATIST CONTROVERSY

Christianity grw muh mor rapidly inAria than in any othr wstrn prov-in. It was firmly stalishd in Carthagand othr Tunisian towns y th 3rdntury and had produd its own loalmartyrs and an outstanding apologist inTrtullian (c. 160240). During th nxt50 yars it xpandd rmarkaly; mor

than 80 ishops attndd a ounil atCarthag in 256, som rom th distantrontir rgions o Numidia. Cyprian,th ishop o Carthag rom 248 untilhis martyrdom in 258, was anothr figurwhos writing, lik that o Trtullian, was

southrn Tunisia and govrnd romHadrumtum; and th northrn part oTunisia, whih rtaind th nam Ariaand its apital, Carthag. In addition, thastrn part o Maurtania Casarinsisam a sparat provin (apitalSitifis). In th ar wst th Romans gav upmuh o Maurtania Tingitana, inludingth important town o Voluilis, appar-ntly aus o prssur rom th trio th Baquats. In th gnral rorgani-zation o th Roman army y Dioltianand Constantin, th fild army (comi-tatenses) in Aria, numring on papr

som 21,000 mn, was put undr a nwommandr, th comes Africae, indpn-dnt o th provinial govrnors. Onlyth govrnors o Tripolitania and oMaurtania Casarinsis also had troopsat thir disposal, ut ths wr sond-lin soldirs, or limitanei. Th wholrontir rgion along th dsrt andmountain rings was dividd into s-tors and garrisond y limitanei. Thswr loally rruitd and losly idnti-fid with th arming population o thiraras. Th Tripolitanian platau, whihwas inrasingly xposd to attaks yth nomadi Austuriani, is notal orhaving a larg numr o ortifid arms.

Aria, lik th rst o th mpir,xprind th onomi diultisand govrnmntal prssurs that wr

a atur o th latr Roman Empir.Th powr o th landownrs inrasdat th xpns o thir tnants and osmallr armrs, oth o whom th imp-rial govrnmnt sought to ind to th soilin a stat o quasi-srdom. In th itis



46/196


a rival ishop and, whn h did, on-sratd anothr namd Donatus, whogav his nam to th nsuing shism.Th hurhs in numrous ommuni-tis, spially in Numidia, ollowdDonatus rom th start and laimd thatthy alon onstitutd th tru hurho th martyrs, who wr ojts o par-tiularly nthusiasti vnration amongArian Christians. Among Christiansoutsid Aria, howvr, Cailian wasunivrsally rognizd as th ishop oCarthag, and th mpror Constantin,whn th Donatists appald to him,

ollowd th disions o non-Arianhurh ounils, rognizing Cailianand his ollowrs as th tru hurh andhn as ripints o imprial avour.Som Donatists wr killd whn thirhurhs wr onfisatd, th vitimsing honourd as martyrs, ut in 321Constantin rjtd urthr prssur,and th Donatists ontinud to inrasrapidly in numrs. For th rst o thntury, thy proaly mad up hal thChristians in North Aria. Thy wrstrongst in Numidia and MaurtaniaSitinsis, and th antishismatis pr-dominatd in th proonsular provino Aria; th position in th Maurtaniaswas mor vn, ut Christianity did notsprad rapidly thr until th 5th n-tury. In 347 th mpror Constans xild

a numr o Donatist ishops and tookrprssiv masurs against th circum-celliones, sasonal arm workrs whowr partiularly nthusiasti Donatists.But in 362 Julian th Apostat allowdth xils to rturn. Ths wr wlomd

o lasting influn on Latin Christianity.During th nxt hal-ntury it spradxtnsivly in Numidia (thr wr atlast 70 ishops in 312). Th rasons or itsxptionally rapid growth ar disputd.In northrn Tunisia uran ommunitisprovidd a soial and onomi nviron-mnt similar to that in whih Christianityhad first sprad in Anatolia and Syria, andmuh th sam an said aout smallrommunitis in whih arly Christianityan idntifid. It has n hld thatth intrmingling o rligious urrnts oLiyan, Carthaginian, and Roman origin

tndd toward monothism, utvn ithis wr tru, whih is datalpaganmonothism was not a nssary stagtoward th adoption o Christianity ormor than a w. It dos, howvr, apparthat Arian Christianity always inludda vigorous and anatial lmnt thatmust hav had its ft in sprading thnw rligion, vn though thr is littlvidn o positiv missionary forts.

Christians wr still a minority atth nd o th 3rd ntury in all lv-ls o soity, ut thy wr in a goodposition to nfit rom Constantinsadoption o th rligion and his grantso various privilgs to th lrgy. At thattim (313) a division ourrd amongth Arian Christians that lastd morthan a ntury. Som Numidian ish-

ops ojtd to th hoi o Cailianas th nw ishop o Carthag, allgingthat his ordination had n prormdy a ishop who had waknd duringDioltians prsution o th hurhand hn was invalid. Thy onsratd


47/196

Christianity was th rligion o thRomanizd uppr lasss. Th imprialgovrnmnt ing idntifid with thsChristians would hav intnsifid thstrngth o th movmnt, and th cir-cumcelliones violn, morovr, ould onsidrd a orm o inipint pasantrvolt. Thus th movmnt is laimd asanalogous to Monophysitism in Egyptand Syria, whih produd a vrnau-lar litratur and a passiv rjtion oGro-Roman ultur. Th hostility o thDonatists to th xisting soity was typi-fid y Donatuss rmark: What has th

mpror to do with th hurh? Againstthis viw it may said that Donatism inth non-Romanizd trial aras was r-tainly wak, and th rlationship o thst with Firmus and Gildo was o littlimportan. In Numidia it was at last asstrong in th towns as in th rural aras,and in any as th distintion twnth two an xaggratd. Th ntirontrovrsy was ondutd in Latin, andno vrnaular litratur was produd;in at, until th tim o Augustin, mosto th duatd lass, o th sam soialakground as Augustin himsl andully imud with Roman tradition, wrDonatists i thy wr not pagan. It wasth rlutan o th landownrs to havthir pasants disturd, and th ng-lign o many provinial govrnors

(oth attakd y Augustin), that longprottd th Donatists. Lastly, in spito th rmark attriutd to Donatus,thr is no vidn that th movmntattakd th imprial systm as a whol,as opposd to individual mprors and

with nthusiasm, and th movmntprovd as strong as vr. Som Donatistsappar to hav n assoiatd with thrvolt o a Maurtanian hitain, Firmus,and in 377 th first o a sris o gnrallaws prosriing Donatism was issud.Nvrthlss, ths laws wr nordonly sporadially, partly aus provin-ial govrnors and many loal magistratswr still pagan and, at a tim o growingwaknss in th imprial govrnmnt,wr inlind to ignor instrutionsthy ound unwlom. Donatism wasurthr supportd y Gildo, rothr o

Firmus and comes Africae (387397).Thn Augustin o Hippo Rgius applidhis normous powrs o ladrship andprsuasion to stimulat rsolut ation,volving at th sam tim a thory o thright o orthodox Christian rulrs to usor against shismatis and hrtis. In411 an imprial ommission summond aonrn at Carthag to stalish rli-gious unity. Th Donatists had to oy,though th dision against thm was aorgon onlusion. Th laws that ol-lowd thir ondmnation wr morgnrally nord and, though thrwas som rsistan (som ommunitisstill xistd in th 6th ntury), rok thshism as a powrul movmnt.

Muh ontrovrsy surrounds thintrprtation o Donatisms signifi-

an. An important viw onsidrs itin som sns a national or soial mov-mnt. It is said to hav n partiularlyassoiatd with th rural population olss Romanizd aras and with th poorrlasss in th towns, whras orthodox



48/196


Atlas, nativ Liyan languag and ul-tur ontinud littl aftd y Romanivilization, though th majority apparto hav n Christian y th 7th ntury;nor that Liyan and Carthaginian tradi-tions survivd in othr aras and aftdth mods o aptan o Roman ivi-lization. As rgards languag, th latorm o Phoniian known as No-Puniwas still spokn airly widly in th 4thnturyor xampl, in th hills narHippo Rgius. Insriptions in th lan-guag and sript ourrd otn at thginning o th Roman priod ut wr

vry rar atr th nd o th 1st nturyce. An xption may in Tripolitania,whr a orm o No-Puni was insridin Latin sript prhaps as lat as th 4thntury. Thr was also a Liyan sriptknown solly rom unrary stla andakin to th sript o th prsnt Tuarg;it was known in som orm ovr muh oth Maghri ut may not hav n usdlatr than th 3rd ntury. On th othrhand, thr is no vidn that thslanguags wr vr litrary languags,and t

The History of Northern Africa

Documents

Transcript of The History of Northern Africa