The paper investigates the economic and social aspects of the Vandal regime in North Africa, challenging traditional interpretations that emphasize a decline during their rule. Utilizing archaeological evidence, it argues that trade and urban life persisted in various forms, and that the Vandals should be viewed as part of the Late Roman Mediterranean context rather than a strictly 'Germanic' entity. The analysis also delves into the significance of Vandal coinage as a reflection of their state identity and economic strategies.

AI

Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 2017

A close reading of sources documenting the Vandal conquest (429–39 ce) reveals that contemporary authors did not present the event as a persecution. To be sure, they insisted on the devastation that the Vandals caused, the typical woes of war, but not on its religious motivation. The article argues that it was Augustine who, in his ep. ccxxviii, first presented a theological interpretation of the event that allowed later sources writing within the Augustinian tradition to frame the conquest retroactively as a persecution.

Ager Aguntinus 4, 2021

This volume, edited by Martin Auer and Christoph Hinker, unites 13 papers presented at the 4th Aguntum Workshop. This international conference was dedicated to the discussion of the so-called crisis the Roman empire experienced during the 3rd century AD. The aim of the workshop was to bring together archaeological data from different parts of the Imperium pertinent to the 3rd century. In some areas, severe changes occurred during the 3rd century, which is linked to a loss of influence of the Imperial administrative structures. This is the case in the municipium Aguntum, where we were able to discover that a destructive fire raged in the area of the town center. Although we do now know why the fire broke out, it is a fact that the area was not renovated afterwards. This neglect can be seen as an indicator of the town’s decreasing economic power. The diverse examples of archaeological traces of this “crisis”, which are presented in this volume, show that the 3rd century AD was a time of severe transformation with different impact on and consequences for various regions of the Roman Empire. However, change does not automatically mean crisis and for some settlements (e.g. some people) the 3rd century was a time of great prosperity. Nevertheless, there seems to be a tendency towards the reduction of towns and decrease of centralized administration in favor of a range of smaller centers like rural and hilltop settlements or villae. https://www.harrassowitz-verlag.de/Roman_Settlements_and_the_%26Crisis%26_of_the_3rd_Century_AD/titel_6754.ahtml

Imperium Romanum. Romanization between Colonization and Globalization. Oscar Belvedere and Johannes Bergemann eds. , 2021

The paper examines the effects of Roman urbanism on four North African towns: Utica, Thugga, Simitthus and Mactar. In the first three we can see radical transformations of existing monuments, which were eliminated or repurposed. The relationships between the Roman colonists and the pre-existing communities are then examined, throwing doubt on the current tendency to see Roman imperialism in terms of productive dialogue and negotiation. A significant analogy comes, once again, with the history of French colonization in Algeria.

De Gruyter eBooks, 2022

Due to its comparatively remote geographical location beyond the densely urbanized areas of Roman North Africa, the province of Mauretania Caesariensis provides an interesting example to study the impact of Roman imperial rule in the provinces of the empire. Literary sources, especially the epigraphic material from provincial cities, which can be evaluated using qualitative and quantitative approaches, offers insights into the structures of the local self-government. Firstly, a spectrum of different forms of organization of local communities can be observed, ranging from cities in which specific institutions, presumably going back to pre-Roman traditions, were maintained to others that more or less completely adopted Roman patterns as well as various hybrid forms in between. Secondly, remarkable differences between the cities in the Western and Eastern parts of the province can be observed. While some of the cities in the East were integrated into the Roman legal system at an early stage, most of the cities in the West only received a corresponding legal status very late, at the earliest in the 3 rd century CE. Furthermore, the emperor and the provincial governors are hardly visible in the epigraphic record from the cities in the Western part of the province. Particularly noteworthy is the almost complete absence of civic patrons in the cities of western Mauretania Caesariensis. All in all, the cities in western Mauretania seem to have been much less integrated into provincial and empire-wide networks than those in the east. Zusammenfassung: Ihre vergleichsweise abseitige Lage, jenseits der dicht urbanisierten Räume des römischen Nordafrikas, macht die Provinz Mauretania Caesariensis zu einem aufschlussreichen Fallbeispiel für die Frage nach den Auswirkungen der imperialen Herrschaft Roms in den Provinzen des Reiches. Neben vereinzelten literarischen Quellen bieten vor allem Inschriften, die sich mit qualitativen und quantitativen Ansätzen auswerten lassen, Einblicke in Strukturen lokaler Selbstverwaltung. Dabei lässt sich zum einen ein Spektrum unterschiedlicher Formen der Organisation lokaler Gemeinwesen beobachten, von Städten mit spezifischen, mutmaßlich auf vor-römische Traditionen zurückgehenden Ordnungen zu solchen, die römische Muster übernahmen und verschiedenen hybriden Formen dazwischen. Zum anderen lassen sich zudem

Swansea University MA Dissertation in Ancient History, 2020

“The first fifty and the last thirty years of the Suevic kingdom are quite well documented, whereas the years in between are hopelessly obscure”. This is how Purificación Ubric describes the kingdom of the Suevi in her chapter of James D’Emilio’s edited volume on Medieval Galicia. The same can be similarly said of the Vandals who, before the Marcomannic Wars, were scarcely recorded by history to have achieved anything greater than that of ethnographic mentions in geographical works from the likes of Tacitus. Neither people achieved the historical importance of those such as the Visigoths or the Franks and, as such, have been relegated to the periphery in the study of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. This being the case, scholarship on their period of rule within both Spain and North Africa has been somewhat lacking. Even discussion of early textual mentions in the geographies of the Classical and Republic era have become bogged down in questions of authenticity, rather than discussion of the records themselves. Despite this depressing view of past scholarship, the introduction of new interpretations of texts such as Hydatius’ Chronicle by Richard Burgess have reopened avenues of research long thought closed by many scholars. Many works ‘reconsidering’ the history of the Suevi and the Vandals have appeared, reflecting new interpretations such as these. Nevertheless, both peoples are still considered relatively unimportant in the study of Late Antiquity.

Papers of the British …, 2006

Networks and Neighbours, 2014

The traditional image of Vandal North Africa as a place of oppression, persecution, et al., has largely been shattered under the weight of modern scholarly investigation. In recent years, scholars from various fields have come together to greatly enhance, and fundamentally alter, our understanding of Vandal North Africa.

2019

Open acces publication: https://doi.org/10.11588/propylaeum.552 Panel 8.6: Archaeology and Economy in the Ancient World – Proceedings of the 19. International Congress of Classical Archaeology, Cologne/Bonn 2018

Wilson, A. I. “Urban production in the Roman world: the view from North Africa.” Papers of the British School at Rome 70 (2002): 231-73., 2002

This article examines the evidence for production activities in the cities of Roman North Africa and shows how the importance of urban craft production has been largely overlooked in many discussions of the ancient economy. It is usually difficult to determine the true scale of urban production activities without extensive excavation, since workshops were often quite small; they may, however, have been numerous and scattered throughout a city. Excavations of the scale required are rarely achievable with today's techniques; two sites excavated in the first half of the twentieth century, however, reveal a situation characterized by a number of workshops: 22 fulleries at Timgad and 18 establishments for salting fish in Sabratha. Urban surface survey is suggested here as the best method to investigate sites where it is feasible, in order to identify the extent of the deposits of waste production, with the help of geophysical surveys to locate ovens and furnaces, and excavation to investigage specific areas. This combination of techniques has been successfully tested at Leptiminus, Meninx and Thamusida, and has allowed us to identify the presence of production activities for ceramics, metal working, and the extraction of purple dye. The evidence emerging from recent archaeological investigations suggests that the contribution of craft manufacture to the economy of Roman cities was potentially significant, while the aggregate scale of production in the sites discussed indicates a much larger role for craft activities than has usually been considered. The model of the 'consumer city' does not seem suitable for many Roman cities, and attempts to describe the economy of Roman urbanism should pay more attention to the role of cities in networks of local, regional, and long-distance trade. Questo articolo esamina l'evidenza per le attività industriali nelle città del nord Africa romano e dimostra come l'importanza della produzione artigianale urbana sia stata largamente sottovalutata in molte discussioni di economia antica. Di solito è difficile stabilire la giusta scala delle attività produttive urbane senza effettuare degli scavi estensivi, visto che i laboratori erano molto spesso piuttosto piccoli; ciò non toglie che essi potrebbero essere stati comunque numerosi e distribuiti all'interno della città. Scavi della estensione necessaria non sono irrealizzabili con le tecniche odierne; due siti scavati nella prima metà del ventesimo secolo hanno infatti portato alla luce un quadro caratterizzato da numerosi laboratori: 22 fulloniche a Timgad e 18 stabilimenti per la salatura del pesce a Sabratha. La ricognizione di superficie viene qui indicata come il metodo migliore per effettuare ricerche nei siti che lo consentono, al fine di identificare l'ampiezza dei depositi di rifiuti di fabbricazione, con l'aiuto di indagini geofisiche per trovare forni e fornaci, e scavi di alcune aree specifiche. Questo tipo di tecniche è stato sperimentato con successo a Leptiminus, Meninx e Thamusida, e ha permesso di identificare la presenza di attività di produzione ceramica, lavoro dei metalli e dell'industria per l'estrazione della porpora per la tintura. L'evidenza che emerge dalle recenti indagini archeologiche suggerisce che il contributo dell'industria cittadina all'economia delle città antiche fosse potenzialmente significativo, mentre la scala di produzione nei siti discussi indica un carattere artigianale della vita di queste città molto più consistente di quanto non sia stato di solito ritenuto. Il modello della 'città di consumo' non sembra adattarsi completamente a molte delle città romane, e i tentativi di descrizione dell'economia dell'urbanismo romano dovrebbero prestare più attenzione al ruolo delle città nelle reti di commercio locale, regionale e su lunga distanza.

Sehepunkte 13, Nr. 11, 2013

sehepunkte 14 (2014), Nr. 10 , 2014

Urban Interactions: Communication and Competition in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, 2020

Vandal-era Carthage represents a complex late antique city; one looking both inward and outward. It functioned both as the heart of the Vandal kingdom and as the central hub of a massive international maritime network spanning much of the late Roman and post-Roman world. Carthage had long been one of the great cities of the Mediterranean world, and continued to be so under Vandal rule. One of the significant ways in which Carthage changed, however, was the ways in which it interacted with other urban centres. This study examines these interactions, locating Carthage’s changing position within the Mediterranean world. Carthage, in effect, possessed two hinterlands, one its immediate hinterland under Vandal suzerainty and the other its wider hinterland, often geographically distant, which it acquired and held by virtue of its maritime prominence. This study will establish the position of Carthage during the Vandal era both within and without the Vandal polity. This will involve an investigation particularly of economic and ecclesiastical evidence. This study will also explore the cultural and intellectual interactions between Carthage and the wider Mediterranean world, particularly focusing on the ways in which the Vandal rulers sought to depict and promote the city. All of this positioning centers upon two aspects of Carthage’s history during the Vandal era: the severing of the Rome-Carthage trade axis, and Carthage’s newfound role as the capital of an independent state.

Spanish: La ciudad y las varias formas de vida urbana connguran el elemento clave en la organización y adminis-tración del Imperio Romano. Sin embargo, se advierten divergencias en el proceso de urbanización de las diferentes regiones que componen el Imperio. Un ejemplo signiicativo al respecto lo ofrecen las provincias de Africa e Hispania. Aunque sean vecinas y compartan una condición estratégica para la economía de la ciudad de Roma al abastecer la de recursos indispensables, ambas maniiestan diferen-cias claras en el desarrollo del urbanismo romano. El inicio de una nueva actividad urbana en Hispania bajo la autoridad romana se puede apreciar ya en época republicana. No obstante, el orecimiento de la construcción de ediicios monumentales en las ciudades se produce más tarde, durante las dinastías julio-claudia y avia. Por su parte, en las densa-mente pobladas provincias de Numidia y Africa Proconsularis se aprecia un importante progreso de la arquitectura monumental en la transición del siglo II al III d.C., momento en el que la vida urbana en Hispania entra en declive. En este taller se analizarán las causas de las diferencias cronológicas entre los varios procesos de urbanización, así como se cuestionarán las bases y los desencadenantes del esplendor urbanístico. El propósito de este taller es el de examinar las características urbanas en los diversos contextos regio-nales con la nalidad entender la ciudad, su hinterland y sus habitantes dentro de un sistema dinámico e interconectado. English: The city and its various forms of associated urban living are seen as key elements in the general organization and administration of the Roman Empire. The processes of urbanization, however, diiered from one province to another. Africa and Hispania, geographically very close to one another and both economically signiicant for the supply of various kinds of products and resources to Rome, provide a very striking example of how regional diierences in urbanism could develop. After an initial urbanization process in Hispania during the Late Republic, a high level of building activity can be observed in Julio-Claudian and Flavian times. In the densely populated African provinces of Numidia and Africa Proconsularis, massive monumentalization can be observed during the the 2nd–3rd centuries AD. By this time, urban life on the Iberian Peninsula, however, had diminished signiicantly. This workshop aims to analyze the reasons for chronological diierences between various processes of urbanization and to explore the general prerequisites of an " urban boom ". The approach of this workshop is to examine urban characteristics in a regional context and to understand the city, their hinterlands, and the people living within them as a dynamic and connected system. German: Die Stadt und ihre kulturellen Ausprägungen gelten als Schlüsselelemente zur Organisation des Römi-schen Reiches. Der Prozess der Urbanisierung konnte in den einzelnen Regionen jedoch ganz unterschied-lich vonstatten gehen. Dies zeigt deutlich eine Gegenüberstellung der Provinzen Africa und Hispanien. Obgleich sie geograasch eng verbunden und beide durch die Exporte ihrer Produkte und Ressourcen von großer wirtschaftlicher Bedeutung für Rom waren, diieriert der Ausbau ihrer Stadtanlagen entscheidend voneinander. Nach einer einsetzenden baulichen Aktivität in Hispanien noch während der späten Republik kam es dort zwischen julischer und avischer Zeit zu einem enormen Bauboom. In den dicht besiedelten Provinzen Nord-afrikas fand die massive Monumentalisierung der Städte hingegen erst Ende des 2. und frühen 3. Jh. n. Chr. statt. Zu dieser Zeit ist in den Siedlungen der Iberischen Halbinsel bereits ein Rückgang des städtischen Lebens zu bemerken. Im Rahmen des Kolloquiums werden die vielfältigen urbanen Prozesse und deren Gründe individuell beleuchtet. Stadtbilder, städtische Kultur und urbane Ökonomie sind jedoch immer auch Teil ihrer regionalen und mikroregionalen Kontexte. Die Gegenüberstellung von Africa und Hispanien bietet daher die Möglich-keit, die Stadt, ihr Hinterland und ihre Bewohner als dynamisches und gleichsam vernetztes System zu verstehen und somit nach den generellen Voraussetzungen für einen " Urban Boom " zu fragen.

Innovative Approaches to Cultural Heritage and Sustainable Urban Development: Integrating Tradition and Modernity, 2024

The urban changes in North African cities during the Late Roman Empire is a controversial topic that many recent scholars have sought to resolve. While the late city “decline” hypothesis has begun to dissipate in recent years, giving way to a new view that sees this period as a time of urban prosperity and development for the cities of Roman North Africa, the variations in the trends of the late transformations of each city's urban landscape, make it necessary to examine each case individually. This article explores the urban changes of Thamugadi (Timgad, Algeria) during the Late Roman period. We relied on an attempt to inventory and re-read of the available archaeological and epigraphic evidence of late-period construction and restoration. After organizing, tabulating and mapping the data on a city map using ArcGIS software, we set out to interpret the results concerning urban changes in Thamugadi during the Late Roman period, focusing on the following elements: Private and Public Investments, Urban Functions and Christian Buildings. The results demonstrate the city's distinctive urban dynamism during the period in question. They also provide a framework for understanding Thamugadi's urban development and continuity during that era the city's history.

Iberia Archaeologica 22, 2023

North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula were both geographical key regions in the Roman world. Their resources, elites, and culture were important factors in the development and growth of the Roman empire. Both regions experienced an Urban Boom in the imperial period and, as a result, the modern countries of Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya all possess remains of significant numbers of settlements with impressively monumentalized cityscapes dating back to the Roman period. While this process of monumentalization took place in two very different parts of the empire, and peaked in prosperity at different times, some striking similarities in their paths to urban development can still be observed. This volume is the result of an international workshop held at the German Archaeological Institute in Madrid in 2018. The workshop brought together historians, archaeologists, and epigraphists, asking them to reflect on the causal factors behind the various phenomena that constitute the Urban Boom in each of these regions. The chapters offered here constitute a significant contribution to the study of ancient urbanism, identifying some of the key elements that triggered urban development in the Roman empire. The variety of studies presented not only demonstrates the complexities involved in the study of the processes behind ancient urbanization – from the level of individual cities to broader settlement systems – it also sharpens our view of the urban achievements that were specific to the Roman period.

Akroterion, 2012

The name Qart Hadasht ("Carthage" was the corrupt Roman version) means "new capital" in Phoenician. The Phoenicians, the first settlers in historical times, came from Tyre in Phoenicia in the 9 th century and probably planned it as an alternative capital in the west since Tyre was at this stage seriously harassed by the Assyrians. According to tradition, the Phoenicians founded Carthage in 814 BC. The Greek historian Timaeus records the myth that Carthage was founded by the Phoenician princess Elissa or Dido, who fled from Tyre when her husband was murdered by her brother Pygmalion. Dido is said to have paid the Libyans for as much land as could be covered by an ox-hide (Greek bursa); by cutting the ox-hide in narrow strips and laying them edge to edge in a vast semi-circle, she secured not only a beaching point for her party, but also the hill called "Byrsa" today. Cf. Raven 1969: 12.

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