Africa Case

Before the Roman occupancy of Africa there was an economic battle between two great dominating powers, Rome and Carthage. Carthage was founded during the 9th century and it remained a primary power in North Africa until it was defeated by the Romans during the Third Punic War in 246 BCE. Carthage was the great economic power in the Mediterranean and Rome had wanted to take its place. Rome is a great and unchallenged rising power with colonies in Macedonia, Asia, Cilicia, Sicily and Sardinia-Corsica. Rome's drive to take over Carthage's economic command over the Mediterranean led to their imperialism in northern Africa. The Roman invasion brought great change to the life styles of the north African Berbers. Romans spread throughout the land they conquered their customs through art, architecture, their army and agriculture. On top of the ruble of the old Carthage, the Romans built a whole new that reigned there for over seven centuries. Over these seven centuries, the Roman culture brought to this area would absorb the native Berbers and change their way of life.

The Romanization of Africa was not a quick event. It was rather a process that took lots of time and several sequences of events to make a permanent start and impact on people of northern Africa, even in the greater cities of the colony. Between the obliteration of the capital of Carthage and the building of Roman Carthage, an entire century went by. After this century had passed by, there were many cities established, but it took yet another century before the colony was recognized as anything special or of economic power as a Roman colony. There were over 600 cities of great power and economic standing for the Roman Colony. Among these ancient cities, there are still artifacts of this Roman colony in existence today, for example some art and architecture, which are evidence of the change that Rome had brought to the African continent.

Within the Roman occupied cities of Africa, the majority of the population was made up of three groups: the Berber tribes, the colonists from Rome and the Carthaginians of Phoenician origin. The Berbers were dark skinned native African people and they spoke a common language and shared characteristics. Even though the Berbers and the Romans had different languages and physically looked different from one another, they generally remained cohesive in this Roman society. The two groups blended together and worked in their urban societies in order for them to function productively. It is clear that the Roman society of the colonists had started taking over the lives of the native Berbers. There was a range of possible relationships between the Romans and the Berbers, among those were cooperation and opposition. There were many elite Africans who joined into Roman society happily. Not all native Berbers were opposed to the occupation of the Romans. Roman rule, for a select group of Burburs, meant opportunity rather than subjection to their society. For some of these Africans it gave them a sense of identity among their previous tribal or family loyalties. These elites were willing to participate in Roman society, provided they were given the right kind of position. These positions that the Berbers wanted were simply ones higher than the peasant class. For example elites, government positions, soldiers or anyone who would have a decent income

One key way of joining Roman society and gaining a higher position was to become part of the Roman army. In the army you paid tribute to Roman nationalism, pledging their loyalty. Joining the army was indoctrinating into this new Roman society of northern Africa, gaining citizenship. Some of the perks of joining the army for these locals were land grants on retirement and a substantial bonus upon retirement and even a Roman name. During the first century of Rome's rule over Africa, the army was strictly made up of Roman colonists. Towards the second century and into the third century that Rome was ruling northern Africa, there was a pattern of change where more and more local Berbers joined the army. After more and more native Berbers joined the army it had grown to about 5,000 men. As the soldiers of the army started to become less of a foreign entity and more made up of local men, it became easier for the army to identify with the local civilians. A relationship between the army and the civilians was important because it shows the impact of Roman rule and integration on native society and way of life prior to Romans. By now, not only did the general concept of Roman culture take over, but their army absorbed so many native Berbers that they were no longer become a foreign body with in these cities. Civilians were more at ease and it was easier for the Roman government to remain in control of the colony. The relationship also proves that Berbers, even though there was opposition, did not always protest Roman occupation.

Roman soldiers were placed strategically throughout the 600 cities of the Roman African colony. There were several types of cities existing in Roman Africa. The first of which were old Phonecian towns. These cities were close to the coast and they consisted mostly of the Roman colonists. There were old native settlements that were used as frame work with the new Roman structures built around them. The cities were not fully reconstructed; lots of old parts of the towns were used. For example, if there was an old main road in a city, it was just rebuilt to full capacity and incorporated within the rest of the new city. Among these cities, two hundred of them were in rich farmlands of northern Tunisia. Being only 6-8 miles apart, trade between the cities was made fairly easily. Towns were built of stone and they had temples, forums, market places, and public baths. The money for the building was provided by the new-rich citizens and also from Emperors. Some of the richest towns not only had temples, forums, market places, and public baths; they also had a variety of public buildings. These public buildings were donated either by private citizens or by the emperors and their departments. A key input of these Roman cities were the various types of architecture that were incorporated within them. Architecture was a very important factor in the colony and one of the easiest ways for Roman culture to absorb itself into the lives of the native Berbers. Every single city had some sort of architecture with in it whether it be public baths, monuments, or libraries. Every where the people of these cities went there was some sort of Roman architecture incorporated into their lives.

These buildings were evidence of the permanence of the Roman culture on the lives of the north Africans. Roman architects loved to build for pleasure just as much as they did for piety or government purposes. Among many types of buildings constructed for pleasure were theatres,