The Roman province of Africa was one of richest in the Empire and as a result has some of the most spectacular remains. "The Cities of Roman Africa" examines the development of urban space and cultural life in this province from the beginnings of Roman rule in the second century BC to the fall of the province of Africa to the Vandals in AD 439.
In this engaging and strikingly illustrated new book, Gareth Sears considers the incorporation of Roman culture into Africa, and its use by African populations and, in particular, their elites. The author also explores the persistence of pre-Roman cultures, and how these factors affected the evolution of the cities, intellectual life and even entertainment under the Republic and Empire.
Dr Gareth Sears is a lecturer in Roman History at the University of Birmingham. He is a specialist on Roman North Africa, and has co-directed archaeological work at the city of Cyrene in Libya for the Cyrenaica Archaeological Project.
Gareth Sears presents here a fascinating and well researched analysis into the development of a little understood, but extremely important and wealthy, part of the Roman Empire. He traces its development, culture and Romanization from the beginnings of Roman rule in the second century BC to the fall of the province of Africa to the Vandals in AD 439.
The book is divided up by time periods, starting with the Numidian and Punic/Phoenician civilisations that existed in Africa before Roman rule. This is an excellent way to start and gives a good overview of the situation before Roman rule, but as there is not much evidence from this period, there is little he can really say.
He moves on in the second chapter to look at urbanisation and governance for the first two centuries of Roman rule. The creation of new colonies and cities and the growth of many of the existing Punic and Mauretanian cities, and how they started to adapt and Romanise.
The next chapter is on the traditional religious life and impact of roman beliefs, which, while well presented is again limited by lack of evidence.
Chapter 4, the flourishing of African Urbanism, was for me the most interesting part. Here he shows the development in the golden age of Rome, the second century. This period showed a slight increase in the size of the provinces, but also a massive building project, especially of entertainment facilities, a trend which continued into the Severan period as shown in the following chapter.
Chapter five, the Severan revolution, is extremely interesting and detailed due to more evidence. As Septimus Severus was from Africa there was an amazing level of development and building in this period and the major cities built all the 'Roman' buildings, forum, baths, amphitheatres, etc.
The next chapter on the third century, was far too short, this is interesting as it is an important time, but he should have said more. Unlike the rest of the empire Africa showed a lack of damage during this crisis and continued to grow and develop, I feel he should have explained the reasons for this more fully and its impact on the rest of the empire.
The final chapter is on the late Roman City, continuity and Cristianisation. This basically shows how, like in most of the empire the building shifted from monuments and civic structures to churches, and the complexity of the early Christian church with all its schisms and sects. This is a complex and interesting period, which could easily be a book in its own, but I think it was very clearly and concisely explained, providing all the relevant points, but without get bogged down in details.
The conclusion, simply entitled Roman Africa, provided a good summary and shows what they were like, why and how they developed and Romanised, this has a bit more conjecture, as the evidence obviously can't tell us everything, but is well done
I would say the author provides a very good analysis of the cities and development of the regions. The book is well illustrated with lots of maps, photos, plans; although a lack of reconstructions. I personally feel I learnt a lot about the development of Roman Africa, for example the importance of entertainment; and how it was the only part of the empire that continued to develop when the rest of the empire was collapsing.
On the negative side he doesn't tell us much about the smaller towns and countryside, and it is a very academic work, thus a bit dry for the layman, but for those with a basic knowledge of the Roman world it is well worth the read. My main gripe is how little he says about the people and cultures. I wouldn't say I went away from reading this with an understanding of the people or what made them different from those on the north of the Mediterranean, although, as the author himself points out, this is difficult to do with the available archaeological evidence.
Gareth Sears is a specialist on Roman North Africa and the late Roman period and a member of the Cyrenaica Archaeological project, an international mission for the study of the Roman city of Cyrene in Libya.
Book: 'The Cities of Roman Africa'
Author: Gareth Sears
Review by: Joe Medhurst
Joe Medhurst is a teacher and historian, he writes articles on history and education for several magazines and websites. His website is: joemedhurst.com