From Hannibal to Augustine: Rome and North Africa

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

The course explores the history, culture, religion and society of Pre-Roman and Roman North Africa from the beginnings of the Phoenician rule and the foundation of the city of Carthage (9 th century BCE) to the Muslim conquest (7 th century CE), with a focus on the Roman occupation. This period, spanning about a millennium and a half (or 850 years of Roman rule), is best known for famous wars, generals and military conquests (the Punic Wars under the Phoenician general Hannibal, the destruction of Carthage), but its cultural, economic and religious history is equally interesting. Western North Africa was characterized by a complicated ethnic and linguistic makeup, by its relative independence from the center of the empire and by its economically strong position within the Empire, yet at its margins. It also became one of the centers of early Latin Christianity. Important authors such as Cyprian, Tertullian, Lactantius, Perpetua and above all Augustine of Hippo lived and wrote in the region dominated city of Carthage, and this is where some of the best-known writings of ancient Christianity were produced. In this course, we will situate the culturally and economically fertile environment of Western North Africa in its context in terms of geography (surrounded by the Mediterranean, the Sahara desert, the African provinces to the East, first and foremost Egypt, and lastly the Iberian Peninsula, from where the Vandal invaders would arrive), politics and history, economics, multiethnicity and religious diversity. We will discuss literary works, works of art, archaeological relics and historical sources to gain a multifaceted understanding of a complex and fascinating era whose legacy would contribute so much to shaping the Christian Middle Ages. Knowledge of Greek or Latin is not required. No prerequisites.