Africa (Roman province)

Africa was a Roman province on the northern coast of the continent of Africa. It was established in 146 BC, following the Roman Republic's conquest of Carthage in the Third Punic War. It roughly comprised the territory of present-day Tunisia, the northeast of Algeria, and the coast of western Libya along the Gulf of Sidra. The territory was originally and still is inhabited by Berbers, known in Latin as the Numidae and Maurii, indigenous to all of North Africa west of Egypt. In the 9th century BC, Semitic-speaking Phoenicians from the Levant built coastal settlements across the Mediterranean to support and expand their shipping networks. In the 8th century BC, the settlement of Carthage became the predominant Phoenician colony. Rome began expanding into Africa after annexing Carthage in 146 BC at the end of the Punic Wars, and into Numidia from 25 BC, establishing Roman colonies in the region.

Africa was one of the wealthiest provinces in the Roman Empire, second only to Italy. It was said that Africa fed the Roman populace for eight months of the year, while Egypt provided the remaining four months' supply. The area east of the Fossa Regia was fully Romanized^{[contentious label]} with one third of the population made of Italian colonists and their descendants, the other two thirds were Romanized Berbers, who were all Christians and nearly all Latin speaking.

Rome's first province in northern Africa was established by the Roman Republic in 146 BC, following its conquest of Carthage by Scipio Aemilianus in the Third Punic War.

Utica, which had sided with Rome against Carthage, was made the administrative capital. The remaining territory was left in the domain of the Berber Numidian king Massinissa. At this time, the Roman policy in Africa appears to have been to prevent a rival great power rising in Northwest Africa.

In 118 BC, the Numidian king Micipsa died and split the kingdom among his three heirs: Jugurtha, Hiempsal I and Adherbal. Hiempsal was assassinated in 117 BC; Adherbal fled to Rome to request protection and the intervention of the Roman Senate. In 112 BC, Jugurtha resumed the civil war and defeated Adherbal at Cirta, and embarked on the Jugurthine War against Rome (111–106 BC). Following Jugurtha's defeat, his former territory was placed under the control of the Berber Mauritanian king Bocchus.

During Caesar's civil war (49–45 BC), Caesar created a new African province, Africa nova, from territory taken from the Numidians. The original province was called Africa vetus. During the Second Triumvirate, the two provinces were unified, possibly in 35 BC, in consequence of border conflicts. Roman governors of the province won three triumphs between 34 and 28 BC. Further expansion of the province continued under the emperor Augustus, with conflicts recorded through to AD 6. Under the Augustan constitutional reforms, in 27 BC the region was made a senatorial province, and eventually became known as Africa proconsularis (as it was ruled by a senatorial proconsul rather than an imperial legate).

After Diocletian's administrative reforms, the province was split into Africa Zeugitana (which retained the name Africa Proconsularis, as it was governed by a proconsul)^{[contradictory]} in the north, Africa Byzacena (corresponding to eastern Tunisia) to the south, and Africa Tripolitania (corresponding to southern Tunisia and northwest Libya) to the south and southeast of Africa Byzacena, all of which were part of the Dioecesis Africae. Old Africa (Africa Vetus), which generally includes the areas mentioned, was also known by the Romans (Pliny) as Africa propria, of which Carthage was the capital.

The region remained part of the Roman empire until the Germanic migrations of the 5th century AD. The Vandals crossed into Northwest Africa from Spain in AD 429, had conquered the region by AD 439, founding a kingdom which also included Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearics. The Vandals controlled the country as a warrior-elite but faced strong resistance from the native Berbers. The Vandals also persecuted Chalcedonian Roman Africans and Berbers, as the Vandals were adherents of Arianism (the semi-trinitarian doctrines of Arius, a priest of Egypt). Towards the end of the 5th century, Vandal control over the area diminished, abandoning most of the interior territories to the Mauri and other Berber tribes of the region.