 |
The
Living History Engineer's
Roman North Africa |
The following begins a series of observation by
Dominus Praefectus Serapio during his tour of military duty in North
Africa, In spite of his military duties, Praefects Serapio was able to
make the time to visit these sites, and make a few notes for our benefit, as
well as a few sketches of the excavation work being done.
Berenice,
Egypt - Libya: Tripolitania (Part 1)
- (Part 2) - (Part
3) - Cults &
Religious Offices - Institutions
& Magistracies - Imperial
Administration
Berenice,
Egypt
This is a port on the
Red Sea
, that was responsible for a good part of the trade carried on between
the
Red Sea
and
Mediterranean Sea
during the Ptolemaic and Roman Ages. It
was the main connection for commercial links (terra marique) between East and
West, joining the Asian Continent with
Africa
and the Arabian Felix, and leading, through
established trade routes, commerce from the
Red Sea
, into the
Mediterranean
.
This important port was in
continuous operation from the III Century B.C. through the III Century A.D, but
the period of it's greatest growth and impact on the ancient world was from the
1 Century B.C, up to the I Century A.D.
Archaeological
excavations are currently still being conducted, as the most sought after
specific stratum of overburden layers have not yet been reached.
From the East, arriving in
Berenice were various spices, silk, glass pearls, natural pearls, coconuts,
incense and myrrh. From the West
arrived "young singers" (girls for Indian harems) red coral, glass,
wheat and wine.
From Berenice goods were
transported by camel train overland through the desert. Normally within
forty days these trains reached the port of Apollonihopah's Magna (today's Edfu),
a river port on the Nile River, and from there downriver in period watercraft to
the seaport of Alexandria for transport to markets / destinations along the
shores of the Mediterranean.
Actual archaeological excavations have provided details about the daily life of
the civilian population of the city of
Berenice
, together with much information regarding period
Commercial organization. One of the great problems extent in Berenice
during it's lifetime was the matter of providing a significant water supply to
the inhabitants of the city. The greater part of available water came from local
wells, but whether the water was piped into the city or whether it was brought
on the backs of animal trains is not known at this time. As regard to food
supplies, it is apparent from the archaeological findings, that the city relied
heavily upon the bounty of the sea.
Berenice was a widely diverse ethnic community with the representation of many
different cultural groups and religions. Archaeologists
have identified evidence for a variety of Egyptian, Greco-Roman, and Eastern
faiths as well as Christianity among the ruins being sifted. In a
"drift" (a geological deposit) a cache of about 200 OSTRAKA, written
baked clay fragments) in Greek language dating back to the age of Claudius and
Nero have been found. These are the records of the custom house,
with lists of traders, ships, cargoes, (for example; wine coming from Italia)
and other data relating to commerce.
Part of the archaeological findings was a ruined structure used as a goods
storage area which contained many amphorae and fragments of a statue which may
be of the Goddess Isis.
TOP
Libya: Tripolitania
Part 1
In classical times, as today, the stretch of North African coast from the Syrtis
Maior (today
Gulf of Sidra
) to Syrtis Minor (the Gulf of Gabès) was nearly
all low-lying and almost entirely sandy. Three cities flourished on this coast (
Tripolitania
means "three cities"). Each was
situated at the end of a long caravan route leading through the territory of the
Garamantes, roughly equivalent to the modern
Fezzan
, with Garama as capital (today Djerma), up to
the sub-Saharan
Africa
. According to the tradition, the three cities
had been founded by Phoenician colonists. Going from east to west, the cities
were Lepcis (to which the Romans added the suffix Magna to distinguish it from
the city of the same name in Byzacium, the modern-day Tunisia); Oea (where modern Tripoli
today stands) and Sabratha.
It seems that the cities grew up around the sites of seasonal trading posts. The
locations had been carefully chosen, as in each case the rocky coast gives way
to inlets suitable for ships to drop anchor safely out of the northwest winds.
Lepcis, Oea and Sabratha therefore had naturally safe harbors and lay at the
ends of ancient routes to the south the presence of primitive trading posts
quickly turned into flourishing caravan routes. The cities enjoyed the benefit
of an hinterland that produced major agricultural products. In fact, the cities
were protected by having the Gefara plain and the Jebel hills (11,2 miles ; 18
kilometers east of Lepcis) to their rear. enabling farmers to cultivate valuable
crops. The natural shortage of water was overcome by systematically running off
water from the wadis (watercourses that remain dry for most of the year but then
swell to torrents during the short rainy seasons). In addition to this farmers
also constructed numerous civil engineering works to collect rain waters, and
built terraces to retain the humus.
Today there is no doubt that the large scale colonization works that made it
possible to grow cereals and olives on the Gefara plain, in the Jebel hills, and
throughout a large part of the pre-Saharan area, began when Tripolitania was
ruled by Carthaginians.
Literary sources already mention Carthaginian irrigation works along the Cinyps
Wadi (the modern Wadi Caam, the only all year watercourse in
Tripolitania
which flows out into the
Mediterranean
about 12,4 miles; 20 kilometers east of Lepcis).
They describe also the agricultural bounty of the
Emporia
region (the region of Lepcis, Oea and Sabratha),
whose inhabitants were forced by Caesar in 46B.C. to pay an annual tribute of
around one million liters of olive oil. More recently an archaeological study
discovered that
Tripolitania
was producing amphorae of olive oil as early as
the 2nd to 1st centuries B.C.; the study discovered also oil presses dating from
the middle of the 1st century A.D. on farms at the southern end of the
pre-Saharan regions. At the same time the find of an ostracon (an inscribed
fragment of pottery) from the Jebel hills behind Lepcis, has provided proof of
Carthaginian farmers and land owners in a region that today is still one of the
best olive-growing areas in the world. In Roman times, agriculture in the area
expanded enormously: thanks to the outlet that imperial
Rome
provided for their goods, the wealth of the
three cities grew beyond all recognition. In the 3rd century A.D. a serious
crisis sent the economy of the
Roman Empire
into a slump and trade declined sharply. This
fact had an impact also on the Tripolitanian Emporia. Neither the measures taken
by Imperator Septimius Severus to safeguard the African limes and the old
caravan routes, nor Imperator Diocletianus' measures, which included setting up
the Provincia Tripolitania , were able to counter the fact that sea-borne trade
was disappearing. Although the process was to take a long time, this marked the
beginning of the decline of the three ports of
Tripolitania
.
TOP
Libya: Triplitania
Part 2
From the days of Imperator
Augustus onward the history of Lepcis, Oea and Sabratha followed that of the
proconsular region. As we know from roman literary sources, and also from the
vast number of local inscriptions, the three cities were gradually integrated
into the roman administration of
Africa
.
So it was that first one city and then the next were used as operational bases,
initially by the Proconsuls themselves. From Caligula on, they were also used by
legates attached to the Legio III Augusta, which was stationed in the province.
The enemy could be either the powerful Garamantes, lord of Phasania (
Fezzan
) in the South, or the local rebel leaders who in
the 1st century B.C. suddenly rose up to disrupt the province. So in
21-20 B.C. Proconsul Lucius Cornelius Balbus may well have marched out of the
Sabratha region; certainly he marched from
Tripolitania
, at the start of the expedition that would see
his victorious entry into Garama, the Garamantes' capital, in the heart of
Fezzan
. The Garamantes seized a lot of pretext to push
toward the rich cities of the coast.
In 69 A.D. Vespasianus' accession to the throne proved difficult and disturbing
even in
Africa
. It was than that Lepcis and Oea engaged in
their own war. As Oea was weaker, it called upon the Garamantes for help and
they savagely sacked Lepcitian territory. It was only when Valerius Festus, the
legate of the Legio, intervened that peace was restored. Perhaps it was not just
a question of raids and borders that had put the two cities at each other's
throats, but also of long-standing trading rivalries.
It may well have been at this time, to defend themselves against the Garamantes,
that the people of Lepcis built the impressive agger (an earthwork rampart)
which surrounded not only the city itself but also a stretch of cultivated land.
Valerius Festus defeated the Garamantes and pursued them back to their own
territory. According to Pliny the Elder, it was at this stage that the Romans
discovered a new and shorter route to Phasania (
Fezzan
); this was probably the road from
Tripoli
to Mizda and Gheria al-Ghiarba which was, in
fact, the shortest of the ancient caravan routes to Garama.
[I found in the national library of my city an English translation of the
passage taken from "Natural History" by Pliny the Elder, in which he
speaks about the territory of the Garamantes and about that road: "You
reach the territory of the Garamantes after marching westward for eleven days
across the Syrtis Major. The territory is encircled by sand but this does not
prevent the Garamantes from easily finding wells at a depth of about two cubits,
for the waters of
Mauritania
flow through this region. The Garamantes build
their houses from salt extracted from their mountains like stone. It takes these
people seven days of march across the regions, where the sun sets in winter to
reach the Troglodytes. In the middle lies Phezania facing the solitary reaches
of
Africa
. It is here that we have quelled the Phezanii
people and the towns of Alele and Ciliba. Starting from these towns, a mountain
fills a long stretch between the rising and the setting suns. Our authors call
it Ater, after its nature, because it seems scorched, or else it flames as it
reflects the rays of the sun [...]. Up till now it has been impossible to trace
the route leading into the territory of the Garamantes. If our reconnaissance is
correct, the brigands of this nation cover their shallow wells over with sand.
But during the very recent war against the inhabitant of Oea, at the start of
Vespasian's reign, we discovered a short cut of four days, a route called
"over rock crest".]
Apart from emergency measures such as the one already mentioned, the imperial
legate attached to the Legio had no jurisdiction over the Tripolitanian cities.
They, like the rest of Africa Proconsularis, were administered by the Proconsul.
AT least from the reign of Flavius onwards, the area directly under the control
of the legate of the Legio III Augusta, when approached from the South, finished
just short of the northern limit of the Tripolitanian Jebel hills, along the
line of a military road that defended the
Emporia
territory.
However, as we are about to see from countless inscriptions, the implementation
of an organic plan for the "limes Tripolitanus" (Tripolitanian
borders) in the Jebel uplands and above all in the pre-Saharan region (an open
frontier, but one where the caravan routes were vigilantly patrolled) was the
work of the first African Imperator. Septimius Seveus, whose family come from
Lepcis.
In his reign the area of Tripolitania under roman rule reached its southernmost
extent, with the Legio III Augusta holding permanent outposts at forts in Gheria
el-Garbia (and Gheria es-Scerghia), Bu Ngem and Ghadames.
It is to the reign of Septimius Severus, to the early years of the reign of his
son, Caracalla, that we generally ascribe the earliest mention of a Regio
Tripolitania, though this is strictly in reference to the Imperator's own
estates. But between 294 A.D. and 305 A.D. the region was granted autonomy under
Imperator Diocletianus, and
Tripolitania
, like neighboring Byzacium, became a Roman
province.
To the northwest the
province
of
Tripolitania
was separated from Byzacium, which was now known
as Valeria Byzacena, by a line which ran from Tritonis Lacus (Chott Djerid) to
the sea just north of Tacape (present-day Gabès). The Provincia Tripolitania
ran along the coast as far as the Arae Philaenorum (Ras el-Aali) in the east,
and to the south it bordered the pre-Saharan area which then belonged to the
Provincia Numidia. This often mean that the Praeses (governor) of
Tripolitania
performed both military and civil duties.
In this new geographical-administrative guise, the Regio-Provincia Tripolitania
survive, officially at least, until the Vandals came.
At the start of the 4th century A.D. the Emporia of Tripolitania were shaken by
an earthquake that destroyed both Lepcis and Sabratha (Oea is buried beneath
modern
Tripoli
, so we have no information on this event here).
Houses and monuments alike were flattened, so the inhabitants used the abundance
of material made available to build walls around the towns, now much smaller
since the outlying districts were abandoned completely. This also shows that
they had lost confidence in roman army, and that they were under greater
pressure from the barbarian gentes (tribes) of the interior. In fact the
barbarian gentes were anxious to take the well-cultivated land belonging to the
costal cities. At the same time, the grip of a central authority was steadily
weakening and being replaced by the growing power of local families; as a
result, there were also simultaneous changes taking place in the way the cities
were laid out. Archaeologists have recently turned up some important results in
relation to this. In Sabratha some streets were taken over for private use;
powerful family groups gathered, almost certainly not just for convivial
purposes, in areas set aside for communal meals can also add the spread of a
small Christian group.
The French historian Gilbert Picard presumed that "the rapid growth of
Christianity in
Africa
between Marcus Aurelius and the Severans was due
above all to the demise of the old, pre-Roman Punic rites, and the consequent
search for something new with which to replace them. In other words there was a
wish on the part of some of the local community, more obstinately attached to
Carthaginian culture, not to be swallowed up; even as late as St. Augustine,
people in the countryside were still speaking in the Punic tongue. One likely
explanation for the rapid integration of what was once Roman Africa into the
Arab universe could lie in the common Semitic roots of conquerors and
conquered." (G.Picard-"La civilisation de l'Afrique romaine" [the
civilization of roman Africa]- 2nd edition -Augustinian studies-
1990- Paris).
In
Tripolitania
the earliest traces of Catholic bishops refer to
Lepcis and date from the end of the 2nd century A.D.. In Sabratha, catacombs of
primary importance have also been found, dating from the second half of the 3rd
century. But all three cities were deeply divided when the dispute between
Catholics and Donatists schismatics was at its height: on more than one occasion
the cities had both Catholic and Donatist bishops at the same time.
The Vandals, who favored the latter, finally occupied
Tripolitania
toward the middle of the 5th century A.D.. The
three cities, already stricken by a tremendous earthquake in 365 A.D., come
under constant threat from tribesmen on camels, such as the powerful Austuriani
who reached the heart of Sirtica. They pushed toward the east to pillage
Ptolemais and
Cyrene
, and then to the west, where they laid waste the
territories of Lepcis and the cities lost most of their inhabitants.
During the course of the 5th century A.D. and of those that followed, the stable
farming populations that had settled inland gradually became more important than
those of the coastal cities, deprived as the latter now were both their
hinterland and their trade: at least from the earliest days of the roman empire
up to that time, these had formed the main sources of their wealth.
For example, if we consider
Tripolitania
in late classical times, we can have no doubt
that the Jebel uplands and the pre-Saharan region acquired an importance very
different from that which they had had under
Carthage
or
Rome
. But by now the world had become very
conservative, and in this context the small but secure degree of wealth enjoyed
by their communities meant that for the first time in their history these
regions were important as a separate economic and social unit. Archaeological
research shows that the importance of the regions grew in direct proportion to
the progressive decline (irreversible after the turn of the 5th century A.D.) of
the coastal cities. Indeed, when the Byzantines arrived, they found only
unrecognizable fragments of the past.
In 533 A.D. Belisarius, one of Imperator Justinianus' finest generals, was put
in command of reconquering
Africa
: and so in the century in which the Byzantines
occupied the three cities of
Tripolitania
, these cities were living their last moment, not
of splendor, but of organized civic life. Sabratha was embellished by a
Christian basilica decorated with mosaics of rare beauty; but by now the cities
were little more than fortresses. Moreover, the existing religious differences
were made even more bitter by the orthodoxy of the
Byzantine
Church
and the
Byzantine empire
. When Imperator Heraclius died (641 A.D.), while
busy defending his frontiers in
Asia Minor
, the arrival of the Arabs under the command of
Amr ibn al-As in 642-643 A.D. must have seemed little short of a liberation to
the surviving inhabitants of the ancient Carthaginian Emporia. But of the three
cities only one was to survive: this was Oea, which became the headquarters of
the new occupying forces. By the end of the 7th century A.D., these forces had
well and truly taken over
Africa
, including
Carthage
, Sabratha and Lepcis continued purely as Arab
strongholds until the 9th century A.D., when they were engulfed by sand.
Little but the memory of them remained until the day the Italian archaeologists'
pick axes struck the ground at the beginning of the 20th century
TOP
Libya: Tripolitania
Part 3
From
Augustus to Diocletianus
As I said before, the coastline of
Libya
, with no shortage of promontories where wadis
flow into the sea, and where there are also many small, habitable islands,
provided exactly the kind of place that the Phoenicians preferred to settle in.
It seems likely that the kind of stopovers needed by the coastal trade on which
Phoenician vessels had been engaged ever since they first sailed west in search
of ores must also have existed along the coast of the Tripolitania, between the
gulf of Sidra and the Gulf of Gabès. Nevertheless the earliest settlements in
the areas where Lepcis, Oea and Sabratha were to rise have until now provided
not a single pottery fragment. It should be remembered, however, that the
island
of
Lide
(a rock situated at the mouth of the Wadi Lebdah
that was possibly used as an early Phoenician outpost) was completely built over
during the construction of the port at Lepcis by Imperator Septimius Severus.
Archaeological evidence does not tally with references from written sources.
Sallust, Silius Italicus and Pliny the Elder all speak of Phoenician settlements
of colonists from
Tyre
and
Sidon
in Lepcis; they also maintain the colonists from
Tyre
settled in Sabratha, and that Phoenicians from
Sicily
and
Africa
settled in Oea. We must nevertheless treat these
sources with caution. Anyway, it is legitimate, for instance, to assume that the
tradition reported by this late-roman sources may in part at least have sprung
from a local desire to ennoble their own cities by claiming origins that go back
in the past as far as possible. In this way they put themselves on a par with
the defeated city of
Carthage
. the emporia of
Tripolitania
also managed to distance themselves from their
ancient ties of subjection to the mortal enemy of their new Roman lords.
In reality, the growth of trading posts in Tripolitania between the second half
of the 7th century B.C. (Lepcis) ant the beginning of the 4th
century 8Sabratha) seems directly linked to a specific desire to exploit and
augment the natural routes leading into the country’s interior. In turn, these
led to contacts with the Garamantes tribe, through whom they could tap into the
immense resources of the sub-Saharan
Africa
,
Cyrenaica
and
Egypt
. In the late 7th century B.C. this level of
economic and political planning was implemented by
Carthage
, that had its roots already firmly planted in
Africa
.
On the one hand Carthaginians looked towards the
Mediterranean
; on the other they sought to dominate
Africa
. The first treaty they made with the emerging
power of
Rome
in 509 B.C. fits into this scheme of things:
under the terms of the treaty, the Romans were prohibited from sailing past
Cape Bon
(the peninsula at the northeast of
Tunisia
). Another aim of their strategy was to penetrate
right to the heart of the
Gulf of Sidra
. Foundations attributed to the Carthaginians can
be found from Macomaca, a busy outpost specializing in salt fish on the Tuaorga
Lagoon near Misurata, to Macomades Syrtis and Charax (past present-day Sirte), a
town where smuggled Cyrenaican silphium was traded for wine.
These small centers, of which Charax was the most important, chart the
progressive advance of
Carthage
eastward, toward the point where the Phileni
brothers had died in their attempt to establish a borderline.
Although things shifted from time to time under the Ptolemies, this area
traditionally formed the boundary between the Carthaginian African area and
Cyrenaica
, influenced by the Greeks.
To sum up, all evidence we have points to the fact that all three Tripolitanian
cities (not just the older Lepcis, but also the more recent Oea and Sabratha) if
they were not colonies of pure Carthaginian origin, at least grew up in a way
which suited the plans and the needs of Carthage.
According to the sources, we know that the status of "Carthaginian
colonies" was particularly burdensome. For example, we know that Lepcis
paid "vectigal", or tributes, to
Carthage
of a talent a day (in other words more than nine
tons of silver every year!). It is likely that all three cities did the same. So
when Scipio defeated the Carthaginians at
Zama
it must have come as a relief to those cities.
Even if after 201 B.C. they still nominally belonged to
Carthage
, in reality the Emporia of Tripolitania asserted
very quickly their independence. Neither the brief domination of Massinissa,
king of
Numidia
, to whom
Rome
eventually gave the region (probably in about
162-162 B.C.), nor indeed the far more liberal and peaceful rule of Micipsa,
held back the development of the three cities. Even though they had to pay
tributes to the distant Numidian kings, they preserved their own language,
institutions and religious traditions. And above all they were free to trade on
an independent basis.
Today there is irrefutable archaeological evidence that these three cities
played a full part in Mediterranean trade. this trade was increasingly dominated
by the Romans, and the evidence shows that the
Emporia
grew progressively richer. Evidence of this is
the impressive amount of urban development that took place in Lepcis and
Sabratha between the end of the 2nd and the beginning of the 1st century B.C. In
addition, rich Hellenistic cemeteries have been discovered in the suburbs of
these two cities, as well as in Oea. Mediterranean trade was boosted by
ever-growing demand for goods from the inexhaustible resources of
Africa
: wild animals and beasts for amphitheaters,
hides, ivory, gold dust, semiprecious stones and, of course, slaves. The coastal
plan was systematically exploited, making late-Hellenistic Lepcis an important
center in trading grain. According to the Greek historian Herodotus, the
cereal-growing land irrigated by the Cinyps Wadi had very high yields. In
addition, sheep farming prospered on the Jebel uplands behind the three cities.
Both their geographical position and their legal status as peripheral vassals of
the
kingdom
of
Numidia
meant that the Tripolitanian Emporia felt no adverse effects from the
last Punic War. Lepcis, at least, threw in its lot with
Rome
from the beginning of the Jugurthine War in 111
B.C., signing a treaty of alliance ad friendship. From then on, Lepcis gave its
new allies every assistance and in 108 B.C., albeit temporarily, a roman
garrison was stationed in the city. It seems likely that, as during Carthaginian
domination, Lepcis continued to function as the administrative capital of the
Empotia region. During the 1st century B.C. not just Lepcis but also Oea and
Sabratha struck their own bronze coins; Lepcis also had silver coins. The
Tripolitanian Emporia remained independent until at least 46 B.C., appearing to
escape relatively unscathed from the roman civil wars; it was in 46 B.C. that
Caesar imposed the fine of one million liters of oil as punishment for help
(arms, soldiers and money) given to Juba and Pompey's faction. We don't know if
on that occasion the Tripolitanian cities also lost their legal status as "liberae"
(free) cities, only to regain it under Augustus. What is certain, however, is
that by the middle of the Augustan era they were autonomous and enjoyed the
right to mint coins that bore the likeness of Augustus. For Lepcis, Oea and
Sabratha the increase in traffic and safety on the trade routes into sub-Saharan
Africa, the shield provided by roman troops in relation to the "nationes"
(tribes) of the interior, perhaps the lifting of the onerous annual oil tribute
that Caesar had imposed, and finally the reconfirmation of a broad measure of
independence - all this must have been more than sufficient motive to mine a
series of separate coins bearing the head and the symbols of the reigning
Imperator.
Within the framework of Africa Proconsularis, in other words the new Augustan
province, the Emporia were more or less left free to govern themselves.
Nonetheless, for them too the by-now unstoppable process of incorporation into
the roman empire had begun; it was hastened by the voluntary (and self-seeking)
support given by their governing classes to roman rule. This had two
consequences on the freedom of the Tripolitanian cities during the 2nd and the 1st
century B.C.. First, it established a pronounced degree of political
conservatism; second, it opened up the possibility of the
Emporia
taking over (and this time purely for their own
advantage) the trading routes that used to belong to the destroyed
Carthage
. The limits of the world in which they traded
(and clearly, in the broader sense, also their cultural world) were therefore
far greater and more varied than the single Western influence (the Italian
peninsula) that the other Carthaginian "civitates" (settlements) of
Africa
inevitably clung to, whether or not they were
free. On the other hand, it is easy to see why the roman and italic influence
was far stronger for example in
Utica
than in Lepcis. Although
Utica
was a free city, it was also the seat and court
of the provincial governor, and so played host to his administration.
As a consequence, the
Emporia
didn't merely absorb those elements of
alexandrine culture that had already penetrated Carthaginian civilization, but
after 201-146 B.C. they were also directly influenced by
Alexandria
itself and by the whole of Greco-Eastern world
of which
Alexandria
was the capital. With this came, if not
political, then at least cultural and commercial influences.
TOP
Cults & Religious Offices in Roman
Africa
Tutelary Gods and the
deification of emperors
Rome
didn't become involved in religious matters in
the provinces. In the cities of the
Emporia
, this encouraged a religious conservatism as
great as the conservatism already found in the civic institutions. In this field
too, however, a process of interpretation, integration and merging was at work.
In the African provinces it was continuously in action, mixing Punic (or
Libyan-Punic) religion on the one hand, with Greco-Roman religion on the other.
Nevertheless Lepcis (which was closer to
Rome
than Sabratha and Oea in terms of both
involvement and chronology) quickly embraced the ideals of the roman empire. It
did so in a highly visible manner by adopting the practice of deifying emperors.
There is no doubt that the cult was promoted by the local ruling class for
subtle political motives: the recognition of the fact that the ever-growing
fortunes of the plutocracy of Lepcis derived from the peace and order
established by
Rome
. But this doesn't diminish the fact that it was
in Lepcis, a "peregrine" and autonomous city, that we find the
earliest evidence in
Africa
of the deification of Augustus during his
lifetime.
In fact, as early as 8 B.C., two Lepticians of pure Carthaginian descendent (Iddibal,
son of Aris, and Abdmelquart, son of Annobal) held the priestly posts of "Flamines
of Augustus Caesar". And it is a reasonable assumption that alongside the
deification of emperors, the cult of "personified
Rome
" was also introduced.
There is no doubt that in the late Hellenistic age at least, the gods protecting
the cities were Shadrapa and Milk'astart. Both were male divinities and remained
as the "dii patrii" (the gods of thelocality) of the cities throughout
the empire, albeit in the roman "interpretation" of Liber Pater and
Hercules. Without replacing the old pair of divinities, a new one was added,
formed by Augustus and the personification of
Rome
. The new twin deity fitted perfectly with the
Phoenician-Carthaginiantradition, since it was made up of a mother goddess and
her companion god. Therefore, even though it may have been accepted into the
Leptician pantheon on the basis of political expediency, we can easily imagine
that it readily accorded with the traditional religious feeling of the area.
The ancient Leptician gods may have been twisted a little to accommodate the new
interpretations, and given new forms, but on the whole they came through intact.
They did, however, have to accept that their devotions and honors would
henceforth be shared with other gods imposed on them by the new political ethic.
Officially at least, these new gods soon became the most important. Neither will
anyone be surprised to learn that it was the Carthaginians of the best families
who held office as the "zubeh" or "flamen" of Augustus; once
again Lepcis was the first "libera" (free) city to embrace the "numen"
cult of Augustus.
In Oea the "dii patrii" had all the features and attributes of Apollo
and Athena. We can see this from the free city's coins and two centuries later
in the relief carving on the four-way arch of Marcus Aurelius. In 183-85 A.D.
the inhabitants of Oea built a magnificent hexastyle marble temple to the
"genius" or tutelary deity of the colony. Its remains are to be found
quite close to the Marcus Aurelius temple, in what we presume was the center of
the roman city. Evidence of a temple to the "genius" of the colony can
also be found in Sabratha; and a recurrent motif on the city0s coins are the
heads of Serapis, Liber Pater and Hercules, all divinities to whom the
sabrathans dedicated temples, and whose worship survived until the end of
paganism. From our current knowledge, it seems that Liber Pater was the god most
constantly worshipped by them. They elected a Flamen for his cult and it is to
Liber Pater, if anyone, that the title of "patron" of the city should
be applied.
Tanit, Ba'al Hammon and the Oriental Gods
It is certain that the goddess Tanit was largely a Carthaginian phenomenon. The
cities of the
Emporia
had always been highly dependent on
Carthage
and therefore followed the metropolis in the
cult of the goddess too. This can clearly be seen from the three "tophets"
(sacred sites where sacrifices were left) that have so far been discovered in
Tripolitania
. One was found in Gheran in 1937 and probably
served a suburb to the west of ancient Oea; another was discovered in the same
year on the seashore on the western outskirts of Sabratha. It must have been
pretty large, but so far we only have a limited and late section (2nd century
B.C. to 1st century A.D.). The same applies to the one recently discovered at
Kussabet, near Lepcis. Both the few stelae discovered at Gheran and Kussabet and
the hundreds at Sabratha are of the single- (or multiple-) pointed type so
common in
Carthage
from the 3rd century B.C. They are
mostly painted but some are also carved ot incised. She seems to be the
undisputed (if not exclusive) mistress of "tophets" in both Oea and
Sabratha. The pottery that was fond with the stelae in Sabratha indicates that
"tophet molchomor" or substitute sacrifices, took place; in other
words in the place of children, small animals were sacrificed. often newly born
Saharan pigmy goats. This practice continued right trough to the coming of the
roman empire.
Although it has been possible to refer some of the symbolic figures found on
stelae in the Oea and Sabratha "tophets" not to Tanit but to her
companion deity, Ba'al Hammon, nevertheless until very recently we had no direct
evidence of the cult of Ba'al Hammon existing in Tripolitania. In 1973, however,
work was proceeding on an area rich in imperial-age structures just south of
Sabratha, and a marble wash basin was found bearing a bilingual inscription in
Latin and Punic: Ba'al Hammon's name appears to have been translated in the
Latin text as "Saturn".
This inscription from Sabratha provides direct evidence that the cult of the two
Hammons (one from
Carthage
and the other of Egyptian-Libyan origin) existed
simultaneously in roman
Tripolitania
, albeit restricted to a social class mainly
composed of Libyans under Carthaginian influence.
Février says: "in the religious history of Tripolitania, its geographical
position must have played an important role, given its situation between the
territory of Carthage, from which came the cult of Ba'al Hammon (who became
Saturn in roman times), and the Cyrenaican-Egyptian region, from where – from
times that far pre-dated Carthaginian settlements- the cult of Ammon had spread
(later to become Zeus-Jupiter Ammon in Greek and roman culture)". On the
other hand, it was from the Egyptian world that the Carthaginians of
Tripolitania seem also to have borrowed the cult of Bes. The image of Bes as an
inflexible god of fate, who is able to tame lions, can still be seen on the
great frieze that decorated the façade of a mausoleum in Sabratha (called by
archaeologists "Mausoleum B").
Similarly, there is no doubt that
Alexandria
was the source of Serapis and Isis, divinities
to whom large temples were built in both Lepcis and Sabratha; their cult came in
through the Tripolitanian ports during the Hellenistic age. Indeed it is obvious
that this is what occurred because, like the old Phoenician market Melkart, both
Isis on her own and Isis and Serapis together offered protection to "navicularii",
navigators and seamen.
To sum up the cults found in Tripolitanian cities I can go along with Février,
who remarked that the "supremely astute move on the part of roman
imperialism" was not to impose to impose its own institutions, but rather
to offer a way of life to which people could aspire. Depending on the many
different cultural, economic and social backgrounds and classes, and even then
depending on the individuals within them, it is clear that very often different
meanings were ascribed to the deified emperors, to the old Carthaginian gods
(who went on living with different names and different attributes) and to the
divinities of the official pantheon. Nonetheless, this variety of cults didn't
appear to create conflict; on the contrary, they seemed to work well together.
This meant that even in an area of life as delicate as religion, the cities of
Tripolitania
encountered no obstacles in the path of their
integration into the welcoming and protective fold of the "Roman
order". True, they did this at different times and in a gradual manner, but
in the end they all became (and Lepcis especially so) dynamic forces within the
roman empire. And this turn explains why the last great imperial dynasty that
still held the roman ideals of secularity, of absorbing religion completely into
political life, came from Lepcis.
The priesthood; the Flamines
Many of the priestly offices that existed in the cities of
Tripolitania
reveal their Carthaginian origin. Here I will
only mention the most widespread and important office. This was the "Zubeh",
translated into Latin by the term "Flamen".
As in
Rome
and the rest of roman
Africa
, so in the Tripolitanian Emporia the office of
Flamen was a prestigious priestly role that was filled by members of the same
powerful family (for instance, the Tapapii in Lepcis in1st century A.D.). On the
whole, these roles were combined with the highest local civil posts as well. In
Tripolitania
this situation seems to have survived into the
middle of the 4th century A.D., by which time it ended up as more of a
political-administrative function than a religious one.
The simple Flamines, who were also sometimes known as "annui", seem to
have occupied the lowest rung on the priestly ladder: the higher rungs were
occupied by the "Flamines perpetuii" (perpetual Flamines). As regards
the "perpetuitas" of the flamines, who only stayed in office one year,
debate id continuing. Generally, however, once the "flamonium" (period
of office) was over, the outgoing Flamen could be given the title of "perpetuus".
This distinction was extremely coveted and in exchange for it the Flamen repaid
the cities and their citizens handsomely; hardly surprising, since the
distinction also gave the Flamen the opportunity of representing city and
citizens alike at the provincial council in
Carthage
. It was at this council that the provincial
Flamen was chosen. From Traianus' time onward, the council also appointed the
Sacerdos for the province of
Africa
: he, together with the president of the council,
was invested with the highest task that could be given to anyone in the
province. The task was that of reaffirming the province's loyalty to the current
emperor, officiating over his cult, and representing the ptovince as a whole in
dealing with imperial power.
A look at the various Cursus Conorum, written in both Latin and neo-Punic, is
sufficient to show that in the cities of
Tripolitania
too it was necessary to hold the office of
Flamen before aspiring to anything higher. It also helped to open the way to the
most senior office in the city, that of Suffectus or Duumvir (see past report).
At the same time, the office of perpetual Flamen appears to have been the
highest honor that could be bestowed upon a citizen; judging from inscriptions
describing the Cursus Honorum, it was also regarded as the pinnacle of a career
in local government.
Moreover, from the 3rd century A.D. onward, in
Tripolitania
too the Flamines, and above all the "Flamines
perpetuii", increasingly acquired civil powers which they were already
accustomed to exercising from the interpenetration of the political and the
religious that had already taken place during the span of their careers as
public figures. During the 4th century A.D. the "Flamines perpetuii"
produced a large number of "Curatores rei publicae", an office that by
then had become the highest municipal post available. The main task of these
Curatores was to organize the restoration of both secular and religious
buildings. It was precisely because the Flamen had a long history of looking
after and restoring the temples of
Rome
, of Augustus, and of other deified emperors,
that they were chosen as Curatores of public property. To this we should add
that they had already held all the major positions in both the civilian and
religious hierarchies, sometimes even as high as the provincial priesthood; this
meant that they could certainly be relied on to carry out imperial policy.
Finally, they all came from families rich enough to either pay for, or
underwrite, the enormous costs of restoring the countless public buildings
damaged by the tremendous earthquakes that occurred around 306-10 A.D. and 365
A.D. This severe damage, combined with the wear and tear of age, meant that
buildings had fallen down not only in the cities of
Tripolitania
but elsewhere.
There was also a priestly office that fell outside the power of the cities
themselves but was traditionally held by Tripolitanians. This was, of course,
that of the high priest serving in the imperial cult. The high priest for the
province was appointed by the provincial assembly (Concilium), which had been
set up by Vespasianus between 70 and 72 A.D. Until Diocletianus' reign, the
council brought together the delegates from all the proconsular cities; from his
reign onward,
Tripolitania
, like the new African provinces, had a Concilium
on its own. It seems most likely that the delegates were chosen from among the
town's Flamines perpetuii. Be this as it may, it was nevertheless the most
prestigious task that could be given to a citizen of a province. From time to
time the "Sacerdos provinciae" was himself dispatched as a legate to
the emperor. In
Tripolitania
we have a record of a certain M. Asper
Aurelianus, who was "sacerdotalis provinciae Africae" during the reign
of Imperator Septimius Severus.
To conclude, I quote a pleasant passage taken from Apuleius' Apologia. I found
the English translation in the national library of my city (I don't know if I
would be able to translate a classic into English in a worthy way!). It describe
the reprehensible attitude of an inhabitant of Oea toward religion.
"I know that there are people, Aemilianus the first among them, who think
it's very witty to mock the divine. For if I am to believe the inhabitants of
Oea who know him well, he has never, in all his born days, either prayed to any
god nor attended any temple; and when he passes a religious building, he seems
to think it's a sin to put his hand to his lips in a sign of piety. He does not
even make offerings to the gods of the countryside, who give him his food and
clothing - he's never given them the first fruits of his harvest or of his vines
nor the first born of his flocks. On his land stands no sanctuary, no holy
place, no sacred wood. And what of sacred groves or temples? Those who have been
to his estates swear that they have never seen a stone anointed with oil nor a
branch decorated with a garland. So it is that people have given him two
nicknames: the first is Charon, due to the infernal ugliness of his face and his
soul; the other, which he prefers and which proves his disdain of the gods, is
the surname of Mezentius."
[Mezentius was an Etruscan king of Cere. He entered into an alliance with Turnus
and fought against Aeneas. The surname of Aemilianus means that he, like
Mezentius, refuses the roman gods. References to this Etruscan king can be found
in Vergilius and Livius]
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Institutions & Magistracies
The People &
Senate
The hallmark of Augustan
policy in proconsular
Africa
was the superimposition of the new provincial
administrative organization on to the preexisting civic structures, which were
not dismantled. there is no doubt that in the cities of
Tripolitania
these structures (magistracy, law and religion)
remained more intact for a longer period than anywhere else. To be more
specific, this was truer of Sabratha (and perhaps also of Oea) than of Lepcis,
which among the religion's cities was the most open to contact with the outside
world and far away the least "provincial".
In fact, it was not long before Lepcis officially turned its long-standing
friendship and alliance with
Rome
into grateful and devoted submission. A lot of
public inscriptions dating back from the decades marking the transition to the
Christian age were discovered when the city was excavated. these have shed light
on the gradual incorporation of what was once an independent political and
cultural world into the
Roman empire
.
The archaeological evidence leaves no doubt that the political and
administrative structures in place in the
Emporia
were directly derived from those that had been
in use in
Carthage
. However, on the other hand, as "civitates
liberae" (free citizens) until at least the 1st century A.D., the people of
the
Emporia
continued to use the Punic language alongside
Latin in their official inscriptions.
Despite the opinion of Sallust to the contrary, this was almost identical to the
language of
Carthage
;
Tripolitania
managed to maintain its original linguistic
dignity fro an exceptionally long period of time, without ever degenerating into
dialect. On the basis of Aristotle's analysis in his "Politics" (book
II), the civic institutions of the cities also seem to have been very like those
found in contemporary
Carthage
. There were two legislative assemblies made up
respectively of representatives of the aristocracy and representatives of the
people. Once a year they elected the highest magistrates within their community,
the "suffecti".
The Suffecti
The highest magistracy in
Carthaginian cities, and therefore also in the cities of
Tripolitania
, was made up of "suffecti", who formed
a civil college of magistrates, almost always with two members. It therefore
follows that one feature that generally differentiates the money coined in the
cities of the
Emporia
are the names (sometimes just the initials) of
the "suffecti" in office that year. In addition, coins showed the name
of the city minting the money and bore a tag equivalent to the Latin "moneta
senatus" (coin of the Senate).
With the sole (and then only temporary) exception of Lepcis, when the cities of
Tripolitania
became municipalities or colonies under the
Empire, the suffecti were replaced by "duumvirs", though their role
remained pretty much the same as that of the suffecti.
The Mahazim
Another layer of magistrates
were elected annually to serve alongside the suffecti, but were lower in rank:
these were the "mahazim", whose title was latinizen as Aediles. They
were two magistrates whose job was to look after the markets, to impose fines or
taxes that they themselves set, and other matters of a monetary nature; it is
possible that they also oversaw public works. Their tasks were similar to those
of the roman Aediles, a title they kept after the Tripolitanian Emporia acquired
the status of municipality or colony.
Honorary Titles
Finally, there is no doubt
that honorary titles such as ornator patriae, amator patriae, amator civium,
amator concordiae, etc., which were widely used in Lepcis until the 1st century,
were translations from the Punic language. We also find them in Sabratha and
again in Lepcis in later centuries.
It has recently been suggested that these did not come from a genuine
Carthaginian tradition but were rather borrowed from Greco-Hellenistic world.
This is quite possible and fits into the pattern of relations between the
independent
Tripolitania
of the 2nd and 1st centuries B.C. and
Alexandria
and other Greek cities of the central and
eastern
Mediterranean
. These titles, it seems, were so congenial to
the Punic peoples of
Tripolitania
that they slipped into their culture and
remained there.
The New Legal Status
& the Cursus Honorum for the Cities of the Empire
It was between 74 A.D. and 77-78 A.D. that in Lepcis, became a Latin
municipality, we find the first mention of a "patronus municipii"
(city guardian). Lepcis, in fact, wasn't governed by duumvirs; it had kept its
suffecti. Although its "promotion" in status was indeed a sign of the
municipal desire that soon gripped the political classes of the richest
proconsular cities, it also fitted neatly into the huge program of romanization
that the Flavians were pushing through
Africa
.
Perhaps, neither Sabratha
nor Oea were included in this program. Although both towns developed
significantly, neither of them matched Lepcis. This is borne out, at least in
the case of Sabratha, by excavation work. In reality, in Sabratha there are only
two names connected with a Curia that can be used to establish a date when it
passed from a peregrine city (a foreign city not governed by Roman law) to a
municipality or colony: those of Adrianus and Faustinus. So maybe the city (like
the nearby Gightis) may have become a municipality under Antoninus Pius.
Compare this to Oea, where a grandiose four-way arch was erected during Marcus
Aurelius' reign. It seems probably that the arch may have been intended to
celebrate the city's promotion to municipality, and indeed it is likely thet it
may even been Marcus Aurelius who granted it colonial status. Soon after Oea, a
temple dedicated to the genius of the colony appears to have been completed
between 183 A.D. and 185 A.D. Given the importance of the all-marble building,
however, it is highly probable that its construction had been decided upon some
years earlier. Lepcis, the jewel of the
Emporia
, had, on the other hand, already been awarded
the honor of colonial status some time before 110 A.D. This was when the
four-way (quadrifrons) arch was inaugurated at the main city entrance: the arch
was dedicated to Imperator Traianus and was clearly intended to thank him for
his generosity. It was without doubts also erected to acknowledge both the great
economic importance that the city had attained, and also its ancient origins.
Recognition of the city later culminated in it being granted "ius italicum".
This meant, among other things, that Septimius Severus (born in Lepcis),
exempted the land in the territory from paying taxes. And it may have been when
this concession was granted (and certainly not later than 202 A.D.) that the
Lepticians declared their gratitude and loyalty to Septimius Severus and his son
Caracalla by commissioning statues to them to thank them for their "lofty
and divine benevolence"(as a local inscription says).
By way of example of a typical cursus honorum, we can look at the career of
Gaius Anicius Frontus, a magistrate from Sabratha during the colonial period. An
inscription records his life and reveals his personal status as "equo
publico ornatus" (a member of the equestrian order). He was first a
Quaestor, then an Aedile, after which he moved on to the duumvirate and was
finally appointed Duumvir for a five-year period, in other words the most senior
magistrate in town. Furthermore he was rewarded with the title of "Amator
Patriae" (lover of his country). However, his cursus honorum didn't include
priestly roles. These had been of great importance both in the old Carthaginian
society and in that rather mixed society that was evolving in
Africa
, especially in its cities, during the
Roman empire
.
TOP
Imperial Administration
The Proconsul and his
legates:
All judicial, military, administrative and financial powers of the senatorial
province of
Africa
were initially concentrated in the hands of the
Proconsul. He lived in
Carthage
and was paid a very attractive annual salary;
indeed, many considered it princely (250,000 denarii, in other words a million
sestertii according to a report by the historian Dion Cassius referring to 217
A.D.).
After the legate for the III Legion had been put in place, by Caligula's day the
proconsul had virtually lost all military power. His authority was also limited
with regard to financial administration: this came about during the 1st century
A.D. as a consequence of the ever growing importance of the financial
"procurator" for
Africa
. Then, from the end of the 2nd century A.D., the
emperor also nominated "curatores rei publicae", whose powers replaced
those of the Proconsul with regard to the administration of individual cities in
the province. Throughout all this, moreover, the length of time that any one
proconsul remained in office was always short, usually just a year rarely
anything over three.
The one thing that the Proconsul did retain exclusively was judicial power. This
persisted even after Diocletianus pushed through his new order, which left the
Proconsul in charge of only a tiny part of the province of
Africa
. Similarly he held on to it even after
Constatinus' laws gave the final judgment in appeal cases to praetorian prefects
only.
Evidence abounds of Proconsuls interfering directly and indirectly in the
affairs of the tripolitanian cities; for instance, in 1977 archaeologists made a
discovery relating to the route of the ancient coast road between Sabratha and
Oea: they found a milestone a quarter of a mile from Sabratha, undoubtedly the
oldest milestone yet found in Tripolitania. The inscription engraved on it tells
us that the road - following a natural route which had been widened and properly
built - had been built over an earlier path by the legion on the orders of
Appius Caecina Severus, "suffectus" Consul in 1 B.C.: Caecina Severus
served as Proconsul between 8-9 A.D. and 12-13 A.D.
Aside from providing evidence of a new Proconsul in Africa, this important
inscription also proves that there was direct interference in the very territory
of the "free and immune" Tripolitanian cities aimed at putting through
an arterial road of primary strategic, and of course commercial, importance.
then again, there is a dedication from Lepcis which provides us with the latest
mention (about the year 294 A.D.) of a Proconsul in
Tripolitania
. By that date
Tripolitania
had already been a separate province for a
number of years.
Among the literary evidence, the best known passage comes from the
"Apologia" of Apuleius, in which he defends himself against the charge
of practicing magic, a work that mentions the judicial assizes held in the
basilica at Sabratha. This refers to the annual tour that every provincial
governor carried out specifically for the administration of justice. The one
Apuleius describes was held by the Proconsul Claudius Maximus in around 8A.D.:
this was when the famous orator used hid skills to save both his honor and
indeed his life.
The strength of civic institutions in
Africa
was also apparent with respect to the Proconsul.
Though the provincial assembly had no control over the proconsul when he was in
power, when he left office they could vote to honor him or not. Moreover, if
they felt he had governed badly, they could accuse him of misconduct before the
Senate in
Rome
. In order to exercise their wide-ranging
authority, African Proconsuls, like those in other senatorial provinces,
appointed legates. The legates' job was to represent the Proconsul in everything
except the final decisions in both civil litigation and penal cases.
"Procuratores" and "Curatores rei publicae":
Although is not a lot of evidence concerning the financial administration of
ancient
Tripolitania
, what we have is significant.
The head of financial administration in
Africa
was the "Procurator provinciae Africae",
an extremely important civil servant belonging to the equestrian order. It was
his task to collect and send to
Rome
all taxes and tributes; he also was entrusted
with looking after property "of the crown" and the emperor's personal
property. However, from Adrianus' reign on, his functions with regard to
indirect taxation shifted to an "ad hoc" procurator. Then under
Antoninus Pius the treasury was divided into emperor's "patrimonium"
and "res privata" (a complex division of the emperor's personal and
imperial possessions that is still largely unclear). At the same time there was
a growing tendency to decentralize services. All this led during the course of
the 2nd century A.D. to the creation of an ever greater number of specific
imperial procurators.
So it was that different procurators were entrusted with the administration of
property belonging to the imperial domains as well as the private estates of the
emperor himself. In
Africa
, both categories were vast; as far as
Tripolitania
was concerned, however, they nearly all fell
into the latter.
On the other hand, it has been shown that the Julio-Claudian dynasty already
owned property in Oean territory, and even in the 2nd century A.D. the imperial
house still owned property there. But it should be said that up to the time of
the Severan dynasty, imperial property in
Tripolitania
remained far less important than elsewhere in
Africa
.
The situation changed when Severans came to the throne. After this the private
property of the emperors in the area became so extensive that they needed to set
up a special office, which was probably based in Lepcis. We also have a record
of a procurator whose job was to buy oil in
Tripolitania
.
Without dwelling on the numerous lower grade civil servants who worked in the
three cities, it is worthwhile noting how, through the records kept by
procurators and "curatores" during the first 30 years of the 3rd
century A.D., we can see the emergence within the imperial administration of a
unifying regional concept. This gradually worked its way into the common
assumptions of the ruling classes of Gightis, Sabratha, Oea and Lepcis. So when
Diocletianus reshaped them into province, it must have seemed the natural thing
to do, both reinforcing existing physical boundaries and also promoting to the
rank of government a regional administration that had been tested over time.
For Lepcis, that had always been the most important city in the region, the
promotion to capital of the new Diocletian province was a natural step. It
boasted long-standing loyalty to
Rome
and the grow of both its economy and its
population had been quite exceptional. This was underpinned by a cleverly
planned expansion of the town itself, which had started during its earliest days
but was brilliantly accelerated during the Severan age. Moreover Lepcis
possessed grandiose and splendid monuments. All of these elements meant that
from Carthaginian times right up to the arrival of the Vandals, in the whole of
Carthaginian-Roman Africa, Lepcis ranked second only to Carthage, so long as the
city stood.
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