Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T21:43:15.506Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

10 - Mediterranean Urbanisation in North Africa

Greek, Punic and Roman Models

from Part III - Neighbours and Comparanda

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2020

By
Andrew I. Wilson
Edited by
Martin Sterry  and
David J. Mattingly
Martin Sterry
Affiliation:
University of Durham
David J. Mattingly
Affiliation:
University of Leicester
Get access

Summary

This chapter seeks to identify the distinctive characteristics of Greek, Punic and Roman urbanism in North Africa, and to explore similarities and differences between them. It presents an overview of urban morphology, infrastructure (streets, water supply), architectural characteristics (materials and aesthetics), and the common range of public buildings and types of domestic housing found in the various cultures; it also explores the extent to which we can reconstruct the use of public space and the character of urban life from inscriptions and the evidence of the statue habit in Roman towns. Questions of size and population, and economic roles, will also be considered. The main aim is to provide a succinct summary of fundamental information to enable comparison and contrast with other chapters in the collection which look at indigenous state formation and urbanism in the Maghrib and the Sahara.

Type
Chapter
Information
Urbanisation and State Formation in the Ancient Sahara and Beyond , pp. 396 - 437
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aït Kaci, A., Drine, A., Fentress, E.W.B., Morton, T.J., Rabinowitz, A. and Wilson, A.I. 2009. The excavations. In Fentress, E., Drine, A. and Holod, R. (eds), An Island through Time: Jerba Studies 1. The Punic and Roman Periods. Portsmouth, Rhode Island: Journal of Roman Archaeology Supplement 71, 212–40.Google Scholar
Ben Jerbania, I., Fentress, E., Ghozzi, F., Wilson, A.I., Carpentiero, G., Dhibi, C., Dufton, J.A., Hay, S., Jendoubi, K., Mariotti, E., Morley, G., Oueslati, T., Sheldrick, N. and Zocchi, A. 2015. Excavations at Utica by the Tunisian‐British Utica Project 2014. Unpublished Field Report: University of Oxford.Google Scholar
Bennett, P., Wilson, A.I., Buzaian, A.M. and Kattenberg, A. 2004. The effects of recent storms on the exposed coastline of Tocra. Libyan Studies 35: 113–22.Google Scholar
Beschaouch, A. 1966. La mosaïque de la chasse à l’amphithéâtre découverte à Smirat en Tunisie. Comptes rendus de l’Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres 1966: 134–57.Google Scholar
Boardman, J. and Hayes, J. 1966. Excavations at Tocra 1963–1965. The Archaic Deposits, vol. 1. London: British School of Archaeology at Athens.Google Scholar
Bomgardner, D.L. 1989. The Carthage amphitheater: A reappraisal. American Journal of Archaeology 93.1: 85–103.Google Scholar
Broise, H. and Thébert, Y. 1993. Recherches archéologiques franco-tunisiennes à Bulla Regia. II, Les architectures. Rome: Collection de l’École française de Rome, 28.2.Google Scholar
Buzaian, A.M. and Lloyd, J.A. 1996. Early urbanism in Cyrenaica: New evidence from Euesperides (Benghazi). Libyan Studies 27: 129–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cherstich, L. 2008. From looted tombs to ancient society: A survey of the Southern Necropolis of Cyrene. Libyan Studies 39: 73–93.Google Scholar
Cintas, J. 1956. L’alimentation en eau de Thysdrus dans l’antiquité. Karthago. Revue d’archéologie africaine 7: 179–87.Google Scholar
Fantar, M. 1984–1986. Kerkouane. Cité punique de Cap Bon (Tunisie). 3 vols. Tunis: Persée.Google Scholar
Fantar, M. 1998. Kerkouane: A Punic Town in the Berber Region of Tamezrat : VIth to IIIrd Century BC. Translated by J. McGuinness. Tunis: Alif.Google Scholar
Fentress, E.W.B. 1990. The economy of an inland city: Sétif. In L’Afrique dans l’occident romain Ier siècle av. J.-C. – IVe siècle ap. J.C. Actes du colloque organisé par l’École française de Rome sous la patronage de l’Institut national d’archéologie et d’art de Tunis (Rome 3–5 décembre 1987). Rome: Collection de l’École française de Rome 134, 117–28.Google Scholar
Fentress, E.W.B. 2006. Romanizing the Berbers. Past and Present 190: 3–33.Google Scholar
Fentress, E.W.B. 2007. Where were North African nundinae held? In Gosden, C., Hamerow, H., de Jersey, P. and Lock, G. (eds), Communities and Connections: Essays in Honour of Barry Cunliffe. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 125–41.Google Scholar
Fentress, E.W.B. 2009. The Punic and Libyan towns of Jerba. In Helas, S. and Marzoli, D. (eds), Phönizisches und punisches Städtewesen. Mainz: Iberia Archaeologica 13, 203–19.Google Scholar
Fentress, E.W.B. 2013. Diana Veteranorum and the dynamics of an inland economy. Late Antique Archaeology 10.1: 315–42. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/22134522-12340035 [last accessed 13 September, 2019].Google Scholar
Fentress, E.W.B., Ghozzi, F., Quinn, J., Wilson, A., Anastasi, M., Hobson, M., Leitch, V., Morley, G., Ray, N. and Rice, C. 2013. Excavations at Utica by the Tunisian-British Utica Project 2012. Unpublished Field Report: University of Oxford.Google Scholar
Fentress, E.W.B. and Wilson, A.I. 2016. The Saharan Berber diaspora and the southern frontiers of Byzantine North Africa. In Stevens, S.T. and Conant, J.P. (eds), North Africa under Byzantium and Early Islam, Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Byzantine Symposia and Colloquia 7, 41–63.Google Scholar
Fraser, P.M. 1951. An inscription from Euesperides. Bulletin de la Société royale d’Archéologie d’Alexandrie 39: 132–43.Google Scholar
Göransson, K. 2004. Transport amphorae from Euesperides (Benghazi), Libya. A presentation of preliminary results. In Eiring, J. and Lund, J. (eds), Transport Amphorae and Trade in the Eastern Mediterranean. Athens: Monographs of the Danish Institute at Athens, 137–42.Google Scholar
Hanson, J.W. 2016. An Urban Geography of the Roman World, 100 BC to AD 300. Oxford: Archaeopress Roman Archaeology, 18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harper, K. 2015. Pandemics and passages to late antiquity: Rethinking the plague of c.249–270 described by Cyprian. Journal of Roman Archaeology 28: 223–60. doi:10.1017/S1047759415002470.Google Scholar
Hay, S., Fentress, E.W.B., Kallala, N., Quinn, J. and Wilson, A.I. 2010. Archaeological fieldwork reports: Utica. Papers of the British School at Rome 78: 325–29.Google Scholar
Hitchner, R.B. 1990. The Kasserine archaeological Survey. 1986 [Institut national d’archéologie et d’art de Tunisie-University of Virginia, USA]. Antiquités africaines 26.1: 231–59.Google Scholar
Hitchner, R.B. 1994. Image and reality: The changing face of pastoralism in the Tunisian High Steppe. In Carlsen, J., Ørsted, P. and Skydsgaard, J.E. (eds), Landuse in the Roman Empire. Rome: Analecta romana Instituti danici Supplement, 27–43.Google Scholar
Hurst, H.R. 1993a. Excavations in the southern part of the Carthage harbours, 1992–1993. CEDAC Carthage Bulletin 13: 10–19.Google Scholar
Hurst, H.R. 1993b. Le port militaire de Carthage. Histoire et archéologie. Les dossiers [Paris] 183: 42–51.Google Scholar
Jouffroy, H. 1986. La construction publique en Italie et dans l’Afrique: Études et Travaux. Strasbourg: Association pour l’étude de la civilisation romaine.Google Scholar
Kallala, N., Fentress, E.W.B., Quinn, J., Wilson, A.I., Ben Slimane, W., Booms, D., Friedman, H., Ghozzi, F., Hay, S. and Jerray, E. 2010. Survey and Excavation at Utica 2010. Unpublished Field Report: University of Oxford.Google Scholar
Kane, S. and White, D. 2007. Recent developments in Cyrene’s chora south of the Wadi bel Gadir. Libyan Studies 38: 39–52. doi:10.1017/S0263718900004234.Google Scholar
Lachaux, J.C. 1979. Théatres et amphithéatres d’Afrique Proconsulaire. Aix-en-Provence: Edisud.Google Scholar
Lancel, S. 1995. Carthage: A History. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Leone, A. 2007. Changing Townscapes in North Africa from Late Antiquity to the Arab Conquest. Bari: Edipuglia.Google Scholar
Leveau, P. 1987. A quoi servaient les aqueducts romains? L’Histoire 105: 96–104.Google Scholar
Leveau, P. and Paillet, J.L. 1976. L’alimentation en eau de Caesarea de Maurétanie et l’aqueduc de Cherchell. Paris: Éditions l’Harmattan.Google Scholar
Leveau, P. and Paillet, J.L. 1983. Alimentation en eau et développement urbain à Caesarea de Maurétanie. In Boucher, J.P. (ed.), Journées d’études sur les aqueducs romains. Tagung über römische Wasserversorgungsanlagen, Lyons, 26–28 mai, 1977. Paris: Société d’édition ‘Les Belles Lettres’, 231–34.Google Scholar
Lézine, A. 1968. Carthage. Utique. Études d’architecture et d’urbanisme. Paris: CNRS.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lloyd, J.A., Buzaian, A.M. and Coulton, J.J. 1995. Excavations at Euesperides (Benghazi), 1995. Libyan Studies 26: 97–100.Google Scholar
Lloyd, J.A., Bennett, P., Buttrey, T.V., Buzaian, A., El Amin, H., Fell, V., Kashbar, G., Morgan, G., Ben Nasser, Y., Roberts, P.C., Wilson, A.I. and Zimi, E. 1998. Excavations at Euesperides (Benghazi): An interim report on the 1998 season. Libyan Studies 29: 145–68.Google Scholar
Luni, M. 2001. Le temple dorique hexastyle dans le sanctuaire découvert hors de la porte sud à Cyrène. Comptes rendus de l’Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres 2001: 1533–52.Google Scholar
Luni, M. 2006. Un demi-siècle de recherches archéologiques à Cyrène. Comptes rendus de l’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres 2006: 2173–201.Google Scholar
Mackensen, M. 2012. New fieldwork at the Severan fort of Myd (…)/Gheriat el-Garbia on the limes Tripolitanus. Libyan Studies 43: 41–60. doi:10.1017/S0263718900000054.Google Scholar
Mackensen, M., Schimmer, F., Schmid, S., Seren, S., Stephani, M. and Weber, M. 2010. Das severische Vexillationskastell Myd (–)/Gheriat el-Garbia am limes Tripolitanus (Libyen). Bericht über die Kampagne 2009. Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Römische Mitteilungen 116: 363–458.Google Scholar
Marichal, R. 1992. Les ostraca de Bu Njem. Tripoli: Department of Antiquities, Suppléments de Libya Antiqua 7.Google Scholar
Mattingly, D.J. 1995. Tripolitania. London: Batsford.Google Scholar
Mattingly, D.J. 2016. Who shaped Africa? The origins of urbanism and agriculture in Maghreb and Sahara. In Mugnai, N., Ray, N. and Nikolaus, J. (eds), De Africa Romaque: Merging Cultures Across North Africa. London: Society for Libyan Studies, 11–25.Google Scholar
Mattingly, D.J., Stone, D.L., Stirling, L.M., Moore, J.P., Wilson, A.I., Dore, J.N. and Ben Lazreg, N. 2011. Economy. In Stone et al. 2011, 205–71.Google Scholar
Nielsen, I. 1992. Thermae et Balnea. The Architecture and Cultural History of Roman Public Baths, 2 vols. 2nd ed. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press.Google Scholar
Peacock, D.P.S., Bejaoui, F. and Belazreg, N. 1989. Roman amphora production in the Sahel region of Tunisia. In Lenoir, M., Manacorda, D. and Panella, C. (eds), Amphores romaines et histoire économique. Dix ans de recherche. Actes du colloque de Sienne (22–24 mai 1986). Rome: Collection École française de Rome, 179–222.Google Scholar
Peña, J.T. 1998. The mobilization of state olive oil in Roman Africa: The evidence of late 4th-c. ostraca from Carthage. In Carthage Papers: The Early Colony’s Economy, Water Supply, a Private Bath, and the Mobilization of State Olive Oil. Portsmouth, Rhode Island: Journal of Roman Archaeology Supplementary Series, 117–238.Google Scholar
Pringle, D. 1981. The Defence of Byzantine Africa from Justinian to the Arab Conquest, 2 vols. Oxford: BAR International Series.Google Scholar
Quinn, J. and Wilson, A.I. 2013. Capitolia. Journal of Roman Studies 103: 117–73.Google Scholar
Reynolds, J.M. (ed.). 1976. Libyan Studies. Select Papers by R. G. Goodchild. London: Elek.Google Scholar
Saumagne, C. 1928. Notes de topographie carthaginoise: I, La «Turris Aquaria» (d’après les fouilles de 1926); II, Les vestiges de la colonie de C. Gracchus à Carthage. Bulletin achéologique du Comité des Travaux Historiques et Scientifiques 1928: 629–64.Google Scholar
Sears, G. 2007. Late Roman African Urbanism: Continuity and Transformation in the City. Oxford: BAR International Series 1693.Google Scholar
Shaw, B.D. 1981. Rural markets in North Africa and the political economy of the Roman Empire. Antiquités africaines 17: 37–83.Google Scholar
Shaw, B.D. 1984. Water and society in the ancient Maghrib: Technology, property and development. Antiquités africaines 20: 121–73.Google Scholar
Shaw, B.D. 1991. The noblest monuments and the smallest things: Wells, walls and aqueducts in the making of Roman Africa. In Hodge, A.T. (ed.), Future Currents in Aqueduct Studies. Leeds: Francis Cairns, 63–91.Google Scholar
Smith, D.J. and Crow, J. 1998. The Hellenistic and Byzantine defences of Tocra (Taucheira). Libyan Studies 29: 35–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stirling, L., Mattingly, D.J. and Ben Lazreg, N. 2001. The East Baths and their industrial re-use in late antiquity: 1992 excavations. In Stirling, L.M., Mattingly, D.J. and Ben Lazreg, N. (eds), Leptiminus (Lamta): A Roman Port City in Tunisia. Report no. 2. Ann Arbor: Journal of Roman Archaeology Supplementary series 41, 29–74.Google Scholar
Stone, D.L., Mattingly, D.J. and Ben Lazreg, N. (eds). 2011. Leptiminus (Lamta), Report no. 3: The Field Survey, vol. 3. Portsmouth, Rhode Island: JRA Supplementary Series 87.Google Scholar
Swift, K. 2006. Classical and Hellenistic Coarse Pottery from Euesperides (Benghazi, Libya): Archaeological and Petrological Approaches to Production and Inter-Regional Distribution. Unpublished DPhil thesis, School of Archaeology, University of Oxford.Google Scholar
Thomas, E. 2007. Monumentality and the Roman Empire: Architecture in the Antonine Age. Oxford: School of Archaeology Monograph.Google Scholar
Wells, C.M. 1980. Carthage. The Late Roman defences. In Hanson, W. and Keppie, L. (eds), Roman Frontier Studies 1979. Oxford: BAR International series, 999–1004.Google Scholar
Wells, C.M. 2005 A cuckoo in the nest: The Roman Odeon at Carthage in its urban context. American Journal of Ancient History ns 3–4 [2007]: 131–42.Google Scholar
White, D. 1984. The Extramural Sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone at Cyrene, Libya. Final Reports, vol. 1. Philadelphia: University Museum monographs.Google Scholar
White, D. 1993. The Extramural Sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone at Cyrene, Libya. Final Reports, vol. 5. Philadelphia: University Museum monographs.Google Scholar
Wilson, A.I. 1997. Water Management and Usage in Roman North Africa: A Social and Technological Study. Unpublished DPhil thesis, University of Oxford.Google Scholar
Wilson, A.I. 1998. Water supply in ancient Carthage. In Carthage Papers: The Early Colony’s Economy, Water Supply, a Private Bath, and the Mobilization of State Olive Oil. Portsmouth, Rhode Island: Journal of Roman Archaeology Supplement, 65–102.Google Scholar
Wilson, A.I. 1999. Commerce and industry in Roman Sabratha. Libyan Studies 30: 29–52.Google Scholar
Wilson, A.I. 2000. Incurring the wrath of Mars: Sanitation and hygiene in Roman North Africa. In Jansen, G.C.M. (ed.), Cura Aquarum in Sicilia. Proceedings of the Tenth International Congress on the History of Water Management and Hydraulic Engineering in the Mediterranean Region. Syracuse, May 16–22, 1998. Leuven: Peeters, 307–12.Google Scholar
Wilson, A.I. 2001a. Timgad and textile production. In Mattingly, D.J. and Salmon, J. (eds), Economies beyond Agriculture in the Classical World. London: Routledge, 271–96.Google Scholar
Wilson, A.I. 2001b. Urban water storage, distribution and usage in Roman North Africa. In Koloski-Ostrow, A.O. (ed.), Water Use and Hydraulics in the Roman City. Boston, MA: Archaeological Institute of America Colloquia and Conference Papers, New series, 83–96.Google Scholar
Wilson, A.I. 2002a. Marine resource exploitation in the cities of coastal Tripolitania. Africa Romana 14: 429–36.Google Scholar
Wilson, A.I. 2002b. Urban production in the Roman world: the view from North Africa. Papers of the British School at Rome 70: 231–73.Google Scholar
Wilson, A.I. 2005. Une cité grecque de Libye: Fouilles d’Euhésperidès (Benghazi). Comptes rendus de l’Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres 2003: 1648–75.Google Scholar
Wilson, A.I. 2007a. Fish-salting workshops in Sabratha. In Lagóstena, L., Bernal, D. and Arévalo, A. (eds), Cetariae 2005. Salsas y Salazones de Pescado en Occidente durante la Antigüedad. Actas del Congreso Internacional (Cádiz, 7–9 de noviembre de 2005). Oxford: BAR International Series 1686, 173–81.Google Scholar
Wilson, A.I. 2007b. Urban development in the Severan Empire. In Swain, S.C.R., Harrison, S.J. and Elsner, J. (eds), Severan Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 290–326.Google Scholar
Wilson, A.I. 2011a. City sizes and urbanization in the Roman Empire. In Bowman, A. and Wilson, A.I. (eds), Settlement, Urbanization, and Population. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 161–95.Google Scholar
Wilson, A.I. 2011b. Urination and defecation Roman-style. In Jansen, G.C.M., Koloski-Ostrow, A.O. and Moormann, E.M. (eds), Roman Toilets: Their Archaeology and Cultural History. Leuven: BABesch Supplement 18, 95–111.Google Scholar
Wilson, A.I. 2012. Water, power and culture in the Roman and Byzantine worlds: An introduction. Water History 4.1: 1–9. doi:10.1007/s12685-012-0050-2.Google Scholar
Wilson, A.I. 2013. Trading across the Syrtes: Euesperides and the Punic world. In Quinn, J. and Prag, J. (eds), The Hellenistic West: Rethinking the Ancient Mediterranean. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 120–56.Google Scholar
Wilson, A.I. 2016. The Olympian (Hadrianic) baths at Aphrodisias: Layout, operation, and financing. In Smith, R.R.R., Lenaghan, J., Sokolicek, A. and Welch, K. (eds), Aphrodisias Papers 5: Excavation and Research at Aphrodisias, 2006–2012. Portsmouth, Rhode Island: Journal of Roman Archaeology Supplementary Series 103, 168–94.Google Scholar
Wilson, A.I., Mattingly, D.J., Stone, D.L., Stirling, L.M., Dodge, H. and Ben Lazreg, N. 2011. Gazetteer of sites in the urban survey. In Stone et al. 2011, 495–628.Google Scholar
Xella, P., Quinn, J., Melchiorri, V. and van Dommelen, P. 2013. Cemetery or sacrifice? Infant burials at the Carthage Tophet: Phoenician bones of contention. Antiquity 87.338: 1199–207.Google Scholar
Yasin, A.M. 2009. Saints and Church Spaces in the Late Antique Mediterranean. Architecture, Cult, and Community. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×