Roman Africa

Africa, Roman

 

a province formed in 146 B.C. on the site of the Carthaginian state (northwest of present-day Tunisia). In 46 B.C. it was expanded at the expense of Numidia (which was named New Africa by the Romans after they conquered it). In the imperial era it was considered a Senate province. Under Diocletian it was divided into four provinces. It served as a granary for all of Italy. Local Berber tribes struggled tenaciously against the Roman colonists and the Romanized local nobility. In the fourth and fifth centuries Roman Africa became the scene of uprisings by the coloni and slaves. In the fifth century the territory of Roman Africa was conquered by the Vandals.