Postgraduate Studies

Power, Prosperity and Conflict: Roman Africa and the Empire             

MODULE CODE:  TBA                   

MODULE AUTHOR:  Dr Marta Garcia Morcillo      

AVAILABILITY: 2009/10 On-campus students only

LEVEL:  7                     

CREDITS:  20                                                                                                 

TEACHING METHODS:                     

Lectures:  n/a

Seminars:  10 x 2 hours (10%)

Field visits: n/a

Directed Learning:  40 hours (20%)

JACS CODE:  V110

AIM(S)

To enable students to:

• gain an introduction to the history of the North African provinces (without Egypt) and its importance for the development of the Roman empire
• develop the ability of contextualising regional phenomena into major long term and structural processes.
• increase knowledge on different sources reporting about the life in the African provinces and about major social, political, cultural, religious and economic events.
• enhance the historical comprehension of concepts such as ‘frontier’, ‘margins’, ‘nomadism’, ‘Romanization’ or ‘acculturation’.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this module students should be able to:

A. Subject specific skills and knowledge:

• evaluate critically the translated sources and documents, archaeological data, and secondary literature.
• demonstrate appropriate knowledge and understanding of Roman African history.
• analyse diverse historiography tendencies and controversies

B. Transferable skills and knowledge:

• demonstrate appropriate written skills
• present written work in a manner appropriate for a relevant/professional audience
• access and employ the relevant e-resources for the course
• demonstrate their critical, analytical, and problem-solving skills
• demonstrate independent learning skills through the use of the library and electronic resources

CONTENT

From the Carthaginian Empire to the advent of Islam, North Africa experienced thorough more than a millennium the occupation and influence of diverse cultures. Yet, which were the specific traces and consequences of the Roman presence in Africa? For its economic prosperity during the second and the third centuries AD, Roman Africa was known as the granary of Rome. This course will examine in dept the major economic, political and social events and developments affecting Mauretania, Africa Proconsularis, Numidia and Cyrenaica. We will pay particular attention to the administration of these provinces, to the public and everyday life in cities and in rural areas, to the impact of evergetism and public building and communication networks, and to cultural interactions between Romans and indigenous communities, sedentarists and nomads. How did the north-African frontier system actually work? Further, we will look at the irruption and expansion of Christianity in Africa and its consequences, such as the conflicts provoked by the Montanist movement or the revolt of the Donatist church. The module will finally analyse the Vandal conquest of North Africa in the fifth century AD. We will also study the profile of famous “African Romans”, from Terence, To Apuleius, from Septimius Severus, to the Christian Cyprian, Tertullian and Saint Augustine. 

ASSESSMENT

Examination: n/a

Course work: One 5,000 word essay (100%)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Essential

• Susan Raven, Rome in Africa. NY 19933

Recommended

• Barton, I. M. Africa in the Roman Empire, NY 1972.
• Cherry, D., Frontier and Society in Roman North Africa,  Oxford 1998.
• Clover, F.M. The late Roman west and the Vandals, Norfolk 1993.
• Potter, D.S. The Roman Empire at Bay, AD 180-395, London 2004.
• Manton, E. L. Roman North Africa, London 1988.
• Mattingly, D. J. and R. B. Hitchner, 'Roman Africa: An Archaeological Review', JRS, 85 1995, 165–213.
• Millar, F., 'Local Cultures in the Roman Empire: Libyan, Punic and Latin in Roman Africa’, JRS, 58 parts 1 and 2, 1968, 126–34.
• Shaw, B.D. Rulers, nomads, and Christians in Roman North Africa, Aldershot 1995.
• Warmington, B. H., The North African Provinces from Diocletian to the Vandal Conquest, Cambridge 1954.
• Whittaker, C.R., Frontiers of the Roman Empire: A Social and Economic Study, London 1994.

Updated: 15/09/2009

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