page_title: North Africa
section_title: Antiquity and ancient Rome
hierarchical_section_title: North Africa / History / Antiquity and ancient Rome
caption_attribution_description: Septimius Severus Latina: Imperator Septimius Severus (193–211) Deutsch: Büste des Septimius Severus (reg. 193–211 n. Chr.). Büste antik, aber nicht zugehörig. Am Kinn ein Meßpunkt des Bildhauers. Zwei weitere Meßpunkte befanden sich auf dem Stirnhaar (nach Fertigstellung des Kopfes abgearbeitet). Von diesen Meßpunkten wurde mittels Zirkel die vom Modell abgenommenen Maße übertragen, nach dem Prinzip, daß jeder Punkt im Raum durch seine Entfernung von drei festgelegten Markierungen bestimmbar ist. English: Bust of Septimius Severus (reign 193–211 CE). White, fine-grained marble, modern restorations (nose, parts of the beard, draped bust). Français&#160;: Buste de Septime Sévère (règne 193–211 ap. J.-C.). Marbre blanc à grain fin, restaurations modernes (nez, boucles de la barbe, buste drapé).
context_page_description: North Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in the west, to Egypt's Suez Canal and the Red Sea in the east. Others have limited it to the countries of Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia, a region that was known by the French during colonial times as "Afrique du Nord" and is known by Arabs as the Maghreb. The most commonly accepted definition includes Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, and Sudan, the 6 countries that shape the top North of the African continent. Meanwhile, "North Africa", particularly when used in the term Middle East and North Africa, often refers only to the countries of the Maghreb.
  North Africa includes a number of Spanish and Portuguese possessions, Plazas de soberanía, Ceuta and Melilla and the Canary Islands and Madeira. The countries of North Africa share a common ethnic, cultural and linguistic identity with the Middle East or West Asia, and is unique to this region as compared to Sub-Saharan Africa.
context_section_description: The most notable nations of antiquity in western North Africa are Carthage and Numidia. The Phoenicians colonized much of North Africa including Carthage and parts of present-day Morocco (including Chellah, Essaouira and Volubilis). The Carthaginians were of Phoenician origin, with the Roman myth of their origin being that Dido, a Phoenician princess, was granted land by a local ruler based on how much land she could cover with a piece of cowhide. She ingeniously devised a method to extend the cowhide to a high proportion, thus gaining a large territory. She was also rejected by the Trojan prince Aeneas according to Virgil, thus creating a historical enmity between Carthage and Rome, as Aeneas would eventually lay the foundations for Rome. Ancient Carthage was a commercial power and had a strong navy, but relied on mercenaries for land soldiers. The Carthaginians developed an empire in the Iberian Peninsula and Sicily, the latter being the cause of First Punic War with the Romans.
  Over a hundred years and more, all Carthaginian territory was eventually conquered by the Romans, resulting in the Carthaginian North African territories becoming the Roman province of Africa in 146 B.C. This led to tension and eventually conflict between Numidia and Rome. The Numidian wars are notable for launching the careers of both Gaius Marius, and Sulla, and stretching the constitutional burden of the Roman republic as Marius required a professional army, something previously contrary to Roman values, to overcome the talented military leader Jugurtha.
  North Africa remained a part of the Roman Empire, which produced many notable citizens such as Augustine of Hippo, until incompetent leadership from Roman commanders in the early fifth century allowed the Germanic peoples, the Vandals, to cross the Strait of Gibraltar, whereupon they overcame the fickle Roman defense. The loss of North Africa is considered a pinnacle point in the fall of the Western Roman Empire as Africa had previously been an important grain province that maintained Roman prosperity despite the barbarian incursions, and the wealth required to create new armies. The issue of regaining North Africa became paramount to the Western Empire, but was frustrated by Vandal victories. The focus of Roman energy had to be on the emerging threat of the Huns. In 468 AD, the Romans made one last serious attempt to invade North Africa but were repelled. This perhaps marks the point of terminal decline for the Western Roman Empire. The last Roman emperor was deposed in 476 by the Heruli general Odoacer. Trade routes between Europe and North Africa remained intact until the coming of Islam. Some Berbers were members of the Early African Church (but evolved their own Donatist doctrine), some were Berber Jews, and some adhered to traditional Berber religion. African pope Victor I served during the reign of Roman emperor Septimius Severus
caption: The first Roman emperor native to North Africa was Septimius Severus, born in Leptis Magna in present-day Libya.
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