Africa (Roman province)

Africa was a Roman province on the northern coast of what is now known as the African continent. It was established in 146 BC, following the Roman Republic's conquest of Carthage in the Third Punic War. It roughly comprised the territory of present-day Tunisia, the northeast of Algeria, and the coast of western Libya along the Gulf of Sirte. The territory was originally and still is inhabited by Berber people, known in Latin as Mauri, indigenous to all of North Africa west of Egypt. In the 9th century BC, Semitic Phoenicians from Western Asia built settlements along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea to facilitate shipping. Carthage, rising to prominence in the 8th century BC, became the predominant of these.

Quick facts: Africa Proconsularis, Capital, History, Histo... ▼

Africa Proconsularis
Province of the Roman Republic and Roman Empire
146 BC–AD 439 534–698
The province of Africa within the Roman Empire
Capital	Zama Regia, then Carthago
History
Historical era	Classical antiquity-Late antiquity-Early Middle Ages
• Established after the Third Punic War	146 BC
• Vandal Conquest of Carthage	439 AD
• Byzantine reconquest by Vandalic War	534
• Reorganization into the Exarchate	591
• Fall of Carthage	698
Preceded by Succeeded by Ancient Carthage Vandal Kingdom Vandal Kingdom Ifriqiya
Today part of	Tunisia Libya Algeria

Africa was one of the wealthiest provinces in the western part of the Roman Empire, second only to Italy. In addition to Carthage, other large settlements in the province were Hadrumetum (modern Sousse, Tunisia), the capital of Byzacena, and Hippo Regius (modern Annaba, Algeria).