Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 1.djvu/87

AFBIGA. CyrrKSoLf jvt speaki of the 2 pravinces in* the dbiot ooBDictXHi (A«Dn»i&ie et A/rioae ab Av^maga JMfitmh DLXXZ. M. P.), and seems even to include tkaa boUi imder the name of Africa {Africa a fiu- no Ampmpn pofpuks xxvL habet). Ptolemy (iv. 3) fins Afkica the same extent aa Mela, from the JbnpHiga to the bottom of the Great Sjitls ; while he api^ies the name New Nomldia (NovfuSta vta) tt» a pait of the coontij, evidently corresponding vitli the later Namidia of other writ»« (§ 29), the rfdthet Xew hew^ used in contradistinction to the acdoit Numidia, the W. and greater part of rhich had been added to Mamnetania. In PtoIemy^s list of the pnrinces (rilL 29), Africa and Nmnidia are iwntkiied together. In the 3rd oenturyf probably under Diocletian, the vhole country, from the Ampsaga to Cyre- ulca, was dinded into the foor provinces of Nu- mieHa, Africa Propria or Zeugitana, Byzadum or Bysaeema, and Tripolit or TryMUtcma. (Sezt fo£ Brer. 8.) Nnmidia no longer extended S. of Zci^itana and Byxacinm, bat that part of it was added to Byzaciom; while its £. part, on and betvecD the Syrtcs, farmed the province of Tripoli- liBi. We are enahlfd to draw the boundary-lines vith ioferable exactness by means of the records of the nomaoaa eccledastlcal councils of Africa, in which the several bishoprics have the names of their pranaccs ai^mded to them. (For the fullest in- finnatiaQ, see Morcelli, Africa CkrisUana., Brixiae, 1817. 3 vols. 4ta) Zeugitana, to which, in the RTidutiaa of time, the name cf Africa had thus cone to be again a|^piopriated, remained a senatorial pnnriiKe undo' the Proeontul Africat^ and was cfien called simply iVovtncta Procotuularis ; the nai were imperial provinces, Byzacium and Numidia bdog governed by Coruuhrety and Tripolis by a Fneges, The Proooosul Afiicae (who was the odIj ■oe in the W. emjure, and hence was often called mm^j Prooansnl) had under him two legati and a quKtitar, besides legati for special branches of ad- mha^Aration. His residence was at the restored city of Carthage. The other three proAinces, as well as the two Mauretanims, were subject to the praetorian pnefiect of Italy, who governed them by his repre- aentative, the VicariuM Africae, (BScking, NotiHa iHfuilaivm, voL iL c. 17, 19, &c.) Beferring for the Rmunxi^ details to the articles on the separate froriaces, we proceed to a brief account of the hXet aarina histocy of Africa. At the time referred to, the name of Africa, besides id a ar tow es t aense, as properly belonging to the pmsBsabr province, and its widest meaning, as af|«ed to the whole OHitinent, was cmistantly used to iDdade all the provinces of N. Africa, W. of the Great Syitis, and the following events refer, for the BMC put, to that extent of country. At the set- tkment of the empire undei Ccostantine, the African proriDces were among the most prosperous in the Bnmaa worid. The valleys of Mauretania and Nmnidia, and the plains of Zeugitana and Byzacium, hid always been proveri>ial for their fertility; and the fjtat dties along the coast had a flourishing conmerce. The internal tranquillity of Africa was ■ridom distorbed, the only fomiidable insurrection heiair that under the two Gordians, which was ip*«hly repressed, A. n. 238. The emperors Sep- tiosias Sevens and Kacrinus were natives of N. Africa. Amidst the prosperous population of these panful prorinoes, Christianity had early taken firm >Ht; the neords of ecclesiastical history attest the AFRICA. 71 great number of the African churches and bishoprics, and the frequency of their synods; and the fervid spirit of the Africans displayed itself alike in the stead&stness of their martyrs, the eneigy of their benevolence, the vehemence of their controverBies, and the genius of their leading writers, as, for ex- ample, Tertullian, Cyprian, and Augustine. But here, as on the other frontiers of the empire, the diminished vitality of the extremities bore witness to the declining energy of the heart. That perfect subjection of the native tribes, which forms such a singular contrast with the modem history of Algeria, had already been disturbed; and we read of increased mUitaiy forces, insurrections of native princes, and incursions of the Numidians, or, as they now came to be generally called, the Moors, even before the end rf the 3rd century. There is not space to recount the wars and troubles in Africa during the struggles of Constantiae and his com- petitors for the empire; nor those under his suc- cessors, including the revolt of Firmus, and the exploits of the count Theodosius, under the 1st and 2nd Valentmian (a. d. 373 — 376), the usurpation of Maximus, after the death of Valentinian II. ; and the revolt of the count Gildon, after the death of Theodosius the Great, suppressed by Stilicho, a. d. 398. At the final partition of the empire, on the death of Theodosius (a. d. 395), the African pro- vinces were assigned to the W. empire, under Honorius, whose dominions met those of his brother, Arcadins, at the Great Syrtis. Under Valentinian III., the successor of Honorius, the African provinces were lost to the W. empire. Boniface, count of Africa, who had successfully de- fended the frontiers against the Moors, was recalled from his government by the intrigues of A^tins, and on his resistance an army was sent against him (a. d. 427). In his despair, Boniface sought aid from the Vandals, who were already established in Spain ; and, in May, 429, Geiserich (or Genserich) the Vandal king, led an army of about 50,000 Vandals, Goths, and Alans, across the Straits of Gades into Maure- tania. He was joined by many of the Moors, and apparently favoured by the Donatists, a sect of heretics, or rather schismatics, who had lately suffered severe persecution. But, upon urgent so- licitations from the court of Ravenna, accompanied by the discovery of the intrigues of A^ltius, Boniface repented of his invitation, and tried, too late, to repair his error. He was defeated and shut up in Hippo Regius; the only other cities left to the Romans being Carthage and Cirta. The Vandals overran the whole country from the Straits to the Syrtes ; and those fertile provinces were utterly laid waste amidst scenes of fearful cruelty to the inhabitants. The siege of Hippo lasted fourteen months. At length, encouraged by reinforcements from the eastern empire, Boniface hazarded another battle, in which he was totally defeated, a. d. 431. But the final loss of Africa was delayed by negotia- tion for some years, during which various partitions of the country were made between the Romans and the Vandals; but the exact terms of these tniccs are as obscure as their duration was uncertain. The end of one of them was signalized by the sur- prise and sack of Carthage, Oct. 9, 439 ; and before the death of Valentinian III. the Vandals were in undisputed possession of the African provinces. Leo, the emperor of the East, sent an unsuccessful expedition against tliem, under Heraclius, a. n. 468 ; and, in 476. Zcno made a treaty with Geiseric, f4