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School of Archaeology & Ancient History

AH3020 North Africa in Late Antiquity

Academic Year: 2009-2010

Semester: 2

Time and location: Tue. 2-3pm. KE 526 (provisional) Fri. 1-2pm ATT SB 2.07

First meeting: Tue. January 26 2pm KE 526 (provisional)

Module coordinator: Andy Merrills

e-mail: [email protected]

Room: 110

Office hours: Thursdays 9.30-11.30

Your individual appointments (e.g. tutorials, seminars): ……………………………………………………

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document prepared by: AHM 1/12/09 2

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AR3020 North Africa in Late Antiquity Weighting: 20 credits Coordinator: Andy Merrills Other tutors: Dave Edwards; David Mattingly Module outline: Classical North Africa was shaped profoundly by the imperial domination of Rome and Meroe. When these great empires began to fragment from the later fourth century, the region experienced a number of political, cultural and economic convulsions every bit as profound as those experienced elsewhere in the classical world. This module explores the ‘forgotten’ history of Africa from c.350-c.550 CE, from a consciously comparative perspective. We will examine a variety of different post- imperial societies, and post-imperial phenomena, from Egyptian monasticism and Berber pyramid-building to the warrior aristocracies of Nubia and Vandal Carthage. Aims: To examine a crucial (but neglected!) area in the history of late Antiquity, and in the history of Africa. To introduce students to a wide array of translated sources and documents, the archaeological data and secondary works, and to encourage their critical analysis and evaluation. To develop further skills in written presentation Intended On completion of the module, students will be able to: learning

outcomes: Research a well-defined aspect of a topic and communicate the results effectively in an oral presentation Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of many of the principal historical themes of this period Display a nuanced appreciation of the themes and controversies surrounding the study of North Africa in the Roman and post- Roman period. Evaluate critically translated sources and archaeological data and employ them effectively as appropriate. Method(s) of 9x 1 hour lectures; 9 x seminars teaching: Method of Source-based presentation: 10% assessment: Final written project (3,000 words): 40% Final Written Examination: 2 hours 50%

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Teaching schedule

Preparation for each class is listed in the weekly bibliographies listed at the end of this module handbook.

Week 13 Tues. 26 Jan. Introduction: Getting to know North Africa GEOGRAPHY QUIZ!

Fri 29 Jan Introduction: Getting to know North Africa ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY QUIZ!

Week 14 Tues. 2 Feb. Lecture: Egypt: monasticism, heresy and paganism in Late Antiquity (AHM)

Fri 5 Feb Seminar: The Desert a City: Egyptian Monasticism

Week 15 Tues 9 Feb. Lecture: Philae and Nubia: new military aristocracies (DNE)

Fri 12 Feb Seminar: The Nubian Treasure

Week 16 Tues 16 Feb. Lecture: Cyrenaica in Late Antiquity (AHM)

Fri 19 Feb Seminar: Synesius Goes it Alone

Week 17 Tues 23 Feb Lecture: Augustine of Hippo and the Donatists (AHM) Fri 26 Feb Seminar: Dunkin’ Donatists Week 18 Tues. 2 Mar Lecture: Vandalpocalypse now? The Vandals in Carthage (AHM)

Fri 5 Mar Seminar: Vandal Society Week 19 Tues. 9 Mar Lecture: Pyramids in the west (AHM) Fri 12 Mar Seminar: Moorish Society

Week 20 Tues 16 Mar Lecture/Seminar: Summary of themes: Power and Politics

Fri 19 Mar Lecture/Seminar: Summary of themes: Religion

Week 21 Tues 23 Mar Lecture/Seminar: Summary of themes: Identity

Fri 26 Mar Lecture/Seminar: Summary of themes

EASTER VACATION Week 22 Tues. 4 May. Presentation Session 1

Fri 7 May Presentation Session 2

Week 23 Tues. 11 May Presentation Session 3

Fri 14 May Revision Session 5

Week 24 Fri. 16 May Revision Session

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Assignments and Deadlines (non-graded) Along with this module handbook, you will have received a ‘Gobbets Pack’ for this course (extra copies are available on Blackboard). This pack includes a short selection of primary source passages (or archaeologically relevant images) related to the different topics of the course. You will be expected to prepare AT LEAST ONE of these gobbets each week in preparation for Friday’s seminar: these will provide the basis for discussion for the class itself. For each gobbet you should include a short discussion of 300-500 words. (You may do more than one, or write more than 500 words if you wish!). These discussions should include: i) A short account of the context of the passage concerned, including the nature of the text in which it appears, or its physical context in the case of inscriptions and other sources. ii) A brief summary of the content of the source to demonstrate that you have grasped its meaning. iii) A more detailed analysis of the historical significance of the gobbet in question. How does the passage in question illuminate our understanding of late Antique North Africa? Does it contain information found nowhere else? Or is it directly contradicted by other evidence available?

Suggestions about how to approach each of the passages will be provided in the lecture, and in the suggested secondary reading. All of the passages have been chosen carefully, and all have a great deal to say about the topics under discussion!

These gobbets will be marked, but will not contribute directly to your overall grade. Nevertheless, this exercise is a central part of the course: the gobbets themselves will form the basis for discussion in many of the seminars, and will provide an essential platform for both your longer essays and your exams (which will be assessed!)

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Assignments and deadlines (graded) Group presentations: (10%) In the last week of the semester (after Easter), you will have the opportunity to present to the rest of the class a short summary of the principal themes discussed in one of the seminars this term. This will serve both as a graded presentation exercise, and as an opportunity for group revision of the principal themes of the course. The distribution of presentation topics will be decided in the first class. Essay: (40%) you are required to write a 3,000 word essay for this course. Please read the section on essay writing in the School Handbook. If you have any questions about your essay, please arrange to see me well before the due date. All essays must be word-processed and properly referenced (consult the Handbook). Essays should be submitted to the third year box in the SAAH Foyer by 5pm on the deadline, or lateness penalties will be incurred (see the Handbook). Essays are expected to be well researched. You may start with the reading recommended on the Blackboard website but you must go further. Ancient sources are essential reading and should be studied closely; modern literature is there to help you identify and understand the key issues and the problems the ancient sources may present. Introductory bibliographies for these essays are available on Blackboard.

These topics are suggestions only. You should feel free to develop your own research topic on any of the areas covered in class.

1. Why did monks and holy men play such a prominent role in the society of Late Antique Egypt? 2. To what extent does Procopius’ account provide a misleading impression of Nubia in Late Antiquity? 3. What does the career of Synesius tell us about the changing role of bishops in the late Antique world? 4. ‚A nationalist movement masquerading as a religious dispute‛. Is this a fair assessment of the Donatist controversy? 5. Do the Vandals deserve their reputation? 6. To what extent was Berber rulership shaped by Roman precedent?

Essay Deadline: FRIDAY 14 MAY

Exam: (50%). The remainder of your assessment for this course will come from an exam. This will last 2 hours, and you will be expected to answer 2 questions from a selection of 8. There will be a sample exam paper posted on Blackboard and we will cover aspects of exam technique during the course. Bear in mind that good exam answers will always pay particular attention to the primary sources available. 8

Bibliographies

Part of the appeal of this subject is the opportunity to engage directly with primary sources. A full list of North African sources available in translation is included on Blackboard, and you should feel free to read as widely as you can: you’ll pick up more from this reading than you ever will from the secondary literature. Secondary literature is somewhat patchy (especially in English). Some studies are terrific, some are less good, some are wide-ranging and some are mind-numbingly specific. I don’t expect you to read everything on this list (obviously), but have included quite full bibliographies to allow you to pursue topics you’re interested in, and to prevent anguish from excess demand for a few key works. Texts that are particularly recommended are marked with a *. Everything should be available, either online, via blackboard or in the library, but if there’s anything you can’t get hold of, let me know and I’ll supply you with a photocopy.

KEY TEXTS Bagnall, Roger. 1993. Egypt in Late Antiquity. Princeton: Princeton UP Outstanding survey of Egypt in this period. A little dry in places, but well worth struggling through! Frankfurter, David. 1998. Religion in Roman Egypt : assimilation and resistance. Princeton: Princeton UP. Brilliant summary of religious change in the region, from the occupation to Christianization. Edwards, David N. 2004. The Nubian Past. An Archaeology of the Sudan. London: Routledge. Useful English survey of the Nubian Material. Welsby, Derek. A. 2002. The Medieval Kingdoms of Nubia. London: British Museum Press. Brown, Peter. 1972. Augustine of Hippo. London: Routledge. Superlative biography of one of the great figures of late Antiquity by the great modern scholar of the period. You might also benefit from the more recent biographies of Augustine by Garry Wills and by Serge Lancel (both of which are in the library). Merrills, Andy and Miles, Richard. Forthcoming. The Vandals. Oxford and Boston: Blackwell. Helpful for the ‘Vandals’ section of the course. This will only be published during the semester, but to allow you a sneak preview (and to save me covering a lot of this material in a series of dull lectures), I’ve put the individual chapters on blackboard for you to access. It is *strongly* recommended that you read these chapters where relevant. And buy multiple copies of the book for your friends and family when it comes out. Elizabeth Fentress and Martin Brett, The Berbers. Oxford and Boston: Blackwell. Excellent English summary of the Moorish polities in Antiquity. Helpful for both the ‘Laguatan/Ghirza/eastern Moors’ sessions and those on the western Moors. 9

Reference *Bowersock, G.W., Brown, Peter and Grabar, Oleg. (eds), 1999. Late Antiquity: A Guide to the Postclassical World. Cambridge MA: Harvard. Half survey articles, half encyclopaedia; the latter is especially useful when you’re trying to grapple with things like the heresies of late Antiquity. Jones, A.H.M. and Martindale, J.R. (eds) 1980. Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire II. 395 – 527 AD. Cambridge: CUP. Essential reference for those confusing minor characters in Late Roman history *Hornblower, S., and Spawforth, A. eds 1996. The Oxford Classical Dictionary. 3rd edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Essential Talbert, Richard J.A. (ed.) 2000. The Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World Princeton: Princeton University Press. 3 vols. This is the standard reference Atlas, but may be a little cumbersome for everyday use. At the very least you should be familiar with the major provinces, cities and physical features of North Africa and the Later Roman Empire more generally.

General Works

Clover, Frank M. 1993. The Late Roman West and the Vandals. Aldershot: Variorum. Many useful articles. Jones, A.H.M. 1964. The Later Roman Empire. 284-602. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins. 3 vols Staggering work on the structure of the Later Roman Empire. Not exactly a light read, but the one-stop shop for all of your questions about any aspect of the imperial (and post-imperial) world. Raven, Susan. 1993. Rome in Africa London: Routledge. As with Paul MacKendrick’s The North African Stones Speak, this provides a rather old- fashioned survey. Use with care. Shaw, Brent. D. 1995a Environment and Society in Roman North Africa : Studies in History and Archaeology. Aldershot: Variorum Many useful articles. Shaw, Brent D. 1995b. Rulers, Nomads, and Christians in Roman North Africa. Aldershot: Variorum Many useful articles. Wickham, Chris. 2005. Framing the Early Middle Ages : Europe and the Mediterranean 400-800 Oxford: OUP. Extraordinary new survey of the ‘Fall of the Roman Empire’ from a Marxist perspective. Heavy going, but essential. 10

WEEK 13. (Introductory Class). Starting your reading of key primary and secondary sources at this stage will greatly help things later in the term! Try to read at least one of:

The Life of St. Antony (from the Week 14 reading list) Passages from the Fontes Historiae Nubiorum (from the Week 15 reading list) Synesius’ selected letters (from the Week 16 reading list) Optatus Against the Donatists (from the Week 17 reading list) Passages from Victor of Vita’s History of the Vandal Persecution (from the Week 18 reading list) Passages from Procopius (from the Week 19 reading list)

All are available on Blackboard

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WEEK 14: EGYPT Egypt was the most fertile of the Mediterranean provinces, and was to remain so throughout the medieval period. Wealthy and well-populated, Roman Egypt also witnessed the fusion of different cultural influences – Pharaonic, Greek, Nubian and (to a lesser extent) Latin. Egypt retained its economic importance in Late Antiquity, and also proved to be a major battleground in the development of the early Church, experiencing both an explosion of extreme Christian activity, and particularly violent conflicts between different sects. This week we will explore the development of Christianity at the fringes of the world. Seminar Source: Passages from early Egyptian hagiography Gobbets: At least one from section 1 of the ‘Gobbets’ handout. Further Primary Source Reading: ‘The Life of Saint Antony’, and ‘The Life of Paul’ in Carolinne White (ed. and tr.) 1998. Early Christian Lives. Harmondsworth: Penguin. ‘The Lausiac History’ in E.C. Butler, 1898. The Lausiac history of Palladius : a critical discussion together with notes on early Egyptian monachism. Cambridge: CUP.

Secondary Reading: Frankfurter, David. 1998. Religion in Roman Egypt : assimilation and resistance. Princeton: Princeton UP. Frankfurter, David. 2003. ‘Syncretism and the Holy Man in Late Antique Egypt’, Journal of Early Christian Studies, 11: 339-385. Frank, Georgia. 2000. The Memory of the Eyes: Pilgrims to Living Saints in Christian Late Antiquity. Berkeley: UC Press. Bagnall, Roger. 1993. Egypt in Late Antiquity. Princeton: Princeton UP Bagnall, Roger. 2007. Egypt in the Byzantine world, 300-700. Cambridge: CUP. Goehring, James E. 1993. ‘The Encroaching Desert: Literary Production and Ascetic Space in Early Christian Egypt’, Journal of Early Christian Studies, 1.3: 281-296. Rousseau, Philip. 1985. Pachomius : The Making of a Community in Fourth-Century Egypt. Berkeley: UC Press. Brown, Peter. 1990. The Body and Society: Men, Women and Sexual Renunciation in Early Christianity. London: Faber. Brown, Peter. 1978. The Making of Late Antiquity. Cambridge MA: Harvard UP. esp. ch. 4. Chitty, Derwas J. 1966. The Desert a City: An Introduction to the Study of Egyptian and Palestinian Monasticism under the Christian Empire. Oxford: Blackwell. Bowman, Alan K. 1986. Egypt After the Pharaohs. 332 BC – AD 642. London: British Museum Press. Esp. ch. 6. Keenan, James J. 2000. ‘Egypt’, in CAH XIV. Cambridge: CUP. Bagnall, Roger and Dominic W. Rathbone (eds), 2004. Egypt from Alexander to the Early Christians. An Archaeological and Historical Guide. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum Press. Esp. pp.107-23 and 174-82 on the archaeological contexts of Egyptian monasticism. 12

Markus, R.A. 1990. The End of Ancient Christianity. Cambridge: CUP. esp. ch.12. Haas, Christopher. 1997. Alexandria in Late Antiquity. Topography and Social Conflict Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins.

Online Resources: The Life of Antony: http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/2811.htm The Life of Paul: http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3008.htm The Lausiac History: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/pearse/morefathers/files/palladius_lausiac_02_text.htm#C19

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WEEK 15: NUBIA Lower Nubia developed in the penumbra between two great empires: Rome in the North and Meroe to the south. As the influence of both started to contract from the third century, the Nile valley witnessed the rise of new forms of political and religious authority. Events in the region can be discerned only as distorted reflections in our textual sources, but have been explored archaeologically in increasing detail. Here, as elsewhere, we may see the dramatic changes wrought by the end of empire(s). Seminar Source: Gobbets: At least one from section 2 of the ‘Gobbets’ handout. Further Primary Source Reading: Fontes Historiae Nubiorum Volume III (Textual Sources for the History of the Middle Nile Region)

Blockley, R.C. 1981. The fragmentary classicising historians of the later Roman Empire : Eunapius, Olympiodorus, Priscus and Malchus, (2 volumes) Liverpool: Francis Cairns

The 3 volumes of the Fontes Historiae Nubiorum provide a comprehensive coverage of just about ALL known ‘historical’ texts (there are fewer than 400) in several languages (Greek, Latin, Egyptian, Coptic, Meroitic) relating to ancient Sudan/Nubia – this volume including texts spanning 1st-6th century AD. The relatively limited textual material is balanced by a mass of archaeological material (mainly burials) from Nubia. Secondary Reading: Dijkstra, Jitse H.F. 2005. Religious encounters on the Southern Egyptian frontier in late antiquity (AD 298-642) , (a published PhD text) Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Dijkstra, Jitse H.F. 2008. Philae and the end of Ancient Egyptian religion : a regional study of religious transformation (298-642 CE), Leuven Edwards, David N. 2004. The Nubian Past. An Archaeology of the Sudan. London: Routledge. Emery, Walter B. 1948. Nubian treasure : an account of the discoveries at Ballana and Qustul London : Methuen A more general and well-illustrated account of the spectacular archaeological discoveries of Nubian royal burials at Ballana and Qustul in 1930s. Kirwan, Laurence 2002. Studies on the history of late antique and Christian Nubia, Aldershot : Ashgate Variorum. - Collected papers of Sir Laurence Kirwan, who excavated Nubian royal tombs in 1930s and wrote many seminal papers on this period, many still worth reading. Many can be accessed in their original form elsewhere. Strouhal, Eugen 1984. Wadi Qitna and Kalabsha-South : Late Roman-early Byzantine tumuli cemeteries in Egyptian Nubia. Vol.1, Archaeology, Prague : Charles University

Excellent examples of 3rd-4th century Blemmye cemeteries in Nubia Torok, L. 1988. Late Antique Nubia. Budapest, Archaeological Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. (find as Antaeus Vol. 16) Welsby, Derek. A. 2002. The Medieval Kingdoms of Nubia. London: British Museum Press. 14

Williams, Bruce Beyer 1991. Noubadian X-group remains from royal complexes in cemeteries Q and 219 and from private cemeteries Q, R, V, W, B, J, and M at Qustul and Ballana, Chicago, Ill : Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.

More, sometimes quite spectacular archaeology from Nubian cemeteries of 4th-6th centuries

WEEK 16: SYNESIUS IN CYRENAICA Synesius provides an illuminating glimpse into the changing power structures in Late Antiquity. A pupil and friend of the great Alexandrian philosopher Hypatia, he was at different times an astute political commentator, a satirist, a commander of militia, a pagan civic leader and a bishop. He was also bald. Late Antique Cyrenaica is known almost exclusively through his accounts, and it is his letters that provide the fullest picture of the increasing tensions between coastal civic society and the transhumant and semi-nomadic pastoralists of the interior. Seminar Source: Selected Letters of Synesius Gobbets: At least one from section 3 of the ‘Gobbets’ handout. Further Primary Source Reading: Read as widely as you can in Synesius’ voluminous writing (on the website below). AT THE VERY LEAST read Letters ; the Constitutio and Catastasis. On Imperial Rule is a crucial text (and worth reading if you choose to attempt that gobbet). On Baldness and On Dreams also give some sense of Synesius’ intellectual interests (and hairline).

Secondary Reading: Synesius and his world Bregman, J. 1982. Synesius of Cyrene. Berkeley: UC Press. Liebeschuetz, J. H. W. G. 1986. Why Did Synesius Become Bishop of Ptolemais? in: Byzantion, 56: 180-195

Liebeschuetz, J. H. W. G. 1985. Synesius and the Municipal Politics of Cyrenaica in the 5th Century AD’, Byzantion, 55: 146-64. J. H. W. G. Liebeschuetz 1990. Barbarians and bishops : army, church, and state in the age of Arcadius and Chrysostom. Oxford: Clarendon. Kraeling, Carl H. with D. Brinkerhoff, R.G. Goodchild, J.E. Knudstad, L. Mowry and G.R.H. Wright, Ptolemais. City of the Libyan Pentapolis, University of Chicago Oriental Institute Publications, 90 (Chicago, 1962).

The eastern Moors Brett, Martin and Fentress, Elizabeth. 1996. The Berbers Oxford: Blackwell. Brogan, Olwen and Smith, D.J. 1984. Ghirza. A Libyan Settlement in the Roman Period. Libyan Antiquities Series, 1. Tripoli: Department of Antiquities. Mattingly, David J. 1983. The Laguatan: A Libyan Tribal Confederation in the Later Roman Empire, Libyan Studies, 14: 96–108. available online at http://www.columbia.edu/itc/history/conant/Mattingly.pdf and on Blackboard. 15

Online Resources: http://www.livius.org/su-sz/synesius/synesius_cyrene.html is a tremendous resource, which includes many of Synesius’ most important works, and all of his letters. 16

WEEK 17 AUGUSTINE AND THE DONATISTS

Late Roman Africa has often been cast as a breeding ground for extremist Christian cults, or as a rebellious province, anxious to throw off the shackles of Roman rule. Often the two images have coincided. But is this a fair assessment of the province before the arrival of the Vandals? Just how extreme were the so-called ‘Donatists’? How did the cult of martyrs develop in the region and why was it so long-lasting? How much did North Africa differ from the other provinces of the Late Roman West?

Gobbets: At least one from section 4 of the ‘Gobbets’ handout. Further Primary Source Reading: The important thing here is to get some flavour of the intensity (and complexity) of religious feeling in North Africa during the fourth and early fifth centuries. This provides an essential context for later religious upheaval. Read a selection from: The ‘Donatist Martyr Stories’ in Tilley 1996 (all are entertaining, but the Passion of Maxima and Donatilla, and the Acts of the Abitinian Martyrs are particularly good). Possidius’ Life of Augustine, in R.J. Deferrari (ed.), Early Christian Biographies, pp. 73-124. ‘The Acts of the Christian Martyrs’ in Herbert Musurillo (ed.) The Acts of the Christian Martyrs. (Again, they all have their moments, but those of Maximian and Crispina should give you a decent flavour) For all of this material consider primarily why it was written – and how such texts might have helped in the wider Christian disputes within North Africa. Also make sure you read at the very least Frend 1999 (short and straightforward!); Shaw 1992 (a crucial reappraisal); Matthews 1976 (a vivid demonstration of the slow process of acculturation).

Secondary Reading: The ‘Donatists’ and Religious dispute:

Birley, A.R. 1987. Some Notes on the Donatist Schism, Libyan Studies, 18: 29-41. *Brown, Peter 1972. Augustine of Hippo: A Biography London: Routledge. esp. ch. 20. --, 1961. Religious Dissent in the Later Roman Empire: The case of North Africa, History, 46: 83-101. Mark Edwards (ed. and tr.), 1997. Optatus: Against the Donatists. Translated Texts for Historians, 27 Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. esp. the introduction Frend, W.H.C. 1952. The Donatist Church Oxford: OUP. * --, 1999. Donatism in Bowersock et al. 1999: 417-9. --, 1969. Circumcellions and Monks, Journal of Theological Studies, 20: 542-9 Grig, Lucy. 2004. Making Martyrs in Late Antiquity. London: Duckworth. 17

Tilley, Maureen A. (ed. and tr.), 1996. Donatist Martyr Stories: The Church in Conflict in Roman North Africa. Translated Texts for Historians, 24. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. Esp. the introduction --, 1997a. The Bible in Christian North Africa. The Donatist World Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. --, 1997b. Sustaining Donatist Self-Identity: From the Church of the Martyrs to the Collecta of the Desert, Journal of Early Christian Studies 5: 31-5. Raven, Susan. 1993. Rome in Africa London: Routledge: 167-195. *Shaw, Brent D. 1992. African Christianity: disputes, definitions and ‘Donatists’, in Shaw 1995b.

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WEEK 18. APOCALYPSE THEN?: THE VANDALS For many writers of the time, the arrival of the Vandals spelled the end of Roman civilization within North Africa, and the popular modern conception of ‘the barbarians’ would seem to support this view. But just who were the Vandals? How did they come to settle in North Africa? And what did their settlement entail? How did they govern their kingdom? How were they received by Romano-Africans? No less importantly, why do so many of our written sources seek to portray the Vandals in a certain light? And is there a danger in attempting to rehabilitate this barbarian group uncritically?

Gobbets: At least one from section 5 of the ‘Gobbets’ handout.

Further Primary Source Reading: On the Vandal occupation: Victor of Vita HP I.1-15; I.17-18; I.22; I.30; III.59; III.62 Procopius BV III.5.11-17; IV.3.26-7 On Vandal ‘identity’: Victor of Vita HP I.2; I.43; I.48-50; II.8-9; III.31; III.62-3; Procopius BV III.5.18-21; III.14.8f; III.19.8; IV.6.5-14. On Vandal Kingship: Victor of Vita HP I.17; II.12-16; Procopius BV III.7.7f; III.7.30; III.8.12; III.17.9-10; III.20.17; IV.4.33. On the Persecution: Victor of Vita HP. I.16; I.19; I.24-7; I.41; I.48-50; I.51; II.8-9; II.12-16; II.23- 28; II.30-38; II.46-52; III.2-21; III.26; III.29; III.31-7; III.42; III.47-8; III.54; III.71. (This is a lot less than it looks!)

Secondary Literature: *Cameron, Averil. 2000. Vandal and Byzantine Africa, in CAH, XIV: 552-69. Clover, Frank M. 1989 The Symbiosis of Romans and Vandals in Africa, in Clover 1993. Conant, Jonathan P. 2004. Staying Roman: Vandals, Moors and Byzantines in late Antique North Africa, 400-700, unpubl. Ph.D. Thesis. Harvard University. see esp. chs 1 and 2. *Merrills, Andy and Miles, Richard. 2010. The Vandals. Oxford and Boston: Blackwell. [esp. chapters 3 and 4] Moorhead, John. (ed. and tr.), 1992. Victor of Vita: History of the Vandal Persecution. Translated Texts for Historians, 10 Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. (Useful notes). *Liebeschuetz, J.H.W.G. 2003. Gens into Regnum: The Vandals, in H-W Goetz, J. Jarnut and W. Pohl (eds), Regna and Gentes. The Relationship between Late Antique and Early Medieval Peoples and Kingdoms in the Transformation of the Roman World Leiden: Brill: 55-83. Shanzer, in Merrills 2004. [On Blackboard] Wolfram, Herwig 1997. The Roman Empire and its Germanic Peoples, tr. T. Dunlap Berkeley: University of California Press. ch. 7.

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WEEK 19: FORGOTTEN AFRICA? MOORS AND ‘RESISTANCE’. Christian Courtois described the periphery of Roman Africa as ‘L’Afrique oubliée’ – forgotten Africa. For Courtois and many scholars of his generation, this nomadic and semi-nomadic fringe was essentially unchanged from the Punic and Roman periods down to the period of French occupation. But was this really the case? And were the ‘Moorish’ or ‘Berber’ polities really so different from the Germanic successor states that evolved at the same time? Who were the Berbers? What was their religion? Had they been Christianized? What language did they speak? Did the Berbers constitute a monolithic bloc, or were they divided into many smaller kingdoms? How much do we know about the Berber state(s)? This week we will explore the ‘other side’ of the social changes already hinted at in our investigations of Cyrenaica, Africa Proconsularis and Numidia. What caused the attacks that created such anguish for Synesius? Which groups struggled for influence on the fringes of the Vandal kingdom? And how far did the ‘Donatists’ draw upon genuinely autonomous political impulses?

Presentation Source: Corippus, The Iohannis in G.W. Shea (tr.) The Iohannis or De bellis Libycis of Flavius Cresconius Corippus (Lewiston, 1998). Why did Corippus write the Iohannis? To what extent was his representation of events shaped by literary form? How do these factors influence his presentation of the Moors?

Gobbets: At least one from section 6 of the ‘Gobbets’ handout.

Further Primary Source Reading: Read the Moorish inscriptions on Blackboard.

Secondary Literature: Brett, Martin and Fentress, Elizabeth. 1996. The Berbers Oxford: Blackwell. Cherry, J. 1998. Frontier and Society in Roman North Africa Oxford: OUP (for background) *Fentress, Elizabeth. 1983.Forever Berber, Opus, 2: 161-75 *Mattingly, D.J. 1996. ‘From One Colonialism to Another: Imperialism and the Maghreb’, in J. Webster and N. J. Cooper (eds), Roman Imperialism: Post-Colonial Perspectives, Leicester Archaeology Monographs, 3 Leicester: Leicester Archaeological Services: 49–69. --, 1995. Tripolitania London: Batsford. --, 1992. War and Peace in Roman North Africa: Observations and Models of State–Tribe Interaction, in R. B. Ferguson and N. L. Whitehead (eds), War in the Tribal Zone: Expanding States and Indigenous Warfare Santa Fe: James Currey: 31–60. --, 1987. Libyans and the limes: Culture and Society in Roman Tripolitania, Ant. af., 23: 71–93. * --, 1983. The Laguatan: A Libyan Tribal Confederation in the Later Roman Empire, Libyan Studies, 14: 96–108. *Rushworth, Alan. 2000. From Periphery to Core in Late Antique Mauretania, in G. Fincham, G. Harrison, R. R. Holland and L. Revell (eds), TRAC 99. Proceedings of the Ninth Annual Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference Oxford: Oxbow: 90–103. 20

*--, 2004. ‘From Arzuges to Rustamids: State Formation and Regional Identity in the Pre- Saharan Zone’, in Merrills 2004. --, 1996. ‘North African deserts and mountains: comparisons and insights’, in D. Kennedy (ed.), The Limits of Empire: The Roman Army in the East Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press: 297-316. Salama, P. 1981. From Rome to Islam, in G. Mokhtar (ed.), The General History of Africa. II. Ancient Civilizations of Africa London: Henemann: 499-512. Shaw, B.D. 1982. Fear and Loathing: The Nomad Menace and Roman North Africa’, in Shaw 1995b. *--, 1980. Archaeology and Knowledge: The History of the African Provinces of the Roman Empire, in Shaw 1995b. Whittaker, C.R. 1994. The Frontiers of the Roman Empire Baltimore: Johns Hopkins. esp. pp. 143-151, 246-248, 264-265.