African Rome. The City of Carthage from its Roman (Re‐)foundation to the End of the Byzantine Period

Abstract

Carthage's location in the center of the Mediterranean facilitated maritime trade in all directions. For centuries after the end of the Byzantine period, the site of Carthage was predominantly agricultural land, with very little of its archaeological heritage visible owing to centuries of heavy spoilation. Initial Roman colonization efforts on the site began less than two decades after the Third Punic war with the establishment of Colonia Iunonia Karthago by Gaius Gracchus in 123/121 bce, the first colony outside the Italian Peninsula. Roman Carthage's public monuments formed an impressive ensemble and far exceeded similar buildings in other African cities in size and decoration. In many cases they were only surpassed by their models in Rome itself, underlining Salvian's reference to Carthage as African Rome. By the third century ce Carthage had acquired the full panoply of municipal public buildings. Most subsequent monumental constructions comprised Christian religious buildings. Most building activity in Byzantine Carthage was ecclesiastical.