Christian North Africa in Antiquity

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of scholarly work on Christianization of North Africa, drawing on textual and archaeological evidence. The process of Christianization and Christianity were very different in Numidia, Africa Proconsularis, Byzacena, and Tripolitania, sometimes even within same province, most notably between coastal and inland areas. The study of Donatism or African Church has been primarily driven by textual evidence, mostly analyzing the debates and the disputes with the Catholic Church. The Christian presence in cities becomes more evident by the end of the fourth century. It is in fact from this moment that a genuine Christian topography emerges and transforms the urban setting. Apart from the distribution of churches inside an urban area, the appearance of intramural burials marks a clear break with the prohibition of such burials in the Roman period. Both Augustine and Fulgentius provide important information in connection with the rise and development of various monastic movements in North Africa.