Prose Literature

Abstract

Written sources on Roman Africa's history are characterized by their great wealth and by important disparities at the same time. The literary sources from North Africa belong to a distinct tradition and provide a major contribution to the Latin literature of the Roman period. The history of Roman Africa was treated very unevenly by ancient authors, depending on the periods. The origins of Christian literature in Africa go back to the second century ce. The Latin apologetic tradition against the ancient world's traditional religions, initiated in Africa by Tertullian and continued by Minucius Felix and Cyprian, continued with Arnobius and Lactantius at the beginning of the fourth century. Arnobius' apologetic work, like that of his predecessors, does not limit itself to a simple religious debate. While the history of Rome only plays a very secondary role in his writings, Arnobius provides no concrete historical information on the imperial period.