S. Dietz, L. Ladjimi Sebai and H. Ben Hassen (eds), Africa Proconsularis: Regional Studies in the Segermes Valley of Northern Tunisia. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press, 1995. 2 vols, pp. 799, numerous figs, 11 fold-out plans, ISBN 87-7288-740-0. £60.00/US$80.00.

Abstract

What was the relationship between city and country in the Roman Empire? The writings which have been preserved show an enormous empire, divided into cells, each with a city at its centre. But the written sources are few, and focus mainly on the cities of Italy; they do not tell what life was like in the Roman provinces. Through systematic studies of the ancient landscape in Northern Tunisia, archaeologists have reconstructed the day-to-day history and economic activity of the rural population around the city of Segermes. Over 100 persons have been involved in this joint Danish-Tunisian project. The findings presented in these two volumes indicate that in Roman times, the valley was given over to intensive cultivation of wheat and olives, maintained at a high output level by means of extensive irrigation works. The population was dense and, surprisingly, reached its peak between 350 and 550 AD, a period of economic decline elsewhere in the Roman Empire.