Cartagine. Studi e Ricerche

African Christians and Their Anti-Pagan "Cold War": The End of the Pax Deorum and the Beginning of the Christiana Tempora in Late Roman Africa

Mohamed-Arbi Nsiri — 2025-03-28

Between the 4th and 5th centuries, Roman North Africa underwent one of the most significant and decisive religious changes in its history. Slowly, society as conceived by the founding fathers of the Principate system is cracking, giving way to a new model, that of a Christian world in the making. At the end of the political crises of the 3rd century, North Africa, like the rest of the Roman world, was seeking inspiration in Eastern cults, of which Christianity was just one. Its distinctive feature, however, is that it has emerged as the religion capable of giving new impetus and a new lease of life to a North African society in the throes of metamorphosis. Although the Edict of Thessalonica, promulgated by Emperor Theodosius I, is traditionally regarded by posterity as the great turning point in the relationship between pagans and Christians, it was only the culmination of a long and slow gestation period, in favor of a religion that was in turn persecuted, tolerated and then finally adopted and imposed. The anti-pagan violence that took place in North Africa of the Late Antiquity period was part of this dynamic, which involved both advances and retreats, sometimes federating in the name of a common thought that was gradually spreading, sometimes causing social disorder and the religious unrest so feared by the emperors and their high provincial officials.

Once again about Mastia Tarsêion and African toponymy

Pierre Moret — 2025-06-25

This paper discusses recent contributions to the long-lasting debate on the location of the place names Mastia and Tarsêion, mentioned in the second Roman-Carthaginian treaty of 348 BC, from three points of view: the uniqueness or duality of the toponym; the reliability of Late-Antiquity texts that relate it to the region of the Strait of Gibraltar; and the alleged involvement of Massalia in setting the exclusion clauses of the treaty. Our second aim is to present new toponymic and palaeographic evidence that supports the location of Mastia Tarsêion, as a single place, in North Africa.

The roman theatre of Thignica. Preliminary investigations and first reconstructive hypotheses.

Roberto Busonera — 2025-06-28

As part of the archaeological excavation campaign at ancient Thignica (October 2024), preliminary investigations were carried out at the city’s Roman theater. The opportunity was a first contact with the building and the definition of some useful issues for its reconstruction. Starting with the recovery and analysis of documentation related to previous research activities, the paper proposes some essential themes for understanding the building’s construction principles and the distribution of its interior space.

Africa in the context of the central Mediterranean (Tunisia-Eastern Algeria): relations with Sardinia from the Republican to the Julio-Claudian era (2nd century BC-1st century AD). Trade and milling tools after the crisis of the Punic world

Ernesto Insinna — 2025-03-29

The strong connection between Africa and Sardinia in the Punic period was perpetuated even after the Tyrrhenian conquests and Roman expansion. This is evident from the presence of African artefacts on the Island, especially amphorae, but also from the Sardinian millstones made in Mulargia and spread throughout North Africa. After the fall of Carthage, perhaps it was the Italic negotiatores and/or the Numids who conveyed these products, exploiting the Mediterranean market circuit.