Frontier and Society in Roman North Africa

by Cherry, David

• ISBN13: 9780198152354
• ISBN10: 0198152353
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1998-12-31
• Publisher: Clarendon Press

Summary

This book seeks to define the cultural, social, and economic consequences of the Roman occupation of North Africa (c.50 BC-AD 250), mainly in the semi-arid frontier-zone of what is today Algeria. It also offers a fresh look at the development and purpose of the north African frontier-system.Through detailed examination of the region's archaeological and epigraphic record, including the marriage-patterns recorded on its surviving, funerary inscriptions, Professor Cherry demonstrates that there was probably little acculturation in the north African frontier-zone. The Roman army, longconsidered to be a powerful instrument of Romanization and a bridge to the indigenous societies of the provinces of the Empire, is shown to have functioned primarily as an army of occupation on the north African frontier, segregated, by choice or circumstance, from the region's aboriginalpopulation.

Table of Contents

List of Figures	xiii	(1)
List of Tables	xiv	(1)
Abbreviations	xv
1. Pre-Roman Algeria	1	(23)
The Landscape	3	(6)
Economy and Society	9	(15)
2. The Roman Frontier-Zone	24	(51)
Locating the Roman Frontiers	28	(7)
The Development of the Frontier-Zone	35	(23)
The Purpose of the Frontier-System	58	(15)
Conclusion: Roman Objectives in the Frontier-Zone	73	(2)
3. Measuring Romanization	75	(26)
Sources and Methods	78	(4)
Unworkable Models	82	(17)
Intermarriage	99	(2)
4. Husbands and Wives in the Frontier-Zone	101	(40)
Sources and Methods	103	(16)
Marriage-Patterns	119	(15)
Law and Social Practice	134	(7)
5. Consequences of the Roman Occupation	141	(17)
Agriculture	142	(11)
Trade	153	(2)
Society	155	(3)
6. Conclusion: The Limits of Acculturation	158	(4)
Appendices	162	(92)
1. Marriage-Epitaphs of the Frontier-Zone (c.50 BC-AD 250)	162	(47)
2. Marriage-Epitaphs of Thubursicu Numidarum (c.50 BC-AD 250)	209	(11)
3. Marriage-Epitaphs that Record Roman(ized) Wives and Husbands	220	(5)
4. Dated Epitaphs of the Frontier-Zone	225	(29)
Bibliography of Modern Works Cited in the Notes	254	(27)
Index of Passages	281	(1)
Index of Proper Names	282	(2)
Index of Subjects	284