History of Roman-era Tunisia

History of Roman-era Tunisia describes first the Roman Africa Province. Rome took control of Carthage after the Third Punic War (149-146). There was a period of Berber kings allied with Rome (see prior article). Lands surrounding Carthage were annexed and reorganized, and the city of Carthage rebuilt, becoming the third city of the Empire. A long period of prosperity ensued; a cosmopolitan culture evolved. Trade quickened, the fields yielded their fruits. Settlers from across the Empire migrated here, forming a Latin-speaking ethnic mix. Some Berbers rose in society, e.g., Apuleius, while other Berbers remained rural, unlettered, and poor. Several Emperors from Africa reigned. Christianity became strong, and included Augustine of Hippo; yet it was troubled by the Donatist schism. During the eclipse of the Roman Empire, several prominent Berbers revolted. A generation later the Vandals, a Germanic kingdom, arrived and reigned over the former Africa province for nearly a century. A series of Berbers regimes established self-rule at the periphery. The Byzantine Empire eventually recaptured from the Vandals its dominion in 534, which endured until the Islamic conquest, completed in 705. Then came the final undoing of ancient Carthage.