Africa

Refers to the first North African territory of the Roman Empire, at times roughly corresponding to modern Tunisia; parts of modern northern Libya were included as well. It was acquired in 146 BCE after the destruction of Carthage at the end of the Third Punic War; it was a proconsular province by 133 BCE. Julius Caesar and the emperor Augustus founded 19 colonies here, with Colonia Julia Carthago rapidly becoming an important city. Augustus expanded the province by combining the original province of Africa Vetus ("Old Africa") with the province Caesar had designated as Africa Nova (New Africa"); Africa Nova was composed of the old kingdoms of Numidia and Mauretania. The province exported olive oil to Rome between the 1st and 4th centuries. The numerous and magnificent Roman ruins in Tunisia and Libya attest to the region's prosperity under Roman rule. The province of Numidia was created in the western end of Africa province in the late 2nd century CE under the emperor Septimius Severus; a century later Diocletian formed two provinces, Byzacena and Tripolitania, from the southern and eastern parts of the old province. Germanic Vandals invaded in the 5th century and the area went into decline; Arab invaders conquered the area in the 7th century.