When the Roman Empire progressively expanded its influence over the North African continent, it encountered a very heterogeneous mix of peoples with a long and diverse history. This collection of papers from the conference De Africa Romaque: Merging Cultures Across North Africa (Leicester, 2013), explores the mutual relationships between North African societies and Rome within this context. Moving away from traditional narratives of dominance and resistance, the discussions focus on bringing the local peoples of North Africa and their varied cultural features back into the fore.

• List of figures
• List of tables
• List of abbreviations
• Acknowledgements
• PRELIMINARIES. CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVES
  • 1. Introducing De Africa Romaque
• PART I. NORTH AFRICA BEFORE ROME: INDIGENOUS TRADITIONS AND THEIR LEGACY
  • 2. Who shaped Africa? The origins of urbanism and agriculture in Maghreb and Sahara
  • 3. Before Greeks and Romans: Eastern Libya and the oases, a brief review of interconnections in the Eastern Sahara
  • 4. Burial mounds and state formation in North Africa: a volumetric and energetic approach
• PART II. PLANNING, DEVELOPING, AND TRANSFORMING THE NORTH AFRICAN TOWNSCAPE
  • 5. Merging technologies in North African ancient architecture: opus quadratum and opus africanum from the Phoenicians to the Romans
  • 6. Continuity and change in Hellenistic town planning in Fayum (Egypt): between tradition and innovation
  • 7. Quartieri residenziali e aree pubbliche: l’Agorà ed il Ginnasio di Cirene nella Tarda Antichità
• PART III. PERCEPTION AND REPRESENTATION OF POWER, ETHNIC AND CULTURAL IDENTITIES
  • 8. Roman imperialism in Africa from the Third Punic War to the battle of Thapsus (146-46 BC)
  • 9. African geography in the triumph of Cornelius Balbus
  • 10. A Catholic stronghold? Religious and ethnic identities at Tipasa
• PART IV. ECONOMIES ACROSS NORTH AFRICA: PRODUCTION, TECHNOLOGY, AND TRADE
  • 11. Oil production at Dionysias and in Fayum: tradition and technological innovation across the Ptolemaic and Roman periods
  • 12. Les ateliers d’amphores de Zitha et le potentiel économique de la Tripolitaine tunisienne
  • 13. Imported building materials in North Africa: brick, stone and the role of return cargoes
• PART V. CREATING A LASTING IMPRESSION: ARCHITECTURAL AND DECORATIVE MOTIFS
  • 14. Stones of Memory: the presentation of the individual in the cemeteries of Cyrene
  • 15. Beyond Ghirza: Roman-period mausolea in Tripolitania
  • 16. Architectural decoration at Sala (Chellah) and in Mauretania Tingitana: Punic-Hellenistic legacies, Roman official art, and local motifs
  • 17. Ripresa e continuità di tradizioni ellenistiche nell’architettura e nella decorazione architettonica tardoantica in Africa e altre province dell’Impero Romano
  • 18. Imperial statues in urban contexts in Late Antique North Africa
• CONCLUSION
  • 19. De Africa Romaque: some concluding thoughts