Numidia Romana?

The complex phenomena surrounding the incorporation of Numidia into Rome’s sphere of control has been discussed to date predominantly on the basis of bipolar models such as Punicization, Romanization, resistance theory or autochthonology. As an alternative this study, which draws on the author’s own field research and is illustrated by six microregions, delineates the panorama of an extraordinarily early development of urban centers in Numidia, visualizing it with new diachronic phase plans. Referring to selected dwelling and workshop areas, sanctuaries and burial practice, the study identifies specific local and regional characteristics, some of which persisted into the imperial period. At the same time novelties appeared in cultic, mortuary, ceramic and architectural forms which cannot be explained either by the resistance of local groups or by the arrival of new groups, for instance Roman citizens. The complex ornamental and formal vocabulary of buildings and objects in addition to certain evidence of economy (marble imports and exports, ceramic imitations, coin distribution) prove that the towns of Numidia were perfectly integrated in Mediterranean trade networks and cultural transfer processes from the 2nd century B.C. onward. Close ties existed in particular with central Italy and led to mutual influence on politics and territory long before Numidia’s annexation (46 B.C.). Heterogeneous find contexts, distribution mechanisms and inscriptions show however that considerably more actors were involved in this exchange than – as assumed thus far – just the kings of Numidia and the Republican commanders and later the emperors. The common presumption of North Africa’s so-called dark age is thus confronted with a wealth of new excavation and survey data as well as a re-evaluation of recent and older research results. New explanatory models are thereby presented for this decisive phase in North Africa’s urban development and for the identity discourses of that period.