UNESCO Ancient Civilizations of Africa (Editor G. Mokhtar)

The Roman and post-Roman period in North Africa
define. It has become customary, however, to distinguish between two
cultures in Africa, one being official and Roman, and the other popular,
indigenous and provincial. But there are monuments, of course, in which
the two trends meet and contaminate each other, so that they lose their
separate identities.
African architectural works generally reproduced types of public monuments
which were prevalent throughout the Roman world, and accordingly
derived their inspiration from an essentially Roman technique and ideal.
Nor were ornamental sculptures and the great statues of gods, emperors
and prominent men very different in style from their counterparts in Italy
or in other provinces. However, architectural or sculptural creations linked
with the religious or funeral traditions of the population, as well as certain
special construction or decoration techniques, bore the stamp of local
characteristics: this is evident in the temples raised to deities who retained
their native individuality despite their apparent identification with Roman
gods, in certain monumental sepulchres, in a special wall-building technique
known as 'opus africum', in domestic architecture and, lastly, in the
votive stelae still imbued with pre-Roman influences. In the Severan
period, the sculptures of Leptis Magna and those of other towns in
Tripolitania and proconsular Africa were strongly influenced by a significant
artistic trend originating in Asia Minor, which was all the more readily
assimilated because it was in keeping with ancient, but still vigorous
tendencies in African art.
The countless mosaics brought to light since the beginning of this
century also display local tendencies and characteristics. Here again, we
can only refer the reader to the specialized periodicals and to the abovementioned
book by G. Charles-Picard who brings his chapter on the
'African baroque' to a close with the following words: 'To say the very
least, therefore, Africa fully repaid her debt to Rome, and showed that
she was capable of reaping benefits from her borrowings in a spirit which
is neither that of Greece nor that of the hellenized Levant.' 42
Part II: From Rome to Islam p. SALAMA
When Roman domination ended in North Africa, after holding sway for
four centuries in some regions, up to five in others, the internal situation
presented a complex picture. Regional risings, religious conflicts, social
unrest, all led to a worsening climate, but the soundness of administrative
experience and the prestige of Latin culture gave this imported civilization
a good many chances of survival.
Split into vanquished or independent zones according to the vicissitudes
42. G. Charles-Picard, 1959, p. 353.
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