In Search of Ancient North Africa
Barnaby RogersonIn Search of Ancient North Africa is a journey into the ruins of a landscape to make sense of these stories through the multilayered lives of six individuals. Rogerson digs into the lives of
Queen Dido, who was a sacrificial refugee; King Juba II, a prisoner of war who became a compliant tool of the Roman Empire;
Septimius Severus, an unpromising provincial who, as its leader, brought his empire to its dazzling apogee;
St. Augustine, an intellectual careerist who became a bishop and a saint;
Hannibal, the greatest general the world has ever known; and
Masinissa, the man who eventually defeated him.
Together these six lives, clouded with as much myth as fact, are characters that represent classical North Africa. Among these life stories, we explore ruins and monuments tell of their lives and see the multiple connections that bind the culture of this region with the wider world, particularly the spiritual traditions of the ancient Near East. In Search of Ancient North Africa sheds new light on a time and place at the crossroads of numerous histories and cultures. It offers the first history of ancient North Africa told through the lives of North Africans themselves.