Africa Vetus

Provincia Africa Proconsularis
Province of the Roman Empire
← 146 BC–5th century →
The province of Africa within the Roman Empire
Capital		Zama Regia, then Carthago
Historical era		Antiquity
•	Established after the Third Punic War	146 BC
•	Invasion of the Vandals	5th century
Today part of		Tunisia  Libya  Algeria

The Roman province of Africa Proconsularis was established after the Romans defeated Carthage in the Third Punic War in 146 BC. It roughly comprised the territory of present-day Tunisia, the northeast of modern-day Algeria, and the small Mediterranean Sea coast of modern-day western Libya along the Gulf of Sirte.

It was one of the wealthiest provinces in the western part of the empire, second only to Italia. The Arabs later named roughly the same region as the original province Ifriqiya, a rendering of Africa, from the Latin language.

The land acquired for the province of Africa was the site of the ancient city of Carthage. Other large cities in the region included Hadrumetum (modern Sousse, Tunisia), capital of Byzacena, Hippo Regius (modern Annaba, Algeria). The province was established by the Roman Republic in 146 BC, following the Third Punic War.

Rome established its first African colony, Africa Proconsularis or Africa Vetus (Old Africa), governed by a proconsul, in the most fertile part of what was formerly Carthaginian territory. Utica was formed as the administrative capital. The remaining territory was left in the domain of the Numidian client king Massinissa. At this time, the Roman policy in Africa was simply to prevent another great power from rising on the far side of Sicily.

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Wikipedia