To what extent had Christianity established itself in Roman Africa by the fifth century? Roman Africa was the province containing Numidia, Mauretania and the former Carthaginian territory. The province of Egypt was a separate province, though today we would regard it as part of Africa. Carthage, the principal city of the region was Roman from 146 BC. By 35 BC the entire province that would become known as Roman Africa was under Roman control. Despite being nominally Roman, the peoples maintained many of the features of their pre-Roman history. This is evident in the way in which Christianity was followed in this region. Older traditions were especially prevalent in the least Romanized areas on the edges of the desert. Quite how Christianity reached Roman Africa is unclear from history. Suggestions include conversion by missionaries from Asia Minor or migration of Jewish Christians converting the Jewish communities. The earliest evidence of documented Christians was a small community near Carthage known to have existed around 180 AD. In the three centuries to Augustine�s time, Christianity had spread a great deal further (Brown p. 147-150). The pre-Roman religion was centred on the two deities of Ba�al and Tanit. This was a devotion to a single deity. The Roman influence had changed these to Saturn and Juno-Caelestis. Though outwardly different, the true effect in Roman Africa was effectively superficial. Many of the original African practices and methods of worship and devotion had been retained with just the lightest of modifications in order to apply to the Roman gods. This was especially true in the more rural least romanized regions in closest proximity to the Sahara, but there was a strong sense of this even in the most romanized areas such as the coastal cities like Carthage. There was an individual set of dress and languages that helped distinguish this region of the Empire from the mainland areas. This essentially monotheistic tradition was readily compatible with the form of the Christian religion. The religious context of the region was one of a people who were willing to change the names of their deities but not to alter their methods and characteristics of their worship. The Empire was in a period of economic and social difficulty in the third century AD. This is most clearly illustrated in the succession of numerous emperors in this period. It is always a clear indicator of difficulty and instability when there are many and repeated changes of leader in a civilisation. This mood was reflected in the general populace. The aura of prosperity that had prevailed in the previous century caused many problems to Christianity, which preached an austere morality. The mood was good and people didn�t want to stop the excess and the good times when they felt they could afford to. The mood change was beneficial to the spread of Christianity. Africa was no exception to this empire-wide phenomenon. The attractions of Christianity spread from its austere morality and its promise of a good after-life for the virtuous. In these poor times, its free admittance to all was an attraction. This is in contrast to other cults of the day that demanded such items as bulls for sacrifice on entry. Christianity only asked for a free immersion in water. The make-up of the African church was similar to the Church throughout the rest of the Empire. The membership was predominantly poor and with a large number of women. The church appealed most to the disadvantaged in the empire. The church did attract the richer and wealthier members of society as well. It is mainly from these that the surviving documentary evidence exists. There were far more upper class women than men of the same class in the African church. This meant that upper class women would sometimes marry men from a lower class. The bishops allowed this, but it was not legal in Roman law. The Christian teaching on slaves was though they may remain slaves in life that God regarded them as all free in his eyes and therefore the after-life. This was a great attraction to the slave population of Roman Africa. The majority of the population was of the lower classes as is common throughout civilisations through history. This enabled the penetration of Christianity to spread to a large number of people. Christianity thus influenced the masses and its numbers grew. Evidence of this can be shown from Cyprian�s rapid rise to the rank of bishop, as he was educated. He even mentions in his work the illiteracy of some of his clergy. Though Tertullian probably exaggerated the number of Christians when he claimed that the Christian population was �almost a majority� in the towns at the turn of the third century, the numbers were certainly significant. This can be shown by the council under the presidency of Agrippinus of Carthage some time after 200 AD when there were seventy bishops in attendance. Mauretania was represented along with Latino-Punic Africa. Frend (p.88-89) attributes the long peace from the death of Septimius Severus to the accession of Decius to the partial cause of conversion of a majority of religious-minded people in African towns to Christianity. The size of the Councils is a major indicator of the spread of Christianity in Roman Africa. Frend (p.89) states that in the years preceding the accession of Cyprian to the see of Carthage in 248, there had been at least two councils, one of which attended by ninety bishops. This is evidence of the spread of Christianity to greater numbers. Persecutions were some of the most notable events in Christianity in this period. The public attitude to the persecution of Christians in Roman Africa changed markedly over the first half of the third century AD. In 202-3 Frend (p.89) says that the crowd was �bitterly hostile to the martyrs Perpetua, Felicitas and Saturus�. There were even calls for the Christians to undergo extra punishment. In 249, Cyprian, the bishop was allowed to escape in retirement. The public didn�t really want the Christians killed and the officials gave the Christians much more room for repentance than previous. They didn�t wish to kill the Christians. For public opinion to be in favour of Christianity in this amount there must have been enough Christians around so that the pagan population would respect and even like them. Though Cyprian was eventually killed in 258 AD, he could have escaped with the help of influential friends. The shape of the church in this time is a little difficult to determine. It has already been stated that the composition of the church was mainly of women and those from the lower classes. The church in Roman Africa appears to have been that of a rich and powerful institution according to Frend (p.90). The church paid its clergy a monthly stipend and organised relief in times of emergency. This shows the structure and organisation of the church as an institution. To have such structure and organisation requires a certain scale. Already at this time the church was an established institution with many members in Roman Africa. Frend (p.90) cites Cyprian as showing in his De Lapsis that the church was not just tolerated, but its leaders lived in prosperity. Cyprian himself denounced those bishops who increasing their fortunes by deceit and immoral acts. This also effectively led to the demise of persecution into small-scale random violence, which ultimately failed. The fact that the church was able to offer relief in emergencies and did so to believer and non-believer alike inspired respect and affection to the Christians. This surely attracted more converts and helped the church grow. This was a crucial matter for a society to perform and the church was the only organisation willing and able to provide this service. This shows the significance and size of the church as an institution and therefore how far Christianity had spread in Roman Africa. There was much need for emergency relief in this period due to the instability of the Roman Empire. This was a cyclical effect that helped the church continue to grow. Cyprian was a central character in the Christian church in Roman Africa. He was one of the central leaders of the entire church throughout the empire in his time. It is from his writings that much of the evidence about the church in Roman Africa in the mid-third century AD survives. He had his enemies but this is common throughout history in the leadership of churches. He was one of the central figures in determining doctrine on confessors who had committed apostasy. He found many of his supporters amongst the Numidian churches, so there was no schism yet. The period following his death remains the most obscure according to Frend (p.93). This was the period that saw the final triumph of the church in Roman Africa. This is when the High Plains nearest the desert probably changed their allegiance from Saturn to Christ. The conversion of Constantine as a political manoeuvre in order to help him win the civil war in 312 was a crucial factor in the spread of Christianity. It is hard to determine accurate numbers of Christians at this time, but it is thought that around 10% of the population of the Empire were Christian at this time. Having the Emperor Christian was, naturally enough, an influential factor in people�s cultic practices. Christianity was not the only permitted religion in the Empire at this stage, despite the Emperor�s practice. The change in status that this afforded Christianity was strongly indicative of the rise of Christianity in Roman Africa as much as the rest of the Empire. The Emperor felt it prudent to gain the support of Christians, and this had to be throughout the entire Empire. In the mid-third century Donatus was able to gather 270 bishops for a Council at Carthage. The number shows that the church had grown by a large factor since the 87 that Cyprian gathered in 256 AD. The growth of Christianity was clear. The new Christians may have been converts partly for superficial reasons, but the need for this wasn�t yet great so the new Christians were mainly true converts who truly believed in the religion. Constantine didn�t stop persecution; he merely changed its direction in Roman Africa to the Donatists (Tilley p.53). The �need� for persecution of heretics is strongly indicative of the size of a religion. To attack a splinter group shows scale. Forced conversion of non-Christians came later. The fourth century saw more upheaval in the Roman Empire. Christianity continued to grow, despite the attempted revival of paganism by various figures. The fourth century eventually saw the outlawing of paganism and other non-Christian religions. Constantine�s successors initiated many acts that helped Christianity grow or shrink. Donatists and Catholics lived side by side in relative harmony from 321-346 AD. In 346 AD the Emperor Constans re-initiated persecution of the Donatists in Roman Africa after a dispute (Tilley p.70). By the end of the fourth century AD the persecution was mainly on Arians and pagans in the Roman Empire, Donatists were mainly left alone until the death of Theodosius in 395. Gildo, the governor of Roman Africa had no respect for Theodosius� successors and attempted to control North Africa for himself. He did this by appointing loyal Donatists to positions of power. One of Theodosius� successors, Honorius, appointed loyal Catholics to positions of power. The Donatists never again had the chance of political power in Roman Africa. The bishops of both groups grew more aggressive and determined. This led to more conflict. Ultimately, this led to the Donatist decline in influence in Roman Africa. The fact that the history of this period in Roman Africa is dominated by a Christian controversy shows that the spread of Christianity in Roman Africa was extensive and in a dominant position. In conclusion, Christianity was extensively spread throughout Roman Africa by the fifth century. It had only really started at the end of the second century in Roman Africa, but in two hundred years it had spread to dominate the whole province. This was heavily influenced by outside events, but the nature was also affected by the peculiar nature of events and people in Roman Africa. The traditional religious practices of the African population meant that Christianity was particularly suited to this province. Certain factors were pre-eminent in Christian practice here such as the martyr tradition and fanatical devotion to one deity. The spread was swift as elsewhere, but the Donatist controversy show that Roman Africa was highly unusual in how Christianity developed as compared to the rest of the Empire. Bibliography W.H.C. Frend; The Donatist Church (1951). Maureen A. Tilley; The Bible in Christian North Africa (1997). P. Brown; Review of Momigliano (1972).
