Graham, Alexander: Roman Africa: an outline of the history of the Roman occupation of North Africa ; based chiefly upon inscriptions and monumental remains in that country (London [u.a.], 1902)

58 Roman Africa

Pliny refers to the land of Byzatium or Byzacene,1 which was
represented on Roman coins in the guise of a young girl with
her arms full of wheatsheaves, and says that when the season is
dry the strongest team of oxen cannot plough it, but that after
one good shower one poor ass with the help of a silly old
woman will be enough, as he has observed many a time and
often.

The Emperor Commodus, whose reign was not remarkable
for acts of munificence or utility, built a fleet of ships especially
for the grain supply. He had an African and an Alexandrian
fleet. It was in a ship of the latter, whose sign was Castor and
Pollux, that St. Paul embarked from Malta when he was
journeying to Syracuse. In the fourth century, especially
during the reign of Constantine, wheat from Egypt was shipped
entirely to Constantinople, and wheat from Africa supplied the
Roman markets. In the time of Caesar a maximum price of
wheat was fixed in Rome, and certain ports were named on the
coast of Italy to which it should be exclusively shipped. This
arbitrary measure, which appears to have been in force more
than a century, was little in accord with the statesmanlike views
which characterised the Emperor Trajan in all his public acts.
He abolished restrictions, declined to fix a legal price for any
articles of production, and allowed shippers and merchants to
adopt their own methods in all commercial transactions. The
merits of this enlightened policy were put to a severe test on
one occasion during his reign. The waters of the Nile had
refused to rise, and famine in the land of Egypt seemed immi-
nent. But wheat from Africa and Sicily came of their abun-
dance to the ports of Italy, and there was enough to spare for
the distressed population of Alexandria. We cannot wonder
at the interest taken in those days in the shipment of grain,

1 The region called Byzacene was originally inhabited by a Libyan people called
Byzantes, and comprised the southern portion of Africa Provincia. At a later date it
became a distinct province, with the title of Provincia Byzacena. It was separated
from Tripolitana by the river Triton, and the marshes Palus Tritonis, with a stretch
of desert on the south and south-west, formed a natural boundary. Hadrumetum
(Susa) was the capital. Other important towns on the coast were Acholla (n
existing remains), Leptis minor (Lemta), Ruspina (Monastir), Thapsus (Ras Dimas),
add Thena; (Plenchir Tina). In the interior of the country were Assuras (Zanfour^
Capsa (Gafsa), Sufetula (Sbeitla), Terebintha (no existing remains), and Thysdrus
(El-Djem). All these were flourishing towns till the fall of the Empire.