DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18096#0195
Africa under Antoninus Pius
accomplishments. The memorial of the goldsmith of Cirta
already referred to is a still more noteworthy example of this
class of inscriptions.
Carthage held its own as the chief intellectual centre of
Africa till the fatal invasion of the Vandals, and its renowned
university, completed under the reign of Alexander Severus,
A.D. 222-235, sent forth into the civilised world enlightened
men, trained in the varied schools of literature, science, and art.
Rhetoric or oratory appears to have been held in much esteem
at Carthage and in other African cities, for Juvenal, who
flourished in the time of Trajan, exhorts the Italian professors
of the art, who are desirous of making a fortune, to cross the
sea to Africa.1 But all the higher branches of learning seem to
have been equally encouraged, and their disciples held in
honour by the citizens. An instance may be recorded in the
case of Apuleius, whose services in the cause of literature and
philosophy had reflected distinction upon the university of
Carthage. It was resolved to erect a statue in the city to his
honour. And this is an extract from the philosopher's reply to
the official communication he received on the subject, sufficient
to show the estimation in which the African metropolis was
held at that period by the educated classes :—' The grandeur
of Carthage is worthy that even a philosopher shall sue to it for
honour, where all your citizens are learned : amongst whom
boys learn all they know, adults display their knowledge, and
old men teach it. Carthage, the venerable mistress of our
Province : Carthage, the celestial Muse of Africa: Carthage,
the Camena of those who wear the toga !'2 The remarkable
1 Juv. Sat. vii. 147, 148. Terence, a native of Carthage and of obscure parent-
age, is an exceptional instance. He appears to have been taken to Rome by a slave-
dealer and freed by the senator Terentius Lucanus in the days of his youth. His
introduction to Scipio Africanus and his colleague C. Lselius was the chief cause of
his social success. There is little to indicate African life or manners in any of his
writings.
2 Apul. Flor. xx. The toga was of various kinds. Its assumption distinguished
the civilian from the soldier. There was the toga virilis assumed by Roman youths on
their coming of age, celebrated on the feast of the Liberalia, March 17. The toga
purpurea or picta took the highest rank, being a purple mantle with gold embroidery.
The toga alluded to by Apuleius was the toga preetexta, which was white with a
purple hem, worn by magistrates in the colonic and municipia, and was regarded as
a robe of distinction. Vide Smith's Diet, of Gr. and Rom. Antiq. ; also Livy,
bk. xxxiv. c. 7.
accomplishments. The memorial of the goldsmith of Cirta
already referred to is a still more noteworthy example of this
class of inscriptions.
Carthage held its own as the chief intellectual centre of
Africa till the fatal invasion of the Vandals, and its renowned
university, completed under the reign of Alexander Severus,
A.D. 222-235, sent forth into the civilised world enlightened
men, trained in the varied schools of literature, science, and art.
Rhetoric or oratory appears to have been held in much esteem
at Carthage and in other African cities, for Juvenal, who
flourished in the time of Trajan, exhorts the Italian professors
of the art, who are desirous of making a fortune, to cross the
sea to Africa.1 But all the higher branches of learning seem to
have been equally encouraged, and their disciples held in
honour by the citizens. An instance may be recorded in the
case of Apuleius, whose services in the cause of literature and
philosophy had reflected distinction upon the university of
Carthage. It was resolved to erect a statue in the city to his
honour. And this is an extract from the philosopher's reply to
the official communication he received on the subject, sufficient
to show the estimation in which the African metropolis was
held at that period by the educated classes :—' The grandeur
of Carthage is worthy that even a philosopher shall sue to it for
honour, where all your citizens are learned : amongst whom
boys learn all they know, adults display their knowledge, and
old men teach it. Carthage, the venerable mistress of our
Province : Carthage, the celestial Muse of Africa: Carthage,
the Camena of those who wear the toga !'2 The remarkable
1 Juv. Sat. vii. 147, 148. Terence, a native of Carthage and of obscure parent-
age, is an exceptional instance. He appears to have been taken to Rome by a slave-
dealer and freed by the senator Terentius Lucanus in the days of his youth. His
introduction to Scipio Africanus and his colleague C. Lselius was the chief cause of
his social success. There is little to indicate African life or manners in any of his
writings.
2 Apul. Flor. xx. The toga was of various kinds. Its assumption distinguished
the civilian from the soldier. There was the toga virilis assumed by Roman youths on
their coming of age, celebrated on the feast of the Liberalia, March 17. The toga
purpurea or picta took the highest rank, being a purple mantle with gold embroidery.
The toga alluded to by Apuleius was the toga preetexta, which was white with a
purple hem, worn by magistrates in the colonic and municipia, and was regarded as
a robe of distinction. Vide Smith's Diet, of Gr. and Rom. Antiq. ; also Livy,
bk. xxxiv. c. 7.