DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18096#0311
Africa under the later Emperors 237
Philip's career we know but little. As an African he might
have been expected to associate his name with some city in his
Native country, or with some great movement affecting the
Welfare of his African subjects. But the habits of his youth,
Gained in the rough ways of the Desert, did not lend themselves
to any of the gentler arts of civilisation. During the five years
°f his reign the excitements of the battle-field and the pleasures
°f the camp proved more congenial to his tastes than the dis-
charge of civil and administrative duties. Like his immediate
Predecessors, he shared a similar fate at the hands of his own
soldiers, and the favourite of the hour reigned in his stead.
Little information can be gathered from contemporary
historians about the progress of civilisation in North Africa
during the reigns of the short-lived Emperors in the latter half
°f the third century. Flavius Vopiscus, as a writer, may be
regarded as the most reliable, but he is almost silent on the
subject. Inscriptions also give little aid, though the wording
°f a large number of votive memorials and dedications to
honoured citizens is sufficient evidence of a spread of content-
ment and prosperity, of municipalities increasing in influence
ar>d population, and of citizens in the full enjoyment of national
Security. There were no disturbances to cause disquietude,
frontier towns were well protected by numerous castella, and the
£feat central garrison at Lambcesis was strengthened from time
*° time by the addition of troops drawn from other parts of the
■^rnpire.
The accession of Decius, a native of Bubalia in Lower
^annonia, after the murder of Philip, was favoured by the army
and approved by the Senate. His reign for about two years
was marked by an incident which affected the welfare of North
Africa for at least a generation. Prompted by Pagan fanatics,
*his Emperor was induced to issue an edict encouraging persecu-
tor! of Christians in every part of the Empire, with the result
*hat the lives of numerous citizens settled in Africa were
Sacrificed, and the progress of flourishing law-abiding com-
munities was checked in their civilising career. Beyond this
We know little of Decius, but from Aurelius Victor, who wrote
a°out a century later, we learn that this Emperor was highly
j^Ucated, well trained in all the arts, addicted to virtue, and a
rave soldier ; and from the pages of Vopiscus we gather some
Philip's career we know but little. As an African he might
have been expected to associate his name with some city in his
Native country, or with some great movement affecting the
Welfare of his African subjects. But the habits of his youth,
Gained in the rough ways of the Desert, did not lend themselves
to any of the gentler arts of civilisation. During the five years
°f his reign the excitements of the battle-field and the pleasures
°f the camp proved more congenial to his tastes than the dis-
charge of civil and administrative duties. Like his immediate
Predecessors, he shared a similar fate at the hands of his own
soldiers, and the favourite of the hour reigned in his stead.
Little information can be gathered from contemporary
historians about the progress of civilisation in North Africa
during the reigns of the short-lived Emperors in the latter half
°f the third century. Flavius Vopiscus, as a writer, may be
regarded as the most reliable, but he is almost silent on the
subject. Inscriptions also give little aid, though the wording
°f a large number of votive memorials and dedications to
honoured citizens is sufficient evidence of a spread of content-
ment and prosperity, of municipalities increasing in influence
ar>d population, and of citizens in the full enjoyment of national
Security. There were no disturbances to cause disquietude,
frontier towns were well protected by numerous castella, and the
£feat central garrison at Lambcesis was strengthened from time
*° time by the addition of troops drawn from other parts of the
■^rnpire.
The accession of Decius, a native of Bubalia in Lower
^annonia, after the murder of Philip, was favoured by the army
and approved by the Senate. His reign for about two years
was marked by an incident which affected the welfare of North
Africa for at least a generation. Prompted by Pagan fanatics,
*his Emperor was induced to issue an edict encouraging persecu-
tor! of Christians in every part of the Empire, with the result
*hat the lives of numerous citizens settled in Africa were
Sacrificed, and the progress of flourishing law-abiding com-
munities was checked in their civilising career. Beyond this
We know little of Decius, but from Aurelius Victor, who wrote
a°out a century later, we learn that this Emperor was highly
j^Ucated, well trained in all the arts, addicted to virtue, and a
rave soldier ; and from the pages of Vopiscus we gather some