DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18096#0383
Conclusion
307
west, the whole country was clothed with timber, and in many-
parts of the south olive woods were so dense that you could
travel from village to village under a roof of foliage.1
It may be asserted, with an equal show of truth, that the
condition of North Africa as a colony in the present day, and in
full recognition of the enlightened policy of the French, as
masters of the larger portion, bears a strong resemblance to that
which prevailed under the broad but sterner rule of the Roman
Emperors. We hear of the same occasional disturbances on
the frontiers, the same forced submission of the hill tribes, the
same difficulties in guarding the outposts from the dangers of
tribal revolt, and the same racial antagonism to the methods and
habits of civilisation. The Libyan gave place to the Phoenician
as a commercial necessity, and surrendered the command of
the coast without appeal to arms or the sacrifice of human life.
The Carthaginian, in his turn, converted the factories and store-
houses of his ancestors into temples and palaces, and a country
of traders became the most formidable nation of the old world.
The achievements of the Romans are a landmark in the history
of mankind, and can never be ignored. Then came the
destructive Vandals, followed by the hybrid Byzantines, and
with their final expulsion by Arabs the history of antiquity may
be said to have come to a close. To-day is but the yesterday
of sixteen hundred years ago. ' The Arab has replaced the
Phoenician ' (as M. Paul Monceaux has observed),2 ' and the
Frenchman has replaced the Roman. But that is all.' The
primitive races—the ancient Berbers of the Desert or the moun-
tain ranges, are still in possession, preserving their old traditions
of tribal and social life, and speaking almost the same tongue
1 The region known as Byzacena, now forming the southern portion of Tunisia,
was covered with olive woods. The prosperity of the country was largely due to the
enormous quantity of oil shipped to Italy and other countries. As an instance of the
value of this product it is stated that when Sufetula, under the rule of Gregorius, was
captured by Arabs, the general commanding the victorious army was amazed at the
amount of treasure that had fallen into his hands. ' Whence comes this enormous
wealth?' he asked. Looking about him as though in search of some hidden object,
a citizen picked up an olive and, laying it before the general, told him that this little
fruit was the cause of all their prosperity, adding that the Byzantines, who had no
olives in their country, were their best customers. ( Vide Ibn Abd el Hakem, Flistoire
des Berberes, transl. by De Slane, i. p. 306 ; also Paul Bourde, Les Cultures
Fruitih-es, Tunis, 1893.)
2 Paul Monceaux, Les Africains, p. 3.
X 2
307
west, the whole country was clothed with timber, and in many-
parts of the south olive woods were so dense that you could
travel from village to village under a roof of foliage.1
It may be asserted, with an equal show of truth, that the
condition of North Africa as a colony in the present day, and in
full recognition of the enlightened policy of the French, as
masters of the larger portion, bears a strong resemblance to that
which prevailed under the broad but sterner rule of the Roman
Emperors. We hear of the same occasional disturbances on
the frontiers, the same forced submission of the hill tribes, the
same difficulties in guarding the outposts from the dangers of
tribal revolt, and the same racial antagonism to the methods and
habits of civilisation. The Libyan gave place to the Phoenician
as a commercial necessity, and surrendered the command of
the coast without appeal to arms or the sacrifice of human life.
The Carthaginian, in his turn, converted the factories and store-
houses of his ancestors into temples and palaces, and a country
of traders became the most formidable nation of the old world.
The achievements of the Romans are a landmark in the history
of mankind, and can never be ignored. Then came the
destructive Vandals, followed by the hybrid Byzantines, and
with their final expulsion by Arabs the history of antiquity may
be said to have come to a close. To-day is but the yesterday
of sixteen hundred years ago. ' The Arab has replaced the
Phoenician ' (as M. Paul Monceaux has observed),2 ' and the
Frenchman has replaced the Roman. But that is all.' The
primitive races—the ancient Berbers of the Desert or the moun-
tain ranges, are still in possession, preserving their old traditions
of tribal and social life, and speaking almost the same tongue
1 The region known as Byzacena, now forming the southern portion of Tunisia,
was covered with olive woods. The prosperity of the country was largely due to the
enormous quantity of oil shipped to Italy and other countries. As an instance of the
value of this product it is stated that when Sufetula, under the rule of Gregorius, was
captured by Arabs, the general commanding the victorious army was amazed at the
amount of treasure that had fallen into his hands. ' Whence comes this enormous
wealth?' he asked. Looking about him as though in search of some hidden object,
a citizen picked up an olive and, laying it before the general, told him that this little
fruit was the cause of all their prosperity, adding that the Byzantines, who had no
olives in their country, were their best customers. ( Vide Ibn Abd el Hakem, Flistoire
des Berberes, transl. by De Slane, i. p. 306 ; also Paul Bourde, Les Cultures
Fruitih-es, Tunis, 1893.)
2 Paul Monceaux, Les Africains, p. 3.
X 2