In search of ancient North Africa : a history in six lives / Barnaby Rogerson ; with photographs by Don McCullin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rogerson, Barnaby, author.

Contributor:

McCullin, Don, 1935- photographer.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Juba II, King of Mauretania, approximately 50 B.C.-approximately 24 A.D.

Juba.

Geta Lucius Septimius, Emperor of Rome, 189-212.

Geta Lucius Septimius.

Augustine, of Hippo, Saint, 354-430.

Augustine.

Hannibal, 247 B.C.-182 B.C.

Hannibal.

Masinissa, King of Numidia, approximately 240 B.C.-148 B.C.

Masinissa.

Africa, North--History--To 647.

Africa, North.

North Africa.

History.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

334 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

London : Haus Publishing Ltd., 2017.

Summary:

"For forty years, Barnaby Rogerson has travelled across North Africa, making sense of the region's complex and fascinating history as both a writer and a guide. Throughout that time there have always been a handful of stories he could not pin into neat, tidy narratives; stories that were not distinctly good or bad, tragic or pathetic, selfish or heroic, malicious or noble. This book, neither a work of history nor travel writing, is a journey into the ruins of a landscape in an attempt to make sense of those stories through the lives of six historical figures, five men and one woman: A sacrificial refugee (Queen Dido); a prisoner of war who became a compliant tool of the Roman Empire (King Juba II); an unpromising provincial who, as Emperor, brought the Roman Empire to its dazzling apogee (Septimius Severus); an intellectual careerist who became a bishop and a saint (St Augustine); the greatest general the world has ever known (Hannibal); and the Berber Cavalry General who eventually defeated him (Masinissa). All six of these lives are surrounded with as much myth as fact, but the destinies of these North African figures remain highly relevant today. Their descendants are faced with many of the same choices: Should you stay pure to your own culture and fight against the power of the West, or should you study and assimilate to this other culture, and utilize its skills? Will it greet you as an ally only to own you as a slave? In between these life stories, Rogerson explores the ruins of ancient sites, which tell their own tales, and reveals the multiple interconnections that bind the culture of this region with the wider world, particularly the spiritual traditions of the ancient Near East."--Publisher description.

Contents:

1 Dido of Carthage, Princess Elissa, the Wanderer 9

2 They met at Zama: Hannibal of Carthage, Scipio of Rome and Masinissa of Numidia 31

3 The Tomb of the Christian Woman and King Juba II 85

4 The Walls of Volubilis 127

5 Dougga 145

6 The Villa Selene 159

7 The New Forum of Leptis Magna 171

8 Septimius Severus 183

9 St Augustine of Hippo 245

10 Augustine - Aurelius Augustinus, son of Patricius 259

11 The Oasis of Ghadames 321.

ISBN:

190996154X

9781909961548

OCLC:

990025474