Pagus, castellum et civitas : études d'épigraphie et d'histoire sur le village et la cité en Afrique romaine

This research seeks to answer a simple question which has never received a precise and definitive answer as of yet: how did villages in Roman Africa (“pagus”, “castellum”, even “vicus”), become cities, “civitas” administrative centres? The village history is almost identical to that of slaves, endlessly looking for their own “libertas” or “ingenuitas” for their immediate descendants. On the other side, there is a constant opposition from the mother city who certainly does not want its dependencies to become independent, or their richest members to definitively quit its curia with, to top it all, the financial benefits that flow from it. This promotion falls within the authority of the Emperor, who can also turn an ancient city into an allocated commune. The Emperor usually grants the benefit after receiving a request, a real cover letter with arguments to justify the promotion. The Dougga’s Latin writings offer a great example of this diplomatic process whose purpose was to gain freedom or to protect it afterwards. In this specific case, freedom does not seem to be linked to a hypothetical immunity and probably has a more “concrete” sense of dignity – “Libertas id est dignitas”.