Tunisia History: The Land of Emperors, Saints, and Mystics
Tunisia's history is long and rich, owing to the fact that the territory of modern-day Tunisia was home to many diverse cultures. The recorded history of Tunisia goes back to ancient times when the coast of North Africa began to be colonized by the Phoenicians.
Over the next twenty centuries, various peoples and empires would struggle for control over the riches of North Africa. Join us on a journey back to the past as we explore Tunisia’s history and how it shaped the country as we know it today.
Stone Age: The Settlement of Modern-day Tunisia Began
Evidence of human settlement in Tunisia and the Mediterranean coast of North Africa suggests that the area was home to various people since the end of the last Ice Age. As the proto-Berbers and African peoples from the south adopted a more sedentary lifestyle, complex culture arose.
The proto-Berbers were said to be mainly farmers with a strong ‘pastoral element.’ To the south, the majority of the population consisted of nomadic herders.
Who Were the Meshwesh People Mentioned in Ancient Egyptian Sources?
Ancient Egyptian sources frequently make mention of a desert people called the ‘Meshwesh.’ They were described as having tattoos and long hair and being fierce warriors.
In the opinion of most scholars, the Meshwesh were likely of Berber origin. Over time, the Meshwesh began to be referred to as Libyans, a name that classical writers used to describe all Africans. Despite well-developed trade links between the various Libyan tribes and the Egyptians, several Egyptian pharaohs of the New Kingdom had to campaign against them.
History of Tunisia After the Arrival of Phoenician Colonists
Phoenician settlers from Tyre are generally credited with having founded the ancient city of Carthage. The date of the founding of the city, however, is a matter of dispute.
The city was likely founded either in the 9th or 8th century BCE. Ancient Roman sources claim that Carthage was not the oldest city founded by the Phoenicians in North Africa. According to Sallust and Pliny the Elder, the founding of Utica and Gades predated the founding of Carthage by several hundred years.
Queen Dido: The Enigmatic Phoenician Ruler Who Founded Carthage
The history of ancient Tunisia is often associated with the rise and fall of Carthage, a wealthy city that dominated the Western Mediterranean until its defeat by the Roman Republic. According to the Roman poet Vergil who wrote his famous epic, the Aeneid, in the 1st century BCE, Dido was the daughter of the King of Tyre, who left her city to sail west.
The gods schemed to make Dido and Aeneas fall in love, but they were separated, leading to Dido’s suicide. Before her death, Dido cursed Aeneas and his Troian exiles sailing for Italy, laying the foundation for the later enmity between Rome and Carthage.
Carthage Builds a Maritime Empire in the Western Mediterranean
By the 6th century BCE, Carthage had become the most powerful of the Phoenician cities in North Africa. Over the course of the next three centuries, the Carthaginians had built a powerful Empire based on trade and a navy that controlled the Western Mediterranean.
Carthaginian-controlled territory spread from Spain in the west to the coast of Libya in the southeast. During this period, Carthage controlled much of the territory of modern-day Tunisia, southern areas of the Iberian Peninsula, parts of Sardinia and Sicily. Much of the city’s wealth depended on maintaining maritime trade routes often extending as far away as Britannia.
Conflicts With Greek Cities and Rome
Carthage’s military presence in Sicily brought the city into conflict with Syracuse, the most powerful Greek city-state in Sicily. Carthaginian generals defeated the Greeks and were able to strengthen their hold over western Sicily as a result.
The Punic Wars and the Destruction of Carthage
Carthage’s maritime power made it into one of the wealthiest cities in the world. Initially, the young Roman Republic in Italy and Carthage enjoyed good relations, but the rising power of Rome meant that the two forces would soon find themselves at odds.
Rome’s expansion in southern Italy and Sicily led to the outbreak of the First Punic War (264 – 241 BCE) that ended in Carthaginian defeat. Despite having superior ships and more experience fighting at sea, the Carthaginians were defeated in the naval battle at Cape Ecnomus.
The Romans imposed harsh peace terms on the Carthaginians; the city had to pay large indemnities to Rome and cede western Sicily and Sardinia.
Hannibal Brings the War to Rome’s Doorstep
Unlike the First, the Second Punic War (218 – 201 BCE) was fought mainly on land. Led by the brilliant general Hannibal Barca, the war started as a dispute over the control of Saguntum, a city in Hispania (modern Spain), ending in a Roman defeat.
Hannibal stunned the Romans by invading Italy by crossing the Alps and inflicting crushing defeats on the Roman army that brought the Republic to the brink of ruin. After more than a decade of warfare in Italy, the Romans were able to turn the tide and invade North Africa, where Hannibal’s armies suffered a decisive defeat in the Battle of Zama.
The Fall of Carthage and the Beginning of Roman Rule in North Africa
Carthage’s final defeat in the Third Punic War (149 – 146 BCE) resulted in the destruction of the city. Much of the territory of modern Tunisia was subsequently annexed by Rome to become the Province of Africa.
Under Roman Rule, Africa Was One of the Empire’s Richest Provinces
In the 1st century BCE, Roman general and statesman Gaius Julius Caesar gave orders to rebuild Carthage. His heir and later Emperor Augustus (63 BCE – 14 AD) made it the capital of Africa Province. Although no longer the seat of independent power, Carthage regained much of its old glory.
At the height of Rome’s power, Carthage was among the largest and wealthiest cities in the Roman Empire.
Africa as the Breadbasket of the Roman World
For centuries, Africa was to be one of Rome’s most developed and wealthiest provinces. The Romans used the fertile land in what is now northern Tunisia for intense agriculture. In terms of grain production, Africa was second only to Egypt.
Christianity Spreads to Africa in the 3rd Century AD
Beginning in the 3rd century AD, the Roman Empire entered into a period of political instability known as the Crisis of the Third Century. Largely untouched by the constant civil wars and strife, Africa enjoyed a good degree of prosperity. Three Roman emperors hailed from the province, Gordian I, II, and III.
Christianity Takes Root in the Province
Beginning with the late 3rd century, Christianity started to spread across the Roman Empire until it became the sole and official religion in the Roman Empire during the reign of Emperor Theodosius I. Tertullian and St. Augustine of Hippo, two key figures for developing the Christian teaching, were born, lived, and died in the Africa Province.
North Africa Falls to the Germanic Vandals
The rapidly disintegrating Western Roman Empire lost control of Africa and most of its western provinces outside of Italy by the mid 5th century AD. The Vandals, a Germanic people from north-central Europe, crossed into Africa in 429 AD, where they established an independent kingdom with its capital in Carthage.
Vandal rule over North Africa was ended only a century later when the Eastern Roman Empire reconquered the province. The Byzantine Empire maintained its rule in the region until the Arab conquest.
The Islamic Conquests Begin a New Chapter in Tunisian History
Arab Muslim invaders from Egypt conquered much of North Africa in the mid 7th century AD. The Arabs defeated both the Byzantines and the local Berber armies to establish their rule in the region.
The native Berber population resisted the invaders but eventually converted to Islam. Ifriqiya (the Arab adaptation of the Latin name Africa) was governed by the Umayyad Caliphate. The Umayyad Caliphate was supplanted by Abbasid rule.
Still, the large distance between the Abbasid seat of power in Baghdad meant that the Caliphate could not maintain direct control over Africa.
Tunisia During the Middle Ages
Local Islamic dynasties ruled Tunisia and North Africa for much of the Middle Ages. The Aghlabid Dynasty was followed by the Fatimids, and the Berber Zirid Emirate centered on Tunisia. The short-lived Norman Kingdom of Africa fell to the Almohad Dynasty that controlled the entirety of the Maghreb region.
Transition From Ottoman to French Rule
In the 16th century, Tunisia found itself at crossroads; the weakening power of the Hafsid dynasty that ruled Tunisia for since the 13 century was encroached on by the powerful Ottomans from the east and the Spanish from the west. The struggle between the Ottoman and the Spanish for control over North Africa ended with the victory of the former.
A period of Ottoman rule ensued during which Tunisia was governed as a vassal state.
European Powers Vie for Control Over Tunisia
As the distant Ottoman Empire’s power continued to decline throughout the 18th and early 19th centuries, great European powers, Britain, France, and Italy, established their presence in the country, nominally still a part of the Ottoman Empire. Tunisia's colonization officially began when France occupied the country in 1881 and made it a protectorate.
French Colonial Rule Ended After World War II
The French made an effort to bring the country into the modern age by building new infrastructure. In parallel with their modernizing efforts, the French government promoted the settlement of colonists from mainland France, a move that proved to be very unpopular with the local population.
Pro-independence and nationalist sentiment grew towards the end of the 19the century and the beginning of the 20th century. The troubled relations between Tunisia and France were left unresolved when World War II broke out in Europe.
Independence from France and the Birth of the Tunisian Republic
Riding on the tide of rising nationalist sentiment, the local politician Habib Bourguiba founded the Destour Party in 1920. The party continued to operate clandestinely after being banned by French authorities. The outbreak of World War II in Europe and the Fall of France in 1940 strengthened the nationalist movement.
Habib Bourguiba: The First President of an Independent Tunisia
With the defeat of the Axis powers in North Africa and the end of WWII, France was under pressure to grant independence to Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco. Tunisia finally achieved independence in 1956.
The short-lived Kingdom of Tunisia was proclaimed in the same year. Bourguiba, then the Prime Minister, promptly abolished the kingdom, proclaimed a republic, and became its first President.
Modern History of Tunisia
Bourguiba ruled the country for the next three decades; universally acknowledged as the founding father of Tunisia, he is credited with building a strong and competent state based on republican and secularist principles. His successor, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, ruled the country from 1987 to his overthrow in 2011 and was accused of corruption and authoritarianism.
In recent years, Tunisia has successfully transitioned to a functioning democracy.
Conclusion
Tunisia has a rich historical and cultural legacy. For thousands of years, the area was ruled by powerful ancient Christian and Islamic Empires.
Here are the crucial facts about the history of Tunisia:
During antiquity, what is now Tunisia was ruled by Carthage and then the Roman Empire
Christianity was the main religion of Tunisia until the Islamic conquest
Various Islamic states ruled Tunisia until the country became a French colony
French rule lasted from 1881 to 1956
Modern Tunisia is a stable secular republic
Few countries in the world can boast of having a longer history than Tunisia, a country with a complex and diverse culture that continues to attract interest from people across the globe.
