Editing History of Libya (section)

==Roman Libya==
{{Main|Roman Libya|Tripolitania (Roman province)|Crete and Cyrenaica}}
{{further|North Africa during Antiquity|Byzantine North Africa|Praetorian prefecture of Africa|Exarchate of Africa}}
After the fall of [[Carthage]], the Romans did not immediately occupy [[Tripolitania]] (the region around Tripoli), but left it under control of the Berber kings of [[Numidia]], until the coastal cities asked and obtained its protection.<ref name="be202">Bertarelli (1929), p. 202.</ref> [[Ptolemy Apion]], the last Greek ruler, bequeathed Cyrenaica to Rome, which formally annexed the region in 74 BCE and joined it to Crete as [[Creta et Cyrenaica|a Roman province]]. During the [[Roman civil wars]] Tripolitania (still not formally annexed) and Cyrenaica sustained [[Pompey]] and [[Marc Antony]] against respectively [[Julius Caesar|Caesar]] and [[Octavian]].<ref name="be202" /><ref name="be417">Bertarelli (1929), p. 417.</ref> The Romans completed the conquest of the region under Augustus, occupying northern [[Fezzan]] ("Fasania") with [[Lucius Cornelius Balbus the Younger|Cornelius Balbus Minor]].<ref name="be382">Bertarelli (1929), p. 382.</ref> As part of the [[Africa Nova]] province, Tripolitania was prosperous,<ref name="be202" /> and reached a golden age in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, when the city of [[Leptis Magna]], home to the [[Severan dynasty]], was at its height.<ref name="be202" /> On the other side, Cyrenaica's first Christian communities were established by the time of the [[Claudius|Emperor Claudius]]<ref name="be417" /> but was heavily devastated during the [[Diaspora revolt]],<ref name="ro364">Rostovtzeff (1957), p. 364.</ref> and almost depopulated of Greeks and Jews alike,<ref>[[Cassius Dio]], lxviii. 32</ref> and, although repopulated by Trajan with military colonies,<ref name="ro364" /> from then started its decadence.<ref name="be417" />

[[File:Leptis Magna Arch of Septimus Severus.jpg|thumb|upright|left|The Arch of [[Septimius Severus]] at Leptis Magna. The patronage of Roman emperor Septimus Severus allowed the city to become one of the most prominent in Roman Africa.]]
Regardless, for more than 400 years Tripolitania and Cyrenaica were part of a cosmopolitan state whose citizens shared a common language, legal system, and Roman identity. Roman ruins like those of Leptis Magna and [[Sabratha]], extant in present-day Libya, attest to the vitality of the region, where populous cities and even smaller towns enjoyed the amenities of urban life—the forum, markets, public entertainments, and baths—found in every corner of the Roman Empire. Merchants and artisans from many parts of the Roman world established themselves in North Africa, but the character of the cities of Tripolitania remained decidedly Punic and, in Cyrenaica, Greek. Tripolitania was a major exporter of olive oil,<ref name="ro335">Rostovtzeff (1957), p. 335.</ref> as well as a center for the trade of ivory and wild animals<ref name="ro335" /> conveyed to the coast by the [[Garamantes]], while Cyrenaica remained an important source of wines, drugs, and horses. The bulk of the population in the countryside consisted of Berber farmers, who in the west were thoroughly "romanized" in language and customs.<ref>Heuser, Stephen, (24 July 2005), [https://www.boston.com/travel/articles/2005/07/24/when_romans_lived_in_libya/ "When Romans lived in Libya"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121114040550/http://www.boston.com/travel/articles/2005/07/24/when_romans_lived_in_libya/ |date=14 November 2012 }}, ''The Boston Globe''. Retrieved 18 July 2006.</ref> Until the 10th century the [[African Romance]] remained in use in some Tripolitanian areas, mainly near the Tunisian border.<ref>Tadeusz Lewicki, "Une langue romane oubliée de l'Afrique du Nord. Observations d'un arabisant", Rocznik Orient. XVII (1958), pp. 415–480.</ref>

The decline of the Roman Empire saw the classical cities fall into ruin, a process hastened by the [[Vandals]]' destructive sweep though North Africa in the 5th century. The region's prosperity had shrunk under Vandal domination, and the old Roman political and social order, disrupted by the Vandals, could not be restored. In outlying areas neglected by the Vandals,<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=The decline and fall of the Roman empire|last1=Gibbon|first1=Edward|last2=Mueller|first2=Hans-Friedrich|date=2005|publisher=Modern Library|isbn=0345478843|edition=Modern Library mass market|location=New York|pages=1258|oclc=58549764}}</ref> the inhabitants had sought the protection of tribal chieftains and, having grown accustomed to their autonomy, resisted re-assimilation into the imperial system.<ref name=":0" />

When the Empire returned (now as [[Byzantine Empire|East Romans]]) as part of [[Justinian]]'s reconquests of the 6th century, efforts were made to strengthen the old cities, but it was only a last gasp before they collapsed into disuse. Cyrenaica, which had remained an outpost of the Byzantine Empire during the Vandal period, also took on the characteristics of an armed camp. Unpopular Byzantine governors imposed burdensome taxation to meet military costs, while the towns and public services—including the water system—were left to decay. Byzantine rule in Africa did prolong the Roman ideal of imperial unity there for another century and a half however, and prevented the ascendancy of the Berber nomads in the coastal region. By the beginning of the 7th century, Byzantine control over the region was weak, Berber rebellions were becoming more frequent, and there was little to oppose Muslim invasion.<ref>Rodd, Francis. "Kahena, Queen of the Berbers: A Sketch of the Arab Invasion of Ifrikiya in the First Century of the Hijra" Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies, University of London, Vol. 3, No. 4, (1925), 731–2</ref>