The Municipalization of the African Provinces under the Roman Empire

The processes of municipalization in the provinces of
North Africa and Hispania display a few similarities and
a number of very striking differences. Both regions saw
a wave of colonization toward the end of the Republic,
under Julius Caesar and Octavian/Augustus. The Latin
right, however, appears to have been granted far more
widely on the Iberian Peninsula during the late Republic.
This region saw the early creation of many late-Republican/
Augustan municipia, which are likely to have been
municipia civium Romanorum. Early municipia civium
Romanorum by contrast were rare in North Africa. In
light of the lex Troesmensium, the presence of IIviri
quinquennales perhaps indicates that Trajan created a
number of municipia civium Romanorum along the
North African frontier. Nonetheless, Latin municipia
are likely to have far outnumbered municipia civium
Romanorum in North Africa. While dating the origin of
the Latin municipium remains uncertain, certain key
inscriptions make clear that this was a significant
phenomenon in North Africa from the reign of Claudius
onwards. One of the biggest contrasts between the two
regions is that the granting of the status of honorary
colony was far more common in North Africa than on
the Iberian Peninsula.