ancient harbours of Utica, Hadrumetum, Thapsus (Dimas). But it was the occupation of Tunisia by the French in 1881 which really gave the impetus to modern investigations in this district of ruined cities. They were put on a solid foundation by the publication of the Géographie comparée of Charles Tissot (1884). Trained scholars were sent there annually by the French government: Cagnat, Saladin, Poinssot, La Blanchere, S. Reinach, E. Babelon, Carton, Audollent, Steph. Gsell, J. Toutain, Espérandieu, Gauckler, Merlin, Homo and many others, to say nothing of German scholars, such as Willmans and Schulten, and especially of a great number of enthusiastic officers of the army of occupation, who explored all the ancient sites, and in many cases excavated with great success (for their results see the works quoted above). It would be impossible to enumerate here all the monographs describing, for example, the ruins of Carthage, those of the temple of the waters at Mount Zaghuan, the amphitheatre of El Jem (Thysdrus), the temple of Saturn, the royal tomb and the theatre of Dugga (Thugga), the bridge of Chemtu (Simitthu), the ruins and cemeteries of Tebursuk and Medeina (Althiburus), the rich villa of the Laberii at Wadna (Uthina), the sanctuary of Saturn Balcaranensis on the hill called Bu-Kornain, the ruins of the district of Enfida (Aphrodisium, Uppenna, Segermes), those of Leptis minor (Lemta), of Thenae (near Sfax), those of the island of Meninx (Jerba), of the peninsula of Zarzis, of Mactar, Sbeitla (Sufetula), Gigthis (Bu-Grara), Gafsa (Capsa), Kef (Sicca Veneria), Bulla Regia, &c.
From this accumulation of results most valuable evidence as to the history and more especially the internal administration of Africa under the Romans has been derived. In particular we know how rural life was there developed, and with what care the water necessary for the growing of cereals was everywhere provided. Sculpture throughout the district is very provincial and of minor importance; the only exceptions are certain statues found at Carthage and Cherchel, the capital of the Mauretanian kings.
Authorities.—Among general works on the subject may be mentioned: Morcelli, Africa christiana (1816); Gustave Boissière, L’Algérie romaine (2nd ed., 1883); E. Mercier, Histoire de l’Afrique septentrionale (1888); Charles Tissot, Géographie comparée de la province romaine d’Afrique (1884–1888), with atlas; Vivien de Saint-Martin, Le Nord de l’Afrique dans l’antiquité grecque et romaine (1883); Gaston Boissier, L’Afrique romaine (1895); Cl. Pallu de Lessert, Fastes des provinces africaines (Proconsulaire, Numidie, Maurétainie) sous la domination romaine (1896–1901); R. Cagnat, L’Armée romaine d’Afrique (1892); A. Daux, Les Emporia phéniciens dans le Zeugis et le Byzacium (1869); Ludwig Muller, Numismatique de l’ancienne Afrique (1860–1862; Supplement, 1874); Ch. Diehl, L’Afrique byzantine (1896); Stephane Gsell, Recherches archéologiques en Afrique (1893); Paul Monceaux, Histoire littéraire de l’Afrique chrétienne (1901–1905); J. Toutain, Les Cités romaines de la Tunisie (1895); Atlas archéologique de la Tunisie, published by the Ministry of Public Instruction (1895 foll.); Atlas archéologique de l’Algérie, published by Stephane Gsell (1900 foll.); Toulotte, Géographie de l’Afrique chrétienne (1892–1894); Corpus inscriptionum latinarum, vol. viii. and Supplement (1881). Cf. also articles Carthage, Numidia, &c., Jugurtha, and articles relating to Roman History. (E. B.*)
AFRICAN LILY (Agapanthus umbellatus), a member of the natural order Liliaceae, a native of the Cape of Good Hope, whence it was introduced at the close of the 17th century. It is a handsome greenhouse plant, which is hardy in the south of England and Ireland if protected from severe frosts. It has a short stem bearing a tuft of long, narrow, arching leaves, 12 to 2 ft. long, and a central flower-stalk, 2 to 3 ft. high, ending in an umbel of bright blue, funnel-shaped flowers. The plants are easy to cultivate, and are generally grown in large pots or tubs which can be protected from frost in winter. During the summer they require plenty of water, and are very effective on the margins of lakes or running streams, where they thrive admirably. They increase by offsets, or may be propagated by dividing the root-stock in early spring or autumn. A number of forms are known in cultivation; such are albidus, with white flowers, aureus, with leaves striped with yellow, and variegatus, with leaves almost entirely white with a few green bands. There are also double-flowered and larger and smaller flowered forms.
AFRICANUS, SEXTUS JULIUS, a Christian traveller and historian of the 3rd century, was probably born in Libya, and may have served under Septimius Severus against the Osrhoenians in A.D. 195. Little is known of his personal history, except that he lived at Emmaus, and that he went on an embassy to the emperor Heliogabalus[1] to ask for the restoration of the town, which had fallen into ruins. His mission succeeded, and Emmaus was henceforward known as Nicopolis. Dionysius bar-Salibi makes him a bishop, but probably he was not even a presbyter. He wrote a history of the world (Χρονογραφίαι, in five books) from the creation to the year A.D. 221, a period, according to his computation, of 5723 years. He calculated the period between the creation and the birth of Christ as 5499 years, and ante-dated the latter event by three years. This method of reckoning became known as the Alexandrian era, and was adopted by almost all the eastern churches. The history, which had an apologetic aim, is no longer extant, but copious extracts from it are to be found in the Chronicon of Eusebius, who used it extensively in compiling the early episcopal lists. There are also fragments in Syncellus, Cedrenus and the Paschale Chronicon. Eusebius (Hist. Ecc. i. 7, cf. vi. 31) gives some extracts from his letter to one Aristides, reconciling the apparent discrepancy between Matthew and Luke in the genealogy of Christ by a reference to the Jewish law, which compelled a man to marry the widow of his deceased brother, if the latter died without issue. His terse and pertinent letter to Origen, impugning the authority of the apocryphal book of Susanna, and Origen’s wordy and uncritical answer, are both extant. The ascription to Africanus of an encyclopaedic work entitled Κεστοί (embroidered girdles), treating of agriculture, natural history, military science, &c., has been needlessly disputed on account of its secular and often credulous character. Neander suggests that it was written by Africanus before he had devoted himself to religious subjects. For a new fragment of this work see Oxyrhynchus Papyri (Grenfell and Hunt), iii. 36 ff.
Authorities.—Edition in M. J. Routh, Rel. Sac. ii. 219-509; translation in Ante-Nicene Fathers (S. D. F. Salmond) vi. 125-140; See H. Gelzer, Sex. Jul. Africanus und die byzant. Chronographie, 2 vols. (Leipzig, 1880–1885); G. Kruger, Early Christian Literature, 248-253; A. Harnack, Altchristl. Litt. Gesch. i. 507, ii. 70.
AFRIDI, a Pathan tribe inhabiting the mountains on the Peshawar border of the North-West Frontier province of India. The Afridis are the most powerful and independent tribe on the border, and the largest with the exception of the Waziris. Their special country is the lower and easternmost spurs of the Safed Koh range, to the west and south of the Peshawar district, including the Bazar and Bara valleys. On their east they are bounded by British districts, on the north by the Mohmands, on the west by the Shinwaris and on the south by the Orakzai and Bangash tribes. Their origin is obscure, but they are said to have Israelitish blood in their veins, and they have a decidedly Semitic cast of features. They are possibly the Aparytai of Herodotus, the names and positions being identical. If this theory is correct, they were then a powerful people, and held a large tract of country, but have been gradually driven back by the encroachments of other tribes. The tribe is divided into the following eight clans:—Kuki Khel, Malikdin Khel, Kambar Khel, Kamar Khel, Zakka Khel (the most numerous and the most turbulent), Sipah, Aka Khel and Adam Khel. The first seven clans live in the vicinity of the Khyber Pass, and migrate to Tirah in the summer months. The Adam Khel (5900 fighting men) live round the Kohat Pass, and are more settled and less migratory in their habits. In appearance the Afridi is a fine, tall, athletic highlander with a long, gaunt face, high nose and cheek-bones, and a fair complexion. On his own hillside he is one of the finest skirmishers in the world, and in the Indian army makes a first-rate soldier, but he is apt to be home-sick when removed from the air of his native mountains. In character the Afridi has obtained an evil name for ferocity, craft and treachery, but Colonel Sir Robert Warburton, who lived eighteen years in charge of the Khyber Pass and knew the Afridi better than any other Englishman, says:—“The Afridi lad from his
- ↑ So Eusebius. Syncellus says Alexander Severus.
