Zeugitana

Zeugitana, the coastal region of the Mediterranean Sea in present-day Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, with its great cities of Carthage, Hippo and Utica was settled by the Phoenicians in the 8th century BC. Especially the great city of Carthage achieved a rapid rise in economic and political importance and throughout the 6th to 3rd cent. controlled the trade in this region. It established colonies in Spain, on Sardinia and Sicily, which brought the Phoenicians into conflict first with the Greeks and then the Romans.

The first of the so called Punic Wars between Carthage and Rome ensued in 264 BC and both states were locked in struggle for dominance for over a century. Finally, in 146 BC Carthage lost and the city was completely razed. The Romans established two provinces in the conquered territory which emperor Augustus later merged into one: Africa Proconsularis. It advanced very quickly to one of most prosperous parts of the empire with a high rate of urbanisation and a renown for agricultural excellence. In late antiquity the emperors Diocletianus and Constantine split the province again, this time in seven parts. The name of one of these parts was Zeugitana. This name is used today as a general term for the whole history and geography of this part of North Africa.

The Carthaginians first started to mint their own coinage at the end of the 5th cent, when they started invading Sicily. They minted mainly silver tetradrachms to pay for their troops, which closely followed Greek prototypes. These coins a commonly refrained to as „Siculo-Punic“. Carthage itself started minting golden staters in the middle of the 4th cent. The Phoenician coins are often described with terms from the Semitic tradition like shekel, talent and mina.