North Africa during classical antiquity

The history of North Africa during the period of classical antiquity (c. 8th century BCE – 5th century CE) can be divided roughly into the history of Egypt in the east, the history of ancient Libya in the middle and the history of Numidia and Mauretania in the west.

Initially, in the east, Egypt was under Persian rule during the early phase of classical antiquity, passing to the Ptolemaic dynasty in the Hellenistic era. Libya was inhabited by Berber tribes, while along the coast Phoenician and Greek colonies were set up.

The Roman Republic established the province of Africa in 146 BCE after the defeat of Carthage. The Roman Empire eventually controlled the entire Mediterranean coast of Africa, adding Egypt in 30 BCE, Crete and Cyrenaica in 20 BCE, and Mauretania in CE 44.

The Western Roman Empire lost most parts of Africa to the Vandals in the 5th century. They were reincorporated into the Roman realm by the Eastern Roman Empire in the 6th century. Later, the empire finally lost all control of Africa as the region fell to the Umayyad conquest of North Africa by the close of the 7th century.