Diocese of Africa

Diocese of Africa Dioecesis Africae
Diocese of the Roman Empire
314 – 439
Diocese of Africa - AD 400
Capital	Carthage
Historical era	Late Antiquity
• Administrative reforms of Diocletian	314
• Arrival of Vandals	429
• Vandals sack Carthage	439
Political subdivisions	Africa proconsularis Byzacena Numidia Mauretania Sitifensis Mauretania Caesariensis Tripolitania
Succeeded by Vandal Kingdom
Today part of	Algeria Tunisia Libya

Coin of Bonifatius Comes Africae (422-431 CE).

The Diocese of Africa (Latin: Dioecesis Africae) was a diocese of the later Roman Empire, incorporating the provinces of North Africa, except Mauretania Tingitana. Its seat was at Carthage, and it was subordinate to the Praetorian prefecture of Italy.

The diocese included the provinces of Africa proconsularis (also known as Zeugitana), Byzacena, Mauretania Sitifensis, Mauretania Caesariensis, Numidia Cirtensis, Numidia Militiana and Tripolitania. In current geo-political terms, the Diocese of Africa included the entire coastline of Tunisia, Algeria with some mountainous hinterlands, plus the western half of Libya's coastline.

The diocese existed from the time of the Diocletianian and Constantinian reforms in the last years of the 3rd century until it was overrun by the Vandals in the 430s. The provincial organization were retained under the Vandals, and after their defeat and the reconquest of Africa by the Eastern Roman Empire in the Vandalic War, they were grouped anew, but this time in a praetorian prefecture.

Sources

• R. Pierce Beaver (June 1936). "The Organization of the Church of Africa on the Eve of the Vandal Invasion". Church History. 5 (2). American Society of Church History: 68–181. doi:10.2307/3160527. JSTOR 3160527. S2CID 162653403.