ABSTRACT
In the early centuries, Christianity flourished in Roman North Africa, in great centres such as Alexandria and Carthage. Africa played a vital and vibrant role in the evolution of the early Church from Clement of Alexandria to the death of Augustine of Hippo in 430. The archaeological remains of churches across Mediterranean North Africa are testimony to this vibrant (though often divided) Church before it fell before the advance of Islam. Christianity was marked by a large number of ‘bishops’ and a bitter dispute over Donatism.
