ABSTRACT
The economic advantages of remaining part of a Roman province were among the first things to be lost with the decline of the province’s Mediterranean trade. Both the Romanization and de-Romanization of Tripolitana involved above all the ‘estate of management’ and not the ‘estate of production’. Under the pax Romana tribal society and tribal hierarchy had come to be exploited by a seigneurial class enjoying Rome’s favour and support. It was the same once pro-Roman elite who led the secession from Rome, when their best interests were no longer served by remaining a part of the empire. The Vandals and Byzantines had never occupied much more than the coastal strip in Tripolitana, the rest of the country being occupied by Laguatan subtribes. The collapse of a great superpower has many repercussions for its constituent territories. The fall of Rome was not solely responsible for the decline of Tripolitana.
