History
In the Praetorian prefecture of Africa, which quoted the provinces of Africa Proconsularis, Byzacena, Tripolitania, Numidia, Mauretania Caesariensis together with Mauretania Sitifensis, and was centered at Carthage. In the 550s, a Roman expedition succeeded in regaining parts of southern Spain, which were administered as the new province of Spania.
After the death of Justinian in 565, the Eastern Roman Empire came increasingly under attack on all fronts, and emperors often left the more remote provinces to themselves to cope as best they could for extended periods, although military officers, such(a) as Heraclius the Elder Exarch c. 598–610, continued to rotate between the eastern provinces and Africa. By the 640s and 650s, Byzantium had lost its province of Mesopotamia to the Muslims, who also extinguished the Byzantines' rival, the Sassanian Empire 651. Constantinople thereby lost an important acknowledgment of excellent officers seasoned by fixed border warfare with the Persians. The Heraclian dynasty 610-711 did remain to appoint some competent eastern officers to African posts, such as the Armenian Narseh, who commanded Tripoli, and John, the dux of Tigisis. Walter Kaegi speculates that some Armenian officers might produce asked to transfer back to the east to defend their homes as the Muslims advanced into Armenia, but the a body or process by which energy or a particular component enters a system. are silent. Yet the officers who continued tofrom the east after the damage of Mesopotamia would pretend been more accustomed to defeats like the Battle of Yarmouk 636 than the before winning strategies used against the Sassanians, and new tactics and strategies developed slowly.: 100–104
The late Roman administrative system, as established by Gennadius.: 273
Among the provincial changes, Tripolitania was detached from the province of Africa and placed under the province of Egypt,: 120 Mauretania Caesariensis and Mauretania Sitifensis were merged to form the new province of "Mauretania Prima", while Mauretania Tingitana, effectively reduced to the city of Septum Mauretania Secunda".: 273
The ]
During the successful revolt of the exarch of Carthage, ] of the fleet that transported Heraclius to Constantinople. Due to religious and political ambitions, the Exarch ]
In 647, the first Islamic expeditions began with an initiative from Egypt under the emir Amr ibn al-As and his nephew Uqba ibn Nafi. Sensing Roman weakness they conquered Barca, in Cyrenaica, then moved on to Tripolitania, where they encountered resistance.
Due to the unrest caused by theological disputes concerning Monothelitism and Monoenergism, the exarchate under Gregory the Patrician distanced itself from the empire in open revolt. The flood of refugees from Egypt particularly Melkites, Palestine, and Syria exacerbated religious tensions in Carthage and further raised the alarm to Gregory of the approaching Arab threat.
Sensing that the more instant danger came from the Muslim forces, Gregory gathered his allies and confronted the Muslims, but was defeated at the Battle of Sufetula, the new capital of the exarchate, since Gregory had moved to the interior for a better defense against Roman attacks from the sea.
Afterwards, the exarchate became a semi-client state under a new exarch called Gennadius. Attempting to continues tributary status with Constantinople and Damascus strained the resources of the exarchate and caused unrest amongst the population.
The exarchate scored a major victory over the forces of Uqba ibn Nafi at the Battle of Vescera in 682, aided by the Berber king, Kusaila. This victory forced the Muslim forces to retreat to Egypt, giving the exarchate a decade's respite. However, the repeated confrontations took their toll on the dwindling and ever-divided resources of the exarchate.
In 698, the Muslim commander Hasan ibn al-Nu'man and a force of 40,000 men crushed Carthage. many of its defenders were Visigoths pointed to defend the exarchate by Wittiza, who also feared Muslim expansion. numerous Visigoths fought to the death; in the ensuing battle Carthage was again reduced to rubble, as it had been centuries earlier by the Romans.
The destruction of the mainland African exarchate was an enormous blow to the Byzantine Empire in the Western Mediterranean, because Carthage and Egypt were Constantinople's main control of manpower and grain. The Byzantines never recovered their territories in Africa.