Incidental Archaeologists: French Officers and the Rediscovery of Roman North Africa

390 Pages·2018·7.668 MB·English

by  Bonnie Effros

Incidental Archaeologists

Incidental Archaeologists
French Offi cers and the Rediscovery
of Roman North Africa
Bonnie Effros
Cornell University Press
Ithaca and London
Copyright © 2018 by Cornell University
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or
parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in
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our website at cornellpress.cornell.edu.
First published 2018 by Cornell University Press
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Effros, Bonnie, 1965– author.
Title: Incidental archaeologists : French officers and the
rediscovery of Roman North Africa / Bonnie Effros.
Description: Ithaca : Cornell University Press, 2018. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017048068 (print) | LCCN 2017051402 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781501718533 (epub/mobi) | ISBN 9781501718540 (pdf) |
ISBN 9781501702105 | ISBN 9781501702105 (cloth)
Subjects: LCSH: Archaeology—Political aspects—Algeria—
History—19th century. | Archaeology—Political aspects—
France—History—19th century. | Archaeology and state—
France—History—19th century. | France—Armed Forces—
Algeria—Operations other than war—History—19th century. |
Algeria—Antiquities, Roman. | Algeria—History—1830–1962.
Classification: LCC CC101.A4 (ebook) | LCC CC101.A4 E34 2018
(print) | DDC 965/.03—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017048068
Cover illustration used with permission of the Bibliothèque nationale
de France.
To Max and Simon, in the fervent hope
that you will know only peace in your lifetimes
De patria meo uero, quod eam sitam Numidiae et Gaetuliae in ipso confi nio
meis scriptis ostendistis, quibus memet professus sum, cum Lolliano Auito
c. u. praesente publice dissererem, Seminumidam et Semigaetulum, non
uideo quid mihi sit in ea re pudendum, haud minus quam Cyro maiori,
quod genere mixto fuit Semimedus ac Semipersa. Non enim ubi prognatus,
sed ut moratus quisque sit spectandum, nec qua regione, sed qua ratione
uitam uiuere inierit, considerandum est.
Apuleius, Apologia , ed. and trans. Paul Valette,
2nd ed. (Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 2002), 56–57
Car une ère nouvelle, une ère dévastrice va s’ouvrir pour cette contrée; peut-
être serez-vous tenté de venir observer cette quatrième domination. N’en
faites rien; épargnez-vous le déplaisir d’un cruel mécompte. Surtout si vous
cherchez un aliment à l’admiration que vous professez pour la France, votre
beau pays, restez, restez chez vous, et gardez-vous bien de la venir voir dans
ses colonies.
Ernest Carette, Précis historique et archéologique sur
Hippone et ses environs (Paris: Imprimerie
Lange Lévy et Compagnie, 1838), 16
Les Romains se sont perpétués en Afrique; la race créole française, née sur
place et fi lle des premiers immigrants, commence elle-même à y faire souche.
Gustave Boissière, Esquisse d’une histoire de la conquête
et de l’administration romaines dans le nord de l’Afrique
et particulièrement dans la province de Numidie
(Paris: Librairie Hachette et Cie, 1878), 81
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
List of Abbreviations and Note on Spellings xv
Introduction: War and the Destruction of Antiquities in
the Former Ottoman Empire 1
1. Knowing and Controlling: Early Archaeological
Exploration in the Algerian Colony 34
2. Envisioning the Future: French Generals’ Use of
Ancient Rome in the 1840s 78
3. The View from Ancient Lambaesis 125
4. Institutionalizing Algerian Archaeology 168
5. Cartography and Field Archaeology during the Second Empire 211
Epilogue: Classical Archaeology in Algeria after 1870 248
viii Contents
Notes 261
Bibliography 323
Index 355
Acknowledgments
Thinking initially that I would explore the impact of French excavations
in North Africa on the professionalization of archaeology in late nineteenth-
century France, I launched this book project without fully anticipating the
violence I would see recorded in the documents conserved in the French
overseas and military archives. With the pioneering work of Nabila Oulebsir
as a guide to where I should begin, I commenced my research at the same
time I accepted a position as the Rothman Chair and director of the Center
for the Humanities and the Public Sphere at the University of Florida in
August 2009. For his encouragement throughout this journey, I thank
Peter Brown, who enthusiastically cheered along my initial and tentative
exploration of the topic and provided helpful guidance as the research
advanced. I am also grateful for the generosity of Éric Rebillard, who,
even before I had actually begun this undertaking, gave enormously sound
advice on how I might approach the topic of North African archaeology
and where archival sources might be located. Nina Caputo’s razor-sharp
input came at a crucial moment as I debated how to move forward