In this paper the reasons for the exceptional prosperity of the Roman province of North Africa (± modern Tunisia) from the 2nd to the 4th century — a time when the rest of the Roman Empire was already in decline — will be discussed. Aspects such as export products thanks to a thriving agriculture played a role, made possible by a good climate and the peace and stability in the province. Progressive enfranchisement of the indigenous population and their gradual integration with the Roman settlers also had a positive influence, leading to a vigorous local patriotism and investment in the form of many building projects. In the light of this prosperity it is puzzling why in modern times North Africa, the most Romanised of all the Roman provinces at the time, shows no trace of any Roman influence on its culture and language. Apart from the physical remains of building structures, it is as if the Romans had never been there. The Vandal conquest in the 5th century played a role in the decline but they were not as destructive as their name denotes. It was the next wave of invaders in the 6th century, the Byzantine army of the emperor Justinian, who caused the most physical damage by using Roman buildings as a quarry to rebuild defensive town walls demolished by the Vandals. However, the main reason for the demise of Roman influence in North Africa is to my mind the exodus of the wealthy Romanised élite who fled the country after the Vandal invasion and again after the Arab conquest in the late 7th century, leaving a vastly outnumbered nucleus of Roman settlers' descendants who could not, isolated as they were in Africa, maintain Roman values and culture. Furthermore, when Christianity, which became inextricably connected with the Roman state after being declared the official religion, was replaced by Islam, the last civic structures vanished together with the culture of the Romans and their language, Latin. North Africa would later flourish again, but not in a Roman way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]