Jonathan R. W. Prag and Josephine C. Quinn, demonstrate that already by the late republican era, “poenus/punicus” tended to be more generally associated with North Africa. Also the first use of the latin expression “punica fides” was used for the Moorish king Bocchus:
C. Courtois demonstrated that certain African cultural artifacts were referred to as “punic,” such as the Mapalia, a rustic, lightweight, and demountable dwelling commonly found in the African countryside, and the “Sagum puniceum,” which might have been some kind of burnous.
Additionally, these authors do not clearly distinguish between the two groups. For example, Arrian refers to the explorer Hanno as a “Libyan”, Horace describes Hannibal as “Afer”, and Dio Chrysostom writes that “Hanno had transformed the Carthaginians from Tyrians into Libyans.”
In the early Vth century AD, St. Augustine writes : “Punica, id est Afra” (“Punic, that is to say African”) thus viewing it as a cultural mark of what was specifically African. In another work (lo. ep., tr. 2,3), he describes it as “lingua afra”:
In order to discredit the words of Augustine on the issue of Pelagianism, Julian of Eclanum highlights the numidian origin of the former but also don’t see any contradiction when in the same work qualifies him of punic.
One of Augustine’s answer to these attacks :
Augustine recognized Punic language as a vital part of African identity. When grammarian Maximus mocked Punic names of African martyrs, Augustine saw it as a denial of their African identity and rebuked him for forgetting himself as an African:
It is worth noting that there existed a longstanding tradition of linking North Africans to the East. Sallust, in his Bellum Iugurthinum, recounts the passage of the Persians, Medes, and Armenians of Hercules’ army through Africa.
Procopius saw the Moors (non-romanized north africans) as being a “phoenician people” who were displaced by the Hebrews after the exodus. As they were unable to repel the Hebrews, they subsequently settled in Egypt and eventually migrated to Libya, occupying the entire region:
In one of Augustine’s letters, he mentions that the farmers of his region, claimed to be Canaanites when asked about their ancestry. The chronicle of Hippolyte also includes the “Afri” among the descendants of Canaan.
The issue is that this region is particularly notable for having one of the largest collections of Libyco-Berber inscriptions, with the majority of them dating back to the Roman era. it is thus highly likely that Augustine may have mistakenly considered Libyan as Punic:
In Jewish traditions, Berbers were also regarded as Canaanites and cousins of the Phoenicians who left Canaan after Joshua’s conquest of the area. Maimonides believed that they were the Girgashites who were expelled by Joshua. These views were later adopted by arab writers.
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