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Gents Instituut voor Klassieke Studies (GIKS) / Ghent Institute for Classical Studies (GICS)Recent re-assessments of the economy in the later Roman Empire have tended to focus on the role of the state and its tax system. Yet the period is also marked by the rise of the Church as an economic agent : legal privileges and inheritances ensured the rapid expansion of the patrimonium of the church and related economic activity. Much work still needs to be done to acquire a detailed insight in the economic role the church started to play, its importance, and its relative wealth. The volume wishes to offer a set of detailed chapters that analyse specific issues and problems, so as to offer a starting point for further research.Interventions sur l'Afrique : Carles Buenacasa-Pérez, The formation of the ecclesiastical heritage of the north African churches in the western Roman Empire (IInd-Vth centuries)From documentary evidence, we may assume that the creation of the African ecclesiastical heritage is not attested in Cyprian's times (as many studies has said), but started at the end of the third century, and was completed during the fourth century. As soon as Christianity was recognized as a legitimate religion by Constantine I, the Christian church was endowed with a certain quantity of land assigned to its sustenance. This situation was perpetuated by his successors (excepted Julian the Apostate), who granted to the Christian bishops a great deal of honors and economic privileges.In Africa, the Catholic ecclesiastical heritage was mainly composed by rural estates (fundi) and church buildings and this inheritance grew very fast due to the protection of the imperial legislation and new ways of warranting and increasing their resources : private munificence, imperial patronage, economical exploitation of the martyrs' cult, and incorporation of the properties of the Donatist Church and pagan temples. From Augustine's letters and essays, we know about the existence of praepositi charged of the administration of the ecclesiastical heritage of Hippo and we also know how all these rural properties were scattered throughout the territory of the Hippo's diocese (a precedent of medieval parishes) and they were administered by priests who lived in these rural fundi.As regards the Donatist ecclesiastical heritage, sources are really succinct, but they allow us to infer that the properties of Donatist church were significant and were also continuously increasing thanks to the help of private donations (mainly legacies) and some strategies like being a tenant of public estates. Anna Leone, Ut episcopi, presbyteri uel diaconi non sint conductores aut procuratores… : Clergy and Business in North Africa A full understanding of the role of Bishops, from the recognition of Christianity (Edict of Milan AD313) by the empire to the early medieval period, is essential for evaluating the changes and transformations that occurred in Late Antique societies and cities. These transformations have been the focus of several discussions and debates in recent years. One of the main limits to the understanding of the phenomena is the shadowy knowledge of the secular power and the managerial role of the members of the clergy in various historical periods. The aim of this paper is to contribute to this debate, through ancient texts and archaeological evidence, by shedding new light on the role of Bishops and the Clergy in North Africa and Cyrenaica and how this changed from the 4th to the 9th century. The debate centres around two main themes. First is the problem of Church ownership and the nature and extent of the donations by Constantine and by private individuals. This leads to activities of members of the clergy as businessmen, and the balance between religious life and morality on the one hand, and more secular interests on the other. In this perspective it is essential to understand to what extent Bishops acted as secular governors of the city, with the focus on charitable activities, and what role they played in the economic, productive and political life of the urban and rural communities. This paper will take on a comparative approach, looking at North Africa (the provinces of Africa Proconsularis, Mauretania, Numidia and Tripolitania, essentially modern-day Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and the north-western part of Libya) for the Western empire and Cyrenaica (north-eastern Libya) for the East. The chronology from the 4th to the 9th century has been chosen to allow a diachronic analysis of how the role of Bishops and Clergy changed across significant historical events (the fall of the western Empire, Vandal conquest, Byzantine rule and the early centuries of the Islamic presence). The inclusion of the period beyond the Arab conquest of North Africa is intentional, in order to shed new light on the issue of the end of Christianity in North Africa.Programme : Roman Society Research Center