Nonnus of Nisibis in Carthage

Nonnus was an accomplished intellectual who settled in Carthage during the reign of Emperor Justinian. Fluent in Greek, Latin, Syriac, and the Libyco-Berber dialects of the interior, he served as chief dragoman (interpreter) and diplomatic secretary to the Praetorian Prefect.

His surviving fragments and diplomatic journals describe the complex treaties negotiated between the imperial administration in Carthage and tribal federations across the Numidian-Tunisian borderlands, demonstrating Carthage's enduring status as a polyglot Mediterranean metropolis.