Illustrations of history

Yep! Africa was one of the most prosperous provinces in the Empire - the most prosperous in the Western half of the Empire, even, Italy excluded. A lot of prominent Romans were from Africa - while most would not have been sub-Saharan in phenotype, most would probably not pass as 'white' today. Race and social constructs and all that jazz. One of the most famous Roman playwrights is African-born (Terentius), and many early Christian theologians came from the province. Two major military commanders of the early-mid 2nd century AD were Berber men who served as far afield as Britain and Syria, and one of them (Quintus Lollius Urbicus) became the urban prefect of Rome, one of the most prestigious offices in the Empire!

Septimius Severus here was part-Berber (nomadic peoples which still live in North Africa today), part-Punic (descendants of settlers from modern day Syria), and part-Italian. He's described as "Libyan by race", differentiating him from European Emperors, and there was recorded prejudice against him... but not so much for his phenotype! Rather, he spoke Latin with a Punic accent (as Punic was also his mother tongue)! How barbaric!

For the most part, though, Septimius Severus was well-respected amongst the Roman elite. Some decried him as cruel, tyrannical, and hypocritical, and as a military man in a partly-civil political position, he very probably was - generals are used to men obeying their orders! But records agree that he was also seen as shrewd, educated, refined in Roman manners, intensely dutiful, and lacking in vices. His wife, Julia Domna, from Syria, was one of the most influential Roman Empresses, and a great patron of philosophy and the arts, and the two were still happily married even by the time of his death.