Thuburbo Majus – Solitary Majesty of This Tunisian Roman Town (Page Two)

…continued from page one.

Figure 2: the Palaestra of Petronii

Several buildings on site have in-situ fragments of mosaic floor, set around with concrete to protect them. One of these has been named the House of Neptune because of the fish in one of the mosaics. In the photograph below you can see the geometric mosaic of one room and beyond it the colonnaded walkway, with mosaic floor, around what was probably an internal courtyard garden (a common feature in the Roman town houses of the wealthy).

Figure 3: the so-called House of Neptune, a town house of a wealthy resident

A hint of the pre-Roman town can be seen in the Temple of Baalat, a Carthaginian goddess (not to be confused with their god Baal), which survives as a platform and two solitary columns at the corners. I am not sure whether it was dedicated to Baalat in Roman times or to whichever Roman god was identified as being the same (a common Roman practice where local gods and goddess were identified as aspects of the Roman pantheon, easing integration into Roman culture). Another less obvious sign of the pre-Roman town is in the irregular winding street plan, completely at odds with the regular grid Roman town planners adopted when they had a clean sheet.

Figure 4: the Temple of Baalat

Evidence of the town’s importance as a producer of olive oil is found in several oil pressing stones and storage tanks across the site. One of these is shown in the photo below.

Figure 5: building with circular olive oil press

In all, some 250 by 300 metres of the site are excavated and visible, but the extent of the town can be determined if you look for the northeast and southwest gates, which partially survive and stick up from amongst the grass a few hundred metres from the main ruins.

Personally I was impressed by the site. Although the ruins don’t stand as high as elsewhere, one can walk some of the streets and the low walls make it easier to get a feel for the layout. It also has a special atmosphere, an aura of a town asleep, as if it might once again rise to bustle and majesty.

This is one of my series of articles about ancient sites I visited in Tunisia. If you enjoyed this, please visit the others:

The Antonine Baths of Roman Carthage

Dougga Roman Town

El Jem Roman Amphitheatre

The Tophet of Carthage