 Ruins of the Roman thermae of Thaenae | |
  Thenae Thaena or Thaenae Shown within Tunisia | |
| Location | Sfax Governorate,Tunisia |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 34°41′14.4″N10°43′13.8″E / 34.687333°N 10.720500°E /34.687333; 10.720500 |
| Type | Settlement |
Thenae orThenai (Ancient Greek:Θεναί), also writtenThaena andThaenae, was aCarthaginian andRomantown (civitas) located in or nearThyna, now a suburb ofSfax on theMediterranean coast of southeasternTunisia.[1]
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The city was founded with thePunic nametʿynt (Punic:𐤕𐤏𐤉𐤍𐤕),[2][3] similar toSemitic transcriptions ofTayinat inTurkey.Barclay V. Head also transcribes it asThainath.[3] The Punic name was transcribed intoGreek asThaína (Θαίνα)[4] andThenae (Θεναί),[5] andinto Latin variously asThenae,Thaena, andThaenae.Strabo called the townThena (ἡ Θένα)[6] andPtolemy called it both Thaina (Θαίνα)[4] and Theaenae (Θέαιναι).[7] At a later period it became a Roman colony with the name ofAelia Augusta Mercurialis.[8]
Thenae was founded as aPhoeniciancolony[3] on theMediterranean coast of what is now southeasternTunisia. Along with the rest ofancient Tunisia, it passed intoCarthaginian and thenRoman control during the time of thePunic Wars.
Thenae issued its ownbronze coins around the time ofJulius Caesar andAugustus, with a female head (eitherSerapis orAstarte)obverse and afour-columned templereverse.[3] It also bore the town's name inPunic characters.[3]
In the surviving ruins, there are abath house, awealthy house (domus), city walls, lower-class housing, and anearly Christianbasilica.[9]
Thenae was theseat of aChristianbishopric during late antiquity. According to alife ofSt Fulgentius, acouncil was held at Thenae (Latin:Thenitanum Concilium). There are six documented bishops of the ancient diocese:
Today, Thenae survives as atitular see of theRoman Catholic Church. Modern bishops have been:[10]
Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Thenae".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray. Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Thenae".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray. This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Thenae".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.