Althiburos (Punic:𐤏𐤋𐤕𐤁𐤓𐤔, ʿltbrš[1] or𐤀𐤋𐤕𐤁𐤓𐤔, ʼltbrš[2]) was an ancientBerber,Carthaginian, andRoman settlement in what is now theDahmani Delegation of theKef Governorate ofTunisia.[3][4] During the reign of emperorHadrian, it became a municipality with Italian rights. It was theseat of aChristian bishop from the 4th to 7th centuries. The settlement was destroyed during theMuslim invasions and the area's population center moved toEbba Ksour on the plain. This left Althiburos's ruins largely intact; they were rediscovered by travelers in the 18th century.
Althiburos was an ancientNumidian city at the confluence of two local rivers when it passed intoPunic influence and then control. It formed part of the road linkingCarthage toTheveste.
After thePunic Wars ended inRoman victory, Althiburos formed part ofAfrica. It retained a local Punic-style dual magistracy undersufetes well into the early empire, although at one point the city conceived a regional innovation and installed three executives at once.[7] In the 2nd century, under the emperorHadrian, it was grantedmunicipal status and Italian rights under the nameMunicipium Aelium Hadrianum Augustum Althiburitanum.[8] fromEmperorHadrian (117-138).[9] It was prosperous in the 2nd and 3rd centuries.
It was theseat of aChristian bishop from the 4th to 7th centuries. The settlement was destroyed during theMuslim invasions and the area's population center moved to Ebba Ksour (Dahmani) on the plain. This left Althiburos's ruins largely intact; they were rediscovered by travelers in the 18th century.
Apart from travel stories that describe it, the site has seen few archaeological excavations. Excavations begun in 1908, interrupted and resumed in 1912, reveal part of theforum, amain street and a monumental door to a bay, with an inscription dedicated toHadrian.[10][11] APunic inscription found at the site is now at theLouvre Museum inParis.
Capitolium andForum (44.6 by 37.15 meters (146.3 ft × 121.9 ft)) on a pavedesplanade (23.35 by 30.8 meters (76.6 ft × 101.0 ft)) surrounded by aporch with 10 x 12columns.
Atriumphal arch is mostly in ruins, but the façade is partly conserved. It was excavated in 1912 and dated between 185 and 191.
There is a second temple (dedicated to an unknown god or gods) on the opposite side of the Forum, of which only the podium and someCorinthian architectural elements remain; From aninscription, it seems datable to 145. In the northeast corner there is a complex of buildings including a house with aperistyle of 16columns andgeometric mosaics on the fourporticos; Other mosaics are in theBardo Museum. To the southeast of the square, a 10 x 7 meter building that was probably afactory and a monumentalfountain
The house of the Muses, with outstanding mosaics.
The house of the Peixos scene, on the other side of the riverOued Oum El Abid, withmosaics representing scenes offish.
TheRoman Theatre is located on top of a hill. Remains partially buried remain in the middle of scattered blocks only a series of 19 arcades of which only go beyond the top, surmounted by five arcades of the first floor. René Cagnat and Henri Saladin at the end of the 19th century gave the following dimensions for this theater: 60 meters (200 ft) indiameter and 35 meters (115 ft) inwidth. The archaeological activities carried out since 2007 have as objective the survey of the ruins and the reconstruction of the theater.[13][14]
The Roman city was also the seat of an ancientbishopric which existed until the end of the 7th century.[15][16] The diocese was reestablished in 1933 as atitular episcopal see. Known bishops include:
^Mongi Ennaïfer, « La cité d'Althiburos et l'édifice des Asclepieia », Bibliothèque archéologique, vol. 1, éd. Institut national d'archéologie et d'art, Tunis, 1976
^Richard Stillwell, The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites (Princeton University Press, 14 Mar. 2017)p44.
^Richard Stillwell, William L. MacDonald, Marian Holland McAllister, Stillwell, Richard, MacDonald, William L., McAlister, Marian Holland, Ed.,ALTHIBUROS, The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites.
^Ilẹvbare, J.A. (June 1974). "The Impact of the Carthaginians and the Romans on the Administrative System of the Maghreb Part I".Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria.7 (2):187–197.JSTOR41857007.
^Alfred Merlin, « Fouilles à Althiburos (Medeina) », CRAI, vol. 56, no 6, (1912), p.420
^A. Merlin, “Forum et maisons d'Althiburos,” Notes et Documents, VI (1913).
