DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18096#0094
52
Roman Africa
their families seem to indicate that the population was civil, and
not military, during the Roman occupation. From one of the
inscriptions we learn that Nerva conferred on the town the title
of Colonia Nerviana Augusta Martialis Veteranorum Siti-
fensium. There are inscriptions also relating to the erection of
a theatre, an amphitheatre, and several temples; also the
dedication of statues of the Emperors Trajan, Hadrian, An-
toninus, M. Aurelius, and L. Verus. The town was embellished
with noble monuments, and marble and mosaic were freely used
in its public buildings. Many of the votive tablets were en-
riched with sculpture, and, from the character of the inscriptions
generally, we may assume that a high tone of culture prevailed
among the inhabitants. One memorial in the public gardens is
worth noticing. It is a dedication by one Maurusius, apparently
a Moor, to his two beloved children, Praetorianus and Prima, a
boy and a girl. The father indicates with precision and loving
care the exact time of their decease. He educates his son for
a notarius (secretary), and sends him to Rome, where he died,
a.d. 225, at the age of seventeen.1
memoriae memoriae
praetoriani primae
fili dvlcissi filiae dvl
mi homini cissimae
ingeniosis v • an • viii • m • v
simo nota decessit v kal
rio v • an • xvii sept ■ a • p • clxxxvii
m • viii • d • xvii • romae
decessit • xv • k ■ nov • a - p • clxxxvi. mavrvsivs filis
At all times an agricultural town, it is not surprising to find
that Saturn, the deity of agriculture of the Latins, figures largely
in many dedications, and the names of Saturus and Saturninus
given to many residents in the city and the neighbourhood.
Sitifis has had a long history, but during its occupation as a
Roman colony was not associated with any great movement
nor with any change in its constitution, till the time of Dio
cletian at the close of the third century. At that period a great
increase in the population of Mauritania Caesariensis rendered a
division of the province necessary. Diocletian, therefore, gave
1 C. I. L. No. S501. Manritanie Cesarienne, par Ed. Cat, Paris, 1891, p. 164.
Roman Africa
their families seem to indicate that the population was civil, and
not military, during the Roman occupation. From one of the
inscriptions we learn that Nerva conferred on the town the title
of Colonia Nerviana Augusta Martialis Veteranorum Siti-
fensium. There are inscriptions also relating to the erection of
a theatre, an amphitheatre, and several temples; also the
dedication of statues of the Emperors Trajan, Hadrian, An-
toninus, M. Aurelius, and L. Verus. The town was embellished
with noble monuments, and marble and mosaic were freely used
in its public buildings. Many of the votive tablets were en-
riched with sculpture, and, from the character of the inscriptions
generally, we may assume that a high tone of culture prevailed
among the inhabitants. One memorial in the public gardens is
worth noticing. It is a dedication by one Maurusius, apparently
a Moor, to his two beloved children, Praetorianus and Prima, a
boy and a girl. The father indicates with precision and loving
care the exact time of their decease. He educates his son for
a notarius (secretary), and sends him to Rome, where he died,
a.d. 225, at the age of seventeen.1
memoriae memoriae
praetoriani primae
fili dvlcissi filiae dvl
mi homini cissimae
ingeniosis v • an • viii • m • v
simo nota decessit v kal
rio v • an • xvii sept ■ a • p • clxxxvii
m • viii • d • xvii • romae
decessit • xv • k ■ nov • a - p • clxxxvi. mavrvsivs filis
At all times an agricultural town, it is not surprising to find
that Saturn, the deity of agriculture of the Latins, figures largely
in many dedications, and the names of Saturus and Saturninus
given to many residents in the city and the neighbourhood.
Sitifis has had a long history, but during its occupation as a
Roman colony was not associated with any great movement
nor with any change in its constitution, till the time of Dio
cletian at the close of the third century. At that period a great
increase in the population of Mauritania Caesariensis rendered a
division of the province necessary. Diocletian, therefore, gave
1 C. I. L. No. S501. Manritanie Cesarienne, par Ed. Cat, Paris, 1891, p. 164.