DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18096#0185
Africa under Antoninus Pius 125
als, and Moors. The zeal and number of the clergy declined,
and the peoples, without discipline or knowledge or hope, sub-
missively sank under the yoke of the Arabian prophet.'1 In
further testimony of the complete annihilation of Christianity in
a land where its influence was paramount for so many genera-
tions, we may quote Victor Vitensis, the historian of the Vandal
invasion of North Africa, more than two centuries before the
fall of Sufetula. He tells us that during the persecution 4,976
bishops, priests, deacons, and other clerics were taken to Sicca
Veneria (El-Kef) and Lares, and handed over to the Moors,
who conducted them into the Desert!2
To the architect the ruins of Sufetula are among the most
valuable of the monumental remains in Tunisia. From their
extent and variety, and the fair condition of many of the build-
ings, they take rank with those of Lambsesis and Thamugas,
and offer to the student excellent examples of Roman archi-
tecture before its final decline.
The principal ruin consists of a rectangular walled enclosure,
238 feet by 198 feet, to which access is obtained through a
monumental gateway, nearly in the centre of one side, and
through smaller openings on the three others. This enclosure,
commonly known as the kieron, is at present so encumbered
with fallen masonry that accurate measurements are not easily
taken. Moreover, a portion of the enclosure having evidently
been rebuilt at a subsequent period (probably during the
Byzantine occupation in the time of Gregorius), considerable
study of the masonry is necessary to enable any one to give
a reliable opinion upon the exact outline of the original walls,
the height of the enclosure, and the general surroundings both
within and without. The entrance gateway was dedicated to
Antoninus Pius, as recorded in an inscription in the frieze, but
the lettering, it will be observed, is very incomplete.3
......IVI • HADRIANI • ANTONINI
. . . DIVI • • NERVAE ■ PRONEP . . . . R
. . INO . . . PONT ■ MAX • T . . n ■ P ■ P
1 Gibbon, vol. vi. c. 51, p. 369.
2 Victor Vitensis, as he is generally called—a bishop of Vita, a town in the province
of Byzacene. {The Memorable and Tragical History of the Persecutions 171 Africke
under Gensericke and Hunericke, Arrian Kings of the Vandals, London, 1605.)
3 V. Guerin, vol. i. p. 381. Also Sir Grenville Temple, Excursions in the
Mediterranean, Algiers, and Tunis, London, 1835, vol. ii. p. 339.
als, and Moors. The zeal and number of the clergy declined,
and the peoples, without discipline or knowledge or hope, sub-
missively sank under the yoke of the Arabian prophet.'1 In
further testimony of the complete annihilation of Christianity in
a land where its influence was paramount for so many genera-
tions, we may quote Victor Vitensis, the historian of the Vandal
invasion of North Africa, more than two centuries before the
fall of Sufetula. He tells us that during the persecution 4,976
bishops, priests, deacons, and other clerics were taken to Sicca
Veneria (El-Kef) and Lares, and handed over to the Moors,
who conducted them into the Desert!2
To the architect the ruins of Sufetula are among the most
valuable of the monumental remains in Tunisia. From their
extent and variety, and the fair condition of many of the build-
ings, they take rank with those of Lambsesis and Thamugas,
and offer to the student excellent examples of Roman archi-
tecture before its final decline.
The principal ruin consists of a rectangular walled enclosure,
238 feet by 198 feet, to which access is obtained through a
monumental gateway, nearly in the centre of one side, and
through smaller openings on the three others. This enclosure,
commonly known as the kieron, is at present so encumbered
with fallen masonry that accurate measurements are not easily
taken. Moreover, a portion of the enclosure having evidently
been rebuilt at a subsequent period (probably during the
Byzantine occupation in the time of Gregorius), considerable
study of the masonry is necessary to enable any one to give
a reliable opinion upon the exact outline of the original walls,
the height of the enclosure, and the general surroundings both
within and without. The entrance gateway was dedicated to
Antoninus Pius, as recorded in an inscription in the frieze, but
the lettering, it will be observed, is very incomplete.3
......IVI • HADRIANI • ANTONINI
. . . DIVI • • NERVAE ■ PRONEP . . . . R
. . INO . . . PONT ■ MAX • T . . n ■ P ■ P
1 Gibbon, vol. vi. c. 51, p. 369.
2 Victor Vitensis, as he is generally called—a bishop of Vita, a town in the province
of Byzacene. {The Memorable and Tragical History of the Persecutions 171 Africke
under Gensericke and Hunericke, Arrian Kings of the Vandals, London, 1605.)
3 V. Guerin, vol. i. p. 381. Also Sir Grenville Temple, Excursions in the
Mediterranean, Algiers, and Tunis, London, 1835, vol. ii. p. 339.