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Dougga or Thugga or TBGG (; ) was a Berbers, Punic and Roman Africans settlement near present-day Téboursouk in northern Tunisia. The current archaeological site covers . Map of the archaeological site UNESCO qualified Dougga as a World Heritage Site in 1997, believing that it represents "the best-preserved Roman small town in North Africa". The site, which lies in the middle of the countryside, has been protected from the encroachment of modern urbanization, in contrast, for example, to Carthage, which has been pillaged and rebuilt on numerous occasions. Dougga's size, its well-preserved monuments and its rich -Berber people, Punic, Ancient Rome, and Byzantine history make it exceptional. Amongst the most famous monuments at the site are a Libyco-Punic Mausoleum, the Capitol, the Roman theatre, and the temples of Saturn and of Juno Caelestis.
In present-day Berber language, it is known as either Dugga or Tugga. That was borrowed into or دقة and Dougga is a French language transcription of this Arabic name.
Dougga was in any case an early and important human settlement. Its urban character is evidenced by the presence of a necropolis with , the most ancient archaeological find at Dougga, a sanctuary dedicated to Ba'al Hammon, neo-Punic , a mausoleum, architectural fragments, and a temple dedicated to Masinissa, the remains of which were found during archaeological excavations. Even though our knowledge of the city before the Roman conquest remains very limited, recent archaeological finds have revolutionized the image that we had of this period.
The identification of the temple dedicated to Masinissa beneath the forum disproved Louis Poinssot's theory that the Numidian city stood on the plateau but that it was separate from the newer Roman settlement. The temple, which was erected in the tenth year of Micipsa's reign (139BC), is wide. It proves that the area around the forum was already built upon before the arrival of the Roman colonists. A building dating to the 2nd centuryBC has also been discovered nearby. Similarly, Dougga's mausoleum is not isolated but stands within an urban necropolis.
Recent finds have disproved earlier theories about the so-called "Numidian walls". The walls around Dougga are in fact not Numidian; they are part of the city's fortifications erected in late antiquity. Targeted digs have also proven that what had been interpreted as two Numidian towers in the walls are in fact two funeral monuments from the Numidian era reused much later as foundations and a section of defences.Mustapha Khanoussi, « L'évolution urbaine de Thugga (Dougga) en Afrique proconsulaire : de l'agglomération numide à la ville africo-romaine », pp. 131-143
The discovery of Libyan and Punic inscriptions at the site provoked a debate on the administration of the city at the time of the Kingdom of Numidia. The debateabout the interpretation of Epigraphy sourcesfocussed on the question of whether the city was still under Punic influence or whether it was increasingly Berber.Gabriel Camps, « Dougga », L'Encyclopédie berbère, pp. 2522-2527Gabriel Camps, Les Berbères, mémoire et identité, coll. Babel, éd. Actes Sud/Leméac, Paris/Montréal, 2007, pp. 299-300 Local Berber institutions distinct from any form of Punic authority arose from the Numidian period onwards,Gabriel Camps, « Dougga », L'Encyclopédie berbère, p. 2525 but Gabriel Camps notes that Punic shofets were still in place in several cities, including Dougga, during the Roman era,Gabriel Camps, Les Berbères, mémoire et identité, p. 300 which is a sign of continuing Punic influence and the preservation of certain elements of Punic civilization well after the fall of Carthage.
The creation of the Roman colonia of Ancient Carthage during the reign of Augustus complicated Dougga's institutional status. The city was included in the territory ( pertica) of the Roman colony, but around this time, a pagus ( pagus) of Roman colonists also arose alongside the existing settlement. For two centuries, the site was thus governed by two civic and institutional bodies: the city with its peregrini and the pagus with its Roman citizens. Both had Roman civic institutions: magistrates and a council ( ordo) of decurions for the city, a local council from the end of the 1st centuryAD, and local administrators for the pagus, who were legally subordinated to the distant but powerful colony of Carthage. In addition, epigraphic evidence indicates that a Punic-style dual magistracy, the , achieved some civic stature here well into the imperial period. In fact, the city once had three magistrates serve at once, a relative rarity in the Mediterranean.
Over time, the romanization of the city brought the two communities closer together. Notable members of the peregrini increasingly adopted Roman culture and behavior, became Roman citizens, and the councils of the two communities began to take decisions in unison. The increasing closeness of the communities was facilitated at first by their geographic proximitythere was no physical distinction between their two settlementsand then later by institutional arrangements. During the reign of Marcus Aurelius, the city was granted Roman law; from this moment onward, the magistrates automatically received Roman citizenship and the rights of the city's inhabitants became similar to those of the Roman citizens. During the same era, the pagus won a certain degree of autonomy from Carthage; it was able to receive bequests and administer public funds.
Nonetheless, it was not until AD205, during the reign of Septimius Severus, that the two communities came together as one municipium ( municipium), made "free" (see below) while Carthage's pertica was reduced. The city was supported by the euergetism of its great families of wealthy individuals, which sometimes reached exorbitant levels, while its interests were successfully represented by appeals to the Roman Emperor. Dougga's development culminated during the reign of Gallienus, when it obtained the status of a separate Roman colony.
Dougga's monuments attest to its prosperity in the period from the reign of Diocletian to that of Collectif, L'Afrique romaine. 69-439, p. 310 but it fell into a sort of stupor from the 4th century. The city appears to have experienced an early decline, as evidenced by the relatively poor remains of Christianity. The period of Byzantine rule saw the area around the forum transformed into a fort; several important buildings were destroyed in order to provide the necessary materials for its construction.
The establishment of France's Tunisian protectorate in 1881 led to the creation of a national antiquities institute (), for which the excavation of the site at Dougga was a priority from 1901, parallel to the works carried out at Carthage. The works at Dougga concentrated at first on the area around the forum; other discoveries ensured that there was an almost constant series of digs at the site until 1939. Alongside these excavations, work was conducted to restore the capitol, of which only the front and the base of the wall of the cella were still standing, and to restore the mausoleum, particularly between 1908 and 1910 .
After Tunisia's independence, other buildings were excavated, including the Temple of Caracalla's Victory in Germany. During the same period, the last inhabitants of the site were evicted and relocated to a village located on the plain several kilometers from the antique site, which is named In 1991, the decision was taken to make the site into a national archaeological park. A cooperative scientific programme aims in particular to promote the study of the inscriptions at the site and the pagan temples. In 1997, Dougga was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.
Despite its importance and its exceptional state, Dougga remains off the beaten track for many tourists and receives only about 50,000 visitors per year. In order to make it more attractive, the construction of an on-site museum is being considered, while the national antiquities institute has established a website presenting the site and the surrounding region. Portail de Dougga (Ministère de la culture et de la sauvegarde du patrimoine) For the time being, visitors with sufficient time can appreciate Dougga, not only because of its many ruins but also for its olive groves, which give the site a unique ambiance.
It is, however, unclear exactly what form this liberty took. Jules Toutain is of the opinion that this is a designation for a particular type of municipiumfree cities where the Roman governor did not have the right to control the municipal magistrates. There is however no evidence that Dougga enjoyed exceptional legal privileges of the type associated with certain free cities such as Aphrodisias in Anatolia. Paul Veyne has thus suggested that Dougga's "freedom" is nothing but an expression of the concept of liberty without any legal meaning;Paul Veyne, « Le Marsyas colonial et l'indépendance des cités », Revue de philologie, n°35, 1961, pp. 86-98 obtaining the status of a municipium had freed the city of its subjugation and enabled it to adorn itself with the "ornaments of liberty" ( ornamenta libertatis). CIL VIII, 210 ( ILS 5570) à Cillium The city's liberty was celebrated just as its dignity was extolled; the emperor Probus is a "preserver of liberty and dignity" ( conservator libertatis et dignitatis). CIL VIII, 26561 ; Mustapha Khanoussi et Louis Maurin, Dougga. Fragments d'histoire. Choix d'inscriptions latines éditées, traduites et commentées (Ier-IVe siècles), inscription n° 63 Jacques Gascou, in line with Veyne's interpretation, describes the situation thus: " Liberum, in Thuggas title, is a term ... with which the city, which had waited a long time for the status of a municipium, is happy to flatter itself".Jacques Gascou, op.cit., p. 180
Despite Gascou's conclusion, efforts have been made more recently to identify concrete aspects of Dougga's liberty. Claude Lepelley believes on the one hand that this must be a reference to the relations between the city and Rome and on the other hand that the term can cover a range of diverse privileges of differing degrees. It is known that the territory of Carthage, to which the Dougga pagus belonged until AD205, enjoyed such privileges: the inhabitants of the pagus even sent an appeal during Trajan's reign to defend the fiscal immunity of the territory of Carthage ( immunitas perticae Carthaginiensium). L'Année épigraphique, 1963, 94 The Dougga civitas had not been granted this concession, so the fusion of pagus with the civitas meant that the citizens of the pagus risked losing their enviable privilege. The liberty of the municipia founded during the reign of Septimius Severus could thus be a reference to the fiscal immunity made possible by the region's great wealth and by the emperor's generosity to each municipium at the time of its fusion. During the reign of Gallienus, a certain Aulus Vitellius Felix Honoratus, a well-known individual in Dougga, made an appeal to the emperor "in order to assure the public liberty". CIL VIII, 26582 ( ILS 9018) ; Mustapha Khanoussi et Louis Maurin, Dougga. Fragments d'histoire. Choix d'inscriptions latines éditées, traduites et commentées (Ier-IVe siècles), inscription n°70 Lepelley believes that this is an indication that the city's privilege had been called into question, although Dougga appears to have been at least partially able to preserve its concessions, as evidenced by an inscription to the honor of "Probus, defender of its liberty".
According to Michel Christol though, this interpretation overly restricts the meaning of the word libertas.Michel Christol, Regards sur l'Afrique romaine, éd. Errance, Paris, 2005, p. 191 In Christol's view, it is important not to forget that the emperor's decision in 205 must have been taken in response to a request made by the civitas and must have taken account of the relations that already existed between it and the pagus. It was the autonomy that the civitas had achieved during the reign of Marcus Aurelius and the granting of Roman law that raised the specter of a fusion of the two communities, which would without a doubt have provoked a certain unease in the pagus. The inhabitants of the pagus would have expressed "concern or even refusal when faced with the pretensions of their closest neighbors".Michel Christol, op. cit., p. 190 This would explain the honor that the pagus attributed to Commodus ( conservator pagi, "protector of the community"). CIL VIII, 27374 ; inscription revisted and commented by Jacques Gascou, « Conservator pagi (d'après l'inscription de Thugga CIL VIII, 27374) », Dougga (Thugga). Études épigraphiques, éd. Ausonius, Bordeaux, 1997, pp. 97-104
For Christol, the term liberum must be understood in this context and in an abstract sense. This liberty derives from belonging to a city and expresses the end of the civitass dependence, "the elevation of a community of peregrini to the liberty of Roman citizenship", which also served to placate the fears of the inhabitants of the pagus and to open the door to a later promotion, to the status of a colony. This promotion took place in AD261, during the reign of Gallienus, following an appeal from Aulus Vitellius Felix Honoratus in Christol's version of events. Thereafter, the defence of the libertas publica was not a question of defending a privilege at risk, but of requesting the "ultimate liberty" ( summa libertas)the promotion to the status of a colony.Michel Christol, op. cit., p. 195 Christol also points out that, despite the abstract character of terms such as libertas or dignitas, their formal appearance should be references to concrete and unique events. Michel Christol, « De la liberté recouvrée d’Uchi Maius à la liberté de Dougga » Revue de philologie, de littérature et d’histoire anciennes, tome LXXVIII, 2004, pp. 13-42
Recent archaeological digs have confirmed the continuity in the city's urban development. The heart of the city has always been at the top of the hill, where the forum replaced the Numidian agora. As Dougga developed, urban construction occupied the side of the hill, so that the city must have resembled "a compact mass", according to Hédi Slim
Early archaeological digs concentrated on public buildings, which meant that private buildings tended at first to be uncovered at the ends of the trenches dug for this purpose. Later, trenches were cut with the purpose of exposing particularly characteristic private buildings.
The trifolium villa, named after a clover-shaped room that was without a doubt used as a triclinium, is the largest private house excavated so far at Dougga. The house had two storeys, but there is almost nothing left of the upper storey. It stands in the south of the city, halfway up the hill. The house is particularly interesting because of the way in which it is built to align with the lay of the land; the entrance hall slopes down to a courtyard around which the various rooms were arranged.Mustapha Khanoussi, Dougga, pp. 64-66
In order to compensate for the natural incline of the ground on which the market stands, its builders undertook significant earthworks. These earthworks have been dated as being amongst the oldest Roman constructions, and their orientation vis-à-vis the forum seems to suggest that they were not built on any earlier foundations. The modern-day location of the remains from the market near the forum should however not be misunderstood as indicating a link between the two. The market was almost completely destroyed during the construction of the Byzantine fort. It was excavated in 1918–1919.Sophie Saint-Amans, op. cit., p. 336
Although it is difficult to put a date on the erection of the dolmens, as they were in use until the dawn of the Christian era, it seems likely that they date from at least 2000 yearsBC.Mustapha Khanoussi, Dougga, p. 62 Gabriel Camps has suggested that a link to Sicily. He has made the same suggestion for the " haouanet" tombs found in Algeria and Tunisia.Gabriel Camps, Les Berbères, mémoire et identité, p. 90
This tomb is tall and was built in the 2nd centuryBC. A bilingual inscription installed in the mausoleum mentioned that the tomb was dedicated to Ateban, the son of Iepmatath and Palu. In 1842, Sir Thomas Reade, the United Kingdom consul in Tunis seriously damaged the monument while removing this inscription. This bilingual Punic-Libyan Inscription, now held at the British Museum, made it possible to decode the Libyan characters. British Museum Collection It has only recently been established that the inscription was originally located on one side of a fake window on the podium.Mustapha Khanoussi, Dougga, p. 74 According to the most recent research, the names cited in the inscription are only those of its architect and of representatives of the different professions involved in its construction. The monument was built by the inhabitants of the city for a Numidian prince; some authors believe that it was intended for MassinissaMustapha Khanoussi, Dougga, p 75
The monument owes its current appearance to the work of French people archaeologist Louis Poinssot, who essentially reconstructed it from pieces that were left lying on the ground. The tomb is accessed via a pedestal with five steps. On the northern side of the podium (the lowest of three levels in the monument), there is an opening to the funeral chamber that is closed with a stone slab. The other sides are decorated with fake windows and four Aeolic order . The second level is made up of a temple-like colonnade ( naiskos); the columns on each side are Ionic order. The third level is the most richly decorated of all: in addition to pilasters similar to those on the lowest level, it is capped with a pyramid. Some elements of carved stone have also survived.
The different necropoleis mark the zones of settlement at Dougga. There are five areas that have been identified as necropoleis: the first in the northeast, around the Temple of Saturn and the Victoria Church, the second in the northwest, a zone which also encompasses the dolmens on the site, the third in the west, between the Aïn Mizeb and Aïn El Hammam cisterns and to the north of the Temple of Juno Caelestis, the fourth and the fifth in the south and the south-east, one around the mausoleum and the other around Septimius Severus' triumphal arch.See figure no. 3 in Sophie Saint-Amans, Topographie religieuse de Thugga (Dougga). Ville romaine d'Afrique proconsulaire (Tunisie), éd. Ausonius, Bordeaux, 2004
Alexander Severus' arch, which dates from 222 to 235, is relatively well preserved, despite the loss of its upper elements. It is equidistant from the capitol and the Temple of Juno Caelestis. Its arcade is tall.Mustapha Khanoussi, Dougga, p. 58
A third triumphal arch, dating from the Tetrarchy, has been completely lost.
Long ago, archaeologists believed that Roman settlement at Dougga occurred ex nihilo. This suggestion has been contradicted by the discovery of a sanctuary dedicated to Massinissa amongst the substructures to the rear of the capitol.Mustapha Khanoussi, Dougga, p. 32
The theatre, which was built in AD168 or 169, is one of the best preserved examples in Roman Africa. It could seat 3500 spectators, even though Dougga only had 5000 inhabitants. It was one of a series of imperial buildings constructed over the course of two centuries at Dougga which deviate from the classic "" only inasmuch as they have been adapted to take account of the local terrain. Some minor adjustments have been made and the local architects had a certain freedom with regard to the ornamentation of the buildings.Pierre Gros, L'architecture romaine du début du IIIe siècle à la fin du Haut-Empire, tome 1, pp. 293-294
A dedication engraved into the pediment of the stage and on the portico the dominates the city, recalls the building's commissioner, P. Marcius Quadratus, who "built it for his homeland with his own Denarius"; the dedication was celebrated with "scenic representations, distributions of life, a festival and athletic games".
The theater is still used for performances of classic theater, particularly during the festival of Dougga, and conservation work has been carried out on it.
The size of the building (its frigidarium is less than Yvon Thébert, Thermes romains d'Afrique du Nord et leur contexte méditerranéen, éd. École française de Rome, Rome, 2003, p. 179) has led some experts to believe that it was a private bath, but the identification of a domus in the immediate vicinity has proven difficult. The "trifolium villa" is quite distant, and the closest ruins are hard to identify as they have not been well preserved. Yvon Thébert therefore suggests that the bath served the local quarter.
The bath was later used for the production of olive oil at an unknown date.Yvon Thébert, op. cit., p. 177
The symmetrical building is medium-sized, with an area of excluding the palaestra, of which are taken up by the frigidarium. The construction of the bath required work both to lower and to raise sections of the slope on which it stood, which may explain why parts of the building have been better preserved than others; the section built on raised ground has for the most part been lost.Yvon Thébert, op. cit., p. 178
The complex remains largely unexposed, but it seems, according to Yvon Thébert, that it has a symmetrical design, of which only a section of the cold rooms has been excavated.
The remains are similar to those of the temple in Chemtou and are evidence of the fact that the political center of the Roman city was in the same place as the Hellenic agora.Sophie Saint-Amans, op. cit., p. 44 The stone remains found in this area seem to belong to several different structures; the exact location of the sanctuary is still open to debate.Sophie Saint-Amans, op. cit., p. 46
Although it is believed that the sanctuary set Massinissa on par with a god, this is debated by some experts. Gsell believes that a temple to the king would reflect a continuation of eastern and Hellenic practices; Gabriel Camps builds on this hypothesis, pointing out the lack of any antique sources testifying to anything more than simple expressions of respect by a people vis-à-vis its king.Sophie Saint-Amans, op. cit., p. 47 According to Camps, the temple is only a memorial, a site belonging to a funeral cult. Its construction ten years into Micipsa's reign can be explained by its political symbolism: Micipsa, sole ruler after the death of his brothers Gulussa and Mastanabal, was affirming the unity of his kingdom around the person of the king.Sophie Saint-Amans, op. cit., pp. 48-49
Thomas d'Arcos identified the Capitol as a temple of Jupiter in the 17th century. It was the object of further research at the end of the 19th century, led in particular by the doctor Louis Carton in 1893. The walls, executed in opus africanum style, and the entablature of the portico were restored between 1903 and 1910. Claude Poinssot discovered a crypt beneath the cella in 1955. The most recent works were carried out by the Tunisian Institut national du patrimoine between 1994 and 1996.Sophie Saint-Amans, op. cit., p. 283
The Capitol is exceptionally well preserved, which is a consequence of its inclusion in the Byzantine fortification. A series of eleven stairs lead up to the front portico. The temple front's Corinthian order columns are tall, on top of which is the perfectly preserved pediment. The pediment bears a depiction of emperor Antoninus Pius's elevation to godhood. The emperor is being carried by an eagle.
The base of the cella still features alcoves for three statues. The middle alcove houses a colossal statue of Jupiter.
The discovery of the head of a statue of Jupiter has led Claude Poinssot to suggest that the crypt dates from the period of Christianity's triumph over the old religions. St-Amans does not exclude the possibility that the crypt was built at the same time as the Byzantine citadel, of which the forum and capitol formed the nerve center.
The construction of the Capitol at Dougga occurred at the same time as the construction of other monuments of the same type elsewhere in North Africa, which Pierre Gros explains as a consequence of the greater proximity of the imperial cult and the cult of Jupiter.Pierre Gros, L'architecture romaine du début du IIIe siècle à la fin du Haut-Empire, tome 1, p. 193
Near the Capitol are the "square of the Rose of the Winds"which is named after a compass rose that is engraved on the floorand the remains of the Byzantine citadel, which reused a section of the ruins after the city's decline.
D'Arcos identified the temple in 1631 thanks to an inscription that was still in place at the time. The podium is relatively low (); it can be ascended by a series of seven stairs on the southern side.Sophie Saint-Amans, op. cit., p. 346
The temple, which is relatively narrow, has an unusual design. It is , and is situated beside the road that descends from the forum to the Aïn Doura Bath. The temple is associated with a triumphal arch over the road. The temple can be accessed via a semi-circular staircase; in each corner of the courtyard in front of the staircase is a reservoir for rain water. The cella inside the sanctuary features six lateral niches which are designed to hold the bases of statues of Apollo, Liber, Neptune, Mercury and of two other gods that can no longer be identified.
The temple can be seen from afar, but passers-by can only see the cella, the foundations of which are decoratively rusticated. Seven columns are spaced along the cella, linking to the lateral door, which opens onto the staircase. The tetrastyle temple is built in Tuscan order in antis. The temple's design is unusual inasmuch as temples of the imperial cult are generally Corinthian order and located in the middle of a vast courtyard with a portico; the Tuscan order was thus quite rare in the provinces.
The temple therefore bears witness to a desire to construct something that was different from other such buildings, doubtless in response to the constraints created by the terrain. The dedication in the temple sheds light on its construction: the inscription, which has been very precisely dated to AD214, consecrates the temple to the personification of victory, Victoria, here specifically in connection with the emperor's campaigns in Germany, for the welfare of Caracalla and of his mother Iulia Domna. CIL VIII, 26650 ; Mustapha Khanoussi et Louis Maurin, Dougga. Fragments d'histoire. Choix d'inscriptions latines éditées, traduites et commentées (Ier-IVe siècles), inscription n°39
The text recalls the military projects of the son of Septimius Severus and their celebration within the context of the imperial cult. This inscription also explains that the temple was constructed at a cost of 100,000 Sestertius on the wishes of a great lady of Dougga named Gabinia Hermiona after her death. Besides the generosity of this act of philanthropy, her will foresaw the holding of an annual banquet for the ordo decurionum to be financed by her inheritors on the anniversary of the dedication of the temple. At the same time, Gabinia Hermiona bequeathed the land for the circus "for the pleasure of the people".
The temple occupied what was doubtlessly one of the last free spaces in the vicinity of the forum. The temple's benefactor preferred this site in the city center to those that she owned in the outskirts: the site of the circus or the site where the Temple of Celeste was later built. Gabinia's family, one of the richest in Dougga, was well placed within Carthage's notables and maintained its power at Dougga, even during the reduction of the local aristocracy in the 3rd century. The terms of Gabinia's will provide evidence of her concern that the family should endure - the annual banquet would keep alive the memory of the family's generosity and emphasize its sociability, while the circus would provide for the pleasure of the most humble of the city's inhabitants.
At the end of the 4th century, the Temple of Caracalla's Victory in Germany was transformed into a church. The reservoirs in the courtyard were filled in order to provide space for the faithful, while pulpits were added to the cella. The decoration of the cella was also modified.
It is possible that the Temple of Pluto is located near Septimius Severus's triumphal arch in an area of the city that has only been partially excavated as yet,Sophie Saint-Amans, op. cit., p. 370 but this hypothesis is not very firm and is based on the discovery of a bust in a courtyard, which has been dated by Claude Poinssot to the 2nd or 3rd century. The associated building was excavated in the 1960s but little is known about the manner in which the excavation was conducted and the stabilization work carried out at the site. A cella with just one niche has been discovered on a podium in the middle of a courtyard and the altar has also been preserved.
An architectural study was carried out between 2000 and 2002, but it did not lead to any excavation work.
The Roman temple was built during the reign of Septimius Severus. It consists of three , a courtyard with a portico, and a vestibule.Mustapha Khanoussi, Dougga, p. 15 Water from the temple roof was collected in cisterns. An inscription provides details about the temple's construction: it was erected using funds bequeathed in the testament of a notable local resident named Lucius Octavius Victor Roscianus at a cost of at least 150,000 Sestertius,Marcel Le Glay, op. cit., inscription n°5, p. 215 which seems expensive but may be explained by the extent of the earthworks required to give the temple a solid foundation;Marcel Le Glay, op. cit., p. 211 these works nonetheless seem to have proven insufficient as work to restore and shore up the edifice appear to have been carried out before it finally fell into ruin.Marcel Le Glay, op. cit., p. 212
The temple is dedicated to Heavenly Juno ( Juno Caelestis), the successor of the Punic god Tanit. Its well-preserved temenos is demarcated by a wall, a large section of which has been very well preserved. The court is only partially tiled and has two symmetrical doors. A portico with 25 bays runs along the circular section of the temenos. The portico is topped with a frieze depicting the construction of the temple.
The temple in the strict sense of the word stands on a high podium that can be accessed via a series of eleven steps. It is a Corinthian order hexastyle peripteros. The pediment features a dedication to Alexander Severus. The cella has been completely lost.Sophie Saint-Amans, op. cit., pp. 275-277
The temple, which was erected between AD222 and 235, was paid for by a certain Q. Gabinius Rufus Felix, who donated inter alia two silver statues of Juno Caelestis that cost 35,000 Sestertius.
The temenos, which is in diameter, is reminiscent of a crescent moon, the symbol of Juno Caelestis.
Dar Lacheb was excavated at the end of the 19th century by Louis Carton and has not been the subject of further works since 1912.Sophie Saint-Amans, op. cit., p. 308 A house that was built nearby re-using antique remains was destroyed at the start of the 20th century.
Dar Lacheb was built between AD164 and 166, at the same era as the capitol, which is away. The entrance to the building has been perfectly preserved, as has one of the columns of the entrance porch. The interior consists of a courtyard that was once surrounded with a portico. To the south is the cella of a temple that has been entirely destroyed.Mustapha Khanoussi, Dougga, p. 49
The six cisterns of Aïn El Hammam, situated close to the Temple of Juno Caelestis, have a total capacity of 6000 m3 but are in ruins. They were fed by a spring away and an aqueduct constructed during the reign of Commodus and restored in the last quarter of the 4th century CE.For the dedication, see L'Année épigraphique, 2000, 1726, translated in Mustapha Khanoussi, Dougga, p. 57
This site is still used once annually for a festival celebrating Mokhola, who was a female saint and benefactor of Moroccan origin according to local oral traditionFor a record of the tradition, see Mustapha Khanoussi, Dougga, pp. 56-57Cyrielle Le Moigne, « La vie secrète des ruines de Dougga », GEO, hors-série « Tunisie. Ses trésors méconnus », octobre 2008, pp. 40-41 Photos du rite de Mokhola (Images de Tunisie) The veneration of Mokhola is accompanied with animal sacrifices. It has been shown that this tradition has pagan origins; the object of veneration was originally the spring, known as fons moccolitanusMustapha Khanoussi, Dougga, p. 57 Azedine Beschaouch, « Épigraphie et ethnographie. D’une fête populaire de Dougga, en Tunisie, à la dédicace de l’aqueduc de Thugga, en Afrique romaine », CRAI, 2000, vol. 144, n°4, pp. 1173-1182
The second network of cisterns, the cisterns of Aïn Mizeb, is very well preserved. Located close to the Temple of Minerva, these eight domed reservoirs can hold and feature a basin into which they decant.Gabriel Camps, « Dougga », L'Encyclopédie berbère, p. 2527 The cisterns are fed by a spring located away connected via an underground aqueduct.Mustapha Khanoussi, Dougga, p. 59
A final network of secondary cisterns is located in the vicinity of the Aïn Doura Bath, in the south-west of the site.
The center of the city was probably paved; the streets resembled meandering lanes. The city had sewers, as is evidenced by the access stones that are still in place in the streets. At the foot of the hill, there are traces of streets joining with the main road from Ancient Carthage to Theveste
A proposal to construct a museum on the site is being studied. It would serve in particular to house recent discoveries and those yet to be made.
The Bardo National Museum also houses a man ( togatus) that dates from the 3rd century. It depicts an aged man, who has a short beard and is dressed in a toga. It seems certain that this is a later work of art reflective of the contemporary taste in art.
The "mosaic of the victorious charioteer" is younger than these works. It dates from the second half of the 4th century, and features the phrase Eros omnia per te ("All things through you, Eros"). The depiction of the charioteer shows great attention to realism, as do the depictions of the horses, two of which are named Amandus and Frunitus after their characters. The horses are arranged symmetrically; such symmetries were very popular at the time. The charioteer is holding a whip, a Laurel wreath and a palm branch. The starting blocks of the circus can be seen in the background. This work of art was found in a private residence and it appears that it must be interpreted as a monument donated by the owner celebrating the victory of a charioteer named Eros.Mohamed Yacoub, op. cit., pp. 313-314
The "Ulysses mosaic" is a work inspired by the Odyssey: the Greek hero Odysseus (Ulysses to the Romans) is seen standing on a boat that is decorated with a human head and a palm branch and that has two sails and a battering ram. Ulysses's hands are tied to the main mast so that he will not succumb to the fatal charm of the sirens' music. Ulysses's companions are seated around him, their ears blocked with wax as described in the legend. Three sirens stand at the base of a rocky crag. They are depicted with the upper body of a woman but the wings and legs of a bird. One of them holds a flute, the second a lyre, while the third, who does not carry an instrument, is believed to be the singing siren. In front of Ulysses's boat, there is a small barque with a fisherman holding a lobster, the depiction of which is over-sized. The mosaic has been dated to around AD260–268; it was discovered in the "House of Ulysses and the Pirates".Mohamed Yacoub, op. cit., pp. 171-172
The mosaic "Neptune and the pirates" originates from the same peristyle as the preceding work. It depicts the punishment of pirates on the Tyrrhenian Sea, merging themes linked to Dionysus and more common marine themes. The god is standing, ready to throw his spear. He is supported by a maenad, a satyr and aged Silenus, who is holding the ship's rudder. A leopard is attacking one of the pirates, who are transformed into dolphins as soon as they recognize the divine nature of their adversary. To the left, genii have boarded another ship, while to the right, fishermen are attempting to catch an octopus with a net.Mohamed Yacoub, op. cit., pp. 173-174
Mohamed Yacoub attributes a protective function to these two scenes, a means of invoking fate, a practice which is probably based on Hellenic tradition.Mohamed Yacoub, op. cit., p. 174
The mosaic of the "cyclopses forging Jupiter's thunderbolts" from the floor of a frigidarium depicts three : Brontes, Steropes, and Pyracmon or Arges. They are depicted naked, forging Jupiter's thunderbolts, which Vulcan, seated in front of them, is holding on an anvil. This last element has been lost. The mosaic dates to the end of the 3rd century and was discovered in the "Bath of the Cyclopses".Mohamed Yacoub, op. cit., p. 181
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