S b e i t l a

SUFETULA

Probably on the same site as a libyan settlement, Sufetula was founded in the late 1^st C A.C. by veterans demobbed after the 3^rd Augustan legion of Ammaedara ( Haidra ) was moved to theveste ( Tebessa in Algeria). From the 2^nd to 4^th centuries it prospered (Some 10.000 residents) from the olive crop; in the 2^nd C it was embellished with monumental classical buildings, and from the 4^th C on with Christian churches and basillicas. When the empire declined (5^th C), and the Vandals invaded (6thC)Sufetula's situation on the edge of the steppe, and thus its contact with the Berbers of the Aurès and Tripolitania (who had recovered their independence) made it a border town of strategic importance.

 THE FORUM AND THE CAPITOL

The Curia and the Capitol face onto Antoninus'Gate, which marks the entrance to the Forum. The Capitol is not one single temple consecrated to the Capitoline Triad but 3 temples joined together, each with its own special divinity Each temple has 4 columns across the front and 2 set back (Corinthian columns in the central temple and composite for the 2 side temples and pilasters or half-pillars around the cellae.

 

 

CHRISTIANITY

Sufetula had at least 6 churches serving either Catholics or Donatists in the 4^th C, built over older pagan edifices. The church at the Forum's outer corner ( late 4^th, early 5^th C ) is set out like a basilica with 3 aisles. The episcopal complex is composed of baths and homes for the clergy, the Catholic Catherdral of Bellator (4^th C, with 3 apses) with the Chapel of Jucundus and its baptistry (added in the 5^th C ) and the Church of Saint Vitalis (5 aisles, 2 apses and baptistry) The Church of Servus ( perhaps the Donatist Cathedral) has 5 aisles, baptistry built in the cella of a temple, and chapel