Tubusuctu

Ruins of the Roman thermae of Tubusuctu

Tubusuctu (or "Tubusuptu") was a Roman colony in Berber north Africa. Now is named Tiklat (in El-Kseur), actual Algeria.

History

Tubusuctu was one of the ten colonies founded by emperor Augustus on or near the coast of ancient Mauretania with veterans of his legions. These roman colonies were created for the retirement of the veterans of his legions, and were: Tubusuctu, Igilgili, Saldae, Thuburnica, Rusazu, Rusguniae, Aquae Calidae, Zuccabar, Gunugu and Cartenna.

Economically, the colony was known for its olive oil. Today, Roman ruins include some baths, which are well preserved.

The olive oil produced in the city was famous in Rome and in the Mediterranean area [1] and the city, populated by descendants of the Roman legionaries and by romanised berbers, was an important commercial center in the second century. Today we have ruins of a local huge acqueduct and a roman termae.

Like Saldae, it was a colony founded by Augustus with veterans of the 7th legion, hence its appellation of "Colonia Iulia Augusta Legionis VII". Bishops of the town are mentioned in 411 and 484.The town lies in a valley on the left bank of the Soummam....where there are still vestiges of ramparts...To the S...are important baths, 50 m square in plan. To the N, in the center of the ruins, and to the E are the remains of immense cisterns. The N cisterns, fed by an aqueduct coming from the W, measure 35.5 x 77 m and are made up of 15 connected basins;... it seems that the military importance of the site, in a region where there were numerous revolts in the 3d and 4th c., justified these creations. Alluvial flooding of the plain revealed, 900 m S of the modern farm, a network of walls representing funerary edifices with concrete benches to which were fixed little cinerary urns; these must have been columbaria. One of the chambers terminates in a tripartite sanctuary, preceded by a courtyard. Next to these funerary structures, traces of industrial establishments have been found. The region was particularly rich in olive trees; amphorae marked as coming from Tubusuctu have been found at Rome. Perseus [2]

Until the third century Tubusuctu was famous even for the ceramic production from its "officinae", often related to farm production.[3]

Tubusuctu was one of the cities of Mauretania more romanised in the fourth century,[4] with a Christian Dioceses (that was important until Byzantine times).

Under Diocletian reform of the empire, Tubusuctu was added to the new province of Mauretania Sitifensis. After the Vandal invasion, in the early sixth century Tubusuctu was occupied by the Byzantines until the Arab conquest, when was probably destroyed and disappeared from registered History.

Map showing Tubusuptu just west of Saldae, in Mauretania

References

  1. ↑ Tubusuctu amphora found in Spain (in Spanish)
  2. ↑ Tubusuctu
  3. ↑ Tubusuctu ceramics
  4. ↑ Enc. Berbere: Tubusuctu

Bibliography

See also