Bulla Regia was a
Berber,
Punic
The Punic people, or western Phoenicians, were a Semitic people in the Western Mediterranean who migrated from Tyre, Phoenicia to North Africa during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' – the Latin equivalent of t ...
, and
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
town near present-day
Jendouba
Jendouba ( ar, جندوبة ; Formerly known as Souk El Arba until 30 April 1966) is a city in northwestern Tunisia, and capital of the Jendouba Governorate. It is an important crossroads with many road links to other towns such as El Kef, Taba ...
,
Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
. Its surviving ruins and
archaeological site
An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology a ...
are noted for their
Hadrianic-era semi-subterranean housing, a protection from the fierce heat and effects of the sun. Many of the
mosaic
A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...
floors have been left in place; others may be seen at the
Bardo Museum
, logo =
, image = Tunis, musée du Bardo, salle de Virgile 01.jpg
, caption = Apartments of the Bey, room called Virgil, after the name of the mosaic of Sousse that was exposed until the extension of the years 2010
, alt =
, map_type = ...
in
Tunis
''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois
, population_note =
, population_urban =
, population_metro = 2658816
, population_density_km2 =
, timezone1 = CET
, utc_offset1 ...
. There is also a small museum connected with the site.
Names
![Ilot chasse bulla regia](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Ilot_chasse_bulla_regia.jpg)
The
Punic
The Punic people, or western Phoenicians, were a Semitic people in the Western Mediterranean who migrated from Tyre, Phoenicia to North Africa during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' – the Latin equivalent of t ...
name of the town appears on its currency as (). This has been suggested to have been a contraction of (), meaning "House" or "Temple of
Baal
Baal (), or Baal,; phn, , baʿl; hbo, , baʿal, ). ( ''baʿal'') was a title and honorific meaning "owner", "lord" in the Northwest Semitic languages spoken in the Levant during antiquity. From its use among people, it came to be applied t ...
".
The name Bulla Regia is
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
for "Royal Bulla". The epithet refers to its status as the
Numidian capital under
Masinissa
Masinissa ( nxm, , ''MSNSN''; ''c.'' 238 BC – 148 BC), also spelled Massinissa, Massena and Massan, was an ancient Numidian king best known for leading a federation of Massylii Berber tribes during the Second Punic War (218–201 BC), ult ...
. It was notionally refounded at the time of its elevation to
colony status and formally named ' after its imperial sponsor
Hadrian.
History
Berber town
A
Berber settlement probably predated the
Punic
The Punic people, or western Phoenicians, were a Semitic people in the Western Mediterranean who migrated from Tyre, Phoenicia to North Africa during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' – the Latin equivalent of t ...
one. Imported Greek ceramics dating to the 4th centuryBC have been found.
Punic town
Carthage
Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the cla ...
gained control over the town during the 3rd centuryBC, when inscriptions reveal that the inhabitants venerated
Baal Hammon and buried their dead in urns in the Punic style. A capital from a temple of
Tanit
Tanit ( Punic: 𐤕𐤍𐤕 ''Tīnīt'') was a Punic goddess. She was the chief deity of Carthage alongside her consort Baal-Hamon.
Tanit is also called Tinnit. The name appears to have originated in Carthage (modern day Tunisia), though it doe ...
is preserved at the site's museum.
Numidian capital
Bulla Regia was part of the territory won for
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
by
Scipio Africanus in 203BC during the
Second Punic War. The
Numidian king
Masinissa
Masinissa ( nxm, , ''MSNSN''; ''c.'' 238 BC – 148 BC), also spelled Massinissa, Massena and Massan, was an ancient Numidian king best known for leading a federation of Massylii Berber tribes during the Second Punic War (218–201 BC), ult ...
"recovered the lands of his ancestors" (as noted in an inscription) and made Bulla his capital in 156BC. One of his sons maintained a palace in the city. Under the Numidians, a regularized orthogonal grid street plan was imposed in the
hellenistic
In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...
manner on at least part of the earlier irregular system.
Roman colony
![Amphitrite Bulla Regia](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Amphitrite_Bulla_Regia.jpg)
The Romans assumed direct control in 46BC, when
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, ...
organized the
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
of
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
and rewarded the (perhaps simply neutral) conduct of Bulla during the recent
civil war
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
by making it a
free city ( la, civitas libera). Under
Hadrian, it was raised to the status of a
Roman colony
A Roman (plural ) was originally a Roman outpost established in conquered territory to secure it. Eventually, however, the term came to denote the highest status of a Roman city. It is also the origin of the modern term ''colony''.
Character ...
and its citizens given
full citizenship.
Destruction
Bulla Regia slowly lost importance under
Byzantine rule. As elsewhere in the late empire, the local aristocracy found themselves in a position to increase the extent of their houses at the expense of public space: the House of the Fisherman was adapted to link two separate , turning a thoroughfare into a dead end. An earthquake destroyed Bulla Regia, collapsing its first floors into the subterranean floors.
Re-discovery
![Eglise du prêtre 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Eglise_du_pr%C3%AAtre_1.JPG)
Drifting sand protected the abandoned sites, which were forgotten until the first excavations were begun in 1906, in part spurred by the destruction of the monumental entrance to the Roman city.
The
forum
Forum or The Forum (plural forums or fora) may refer to:
Common uses
* Forum (legal), designated space for public expression in the United States
*Forum (Roman), open public space within a Roman city
**Roman Forum, most famous example
*Internet ...
, surrounded by
porticoes, was excavated 1949–52. Its public
basilica
In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's Forum (Roman), forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building ...
had an
apse
In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. ...
at each end. As a
cathedral
A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...
, it had a highly unusual cruciform
baptismal font inserted in the center of the rear (west end) of its nave. Its small amphitheater, the subject of a reproach in a sermon of
Augustine of Hippo, retains the crispness of its edges and steps because it lay buried until 1960–61.
Museum and archeological site
Bulla Regia is now an archeological site. There is a museum, and underground tours are available. Restoration work aims to protect the buildings, which are well-preserved due to being largely built underground. Most of the elaborate polychrome mosaics are being conserved in-situ, allowing visitors to see them in their original architectural context. The Roman drainage system has been restored to keep the houses from flooding.
Buildings
![Villa romaine aux mosaïques, 38](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Villa_romaine_aux_mosa%C3%AFques%2C_38.jpg)
In the unique ''
domus'' architecture developed in the city, a ground-level storey, open to the warming winter sun, stood above a subterranean level, built round a two-story
atrium
Atrium may refer to:
Anatomy
* Atrium (heart), an anatomical structure of the heart
* Atrium, the genital structure next to the genital aperture in the reproductive system of gastropods
* Atrium of the ventricular system of the brain
* Pulmona ...
. Open-bottomed terracotta bottle-shapes were built into vaulting. Water sprinkled on the floors brought the colors of the mosaics to life while they provided cooling by evaporation.
In the House of the Hunt, the
basilica
In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's Forum (Roman), forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building ...
, with an apse at its head, a transept and dependent spaces opening into what would be the
nave
The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
if it were a church, has been instanced (Thébert) as an example of the conjunction between public architecture and the ''
domus'' of the ruling class in the fourth century, spaces soon to be
Christianized
Christianization ( or Christianisation) is to make Christian; to imbue with Christian principles; to become Christian. It can apply to the conversion of an individual, a practice, a place or a whole society. It began in the Roman Empire, conti ...
as churches and cathedrals.
The subtle colors and shading and the modelling of three-dimensional forms of the finest mosaics at Bulla Regia are not surpassed by any in North Africa, where the Roman art of mosaic floors reached its fullest development. The mosaic of a
halo
Halo, halos or haloes usually refer to:
* Halo (optical phenomenon)
* Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head
HALO, halo, halos or haloes may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Video games
* ''Halo'' (franch ...
ed
Amphitrite
In ancient Greek mythology, Amphitrite (; grc-gre, Ἀμφιτρίτη, Amphitrítē) was the goddess of the sea, the queen of the sea, and the wife of Poseidon. She was a daughter of Nereus and Doris (or Oceanus and Tethys).Roman, L., & Ro ...
(House of Amphitrite) is often illustrated (''see
image above'').
Religion
Bulla Regia was important enough to become a
bishopric
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...
,
suffragan of
Carthage
Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the cla ...
, which transformed the civil
basilica
In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's Forum (Roman), forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building ...
into its cathedral. Bulla Regia was the
seat of an ancient bishopric bearing its name. The bishopric was founded during the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...
and survived through the
Arian Vandal Kingdom and
Orthodox
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
, only declined with the city and the
arrival of Islam.
The
diocese
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associa ...
was refounded in the 20th century as ', a
titular see
A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbis ...
of the
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
.
Bulla Regia
at catholic-hierarchy.org. Its bishops have included:
* Jules Girard (8 July 1921 23 March 1950)
* Herbert Bednorz (4 May 1950 12 November 1967)
* Titular Archbishop Pierre Martin Ngô Đình Thục
Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...
(17 February 1968 13 December 1984), retired Metropolitan Archbishop of Huê
* Adam Marcinkowski
Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...
(23 February 1985 on), Auxiliary Bishop of Płock
Płock (pronounced ) is a city in central Poland, on the Vistula river, in the Masovian Voivodeship. According to the data provided by GUS on 31 December 2021, there were 116,962 inhabitants in the city. Its full ceremonial name, according to th ...
References
Citations
Bibliography
* .
* .
* .
Further reading
The excavations at Bulla Regia were published as ''Les ruines de Bulla Regia'', A. Besaouch, R. Hanoune, and Y. Thébert, Rome, 1977.
External links
World Monuments Fund website about Bulla Regia
{{Authority control
Phoenician colonies in Tunisia
Roman towns and cities in Tunisia
Catholic titular sees in Africa
Jendouba Governorate
Underground cities