The mosaic houses of Thuburbo Majus (Tunisia)

The decoration of these dwellings is relatively sober in comparison with some Carthaginian or Byzacenian houses. Indeed, figurative mosaics adorning the spaces of Thuburbitan houses from this period are very rare, at least as far as we know. Most homes feature floors covered with highly decorative geometric and floral carpets, where sophisticated patterns, rendered in bright and often contrasting colors, are de rigueur. We have thus attempted to define the geometric and floral style that characterizes Thuburbite mosaics in the ^3rd century.

The second half of the ^3rd century, although attested by some archaeological evidence, remains largely undocumented. Few of today's excavated monuments can be attributed to this period. Our impression of the second half of the ^3rd and beginning of the ^4th centuries is that the inhabitants of Thuburbo were content to maintain what already existed, without building anything new.

From the ^mid-4th century onwards, the city of Thuburbo enjoyed a second wind. Most of the public monuments were now in place. The Thuburbitans set about building fine residences. From then on, it seemed that all those who wanted to assert their success and wealth settled in the outlying districts, particularly to the east and west. These areas of the city were invaded by new dwellings whose dimensions and decorations had nothing to envy of those in the metropolis of Carthage and the great cities of Byzacene.

The new houses built during this period were mainly located in the eastern and western quarters. They were larger than those of previous periods, some exceeding 1,000^m2. They were also distinguished by their decor and the number and luxury of their ceremonial rooms.

It's as if the criteria for social success were no longer the same as before. Several of these houses from the ^4th-5th centuries illustrate this evolution perfectly.

They are all remarkable for the importance given to reception areas. Whereas in the past, reception rooms rarely numbered more than two, in the second half of the ^4th century, the number of such spaces increased considerably. The same phenomenon was reported in other African cities such as Carthage, Bulla Regia and Dougga.

The Maison des Protomés in the western quarter, for example, consists of two sectors, each containing three ceremonial areas. Of the four houses built in the second half of the ^4th century, two feature a reception hall of some kind; this sophisticated structure, found in the wealthy homes of Late Antiquity, lent itself well to luxurious decor and the installation of a stibadium. These arrangements give the impression that the owner of the house had to impress his guests with the size and luxury of the reception rooms.

It's also worth noting that it was during this period that the art of mosaics reached an exceptional level of development. In a way, this art reflects the quest of Thuburbitan workshops to refine and affirm the style of their geometric and floral mosaics, developed over the preceding centuries.

However, when wealthy Thuburbites wished to decorate their spaces with figurative paintings, they undoubtedly called on renowned artists who had already proved their worth in other cities, Carthage in particular. This is all the more surprising given that Thuburbo' s notables certainly had close ties with the metropolis.

The beginning of the^5th century seems to have seen the kind of revival of which the city of Thuburbo is so proud, since the inscriptions of the time proclaim it: Res publica felix Thuburbo Maius. In reality, when we examine the site to see what this "renaissance" was all about, we find ourselves faced with relatively modest repair and consolidation work, the nature of which is greatly exaggerated by the inscriptions.

^Mrs. A. Ben Abed Ben Kheder concluded with remarks on private architecture in Africa, based on the examples of Carthage and Pupput. Examination of the plans of two Pupput houses (the black-and-white triclinium house and the figured peristyle house) showed the great coherence of these houses in the evolution of African domestic architecture, both from the point of view of the plans and that of the mosaic decoration.

The house in the black-and-white triclinium displays the characteristics of a bichromatic geometric mosaic decoration from the late ^2nd and early ^3rd centuries. The introduction of polychromy corresponds to major architectural transformations during the 3rd and ^4th centuries. The house in the figured peristyle, dating from the^mid-5th century, would have been designed by a person who had the means to build a large residence, which he equipped with private baths and decorated with pavements, one of which depicts a ship under sail, with an inscription wishing good navigation, and the other in the center of the peristyle depicts a lighthouse. This may have been the work of a wealthy shipowner who, in the midst of the Vandal period, had the means and found the craftsmen to erect a building glorifying his maritime activities.

In Carthage, the Maison du Triconque in the Antoninian baths district is an example of a wealthy house built in the late ^2nd/early3rd century, which underwent a long evolution, notably with the addition of a large salle à triconque as anœcus in the second half of the ^4th/early5th century.