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- Exploring a Romano-African city: Thugga
Exploring a Romano-African city: Thugga

From Rome to Pompeii and Ephesus the excavation of Roman remains is well known, but what of Roman remains in Africa? This free course, Exploring a Romano-African city: Thugga, looks at the Roman city of Thugga and examines the influence that Roman architecture and art had on Africa and its people.
Course learning outcomes
After studying this course, you should be able to:
- practise identification of ‘indigenous’ identity and culture
- practise identification of ‘Roman’ identity and culture
- study the development of Romano-African culture.
You can start this course right now without signing-up. Click on any of the course content sections below to start at any point in this course.
If you want to be able to track your progress, earn a free Statement of Participation, and access all course quizzes and activities, sign-up.
Course content
- Introduction
- Learning outcomes
- 1 Thugga
- 2 Investigating Roman and indigenous cultural elements in the archaeology of Africa
- 2 Investigating Roman and indigenous cultural elements in the archaeology of Africa
- 2.1 Looking in detail at Thugga
- 2.2 Modelling cultural interaction
- 2.2.1 Model 1: African + Roman = Roman dominance and end of African traits (assimilation)
- 2.2.2 Model 2: African + Roman= African traits continue to dominate and Roman traits fail to become established (rejection)
- 2.2.3 Model 3: African + Roman = African persistence and no evidence of Roman traits dominating (separation)
- 2.2.4 Model 4: African + Roman = Afro-Roman cultural mixing (fusion)
- 2.3 The building of Thugga
- 2.4 African Red Slip ware
- 2.5 African mosaics: things Roman and things African?
- 2.6 Houses at Carthage, Bulla Regia and Thugga
- 2.7 Reconsideration of the models and their suitability
- Conclusion
- Keep on learning
- References
- Acknowledgements
Plate 1a: Plan of Thugga File
Plate 1b: Plan of Thugga continued File
Plate 2: Plan of the temple of Saturn, Thugga File
Plate 3: Graph of building activity in Africa File
Plate 4: Statue of an unknown patron File
Plate 5: (a) Italian terra sigillata File
Plate 6: African Red Slip ware jugs File
Colour Plate 1: Mosaic from the 'Baths of Trajan File
Colour Plate 2: Dionysus in a chariot pulled by two centaurs File
Colour Plate 3: Personification of Winter File
Colour Plate 4: Personification of Spring File
Plate 7: View of the cryptoporticus with illusionistic candelabra File
Colour Plate 5: Mosaic from Thuburbo Maius with geometric plant motifs File
Colour Plate 6: Neptune and the four seasons personified as female figures File
Colour Plate 7: Hare hunt from El Djem File
Colour Plate 8: Chariot race in the circus from Gafsa File
Plate 8: Mosaic of a circus from Carthage File
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14 hours study
Level 3: Advanced
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