Explore the Regiones of...
|
Utica
The ancient Phoenician emporium of Utica became the administrative
capital of the Roman province Africa Proconsularis in 146 BC
The Phoenicians were a sea-faring people, and having trading posts or
ports-of-call was vital to efficient trade on the high seas. Utica was
probably their first true settlement in north Africa. It was a site
that offered shelter from storms and a place to rest, repair damage,
and replenish supplies. It was situated on a promontory near the
outflow of the Bagrada (now Medjerda) River into the Gulf of Tunis.
Being a gateway to a rich hinterland, as well as a port at the center
of the Mediterranean, it was one of the oldest and most celebrated
Phoenician settlements. Although traditionally thought to have been
established by Phoenicians from Tyre around 1100 BC, modern evidence
suggests that Utica was probably founded in the 8th century BC.
After the founding of Carthage in 814 BC, Utica maintained its
political and economic autonomy until the Carthaginians embarked on a
more imperialistic policy. Along with Phoenician settlements on the
Sardinian coast, Utica came under Punic control about 540 BC , but it
continued to exist as a privileged ally of Carthage. This relationship
between Carthage and Utica began to disintegrate when Rome clashed with
Carthage in 264 BC and the Punic Wars began.
Although Utica allied itself with Carthage during the first two Punic
Wars, the city submitted to Rome early in the Third Punic War. When
Carthage finally fell, Utica was made the capital of Rome's first
African province and enjoyed that status until Carthage was rebuilt in
44 BC as the Colonia Iulia Carthago. During the Roman civil war
between Julius Caesar and the conservative republicans, it became a
rallying point for Pompey's adherents after the battle of Pharsalus. It
was there that Cato the Younger, also known as Cato Uticensis, took his
life.
The city fell to the Vandals under Gaiseric in AD 439, was recaptured
by the Byzantines in 534, and was finally destroyed by the Arabs in
698.
The site now consists mainly of ruins from the Roman era: an
amphitheater, aqueduct, theater, baths, cisterns, and quays. The walls
of many of the houses are standing, and some of the mosaics are in
excellent condition. The only Punic remnant is a necropolis just
outside of the walls of the settlement, but some of the tombs are still
intact.
|
For more information about the ancient city of Utica, consult these
resources.
An article about Utica in The Princeton
Encyclopedia of Classical Sites --sponsored by the Perseus
Digital Library-- gives details about some of the archeological
research that has been conducted there.
An entry in Wikipedia for "Utica, Tunisia"
gives background information about the Phoenician colony and the
various changes in its status over the ages.
A travel guide contains photographs that show various
aspects of ancient Utica: the House of Cascades, in-situ mosaics, the
Punic necropolis, and the local museum.
A transcription of a speech
delivered by George C. Sawyer before the Oneida Historical Society in
1884 provides a thorough description of an archaeological mission in
Tunisia at the site of ancient Utica.
A chapter entitled "Africa Under the Caesars" from
the digitized book Roman Africa by Alexander Graham (1902)
provides a description of the ruins of Roman Utica.
image of ancient
Utica courtesy Karen's
Whimsy
Senex Caecilius
The Articles of Utica:
Write an article for Utica...
The Discussions of Utica:
|
