Thugga (Dougga). A hill-town in north Africa (Tunisia), overlooking the Wadi Khaled, a tributary of the Bagradas (Medjerda), besides an ancient road from Carthage to Theveste (Tebessa). Inhabited in Neolithic times, and situated in the center of rich agricultural territory, Thugga passed under strong Carthaginian influence, but in the late third or early second century BC- when it had already attained appreciable size- was dependent on one of the Numidian princes, on the walls of whose mausoleum a bilingual inscription (in Berber and Punic) has survived.

When the Roman province of Africa was established in 146, Thugga came just within its borders. Italian settlers were planted nearby by Gaius Marius, after his African campaigns (107-105), and subsequently this immigrant community (pagus) depended on Julius Caesar's colony at Carthage (45). Under Septimius Severus (AD 205) the pagus was united with the native town to become a Roman municipium (with the titles of Septimium Aurelium), which was elevated by Gallienus in 261 to the rank of a Roman colony (Colonia Licinia Septimia Aurelia Alexandriana). In Christian times the place became an episcopal see; but it was abandoned c 600.

Thugga has been described as perhaps the richest city of the African province after Carthage and its remains are among the most striking in Roman North Africa; they exemplify the fusion of Libyan, Punic, and Roman cultures. The Capitolium, dedicated to Jupiter, Juno and Minerva in the time of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus (AD 166-67), stands out impressively beside the forum and market ('Place of the Winds'). There are also temples of Mercury, Fortuna, Pietas Augusta, Concordia, Hades (Pluto), Frugifer, Liber Pater or Bacchus (the largest of all), Saturn-Baal (dominating the valley below and adjoining a theater built in 168/9), and Juno-Caelestis-Tanit (constructed in 222-35 within an extensive precinct). Thermal establishments include the towering Licinian Baths and the Cyclops Baths. The latter building was given this name after the mythological theme of one of its floor-mosaics, which were also a feature of numerous private houses; but most of these pavements have now been taken to the Bardo Museum in Tunis. A triumphal Arch of Septimius Severus (205) stands astride a street descending the hill. A noteworthy feature of Thugga is the considerable age attained by many of the people buried in its cemeteries; probably the town was a favorite place of retirement.

Michael Grant, A Guide to the Ancient World (Michael Grant Publications LTD, 1986), 654-655.