Hippo Diarrhytus
Statio 12 on the Piazzale delle Corporazioni has a restored inscription that must have read NAVICVLARI HIP(pone) DIARRY(to). Below the text are two dolphins and a partially preserved text. We are dealing with the city of Hippo Diarrhytus.
Statio 12 on the Piazzale delle Corporazioni. Photo: Gerard Huissen.Hippo Diarrhytus, modern Bizerte, is the northernmost Roman city in Tunisia, near an interior lake or brackish lagoon (Lac de Bizerte).
Map of the area. From Pierre Salama, Les Voies Romaines de l'Afrique du Nord,
Algiers 1951. See also the atlas of Samuel Butler from 1907.About the area Pliny the Elder wrote:
Tria promunturia, Candidum, mox Apollinis adversum Sardiniae, Mercuri adversum Siciliae, in altum procurrentia duos efficiunt sinus, Hipponiensem proximum ab oppido quod Hipponem Dirutum vocant, Diarrhytum Graecis dictum propter aquarum rigua. We here find three promontories; the White Promontory, the Promontory of Apollo, facing Sardinia, and that of Mercury, opposite to Sicily. Projecting into the sea these headlands form two gulfs, the first of which bears the name of "Hipponensis" from its proximity to the city called Hippo Dirutus, a corruption of the Greek name Diarrhytus, which it has received from the channels made for irrigation. Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia 5,3,23. Translation J. Bostock and H. T. Riley. Some rather unfriendly behaviour of the citizens towards a dolphin is also narrated by him:
Alius intra hos annos Africo litore Hipponis Diarruti simili modo ex hominum manu vescens praebensque se tractandum et adludens nantibus inpositosque portans Unguento perunctus a Flaviano proconsule Africae et sopitus, ut apparuit, odoris novitate fluctuatusque similis exanimi caruit hominum conversatione ut iniuria fugatus per aliquot menses, mox reversus in eodem miraculo fuit. Iniuriae potestatem in hospitales ad visendum venientium Hipponenses in necem eius conpulerunt. Within these few years also, another dolphin at Hippo Diarrhytus, on the coast of Africa, in a similar manner used to receive his food from the hands of various persons, present himself for their caresses, sport about among the swimmers, and carry them on his back. On being rubbed with unguents by Flavianus, the then proconsul of Africa, he was lulled to sleep, as it appeared, by the sensation of an odour so new to him, and floated about just as though he had been dead. For some months after this, he carefully avoided all intercourse with man, just as though he had received some affront or other; but at the end of that time he returned, and afforded just the same wonderful scenes as before. At last, the vexations that were caused them by having to entertain so many influential men who came to see this sight, compelled the people of Hippo to put the animal to death. Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia 9,8. Translation J. Bostock and H. T. Riley. The story is also told by Pliny the Younger, in one of his letters:
C. Plinius Caninio suo salutem.
Incidi in materiam veram sed simillimam fictae, dignamque isto laetissimo altissimo planeque poetico ingenio; incidi autem, dum super cenam varia miracula hinc inde referuntur. Magna auctori fides: tametsi quid poetae cum fide? Is tamen auctor, cui bene vel historiam scripturus credidisses.
Est in Africa Hipponensis colonia mari proxima. Adiacet navigabile stagnum; ex hoc in modum fluminis aestuarium emergit, quod vice alterna, prout aestus aut repressit aut impulit, nunc infertur mari, nunc redditur stagno. Omnis hic aetas piscandi navigandi atque etiam natandi studio tenetur, maxime pueri, quos otium lususque sollicitat. His gloria et virtus altissime provehi: victor ille, qui longissime ut litus ita simul natantes reliquit.
Hoc certamine puer quidam audentior ceteris in ulteriora tendebat. Delphinus occurrit, et nunc praecedere puerum nunc sequi nunc circumire, postremo subire deponere iterum subire, trepidantemque perferre primum in altum, mox flectit ad litus, redditque terrae et aequalibus.
Serpit per coloniam fama; concurrere omnes, ipsum puerum tamquam miraculum aspicere, interrogare audire narrare. Postero die obsident litus, prospectant mare et si quid est mari simile. Natant pueri, inter hos ille, sed cautius. Delphinus rursus ad tempus, rursus ad puerum. Fugit ille cum ceteris. Delphinus, quasi invitet et revocet, exsilit mergitur, variosque orbes implicat expeditque.
Hoc altero die, hoc tertio, hoc pluribus, donec homines innutritos mari subiret timendi pudor. Accedunt et alludunt et appellant, tangunt etiam pertrectantque praebentem. Crescit audacia experimento. Maxime puer, qui primus expertus est, adnatat nanti, insilit tergo, fertur referturque, agnosci se amari putat, amat ipse; neuter timet, neuter timetur; huius fiducia, mansuetudo illius augetur. Nec non alii pueri dextra laevaque simul eunt hortantes monentesque.
Ibat una - id quoque mirum - delphinus alius, tantum spectator et comes. Nihil enim simile aut faciebat aut patiebatur, sed alterum illum ducebat reducebat, ut puerum ceteri pueri. Incredibile, tam verum tamen quam priora, delphinum gestatorem collusoremque puerorum in terram quoque extrahi solitum, harenisque siccatum, ubi incaluisset in mare revolvi.
Constat Octavium Avitum, legatum proconsulis, in litus educto religione prava superfudisse unguentum, cuius illum novitatem odoremque in altum refugisse, nec nisi post multos dies visum languidum et maestum, mox redditis viribus priorem lasciviam et solita ministeria repetisse. Confluebant omnes ad spectaculum magistratus, quorum adventu et mora modica res publica novis sumptibus atterebatur. Postremo locus ipse quietem suam secretumque perdebat: placuit occulte interfici, ad quod coibatur.
Haec tu qua miseratione, qua copia deflebis ornabis attolles! Quamquam non est opus affingas aliquid aut astruas; sufficit ne ea quae sunt vera minuantur.
Vale.C. Plinius to his Caninius, greetings.
I have met with a story, which, although authenticated by undoubted evidence, looks very like fable, and would afford a worthy field for the exercise of so exuberant, lofty, and truly poetical a genius as your own. It was related to me the other day over the dinner table, where the conversation happened to run upon various kinds of marvels. The person who told the story was a man of unsuspected veracity: but what has a poet to do with truth? However, you might venture to rely upon his testimony, even though you had the character of a faithful historian to support.
There is in Africa a town called Hippo, situated not far from the sea-coast. It stands upon a navigable lake, communicating with an estuary in the form of a river, which alternately flows into the lake, or into the ocean, according to the ebb and flow of the tide. People of all ages amuse themselves here with fishing, sailing, or swimming; especially boys, whom love of play brings to the spot. With these it is a fine and manly achievement to be able to swim the farthest; and he that leaves the shore and his companions at the greatest distance gains the victory.
It happened, in one of these trials of skill, that a certain boy, bolder than the rest, launched out towards the opposite shore. He was met by a dolphin, who sometimes swam before him, and sometimes behind him, then played round him, and at last took him upon his back, and set him down, and afterwards took him up again; and thus he carried the poor frightened fellow out into the deepest part; when immediately he turns back again to the shore, and lands him among his companions.
The fame of this remarkable accident spread through the town, and crowds of people flocked round the boy (whom they viewed as a kind of prodigy) to ask him questions and hear him relate the story. The next day the shore was thronged with spectators, all attentively watching the ocean, and (what indeed is almost itself an ocean) the lake. Meanwhile the boys swam as usual, and among the rest, the boy I am speaking of went into the lake, but with more caution than before. The dolphin appeared again and came to the boy, who, together with his companions, swam away with the utmost precipitation. The dolphin, as though to invite and call them back, leaped and dived up and down, in a series of circular movements.
This he practised the next day, the day after, and for several days together, till the people (accustomed from their infancy to the sea) began to be ashamed of their timidity. They ventured, therefore, to advance nearer, playing with him and calling him to them, while he, in return, suffered himself to be touched and stroked. Use rendered them courageous. The boy, in particular, who first made the experiment, swam by the side of him, and, leaping upon his back, was carried backwards and forwards in that manner, and thought the dolphin knew him and was fond of him, while he too had grown fond of the dolphin. There seemed, now, indeed, to be no fear on either side, the confidence of the one and tameness of the other mutually increasing; the rest of the boys, in the meanwhile, surrounding and encouraging their companion.
It is very remarkable that this dolphin was followed by a second, which seemed only as a spectator and attendant on the former; for he did not at all submit to the same familiarities as the first, but only escorted him backwards and forwards, as the boys did their comrade. But what is further surprising, and no less true than what I have already related, is that this dolphin, who thus played with the boys and carried them upon his back, would come upon the shore, dry himself in the sand, and, as soon as he grew warm, roll back into the sea.
It is a fact that Octavius Avitus, deputy governor of the province, actuated by an absurd piece of superstition, poured some ointment over him as he lay on the shore: the novelty and smell of which made him retire into the ocean, and it was not till several days after that he was seen again, when he appeared dull and languid; however, he recovered his strength and continued his usual playful tricks. All the magistrates round flocked hither to view this sight, whose arrival, and prolonged stay, was an additional expense, which the slender finances of this little community would ill afford; besides, the quiet and retirement of the place was utterly destroyed. It was thought proper, therefore, to remove the occasion of this concourse, by privately killing the poor dolphin.
And now, with what a flow of tenderness will you describe this affecting catastrophe, and how will your genius adorn and heighten this moving story! Though, indeed, the subject does not require any fictitious embellishments; it will be sufficient to describe the actual facts of the case without suppression or diminution.
Farewell.Pliny the Younger, Epistulae IX,33. Translation W. Melmoth. Nearby were sites for fish salting. In the area were quarries where the stone for building the city was extracted. An aqueduct leading to the city was cut through the rock near Cape Blanc.
The aqueduct cut through the rock. Photo: Slim et al. 2004, fig. 63.Several inscriptions have been recorded, including a milestone from 216 AD. Another inscription was transcribed by Victor Guérin in 1860: "Elsewhere, on one of the exterior walls of the bordj Sidi-Hadid, which flanks the northwest corner of the city wall, people pointed out to me a block of marble embedded in the building at a height of about nine meters above the ground. As from below I could not distinguish the characters with which it was dressed, this block having also been placed upside down, Mr. Costa was kind enough, at my request, to send his dragoman to the citadel, to obtain permission to erect a ladder against this bastion. The military officers kindly allowed this peaceful climb, which I carried out in the presence of most of the town authorities and a noisy crowd of curious people. 'What does this Christian want to do with his long ladder?', people were asking themselves on all sides. When it had been applied against the wall of the bordj, I could easily read up close, on the block of marble in question, the following words:"
GENIO COL(oniae) IVLIAE
HIPP(onis) DIARR(hyti) SACR(um)
COLONI COL(oniae) IVLIAE
CARPITANAE CONSAN
GVIN[ei iudicibus(?) ae]
QVIS O[ptimis(?)]
IVSTISSIMIS [---]
D(ecreto) D(ecurionum) P(ecunia) P(ublica)The dedication to the Genius of the Colonia Iulia Hippo Diarrhytus.
CIL VIII.1, 1206; EDCS-17701078. Photo: Ben Abdallah Zeïneb 1986, nr. 197.It is dedication to the Genius of the Colonia Iulia Hippo Diarrhytus. It was erected by colonists of the Colonia Iulia Carpitana, who call themselves consanguinei, "springing from the same blood".
A mosaic with a fishing scene on Lac de Bizerte, found in a nearby villa (Sidi Abdallah). Photo: Wikimedia, Giorces.
Literature:
- CIL VIII.1, 1206-1210; CIL VIII.2, 10115; CIL VIII Suppl. 4, 25417-25424 (cf. CIL VIII Suppl. 1, 14334-144335 and CIL VIII Suppl. 4, 25428-25429).
- V. Guérin, Voyage archéologique dans la Régence de Tunis, tome second, Paris 1862, 19-26.
- Ph. Lederer, "A coin of Britannicus and Nero of Hippo Diarrhytus (Zeugitana)", The Numismatic Chronicle and Journal of the Royal Numismatic Society 3,1/4 (1943), 92-94.
- A. Chastagnol, "Les Légats du Proconsul d'Afrique au Bas-Empire", Libyca 6 (1958), 7-19: 8.
- B. Ben Abdallah Zeïneb, Catalogue des inscriptions latines païennes du musée du Bardo, Rome 1986, nrs. 196-197.
- H. Slim - P. Trousset - R. Paskoff et al., Le littoral de la Tunisie. Etude géoarchéologique et historique, Paris 2004, 206-207.
- D.L. Stone, "Africa in the Roman Empire: Connectivity, the Economy, and Artificial Port Structures", AJA 118,4 (2014), 565-600: 577.
