Carthago

Statio 18 on the Piazzale delle Corporazioni has the inscription NAVICVL(ari) KARTHAG(inienses) DE SVO. Below the text are a fish and two ships. We are dealing with skippers from the city of Carthago, modern Tunis.

Statio 18 on the Piazzale delle Corporazioni. Photo: Gerard Huissen.

In Carthago Ostia is mentioned in the funerary inscription of the girl Laeta. She was born in Ostia, but died in Carthago, only two years old. We will have to use our imagination to create a story here.

D(is) M(anibus) LAETAE VIX(it) ANN(os) II D(ies) II NATA OSTI(i)S H(ic) S(ita) E(st)

AE 1925, 27; EDCS-08601121.

Ancient authors provide a lot of information about the harbours of Carthago, but mainly in relation to the Third Punic War (149–146 BC), so about the Punic harbours. They describe a northern, circular harbour with a circular island in the middle (today known as the Ilôt de l'Amirauté), and a southern, rectangular harbour. There was a canal between the two harbours, and another canal from the southern harbour to the sea. The northern harbour was originally used by military ships, the southern one was a commercial harbour.

The harbours around 1985. Photo: Hurst 1994, pl. I.

Plan of the two harbours. Image: Hurst 2010, fig. 4.

Reconstruction drawing of Carthago by Jean-Claude Golvin.

The main source for the harbours of the Carthaginians is Appianus, writing in the second century AD:

The harbors had communication with each other, and a common entrance from the sea twenty meters wide, which could be closed with iron chains. The first port was for merchant vessels, and here were collected all kinds of ships' tackle. Within the second port was an island which, together with the port itself, was enclosed by high embankments. These embankments were full of shipyards which had capacity for 220 vessels. Above them were magazines for their tackle and furniture. Two Ionic columns stood in front of each dock, giving the appearance of a continuous portico to both the harbor and the island. On the island was built the admiral's house, from which the trumpeter gave signals, the herald delivered orders, and the admiral himself overlooked everything. The island lay near the entrance to the harbor and rose to a considerable height, so that the admiral could observe what was going on at sea, while those who were approaching by water could not get any clear view of what took place within. Not even the incoming merchants could see the docks, for a double wall enclosed them, and there were gates by which merchant ships could pass from the first port to the city without traversing the dockyards. Such was the appearance of Carthage at that time.

Appianus, The Punic Wars 96. Translation Horace White.

In a guidebook for sailors from the second half of the third century AD we read:

From Galabras to Carthage 120 stades; it is a great city with a harbor, in the city there is a tower; anchor on the right beneath the mole.

Stadiasmus Maris Magni 124. Translation Brady Kiesling - Leif Isaksen.

In the sixth century AD a Maritime Forum in the city is mentioned by Procopius, who says that the harbour is called Mandracium:

First, then, he cared for Carthage, which now, very properly, is called Justinianê, rebuilding the whole circuit-wall, which had fallen down, and digging around it a moat which it had not had before. He also dedicated shrines, one to the Mother of God in the palace, and one outside this to a certain local saint, Saint Prima. Furthermore, he built stoas on either side of what is called the Maritime Forum, and a public bath, a fine sight, which they have named Theodorianae, after the Empress. He also built a monastery on the shore inside the circuit-wall, close to the harbour which they call Mandracium, and by surrounding it with very strong defences he made it an impregnable fortress.

Procopius, The Buildings VI,5,8-11. Translation Henry Bronson Dewing.

On that day, since an east wind arose for them, the ships reached the headland, and the Carthaginians, for they already sighted them, removed the iron chains of the harbour which they call Mandracium, and made it possible for the fleet to enter.

Procopius, The Vandalic War I,20 (533 AD).. Translation Henry Bronson Dewing.

Here we will focus on the harbours in the Imperial period. The two harbours were investigated for the first time in 1859 by Charles Ernest Beulé, who dug many trenches. He established that the diameter of the round, northern harbour was 325 meters. Remains of shipsheds were excavated (G-H). Two fragments of engaged columns were found (one on the island in the harbour, one on the shore), with a diameter of 47 centimetres. They must have decorated the entrances of these dry docks, as reported by Appianus. One was pierced by two holes for a rope. The diameter of the circular island in the northern harbour was 106 meters. It was bordered by a quay resting on two concentric sustaining walls. The outer wall had buttresses. The quay was 9.35 meters wide. The island was connected with the mainland by a jetty on the north side (A), 9.60 meters wide. There was an interruption in the centre, 4.55 meters wide, where there must have been a bridge. On the south side of the island was a landing stage with a staircase (B). On the island some Punic remains were identified (C-E). A bit to the south Roman remains were found (F): parts of marble columns with a diameter of 87 centimetres, and fragments of marble cornices with a decoration of acanthus leaves, dentils, and egg-and-dart mouldings. Among the Roman finds on the island were lamps, sherds of amphoras, belt buckles and handles of vases of bronze, copper nails, long needles, a small mortar, and coins. A channel led to the rectangular, southern harbour (K). Long stretches of the quays of this harbour were found (M-N). It was 325 meters wide. In the south-east corner a channel led to the sea, next to a mole (O).

Plan of the two harbours. Image: Beulé 1861, pl. IV.
A: interrupted jetty; B: landing stage and staircase; C-E: Punic remains; F: Roman remains;
G-H: shipsheds; K: channel connecting the harbours; M-N: quays; O: mole and channel.

Some work on the circular island by the French is briefly mentioned in 1900. Further investigations were here carried out in the years 1908-1911 by Alfred Merlin and Philippe Berger. In this period the rapid disappearance of many ruins under modern Tunis is reported. Rows of piers made of very large blocks were assigned to the Punic period. Several basins were found, one divided in four compartments, and an elliptical cistern (9.50 x 2 m.). More or less in the centre of the island a semicircular apse was excavated (diam. 9.20 m.). It may have been a fountain, because a water-channel ends at the apse. Nearby parts were found of marble columns and of an architrave, similar to those found by Beulé at location F. Also, more parts of the thinner engaged columns were found, covered with plaster that was painted red. Amongst the finds were a large dump of Punic ex-votos, illegible coins, and lamps with Christian motifs.

Plan of the circular island. Image: Merlin 1909, pl. VI.

The island was investigated once more in the 1970's by a British mission, led by Henry Hurst. On top of timber structures the ramps of radiating stone shipsheds were found. Apparently the rows of piers found by earlier excavators belonged to them. More shipsheds were found on the north side of the harbour. They were assigned to the Punic period. They were destroyed during the Third Punic War.

Plan of the Punic shipsheds. Image: Hurst 1979, fig. 5.

The team discovered that in the late second century or a bit later the island had been redeveloped. The interrupted jetty connecting the island and the mainland was enlarged. At the north end, where it reached the island, a monumental entrance was built: a four-way arch, fronted by freestanding columns (diam. 60 cm.) with engaged capitals. Nearby fragments of large inscriptions were found. One fragment had letters that were 10 centimetres high. They were chiseled on an erasure, probably resulting from a damnatio memoriae. Parts of the stepped quay were excavated. On the perimeter of the island stood a portico with an inward- and outward-facing colonnade. In the centre of the island a small rectangular temple was built (temple 2). It replaced an earlier temple (temple 1). A bit to the south a colonnaded building was erected, possibly a round tholos, resting on an octagonal foundation (building 3). Apparently the apse and the large columns found by earlier excavators belonged to it. In a later period some small rooms were added on the perimeter.

Plan of the circular island around 200 AD. Image: Hurst 1979, fig. 5.

Reconstruction of the circular island around 200 AD. Image: Hurst 1979, fig. 6.

Reconstruction of the circular island around 200 AD. Model in the museum of Carthage.

The stepped quay. The upper part is Roman, the lower part Punic. Photo: Hurst 1979, pl. VIIa,b.

Hurt suggests that the work was related to the institution of an auxiliary grain fleet by Commodus, as reported in the Historia Augusta:

Classem Africanam instituit, quae subsidio esset, si forte Alexandrina frumenta cessassent, ridicule etiam Carthaginem Alexandriam Commodianam Togatam appellavit, cum classem quoque Africanam Commodianam Herculeam appellasset.	He did organize an African fleet, which would have been useful, in case the grain-supply from Alexandria were delayed. He jestingly named Carthage 'Alexandria Commodiana Togata', after entitling the African fleet 'Commodiana Herculea'.
SHA, Commodus XVII,7-8. Translation David Magie.

In 1910 and 1911, on the north-east part of the island, a dump was found of 32 sherds (ostraca) of African amphoras, with texts written with black ink in 373 AD. They were discussed extensively by J. Theodore (Ted) Peña in 1998. Two groups have been distinguished. The first group records the inspection and receipt of oil brought to Carthago by ship. The names of the skippers Cilinder, Ianuarius, Felix, Repostus and Ertotiot have been preserved. The work was carried out by "oil measurers of the Forum of Carthage" (mensores olei Fori Karthaginiensis). One man, for whom the name Petrus has been preserved, inspected the oil on board of the ship. Another, for whom the name Felix has been preserved, oversaw the storage in a warehouses called Zeugitana, a name given to the northern part of Tunisia. Byzacena is also mentioned, the southern part of Tunisia. The second group consists of inventories of oil that was weighed, with totals held at the storehouse called Zeugitana. The oil may have been destined for use in Carthago and elsewhere. There are references to the fiscus, the Imperial treasury, and apparently to the canon Romae, the tribute for the city of Rome. Presumably the documents were forwarded to government officials, working on the island. The store building and the weigh house may have been located on the mainland.

Plan of the circular island from the third to the early fifth century. Image: Hurst 1979, fig. 8.
Red asterisk: approximate place of discovery of the late-fourth century ostraca.

Recto (first hand) XVI [K(a)l(endas) Mart(ias)] n(avicula) [cilindri] f(ero) CCVIII r(eprobo) V[III] Verso (second hand) pos(t) cons(ulatu)s Modesto et Arinthei XIIII K(a)l(endas) Mart(ias) Felix mensor olei Fori Karthag(iniensis) suscepimus per nav(i)c(u)la(m) Cilindri Caproreses centenaria levia ducenta XML[1]C et m(ensore?) ol(e?)i Petro reprob(ata sunt?) octo con(ditorium?) Z(eugitanum?)	Recto (first hand) 16 days before the Kalends of March [= Feb. 14]. Boat of Cilinder. I receive 208. I reject 8. Verso (second hand) Following the consulships of Modestus and Arintheus [= 373 AD, the year after 372 AD], 14 days before the Kalends of March [= Feb. 16]. Felix oil measurer of the Forum of Carthage. We received on the boat of Cilinder Caproreses light centenaria 200 [?] and by oil measurer Petrus 8 were rejected. Zeugitana storehouse.
A sherd of group 1. H. 0.13, w. 0.125. Peña 1998, 123 nr. 2. Photo: Hurst 2010, fig. 6. On the verso, "Caproreses light centenaria" has not been explained satisfactorily. Probably these were oil containers.

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Literature:
- C.E. Beulé, Fouilles à Carthage, Paris 1861.
- A. Merlin, "17 novembre 1908. Séance de la commission de l'Afrique du nord, Bulletin archéologique du Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques 1908, ccxlv-ccxlvi.
- A. Merlin, "Note sur les fouilles exécutées en 1908 dans la région des ports de Carthage", Bulletin archéologique du Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques 1909, 51-53, pl. VI.
- P. Berger, "Fouilles de l'îlot Amiral à Carthage (partie 1)", Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres 55,2 (1911), 194.
- P. Berger, "Fouilles de l'îlot Amiral à Carthage (partie 2)", Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres 55,2 (1911), 213-214.
- A. Schulten, "Archäologische Funde im Jahre 1910. I. Tunis", Archäologischer Anzeiger 1911, 243-247.
- A. Merlin, "14 décembre 1911. Séance de la commission de l'Afrique du nord, Bulletin archéologique du Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques 1911, ccxxxvi-ccxxxix.
- R. Cagnat - A. Merlin, "Ostraka latins de Carthage" Journal des savants 9,11 (1911), 514-523.
- A. Merlin, "Fouilles dans l'îlot de l'Amiral à Carthage", Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres 56,4 (1912), 277-286.
- R.A. Yorke - J.H. Little, "Offshore survey at Carthage, Tunisia, 1973", International Journal of Nautical Archaeology and Underwater Exploration 4,1 (1975), 85-101.
- H. Hurst, "Excavations at Carthage 1974. First interim report", Antiquaries Journal 55 (1975), 11-40.
- H. Hurst, "Excavations at Carthage 1975. Second interim report", Antiquaries Journal 56 (1976), 177-197.
- H. Hurst, "Excavations at Carthage 1976. Third interim report", Antiquaries Journal 57 (1977), 232-261.
- H. Hurst - L.E. Stager, "A metropolitan landscape: The late Punic port of Carthage", World Archaeology 9,3 (1977), 334-346.
- L.E. Stager, "Carthage 1977. The Punic and Roman Harbors", Archaeology 30,3 (1977), 198-200.
- H. Hurst, "Excavations at Carthage 1977-8. Fourth interim report", Antiquaries Journal 59,1 (1979), 19-49.
- H. Hurst et al., Excavations at Carthage. The British Mission. The circular harbour, north side, volumes II,1-2 (H. Hurst ed.), Oxford 1994.
- J.T. Peña, "The mobilization of state olive oil in Roman Africa: the evidence of late 4th-c. ostraca from Carthage", Carthage Papers. The early colony's economy, water supply, a public bath, and the mobilization of state olive oil, Portsmouth 1998, 117-238.
- H. Hurst, "Understanding Carthage as a Roman Port", Bollettino di Archeologia on line 2010, 49-68.

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