In the northern sector of Roman Carthage, east of the cardo maximus (the main N-saxis of the city), the defensive wall of ca. 425 A.C. (the so-called Theodosian Wall) has been shown to lie along thefoot of the winding escarpment known as the Teurf el-Sour. This escarpment was wholly or largely created by urban buildup of the Roman period, and its line is determined by that of the Wall, not vice versa. What earlier excavators took to be an earth rampart of the A rab period proves to be a roadway running along behind the Wall.The street grid of the A ugustan colony extends into this sector, though with significant irregularities. The built-up area extends north of decumanus VI, although this was theoretically the limit of the city. It is not yet possible to date the first occupation of the area, but it was flourishing by the late 4th century. The 6th century was a period of decline, with some at least of the buildings abandoned, but the area was redeveloped in the 7th century, though with a much lower standard of living.
The southern flank of Mt. Cairo in southern Lazio edges a valley which forms one of the major passageways from central to southern Italy. The mountainous landscape has affected the settlement pattern, as have historical events such as the Roman conquests and recent socio-economic evolution, which has led to industrialization of a traditional pastoral -agricultural setting.The slopes of calcareous Mt. Cairo are characterized by a cascade of normal faults which delimit landscape units such as the "uplands," "steep slopes," and the "mountain rise," which contains well developed alluvial and colluvial fans.Along the lower mountain slopes, Bronze and Iron Age sites are consistently located higher than Roman ones. Archaeological remains and historical documents indicate that only after the Roman conquest was the agricultural potential of the flatter lower areas fully exploited. Roman villas were characteristically placed on the upper parts of the fans, where both access to different types of land and elevation above the mists of the valley were enjoyed. The Medieval period brought a trend back to higher sites and fortified villages. The uplands remained in use through the ages.
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