Les citernes monumentales de Bararus (Henchir Rougga) en Byzacène

Abstract

The remains of the site of Bararus, in the steppe of Proconsularis, have been preserved thanks to the survival, between El Jem and the sebkha to the southeast of the former, of an underground complex with two monumental circular water tanks, connected by adjoining galleries and supplied by a deepest well. A network of groined vaulting, sustained by twenty-one pillars, covers the head receptacle and measures forty punie cubits in diameter on the inside ; the greater reservoir, eighty cubits in diameter, is partitioned into nine barrel-vaulted naves. The entire complex was capable of containing 7 600 cubic metres ; the water was drawn from six pits situated around the periphery of the facility. This hydraulic structure predates the original basilica forum built towards the end of Vespasian's reign. Indeed it may belong to the first half of P1 century A.D., in view of the fact that the porticoes of the main cistern appear to be modelled on those of the tabernae in the Forum of Julius Caesar at Rome.

Recherches Archéologiques Tuniso-Françaises à Rougga, I. Le Forum et Ses Abords (Fouilles 1971–1974) Edited by Maurice Euzennat and Hédi Slim. Archaeology of the Maghreb, 2. Archaeopress, Oxford, 2020. ISBN 978-1-78969-825-1 (paperback) / 978-1-78969-826-8 (open access e-Pdf), pp. 518, 214 figs., 54 tables. Price: £85.00 (paperback).

“…Section A (157-227) discusses the underground cisterns that have raised the interest of travellers and scholars since the eighteenth century, to become a characteristic landmark of Rougga (see also Hallier 1987). Interesting remarks are made on the discrepancies between the intended design and how the chantier was carried out, which resulted in an irregular shape and spacing of the pillars supporting the vaults.…”