House of Asinius Rufinus (Maison d'Asinius Rufinus)

Wed, 21 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Dates

mid 2nd century CE

Garden Description

The house of Asinius Rufinus (Approx. 835 m²) is located in the center of the city. Towards the south its façade extends along an open area partially excavated and is interpreted as the possible forum of the city. The house contains a mosaic pavement of Hercules and an inscription located in the main entrance hall with the honorific cursus of M. Asinius Rufinus, who was consul between 184 and 185. Rufinus most likely changed the older house (from Tiberian times) to this new one opened towards the South. Therefore the data attributed to this phase of the house comes from the second half of the II century AD, during the reign of Commodus.

The house's incomplete excavation includes a small entrance and several shops opening onto a non-excavated street oriented towards the North. The various rooms of the house were laid out around a complete peristyle: the triclinium and two apartments in the south, an apartment on the east, two unpaved spaces on the north and a lararium (XIX) on the northwest. A staircase indicates that the house had an upper level.

The low wall of four porticos spanned the viridarium of the peristyle (13.65 x 10.70 m), which curves to form an apse in front of the triclinium (IV) located on the south. In the viridarium there was a cistern. Access to the viridarium and cistern was provided under the north portico, between the 6th and 7th column. If the low wall had been stuccoed and painted as the columns were, there are currently no traces of painting on the viridarium side of it. Mortar channels along the north and the west of the garden collected the water from the roof and brought it to one of the cisterns located in the southwest corner of the garden. The soil of the garden has not been examined.

Adjacent to the east apartment is a light well with an earthen floor, which can be regarded as a small garden (IX). A large window in room VIII opened into this garden (IX).

Plans

Fig. 1: Plan of the House of Asinius Rufinus (Acholla, Et alii, PL. II)

Bibliography

Bullo, S., Ghedini, F., Amplissimae atque ornatissimae domus: l'edilizia residenziale nelle città della Tunisia romana, Rome: Edizioni Quasar, 2003, pp. 12-14. (worldcat)
Gozlan, S., Jeddi, N., Blanc-Bijon, V., Bourgeois, A., Recherches archéologiques franco-tunisiennes à Acholla. II - Les mosaïques des maisons du quartier central et les mosaïques éparses (Collection de l'EFR), Rome, INAA – EFR, 2001, p. 19-28, plan Pl. II. (worldcat)
Rebuffat, R., Maisons à péristyle d'Afrique du Nord, Répertoire de plans publiés, II, MEFRA, tome 86, 1974-1, p.454. (worldcat)

Keywords

House of the Triumph of Neptune (Maison du Triomphe de Neptune)

Wed, 21 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Dates

150-170 A.D.

Garden Description

The fully excavated House of the Triumph of Neptune (1172 m²) is situated in the northern part of the city. The house has a complete peristyle with one aisle entrance situated indirectly from the northeast (Plan view, Fig. 1). Opposite the entry, the western wing of the house is organized with a vast colonnaded oecus-triclinium in the center. On both sides of the oecus-triclinium there are two apartments with four rooms each and a passage to a non-paved rectangular court. There is another triclinium on the south side of the peristyle and a reception room opening onto the north portico.

A low wall encloses the peristyle (17.50 x 14.50 m) with its garden (VII; 11.40 x 9.10 m). The low wall curves to form three apses facing the tripartite entry of the oecus-triclinium. The preserved walls of the garden show the level of the soil at ca. 0.65 m, which is under the level of the porticos' mosaics. On those walls, there were small remains of paintings depicting a fence with touches of green foliage on black or brown. It was probably a garden view. A small basin was placed later in the northeast corner.

Two open spaces(XXVIII, XXXIV) with an earthen floor, probably small gardens, were arranged in both apartments and were accessible by a passage. It is possible that the north and south walls of the oecus-triclinium might have had a window opening onto these courtyard gardens.

Another possible garden(X) was adjacent to the reception room of the northern aisle of the portico. This house dates from 150-170 A.D.

Plans

Plan of the House of the Triumph of Neptune

Credit: (Gozlan, S., Bourgeois, A., 1992, plan II)

Bibliography

Blanc-Bijon, V., "Peintures murales antiques à Acholla (Tunisie)", in Antike Malerei zwischen Lokalstil und Zeitstil, Tafelband : Akten des XI. Internationalen Kolloquiums der AIPMA, 13.-17. September 2010 in Ephesos, ed. Zimmermann, N., Wien, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2015, pp.695-699. (worldcat)
Bullo, S., Ghedini, F., Amplissimae atque ornatissimae domus: l'edilizia residenziale nelle città della Tunisia romana, Rome: Edizioni Quasar, 2003, pp. 8-11. (worldcat)
Gozlan, S., Bourgeois, A., La maison du Triomphe de Neptune à Acholla (Botria, Tunisie) ; I – Les mosaïques (Collection de l'EFR, 160), Rome, INAA – EFR, 1992. (worldcat)
Rebuffat, R., Maisons à péristyle d'Afrique du Nord, Répertoire de plans publiés, II, MEFRA, tome 86, 1974-1. (worldcat)

Acholla on Gardens of the Roman Empire

House of Asinius Rufinus (Maison d'Asinius Rufinus)

Dates

Garden Description

Plans

Bibliography

Keywords

House of the Triumph of Neptune (Maison du Triomphe de Neptune)

Dates

Garden Description

Plans

Bibliography

Keywords