Underground Roman Villas in Bulla Regia, Northern Tunisia
Many of Bulla Regia's finest mosaics have been removed and can be seen in the Bardo Museum. However for those who brave the journey, seeing the mosaics in their context, in this rather undisturbed Roman site amidst rolling hills lined with olive groves is a unique experience. Anyone wishing to visit the site will need to go there by car or cab, and would do well to be equipped with strong walking shoes, sunhat, sunscreen, protection for the shoulders, and a bottle of water! At least in summer and early autumn, the sun beating down on the hillside is a strong, African sun, and in fact, the Roman villas of the wealthy were constructed in such as way as to be air-conditioned.
Pre-Roman settlement of Bulla
The site was occupied by Berbers since the V century B.C. During the III century B.C. it came under Punic influence, passing under Roman control after Scipio Africanus conquered Carthage in 203 B.C. About 50 years later the Romans rewarded the Numidian King Massinissa for his cooperation, allowing him to make the town his capital, conferring the name Regia to confirm its royal status.
Bulla Regia becomes a full Roman Colony
Julius Caesar organized the province of Africa Nova after defeating Pompey. Bulla Regia having remained neutral in the conflict was rewarded with free city status. It reached its peak under the emperor Hadrian, who declared it Colonia Aelia Adriana Augusta Bulla Regia, a colony whose citizens enjoyed full Roman citizenship. Citizenship excluded women and slaves, who actually formed the majority of the population! Colonies were useful to emperors who needed new land to settle their loyal veteran troops, and to keep important trade routes under control.
Underground Roman Villas evolve from Berber tradition
The villas built by its wealthier citizens, using a technique belonging to the Berbers, make Bulla Regia unique. These were two-storeyed constructions, with a lower floor below ground level, cool in summer, and an upper floor at ground level, pleasant in winter. There was nothing "troglodyte" about these underground Roman villas, which have high ceilings, a central court or corridor receiving light and air through carefully placed windows as well as small airpipes which can still be seen in one of the dwellings. Water cisterns facilitated cooling of the air entering from above. The floors were covered with precious mosaics, many of which have now been removed and taken to the Bardo Museum, close to Tunis. The walls too were decorated, and special shafts allowed water to be sprinkled on the mosaics below, making them shine, then evaporating to further reduce the temperature.
Only a few of these underground villas can be visited. The help of of one the official guides is worthwhile. The mosaics are particularly well preserved, "thanks" to earthquakes which eventually destroyed the city, and erosion following on heavy spring rainfalls. The ground floor of the villas caved in on the underground rooms. Layers of sand hid this site to the extent that in later centuries, Tunisian farmers built their village there, regardless of the treasures underneath. The Roman Bulla Regia was only rediscovered in 1850 and excavation did not start until 1906. The inhabitants had to be moved to a new village which can be seen close by.
Roman mosaics covered over by Christian iconoclasts
When admiring the mosaics on this site, you will notice that there are two distinct types, different both in theme and in the quality and size of the marble pieces used. The Roman mosaics are of fine quality, beautifully executed with small, shiny marble tesserae. They depict typically a naked Venus (in the House of Amphitrite), Cupid with ducks and fish (In the House of Fishing), human, mythological and animal figures. In some places this type of mosaic has been overlaid with much simpler, rougher mosaic, using bigger tesserae, less shiny, mainly whitish with some abstract design.
This is an example of inferior artistic work covering something more beautiful to the eye but morally unacceptable to early Christians adhering to iconoclastic movements. Christianity in this part of North Africa, started in the Roman period by converts, was carried on by the Vandal invasion. The Vandals settled in North Africa after the sack of Rome in 428 A.D. and were Arian Christians. About a century later (534 A.D.) the Eastern Emperor Justinian reconquered Numidia for Roma, bringing the Byzantine form of Christianity. Bulla Regia is not only a magnificent example of Roman remains in North Africa but is interesting for this early Christian influence, webbing between Rome and Islam, which arrived at the beginning of the VIII century. The town has remains of two Christian basilicas and a well-preserved mosaic depicts the Holy Graal.
Bulla Regia present and future
The fascination of this site is that it is a large, open area. You can walk rounds the streets amidst the ruins of the Forum, the Baths, the Theatre with its bear mosaic, and imagine the splendour that must once have been, the marvel of some African prince from the south come to trade wild animals for the Roman circuses, the satisfaction of the veteran awarded a portion of olive grove on this sunny hillside after decades of fighting under lashing rain and icy wind at Hadrian's wall, at the other extreme of the empire. You can admire the work of the stonemasons, imagine their satisfaction on completion of the exceptional underground villas, unknown in the rest of the Roman world, the pride and appreciation of the owners of these comfortable and beautiful dwellings, the good construction work - look at the arches placed at 90° on a stone pillar, supported by a single block hewn to support two or more arches. You can laugh or raise eyebrows as you pass by the impertinent phallic symbol indicating the route to the lupanare (brothel). Then you can wonder that there are relatively few tourists, that so much of the site has not been excavated yet. Work stopped it seems in 1990 for lack of funding; the site has not the status of UNESCO World Heritage. Really much remains to be done here, in the hopes that such development will not dispel the magic.
Sources: Thanks to my English-speaking guide and many thanks to Wikipedia for confirmation of historical data.