The urban development of Sabratha: old theories and new perspectives

Abstract

The history of the urban development of Sabratha, already traced by Italian and English archaeologists, was never discussed in its main aspects. After a brief account on the last researches carried out by the Mission of University of Palermo this paper will propose a synthesis of two of the questions I addressed in the years I have spent at Sabratha: the probable existence of a second Forum whose religious focus is constituted by the Temple of Hercules and a new suggestion of dating for both the construction and the refurbishment of the Theatre: a Flavian enterprise and its renewal financed by Apuleius of Madaura in order to express his gratitude to the town when he was cleared after he defensed himself with his famous Apologia. The time span within this last intervention goes from 175 CE, when CommodusT took the toga virilis, to the 180 CE when he become the only one emperor. The two problems together show that there is much work to do for a detailed reconstruction of the expansion of Sabratha toward the East.