TABARCA. - It is the ancient Thabraca in proconsular Africa, a flourishing commercial port on the Mediterranean. It was a municipium and then a Roman colony under Antoninus Pius.

Christianity is attested by the bishop Victor present at Carthage in 256 (P. Monceaux, Histoire littéraire de l'Afrique chrétienne, I, Paris 1901, p. 4 ff.). Repeated explorations have brought to light the importance of the Christian community. Victor of Vita reports that at the time of Genseric there were at T. a male and a female monastery (Historia persecutionis vandalicae, I, 10: PL, 38, 193-95). A Christian basilica with a single nave and a deep apse was discovered; on the left an octagonal baptistery opened, with small apses inside and in the center the hexagonal baptismal font (P. Gauckler, Basilique chrétienne de Tunisie, Paris 1913, pl. 16); behind it an extensive Christian cemetery was found with an imposing series of tombs with mosaic decoration; among them one with the representation of the prophet Jonah resting under the pergola. In an apsidal chapel many sealed tombs were found, also with mosaic decoration, of which the most notable were transported to the Bardo Museum in Tunis. Mention is made here of the mosaic representing the interior of a Christian basilica in all its details and the inscription «Ecclesia mater Valentia in pace». Notable is the inscription of the deacon Crescentinus in which one reads:

TABARCA - Christian tomb in the form of a chest, with a mosaic depicting the deceased woman praying between two candlesticks (5th century) - Tabarca.(from A. Merlin-L. Poinsoot, Oseida du Musée Alaoua, Tantii 1896, pl. 28, no. 1)

"Angelorum hospes, Martyrum comes, vitamque spirans placulam ad te sancte profectus sit nostri memor, grata pietate qua solet. Crescentinus diac(onus) in pace red(didit) III die Kal(endarum) aug(ustarum)". Of the two spouses Stercorius and Crescentia it is said that "perpetuitatis coronam acceperunt". A Victoria is called Dei famula; the following inscription is also noteworthy: "Privata cum Victoria gaude virginitatis et confessionis victricia portantes tropaea veste induta angelica in pace", followed by the acclamation "dignis digna vincentibus corona". Of a widow Vittorina it is said: "viduitatis et verecundiae preconium castitatis et pietatis exemplum"; of the priest Privatus it is affirmed that he was "disciplinae custos, pietatis magister"; of a Naucelius this eulogy is given: "pauperu(m) amator, cultor Dei"; of a Castula it is declared that she "properans kastitatis sumere premia digna, meruit immarcescibilem coronam. Perseverantibus tribuet Deus gratiam". On a sarcophagus of white marble the Good Shepherd is depicted (A. Merlin, Découvertes effectuées en Tunisie, in Bull. arch. du Comité, 1907, p. 274).

Bibliography7 works

BIBL.: L. La Blanchère and P. Gauckler, Catalogue du Musée Alaoui, Paris 1887, pp. 117-20, pl. 7; J. Fontain, Fouilles et explorations à T. et aux environs, in Bull. arch. du Comité, 1892, pp. 193-96; G. Benet, Les fouilles de T. en 1904, ibid., 1905, pp. 378-94; P. Gauckler, Mosaïques tombales d'une chapelle de martyrs à Thabraca, in Fondation E. Piot. Monuments et mémoires, 13 (1906), pp. 175-227; P. Monceaux, Enquête sur l'épigraph. chrét. d'Afrique, Paris 1908, pp. 259-60; P. Gauckler, Inventaire des mosaïques, II, ibid. 1911, pp. 330-37, nos. 940-1056; L. Poinsoot and R. Lantier, L'arch. chrét. en Tunisie (1920-37), in Atti del III Congresso internaz. d'arch. crist., Rome 1934, p. 403 ff.

Enrico Josi

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