The remains of the forum of Sabratha visible today date to the fourth century AD, when the forum was reconstructed after an earthquake in 365AD damaged it.

Roman fori usually lay in the centre of town as they were the legal and administrative centre of the city’s government. However, the forum of Sabratha lay in the Punic mercantile quarter close to the sea — the perfect place for commercial dealings. But despite its unusual location, the forum also retained many of the usual Roman civic buildings.

The Forum

Postholes discovered in the open square of the forum indicate a temporary open-air market was set up regularly in the forum to allow for the buying and selling of goods. But the forum also had permanent shops and commercial offices for transacting business with Roman ports such as Ostia. These were situated around its periphery, along with many grand temples and civic buildings.

Originally these buildings opened straight onto the central square. However, in the Antonine period, a roofed portico consisting of grey Egyptian granite colonnades was added to the periphery of the forum, providing a much-needed source of shade. At the same time, the forum was opened to traffic, and many civic buildings, such as the curia and the law courts, were developed.

Basilica of Apuleius

Built in 50AD, the Basilica of Apuleius or the forum basilica was a large rectangular building on the edge of the forum. It had no exterior windows, instead receiving light and ventilation from an inner courtyard through apertures high in its central nave.

The Basilica was originally the city’s law court. It was here in 157AD that the famous Roman writer Apuleius was tried for witchcraft following the accusations of relatives of his wealthy wife, who wished to dispose of him to obtain her fortune. Apuleius made his own defence, probably in the southern exedra opposite the Basilica’s forum entrance — demolished in the second century AD to make room for one of the forum’s many temples. Apuleius was acquitted and included an account of the trial in his Apologia.

The Basilica’s legal function ended in the 5th century when it became a Christian church in 440AD.

The Roman Curia

The curia lay in the north of the forum. It was the senate-house of Sabratha, where the city magistrates and senators met to discuss the city’s government.

Built from columns of Cipollino marble with a grey granite portico, the curia’s low marble seating remains today. Its white marble paving is a fourth-century addition, dating to the period of the forum’s restorations. Although its doors do not survive, remains of door jambs and hinge holes are visible at the building’s southwest entrance.

The curia may originally have joined with the Basilica of Apuleius before it became a church.

Resources

Ward, Philip, Sabratha: A Guide for Visitors. Darf Publishers: London