Il Saturno-Frugifero del municipio di Thignica (Aïn Tounga), Tunisia; custode della sacralità di un luogo speciale

Abstract

An enigmatic text inscribed on a limestone statue base found in Thignica is published in its entirety
here. The inscription contained, in the first erased line, the name of the god Saturnus accompanied
by the epithet Munic(ipalis), the god who was supposed to guard the sacredness of a place
(retinet gravitatis locum). The rare epithet Municipalis, almost a hapax in epigraphic use, refers to
the municipal promotion of the utraque pars civitatis Thignincensis in the era of Septimius Severus
and Caracalla; we know that this expression, from the literary and poetic contexts, must have
migrated to the religious and sacred sphere. Through this text we come to know a new declination
of Saturn in Thignica (identified with Frugifer) different from that of the Punic Saturn-Baal Hammon
and more connected to the Roman-Italic tradition of Saturn venerated together with Dite at
the temple structure on Djebel Tounga, in a border area.

Keywords: Saturnus, Frugifer, Thignica, Municipium, gravitas, custodia, locus.