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Antiquités africaines
L’Afrique du Nord de la protohistoire à la conquête arabe
52 | 2016
Varia
The Scritti Africani of Professor Antonino Di Vita
David J. Mattingly
Electronic version
URL: http://journals.openedition.org/antafr/693
ISSN: 2117-539X
Publisher
CNRS Éditions
Printed version
Date of publication: 1 December 2016
Number of pages: 193-196
ISBN: 978-2-271-09352-3
ISSN: 0066-4871
Electronic reference
David J. Mattingly, « The Scritti Africani of Professor Antonino Di Vita », Antiquités africaines [Online],
52 | 2016, Online since 24 April 2020, connection on 24 April 2020. URL : http://
journals.openedition.org/antafr/693
Antiquités africainesThe Scritti Africani
of Professor Antonino Di Vita
David J. Mattingly*
Keywords: Tripolitania; archaeological practice; Antonino di Vita. Mots-clés : Tripolitaine ; archéologie ; Antonino di Vita.
Abstract: The publication of a two volume compendium of the Résumé : La publication d’un recueil en deux volumes des travaux
key work on Roman Africa by Professor Antonino di Vita provides clés sur l’Afrique romaine par le professeur Antonino di Vita offre un
a suitable moment to review his career achievements. The main moment approprié pour se remémorer sa brillante carrière. L’objet
focus of his work was Tripolitania, with a particular emphasis on the principal de son travail fut la Tripolitaine, en particulier les grandes cités
great cities of Sabratha and Lepcis Magna, but the Scritti Africani de Sabratha et Leptis Magna, mais son ouvrage Scritti Africani démontre
demonstrate the extraordinary range of his expertise and interests. l’extraordinaire portée de sa compétence et de sa connaissance.
The death of the Italian archaeologist Professor Antonino in training and capacity building, founded Libya Antiqua
Di Vita on 22nd October 2011 was not formally marked in as the national archaeological journal and undertook (and
these pages at the time by an obituary notice, but the publi- encouraged other foreign missions to participate in) renewed
cation in 2015 of a two-volume compendium of all his most fieldwork at the major Classical sites (Sabratha, Lepcis
important African writings merits a few words to celebrate Magna, Cyrene, Ptolemais, Taucheira, Apollonia). This
some of his most notable achievements1. For 50 years, he was period saw the last wave of large-scale urban excavations at
at the forefront of work on Punic and Roman Tripolitania. Libya’s Classical ruins, including the programme to unearth
His work on North Africa always had a particular focus on the remarkable circus and amphitheatre at Lepcis Magna2.
Libya, but he also directed work in Tunisia at Leptiminus What Di Vita did not initiate or carry out himself, he was
and Althiburos. Outside North Africa he achieved inter- instrumental in supporting and facilitating. Coincidentally,
national prominence for his work on Sicilian archaeology in 1968 both Di Vita and Goodchild were appointed to chairs
and in Crete, notably at Gortin. He was Professor and later in Archaeology back in their home countries, but within
Emeritus Professor (also Magnifico Rettore) at the Università a few months Goodchild had died at the age of 50, while
di Macerata for many years and served as the Director of the Di Vita was to continue to play a significant role in Libyan
Scuola Archeologica Italiana di Atene for 20 years. archaeology for a further 43 years.
Antonino Di Vita was born at Chiaramonte Gulfi, The landmark achievements of the Libyan aspect of
Ragusa, Sicily on 19th October 1926. He trained as a Di Vita’s career are an extraordinary roll call of important
Classical Archaeologist at the University of Catania, the monuments, primarily in and around the three Tripolitanian
Italian School at Athens and La Sapienza in Rome. Initially cities of Sabratha, Oea and Lepcis Magna. He excavated
he worked in the Italian archaeological superintendancies for the famous Punico-Hellenistic mausolea at Sabratha and
Syracuse, Rome and Florence, but in 1962 the sudden death oversaw the reconstruction of Mausoleum B, one of the site’s
of Ernesto Vergara Caffarelli created an opportunity for him most iconic monuments for subsequent visitors. He also
Antiquités africaines, 52, 2016, p. 193-196
to serve for four years as a special advisor on archaeological excavated important funerary complexes there (the tophet,
matters for the still young government of independent Libya. Sidret el-Balik, hypogea tombs). At Lepcis he carried out
He excelled in the role and, in conjunction with the British important work on the west side of the harbour and on the
archaeologist Richard Goodchild – who was Controller of Serapeum and saw through to completion (after Lidiano
Antiquities in Cyrenaica, transformed the structures and Bacchielli’s death) the anastylosis and full reconstruction of
capabilities of the Department of Antiquity. They invested the great four-way arch of Septimius Severus. Again, this has
become an unforgettable entrance spectacle for visitors to
* School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester,
UK, djm7@le.ac.uk. 2. Di Vita 2015, p. 944, fig 1-2, reveals the speed with which the arena
1. Di Vita 2015. was emptied of sand between 1962 and summer of 1964.
193the site. This sort of reconstruction work on many important responsibilities at Macerata and the Italian School at Athens
Libyan monuments was a vital contribution to the mise en all played a part in frustrating his best intentions. For this
valeur of Libya’s cultural heritage, especially during the reason, the editors have included additional unpublished doc-
last years of Ghadaffi’s rule, when tourism finally started umentation and illustrations on some of the key monuments,
to receive more official encouragement. He also excavated notably some beautiful water colour reconstructions of
a coastal villa at Tagiura, near Tripoli, with rich mosaics, Mausoleum B by Carmelo Catanuso6. Where colour versions
several extraordinary painted tombs of early Roman date of photographs originally published in black and white exist
and did important work on the great four-way arch at Tripoli they have generally been used in preference throughout the
(Oea). Another important dimension of his career concerns book. While we may regret the lack of definitive reports on
his encouragement of the next generation of archaeologists, some key monuments, the cumulative evidence presented
Libyan and Italian, and his success in helping other special- in these two volumes is impressive and his analyses and
ists complete important work, as with the definitive mono- interpretations of the data are never less than insightful and
graphic publication of the Punic inscriptions of Tripolitania3. agenda-setting7.
The Scritti Africani volumes were conceived before One of the things that makes his work of such wide and
Di Vita’s death – indeed he had played a full role in continuing importance was his polymathic knowledge and
selecting papers and determining the order of arrange- engagement with a vast number of issues and sub-special-
ment. The project assembles all his major publications isms. Thematically, the papers in Scritti Africani range from
on North Africa in one place, arranged in chronological studies of architecture (with a particular focus on monu-
order of publication for the most part4. From his overall mental arches, temples, theatres, Hellenistic and Roman
African bibliography of 123 outputs, the 74 individual items mausolea and hypogeal tombs), urban planning, funerary
included in the volumes comprise a total of 52 articles and archaeology, mosaic art, wall-paintings, coins, stratigraphic
chapters from books, 5 encyclopaedia entries, 17 miscella- excavation, earthquakes, Christian archaeology, antiquarian
neous pieces (short notes, prefatory comments, concluding writings, the history and geography of Tripolitania, ancient
remarks, obituaries). Given the rarity outside Italy of some harbours, Trans-Saharan trade, the cultural interactions in
of the books and journals in which the original materials Libyphoenician and Romano-Libyan societies. In all of these
were published these volumes are a resource of the highest areas he produced landmark studies that have stood the test
scholarly value. The present edition has been reformatted of time. When he first arrived in Libya he followed in a dis-
in a coherent house style, but the original page numbering tinguished line of Italian archaeologists, but his approach and
schema is highlighted within the text to facilitate correla- his interpretation was highly original and marked a departure
tion with references to the originals. from the previous work. For one thing, he was less focused
Re-reading some of his classic studies in these beau- on the Roman period and brought to the fore the importance
tifully produced volumes I was reminded of the huge of the Libyphoenician heritage of the area, epitomised by
scholarly impact of his work, while also struck by how little his studies of the origins of the Tripolitanian emporia and
of what he argued has been surpassed or overturned in the their architectural embellishment in the Hellenistic period8.
intervening years. The material presented in these volumes His contributions on the urban topography and early devel-
remains highly relevant to archaeological debate today. opment of sites like Lepcis and Sabratha were radical in
However, there is a paradox in his work in that although he drawing out the importance of innovations of the Hellenistic
was a prolific writer, as the combined 1000 pages of these era in paving the way for the spectacular Roman develop-
volumes attest, he was less successful at producing definitive ments9. Like Goodchild, he also saw the importance of the
monographic publications5. His parallel archaeological field rural hinterland and the frontier zone for providing a wider
careers in Sicily and Crete (especially Gortin where a series context for the great coastal cities10.
of monographs were produced) and his large administrative
3. Levi della Vida, Amadasi Guzzo 1987.
4. A thematic or site-by-site arrangement might have been alternative
possibilities for the order of papers, but since many articles summa-
rised work on multiple projects conducted in parallel, the chronologi-
cal approach makes sense.
6. See Di Vita 2015, p. 325-344.
Antiquités africaines, 52, 2016, p. 193-196
5. An overall synthesis on the history and archaeology of Tripolitania
was projected during the 1990s as Volume XII of the ‘Monografie 7. It is also important to note that some of his ‘articles’ were lengthy
di Archeologia Libica’ Series, Tripolitania ellenistica e romana alla and detailed treatments. See, for instance: Di Vita 1966 (= Di Vita
luce delle più recenti indagini archeologiche (and foregrounded by 2015, p. 93-153); Di Vita 1978 (= Di Vita 2015, p. 363-393); Di Vita
his masterly article Di Vita 1982 = 2015, p. 429-486). A co-authored 1990 (= Di Vita 2015, p. 645-686).
book produced in multiple languages, provides a briefer but accessible 8. Di Vita 1969 (= Di Vita 2015, p. 223-228); Di Vita 1976 (=
account, Di Vita et alii 1999 (excerpt on Sabratha in Di Vita 2015, Di Vita 2015, p. 303-354); Di Vita, Procaccini, Pucci 1974-75
p. 757-776). When Volume XII of the ‘Monografie di Archeologia [1978] (= Di Vita 2015, p. 393-424).
Libica’ did appear under the editorship of Di Vita and M. Livadiotti in 9. Di Vita 1982a (= Di Vita 2015, p. 429-486); Di Vita 1983 (=
2005, it had a much narrower title, I tre templi del lato nord-ovest del Di Vita 2015, p. 523-536).
Foro Vecchio a Leptis Magna, and instead brought to final publication 10. Di Vita 1964 (= Di Vita 2015, p. 1-38); Di Vita 1967 (= Di Vita
one of his most brilliant ideas about the topography of the Old Forum. 2015, p. 73-92).
194His knowledge of the Roman layout of Sabratha and tombs is their extraordinary hybrid nature, combining Punic,
Lepcis Magna was unrivalled, though his views were Alexandrian, Greek, Roman and Libyan elements. Another
sometimes controversial, as when he proposed a revolu- rare treasure is the republication of an air-photo mosaic of
tionary new interpretation of the original design of the Sabratha and its suburbs indicating the exact location of the
Severan forum and basilica complex at Lepcis11. His expe- main funerary areas and monuments, including the tophet and
rience of excavating the clear traces of earthquake damage the catacomb15. This is in effect the most detailed published
at Sabratha and Lepcis, led him to research the history ‘map’ of the suburban landscape. The short notes on the
of seismic activity in Libya and to associate some of the tophets of Gheran and Sabratha and the sacred area of Ba’al
major building phases at Tripolitanian cities to an earth- Hammon close to Sabratha are also important because of
quake chronology12. Although some details of Di Vita’s list the rarity of such distinctively Punic religious structures in
of precisely attributed earthquake-related rebuilding have Tripolitania16.
been questioned, the fact that seismic events did on several The ‘preliminary’ nature of some of the original articles
occasions inflict significant destruction is now generally notwithstanding, Di Vita’s œuvre has set the agenda on many
accepted13. issues and remains as relevant now as it was revolutionary
Several of his most important discoveries related to Roman when first published. It certainly shaped my own academic
funerary monuments with well-preserved wall paintings. development and engagement with Tripolitania17. In the
One of the great bonuses of the new volumes is that they absence of the complete publication of some of projects,
reunite all his major discussions of the funerary area of Sidret these collected papers provide the reader with the material
el-Balik (Sabratha), the ‘tomba della Gorgone’ and ‘tomba del to make a pretty good ‘anastylosis’ of his discoveries. The
defunto eroizzato’, the ‘hypogeum 1’ (Zanzur), the ‘hypogeum overall value of these volumes is hopefully clear from the
of Adam and Eve’ and the tomb of Aelia Arisuth (both at above, as too the fact that they form a fitting memorial and
Gargaresc, near Tripoli)14. The cultural significance of these monument for a remarkable man.
Antiquités africaines, 52, 2016, p. 193-196
11. Di Vita 1982b (= Di Vita 2015, p. 491-522); contra the views of
Ward-Perkins 1993.
12. Di Vita 1990 (= Di Vita 2015, p. 645-686).
13. Kenrick 1986, p. 5-6, 315-316.
14. Key page references for Di Vita 2015 as follows: Sidret el-Balik
p. 294-295, 559-566, 595, 622-625, 745-747, 859-872, 894, 928,
932-933; ‘tomba della Gorgone’ and ‘tomba del defunto eroizzato’
p. 294, 528-532, 567-594, 597-598, 615-619, 690-694, 827-831, 15. Di Vita 2015, p. 300.
886-888, 929; Zanzur hypogeum p. 294, 530-533, 617-620, 694, 16. Di Vita 2015, Tripoli (Gheran) tophet p. 157-158; Sabratha tophet
830-833, 873-890; Gargaresc - ‘hypogeum of Adam and Eve’ and the p. 597, 745, 764-766, 930; Sabratha Ba’al Hammon sacred area p. 930.
tomb of Aelia Arisuth p. 363-392, 625-628. 17. As will be apparent from my Tripolitania (Mattingly 1995).
195Bibliography
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Antiquités africaines, 52, 2016, p. 193-196
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