"SBEITLA-SUFATULA" Sbeitla by Arkeolog

The Three Temples

Although there is no inscription to indicate to whom they were dedicated, it is generally assumed that this was a Capitol dedicated to the three divinities of the official Roman Pantheon, Jupiter, Juno and Minerva. Instead of building a single temple divided into three chapels or niches [as, for example, one finds at Dougga], the builders at Sbeitla conceived a far more grandiose project for their town and built a temple for each divinity. It was something which, to our knowledge [and given the cost of the project], was only attempted once elsewhere. To give unity to the ensemble the central temple was fronted by a tribune without steps, and one acceded to the central temple through the two lateral temples; one can easily imagine the scared processions moving from each extremity of the forum and symmetrically converging on the central temple, which was more opulently decorated and adorned than the other two