The British Institute for Libyan and Northern African Studies, through its grant system, offers small amounts of funding for books published by other publishers – if they fall within the Institute’s remit.

We are happy to announce here the first of these co-publications:

Title: ‘Architectural Decoration and Urban History in Mauretania Tingitana‘ by Niccolò Mugnai (Rome, Edizioni Quasar 2018).

Paperback; cm 21 x 29.7; pp. 412; b/w figures, plates, plans. ISBN 978-88-7140-853-8. € 40.00

This book is the first to be published in the newly launched series “Mediterranean Archaeology Studies”, established by the University of Siena (general editor Emanuele Papi). It offers a new contribution to the study of Roman provincial architectural decoration, focusing on Mauretania Tingitana (northern Morocco).

In addition to the reconstruction of local decorative styles, architecture, history and urban trajectories, the analysis is further extended to a broader extra-provincial level with particular attention to North Africa and the Mediterranean.

The study shows how different artistic and architectural traditions were merged together in Tingitana in the Roman period: the persistence of pre-Roman (Punic and Hellenistic) substrata; the influence of Roman imperial art and architectural decoration; and the creation of local-style ornament.

This mixture of styles is reflected in the design of buildings and public spaces in each town, suggesting the presence of equally mixed urban communities. This research has revealed the artistic and architectural vitality of this territory at the south-western edge of the Roman world, while also illustrating a significant degree of adaptation of orthodox rules of Roman architecture.

For more information and to order a copy, click here