In 238 B.C., Sardinia passed from the Carthaginian domination to the Roman one. Nevertheless, there are evident traces of the persistence of Phoenician and Punic customs which were deeply rooted in Sardinia after nearly three centuries. There is an actual cultural continuity between the Punic period and the Roman Republican period, so much so that the age of first Romanisation was also called Punic-Roman, precisely because of its hybrid nature.

The use of the Punic language and writing persisted for rather a long time during Roman times, even in official documents, among them, an interesting example is given by the Punic inscription found in Bithia inside the temple of Bes, which can be dated between the end of the second century A.D. and the first years of the third century A.D. and which testifies the persistence of administrative positions of Punic origin, such as that of the Sufeti (figs. 1-2). Sant'Antioco also has evidence of the use of the Punic language in bilingual inscriptions, including monumental ones (fig. 3).

Fig. 1 - Bithia inscription (from AMADASI GUZZO 1967, no. Npu 8)

Fig. 2 - A coin from Cagliari on which the two Sufeti from 40 or 38 B.C. Aristo and Mutumbal Ricoce are represented, maybe the last two Sufeti of Karales and, on the back, the Templum Veneris (from http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/sardinia/caralis/RPC_624.jpg).

Fig. 3 - Bilingual Latin-Punic inscription kept at the Municipal Archaeological Museum "F. Barreca "(photo by M. Murgia).

The transition from Carthaginian to Roman rule in fact did not involve the loss of cultural elements which had been rooted for centuries, while the Romans, for their part, usually integrated with the populations they conquered, respecting their language, customs and manners. In Sulky, Punic chamber tombs show that they were used without interruption for about two more centuries; the Tophet is still active in the Republican Age (fig. 4).

Fig. 4 - Detail from the tombs in the tophet of S’Antioco, with a bethel (photo by Unicity S.p.A.).

During this period, Sulky plays a part in the power games of the contention between Pompey and Caesar, siding with the former. This choice will cost a heavy fine from Caesar. The city was later able to rise again to new glory, once again becoming an important centre for trading the metals extracted from the rich mining area of the Iglesiente: this activity earned the town the name of Insula Plumbea ("Island of lead"). The inclusion of Sardinia within the Roman economic sphere, during the Republican era, also led to an import of manufactured goods, particularly of ceramics, which arrived in Sardinia as wine containers from Etruria and Campania and included amphorae (fig. 5). Together with the wine and amphorae, black glazed pottery from Campania, Etruria and the centre of Italy were also imported to Sulky.

Fig. 5 - Dressel I-type Amphora (from http://mostre.museogalileo.it/images/vin/oggetti_944/VI.5_ph.PioFoglia%20Anfora%20inv.77664_944.jpg).

During the imperial period, under Claudius, the city benefited from rising to the rank of municipium and enjoyed a remarkable prosperity until the second century A.D., which was also due to the thick trading network which connected it especially to the North African environment, a connection which was also expressed by the story of Sant'Antioco, Martyr, Patron Saint of Sardinia, a native of Numidia and a doctor by profession, who was exiled and died in the city which bears his name. From the point of view of the artefacts, the imperial period is characterised by some types of amphorae and by a significant amount of common-use objects produced in the Roman provinces of North Africa: pottery of various types, found both among the grave goods and in home environments. In the urban area, still from the second century B.C., the presence of a group of people of Jewish origin has also been attested and highlighted by tombs with Jewish inscriptions and symbols; these were perhaps among those who participated in the Jewish revolt which occurred at the end of the second century A.D. (fig. 6).

Fig. 6 - Decoration of a Jewish Arcosolium (from BARTOLONI 1989, fig. 44).