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Neptune of Sousse (Tunisia)


Neptune, god of sea, stands in his chariot drawn by two hippocampi (sea horses). He holds his trident in his right hand.
Roman villa, Hadrumetum (Actual Sousse).
Mosaic (Stone and glass paste).
Roman epoch, Middle of the third century CE.
From Wad Blibane, Sousse.
Sousse Archaeological Museum
Photo by: Raafat Reda Ahmed

Neptune (Neptunus) Roman Originally, a god of freshwater. Neptune became associated with the Greek sea god Poseidon early in Roman history.
Unlike the people of Greece, the people of Rome were not seafarers, so Neptune played only a
small role in their lives. He did, however, keep many of his freshwater characteristics as he took on the stories of Poseidon, who inhabited the saltwater seas around Greece. The Romans celebrated the festival of the Neptunalia on July 23, the height of summer, when freshwater often was scarce. They would make sacrifices to Neptune in hopes of easing those water shortages.
A sanctuary to Neptune stood between the Aventine and Palatine hills in Rome on the spot where a stream once flowed.
Neptune, like Poseidon, is often portrayed carrying a trident and riding a dolphin.
The eighth planet in the solar system was named Neptune after its discovery in 1846.


Source: Kathline N. Daly, Greek and Roman Mythology A to Z, third edition, p. 99.

PS: In Ancient Africa (nowadays Tunisia), Neptune was so venerated in Byzacium region (Ancient Sahel, the eastern coast of Tunsia which was Hadrumetum, the modren Sousse it's capital); a temple, the so-called the Nympheum or the Temple of water of Djebel Zaghouane was erected to worship him and the Nymphs in Djebel Zaghouan.
An annual festival in his honor, the so-called the Carnival of Awussu, or in French carnaval d'Aoussou, is a festive and cultural event that unfolds each 24th of July in Sousse.


The Nympheum of Djebel Zaghouan (Temple of water), built in Roman epoch by the Emperor Hadrian.. 
Zaghouan governorate (Ancient Ziqua), Tunisia..
Photo by: Raafat Reda Ahmed

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