Note di “biografia culturale” di un luogo di culto: selezione, conservazione e costruzione della memoria storica nel santuario di Tas-Silġ a Malta in età tardo-repubblicana

This paper focuses on the Late-Republican phase of the sanctuary of Tas-Silġ in Malta; its architectural transformation consisted mainly in building a peristyle-courtyard surrounding the sacrificial area, new structures in the southern area and a precinct wall laying on the destroyed building 38-43. The aim of the present work is to evaluate the renovation program by applying a biographical method. In the Late-Republican phase, buildings and ritual structures referring to the Punic period were destroyed or covered by new pavements, while the ancient ones (the temple and annexed structures, the great basin and the baetyls in the northern area) were emphasized in order to give birth to a cultural background shared by the community, such to create a stronger self-image in front of the new Roman leading class.