of Carthage.
Over time, the Romanisation of the city brought the two communities closer together. Notable members of the peregrine increasingly adopted Roman culture and behavior, became Roman citizens, and the councils of the two communities began to take decisions in unison. The increasing closeness of the communities was facilitated at first by their geographic proximity - there was no physical distinction between their two settlements - and then later by institutional arrangements. During the reign of Marcus Aurelius, the city was granted Roman law; from this moment onward, the magistrates automatically received Roman citizenship and the rights of the city's inhabitants became similar to those of the Roman citizens. During the same era, the pagus won a certain degree of autonomy from Carthage; it was able to receive bequests and administer public funds.
Nonetheless, it was not until 205 CE, during the reign of Septimius Severus, that the two communities came together as one municipium, made �free� (see below) while Carthage�spertica was reduced. The city was supported by the euergetism of its great families of wealthy individuals, which sometimes reached exorbitant levels, while its interests were successfully represented by appeals to the emperors. Dougga�s development culminated during the reign of Gallienus, when it obtained the status of a Roman colony with the titleColonia Licinia Septimia Aurelia Alexandriana Thuggensis. Dougga�s monuments attest to its prosperity in the period from the reign of Diocletian to that of Theodosius I, but it fell into a sort of stupor from the 4th century CE; Christianity only left minimal traces in the city.
Dougga�s �liberty�
From 205 CE, when the civitas and the pagus fused as one municipium, Dougga bore the title Municipium Septimium Aurelium Liberum Thugga; each of these terms has a particular significance.
Septimium and Aurelium are references to the names of the municipium�s
