(legend: [i] More detailed Information - [n] notes)

At the end of the first Punic War bands of Sardinian mercenaries in the pay of Carthage rebelled (during one of these rebellions the Punic Temple of Antas was destroyed), seeking aid from the Romans who landed in Sardinia in 237 BC and easily seized the coastal cities thus giving rise to Roman domination of the Island.

Very different was the reaction of the Sardinians of the interior who proudly opposed the Roman campaign of conquest, which brought about the destruction of the Punic cities and fortresses and of a great number of Nuraghi, sealing the fate of Nuragic civilisation.

Roman military pressure confined the populations of the interior to the mountain territories of Barbagia which, by reason of their rugged inaccessibility, remained outside the purview of even the Roman legions.

The Romans imposed harsh taxes on Sardinia: the Sardinians’ discontent with Roman occupation led to open opposition, thanks also to the help of Carthage, around 230 BC, culminating in 216 BC in the revolt of the Sardinian Ampsicora [i] who with the support of the Carthaginian Hasdrubal, led his troops to the outskirts of Carales, only to be definitively vanquished in the bloody battle of Cornus.

From the I to the III centuries AD, the most important cities in Roman Sardinia (Carales, Nora, Sulci, Bitia, Tharros, Neapolis, Turris Libisonis, Olbia) made great strides in social and economic development as is witnessed by the imposing public works of that period (the Amphitheatre of Cagliari; the Theatre of Nora, roads, aqueducts and baths) [i], the stylish villas (the Villa of Tigellius) and the spread of the urban quarters.

Carales was the most important centre of the island and capital of the Roman Province of Sardinia and Corsica, established in 227 BC; the city had many workshops and a busy port and was the residence of numerous Roman patricians, local entrepreneurs, skilled artisans, slaves and large numbers of plebeians.

Revolts against the Romans erupted several times throughout the II century BC; subsequently the Island – with the exception of the Barbagia districts – resigned itself to Roman domination.

Always practical, the Romans used for their burials the Punic necropolises; at Carales the Tuvixeddu burial area was reused. New monumental tombs were also built (Grotta della Vipera – The Viper’s Cave). The first Christian martyrs of Sardinia (Saturninus, Simplicius, Gabinus, Luxorius, Ephysius, Reparata, Greca, Restituta) date from the reign of the Emperor Diocletian (III century AD) construction of the first churches in Sardinia started in the early VI century: S. Saturno (Cagliari) and S. Antioco (on the Isle of S. Antioco).

In the V century AD, the profound crisis of the Roman Empire generated decadence in Sardinia too and indeed all of its coastal settlements were repeatedly attacked during pirate raids. Meanwhile the coasts of North Africa had been colonised by the Vandals sweeping in from northern Europe, who carried out raids on the coasts of Italy and the Mediterranean. In 456 the African Vandals, returning from a raid on Liguria, occupied Carales and other coastal cities of Sardinia, thus marking the end of Roman dominion on the island, which had lasted for almost 7 centuries.