Carthage was still the focus of intense civic pride, and remained a city in which the elite still had a substantial material and ideological investment. Although some rich houses were abandoned during the fifth century, it is clear that throughout the period the private house had maintained its place as a primary symbol of wealth and status. The House of the Cryptoporticus, located close to the theatre, and the nearby House of the Rotunda were both large townhouses which had been constructed during the first or second centuries and had remained occupied thereafter; significantly, both underwent some substantial renovation during the Vandal period.28 Nearby on the Hill of Juno, the House of the New Hunt was decorated with a new mosaic, and also underwent some change in its ground plan. Critically, this was not simply the ossified preservation of an obsolescent lifestyle. In each of these cases, patterns of renovation suggest that practices of habitation were changing, and that rooms which had once been peripheral increasingly became focal within the social display of the fifth century. New houses were also built.29 One example close to the Antonine Baths, known as the House of the Trifolium, was probably constructed during the Vandal period, and subsequently extended through the addition of a triconch (a small dining room with three apsidal sides) and a further reception room. Close to the circular harbour, the House of the Greek Charioteers had originally been constructed towards the end of the fourth century, and was expanded and refurbished with two new mosaics under the Vandals.30
Less exclusive residential areas in Carthage also remained occupied through the Vandal period, although here again different regions of the
City suffered different fates.31 In several cases, the abandonment of public spaces or prominent structures led to a proliferation of low-status housing in wood and mud-brick. One such neighbourhood in the northeastern area of town was disrupted by the construction of the city wall in 425, but occupation continued there at least until the end of the century.32 Similar small buildings also accumulated within the abandoned theatre and the Odeon.33 Elsewhere urban occupation declined, even on the most basic level. In the southern part of the walled city, for example, there is little evidence for occupation until the Byzantine conquest.34
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