The popularity of the venationes in Roman North Africa led to the formation of sodalities to organize their performance, the most well of which were the Telegenii. These fellowships, which were unique to the region, maintained the animals and hired the venatores who fought them. Fittingly, they also functioned as funerary societies and may have engaged in commercial activity, such as the export of olive oil. It is probable, too, that they served as intermediaries in supplying animals for the arena.
In this mosaic from Tunisia, representatives from five sodalities are shown drinking at a banquet table reminiscent of the arena, each distinguished by his own emblem, a stalk of millet, pointed crowns, or a bunch of grapes. Presiding over the event, one representative carries a staff with a crescent moon and declares Nos tres tenemus (literally, "We have three" but signifying that "We three are getting along fine"). The others variously exclaim Avocemur ("Let us amuse ourselves"), Ia[m] multu[m] loquimini ("You have spoken too much already"), Bibere venimus ("We have come to drink"), and, in a damaged caption, [N]os nudi [f]iemus ("We will be naked")—a proposal the reveler seems already to have adopted.
A servant extends a glass of wine from a table next to a large vat, while another, his hand to his mouth, admonishes the drunken revelers to be quiet and let the five bulls sleep—Silentiu[m] dormiant tauri. Each animal is branded with the company's symbol and will, the next day, be matched against the venatores.
References: Mosaics of Roman Africa: Floor Mosaics from Tunesia (1996) by Michèle Blanchard-Lemée, Mongi Ennaïfer, Hédi Slim, and Latifa Slim; The Story of the Roman Amphitheatre (2000) by D. L. Bomgardner; The Colosseum (2000) edited by Ada Gabucci; Venationes Africanae, Hunting Spectacles in Roman North Africa: Cultural Significance and Social Function (2016) by Anna Sparreboom (doctoral dissertation).
