Cirta

Last updated
Cirta
Cirta mosaic.jpg
Detail of Triumph of Neptune and Amphitrite (c. 315-325), a vast Roman mosaic from Cirta. Now in the Louvre
Algeria location map.svg
Archaeological site icon (red).svg
Shown within Algeria
Location Algeria
Region Constantine Province
Coordinates 36°22′03″N6°36′43″E / 36.3675°N 6.611944°E / 36.3675; 6.611944

Cirta, also known by various other names in antiquity, was the ancient Berber, Punic and Roman settlement which later became Constantine , Algeria.

Contents

Cirta was the capital city of the Berber kingdom of Numidia; its strategically important port city was Russicada. Although Numidia was a key ally of the ancient Roman Republic during the Punic Wars (264–146 BC), Cirta was subject to Roman invasions during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC. Eventually it fell under Roman dominion during the time of Julius Caesar. Cirta was then repopulated with Roman colonists by Caesar and Augustus and was surrounded by the autonomous territory of a "Confederation of Four Free Roman cities" (with Chullu, Russicada, and Milevum), [1] ruled initially by Publius Sittius. The city was destroyed in the beginning of the 4th century and was rebuilt by the Roman emperor Constantine the Great, who gave his name to the newly constructed city, Constantine. The Vandals damaged Cirta, but Emperor Justinian I reconquered and improved the Roman city. It declined in importance after the Muslim invasions, but a small community continued at the site for several centuries. Its ruins are now an archaeological site.

A number of significant archaeological finds have been found in the area, including a large corpus of Punic inscriptions, known as the Cirta steles.

Names

A coin from Cirta, bearing the Neo-Punic legend .mw-parser-output span.smallcaps{font-variant:small-caps}.mw-parser-output span.smallcaps-smaller{font-size:85%} krtn Monnaie - Bronze, Cirta, Numidie - btv1b8484001x (1 of 2).jpg
A coin from Cirta, bearing the Neo-Punic legend krṭn

The town's Punic name krṭn [2] [3] (𐤊𐤓𐤈𐤍, probably pronounced "Kirthan", [4] with a hard, breathy /tʰ/ sound) is probably not the Punic word meaning "town", which was written with a Q (i.e., qoph) rather than a K (kaph). [5] Instead, it is likely a Punic transcription of an existing Berber placename. [4] This was later Latinized as Cirta. Under Julius Caesar, the Sittian settlement was known as Respublica IIII Coloniarum Cirtensium; [6] Pliny also knew it as Cirta Sittianorum ("Cirta of the Sittians"). [7] Under Augustus, in 27 or 30 BC, its official name was Colonia Julia Juvenalis Honoris et Virtutis Cirta; [8] this was sometimes reduced to Cirta Julia ("Julian Cirta"), [9] 'Colonia Cirta or simply Cirta. [8] This name was rendered as Ancient Greek : Κίρτα, romanized: Kírta by the historians Diodorus Siculus, Polybius, Appian, Cassius Dio, and Procopius and by the geographers Ptolemy and Strabo. [10]

After its refounding as Constantina (Latin : Civitas Constantina Cirtensium) by Constantine the Great after AD 312, Cirta became known as Constantine . [11] Following its Muslim conquest, it was known as Qusantina.

History

Cirta in Roman times was protected to the south and west by the Roman limes, the Fossatum Africae Fossatum.png
Cirta in Roman times was protected to the south and west by the Roman limes, the Fossatum Africae
Cirta on the map of Roman Numidia Mileve Hippo Thagaste in Numidia.JPG
Cirta on the map of Roman Numidia

Numidian Kingdom

Cirta was the capital of the Berber kingdom of Numidia, an important political, economic, and military site west of the mercantile empire run by the Phoenician settlement of Carthage to its east.

During the second of Rome's wars against Carthage, the 203 BC Battle of Cirta was a decisive victory for Scipio Africanus. The kingdom remained an independent Roman ally following the destruction of Carthage in the Third Punic War, but Roman commercial influence and political involvement grew. [13]

When King Micipsa died in 118 BC, a civil war broke out between the king's natural son Adherbal and his adoptive son Jugurtha. Adherbal appealed for Roman help and a senatorial commission brokered a seemingly successful division of the kingdom between the two heirs. Jugurtha followed this mediation, however, by besieging Cirta and killing both Adherbal and the Romans who defended him. Rome then prosecuted the Jugurthine War against his reunited Numidian state [13] to assert their hegemony over the region[ citation needed ] and to secure the protection of its citizens abroad.

As Cirta rebuilt in the 1st century BC, its population was quite diverse: native Numidians alongside Carthaginian refugees and Greek, Roman, and Italian merchants, bankers, [14] settlers, and army veterans. [15] This expatriate community made it an important business hub of Rome's African holdings, even while it remained technically outside the lands of the Roman Republic. [14]

Roman Empire

Cirta fell under direct Roman rule in 46 BC, following Julius Caesar's conquest of North Africa. [16] P. Sittius Nucerinus was chosen by Caesar to romanize the locals. [17] His men, the "Sittians" (Sittiani), were Campanian legionaries who controlled Cirta's lands on Rome's behalf. [6]

Together with the colonies at Rusicade, Milevum, and Chullu, their Cirta formed an autonomous territory within "New Africa": the Confederatio Cirtense. Its magistrates and municipal assembly were those of the confederation. Cirta administered fortifications (castella) in the High Plains and at the north end of the colonies: Castellum Mastarense, Elephantum, Tidditanorum, Cletianis, Thibilis, Sigus, and others.

In 27 and 26 BC, [17] the area's administration was restructured under Augustus, who split Cirta into communities (Latin : pagi ) separating the Numidians from the Sittiani and other newly settled Romans. [18]

With the expansion of the Roman limes, this colony at Cirta was at the center of the most Romanized area of Roman Africa. It was protected by the Fossatum Africae stretching from Sitifis and Icosium (present-day Algiers) to Capsa on the Gulf of Gabès. Robin Daniel estimates that by the end of the 2nd century, Cirta had nearly 50,000 inhabitants. [19]

Cirta in 303 AD was the administrative capital of the newly created Numidia Cirtense, a small province -named from Cirta- made by emperor Diocletian in Roman Numidia in the last years of the third century. [20] Numidia was divided in two: Numidia Cirtensis (or Cirtense), with capital at Cirta, and Numidia Militiana ("Military Numidia"), with capital at the legionary base of Lambaesis.

The newly created province was enlarged in 310 AD by the emperor Constantine.

Christianity arrived early on: while little remains of African Christianity before AD 200, records of Christians martyred at Cirta existed by the mid-3rd century. [21] It became the chief town of an ecclesiastical district.[ clarification needed ] Around 305, the First Council of Cirta was held to elect a new bishop, accidentally precipitating the Donatist movement. After the dissolution of its confederation of colonies in the 4th century, Cirta recovered its role as a capital when it headed the territory of Numidia Cirtensis created under Diocletian: however, after some decades, Emperor Constantine the Great reunited the two provinces created in 303 (Cirtensis & Militiana) in a single one, administered from Cirta, which was renamed Constantina (modern Constantine).

Indeed, the city was destroyed after a siege by Rufius Volusianus, the praefectus praetorio of the augustus Maxentius; Maxentius's forces defeated the imperial claimant Domitius Alexander in 310. [11] Constantine the Great rebuilt under his own name after 312 and his own victory over Maxentius in the Battle of the Milvian Bridge. [11] Constantine made Constantina the capital of all Roman Numidia. [22] In 320 the bishop of Cirta was accused of having handed over (Latin: traditio) Christian texts to the authorities during the Diocletianic Persecution, which had begun in 303 in Cirta. [23] The bishop Silvanus was a Donatist and was prosecuted in December 320 by Domitius Zenophilus, the consularis and proconsul of Africa; the records of the proceedings ( commentarii ) are preserved in the Latin: Gesta apud Zenophilum, lit. 'Deeds of Zenophilus', a text collected in the Optatan Appendix . [23] [11] [24] A cave for the practice of Mithraism also existed in the 4th century. [11]

In 412, Cirta was host to the Second Council of Cirta, overseen by St Augustine. According to Mommsen, Cirta was fully Latin-speaking and Christian by the time the Vandals arrived in AD 430. [25]

Under the emperor Justinian I , the city walls were reinforced and the city was named capital of its region with a resident commander (dux). Cirta was part of the Byzantine Africa from 534 to 697.

Islamic conquest

During the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb, Constantine was unsuccessfully defended by the Berber queen Kahina.[ citation needed ] Although many Roman, Byzantine, and Vandal cities were destroyed during the expansion of the Caliphate, Constantine survived in reduced form [26] with a small Christian community as late as the 10th century. The town's further development is detailed under the article Constantine.

Bishops

The bishopric of Cirta was venerable and prominent in the African church. Several of its bishops are known:

Today the town of Constantine is again the seat of a diocese. [32]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Numidia</span> Berber kingdom in North Africa from 202 BC to 46 AD

Numidia was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunisia and Libya. The polity was originally divided between the Massylii state in the east and the Masaesyli in the west. During the Second Punic War, Masinissa, king of the Massylii, defeated Syphax of the Masaesyli to unify Numidia into the first unified Berber state for Numidians in present-day Algeria. The kingdom began as a sovereign state and an ally of Rome and later alternated between being a Roman province and a Roman client state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hippo Regius</span> Ancient name for the modern city of Annaba, Algeria

Hippo Regius is the ancient name of the modern city of Annaba, Algeria. It served as an important city for the Phoenicians, Berbers, Romans, and Vandals. Hippo was the capital city of the Vandal Kingdom from AD 435 to 439. when it was shifted to Carthage following the Vandal capture of Carthage in 439.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jugurtha</span> 2nd-century BC King of Numidia

Jugurtha or Jugurthen was a king of Numidia. When the Numidian king Micipsa, who had adopted Jugurtha, died in 118 BC, Jugurtha and his two adoptive brothers, Hiempsal and Adherbal, succeeded him. Jugurtha arranged to have Hiempsal killed and, after a civil war, defeated and killed Adherbal in 112 BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Africa during classical antiquity</span> Historic phases of North Africa (c. 8th cent. BCE - 5th cent.CE)

The history of North Africa during the period of classical antiquity can be divided roughly into the history of Egypt in the east, the history of ancient Libya in the middle and the history of Numidia and Mauretania in the west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constantine, Algeria</span> City in Constantine Province, Algeria

Constantine, also spelled Qacentina or Kasantina, is the capital of Constantine Province in northeastern Algeria. During Roman times it was called Cirta and was renamed "Constantina" in honour of Emperor Constantine the Great. Located somewhat inland, Constantine is about 80 kilometres from the Mediterranean coast, on the banks of the Rhumel River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lambaesis</span> Roman archaeological site in Algeria

Lambaesis (Lambæsis), Lambaisis or Lambaesa, is a Roman archaeological site in Algeria, 11 km (7 mi) southeast of Batna and 27 km (17 mi) west of Timgad, located next to the modern village of Tazoult. The former bishopric is also a Latin Catholic titular bishopric.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donatus Magnus</span>

Donatus Magnus, also known as Donatus of Casae Nigrae, was the leader of a schismatic Christian sect known as the Donatists in North Africa, Algeria. He is believed to have died in exile around 355.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mila (city)</span> City in Mila Province, Algeria

Mila is a city in the northeast of Algeria and the capital of Mila Province. In antiquity, it was known as Milevum or Miraeon, Μιραίον and was situated in the Roman province of Numidia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milevum</span>

Milevum was a Roman–Berber city in the Roman province of Numidia. It was located in present-day Mila in eastern Algeria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Roman-era Tunisia</span>

Roman Tunisia initially included the early ancient Roman province of Africa, later renamed Africa Vetus. As the Roman empire expanded, the present Tunisia also included part of the province of Africa Nova.

For nearly 250 years, Berber kings of the 'House of Masinissa' ruled in Numidia in modern day Algeria, and later in adjacent regions, first as sovereigns allied with Rome and then eventually as Roman clients. This period commenced by the Roman Army, assisted by Berber cavalry led by Masinissa at the Battle of Zama in 202 BC, and it lasted until the year 40 AD, during the reign of the Roman Emperor Gaius, also known as Caligula.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madauros</span>

Madauros was a Roman-Berber city and a former diocese of the Catholic Church in the old state of Numidia, in present-day Algeria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Igilgili</span> Archaeological site in Algeria

Igilgili was a [Algerian] town and a Phoenician, Carthaginian, and Roman colony in located in present-day Jijel, Algeria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tiddis</span>

Tiddis was a Roman city that depended on Cirta and a bishopric as "Tiddi", which remains a Latin Catholic titular see.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Civitas Popthensis</span> Ancient Roman-Berber city

Civitas Popthensis was an ancient Roman-Berber city located in the present-day Henchir Kssiba area in the municipality of Ouled Moumen in Souk Ahras Province, Algeria. The word "civitas" is derived from the Latin civis ("city"), meaning that the city was a politically autonomous city-state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman colonies in North Africa</span>

Roman colonies in North Africa are the cities—populated by Roman citizens—created in North Africa by the Roman Empire, mainly in the period between the reigns of Augustus and Trajan.

Arabio was the last independent Numidian king, ruling the western region between 44 and 40 BC. According to Appian, he was a son of Masinissa II and probable grandson of Gauda, who had divided Numidia between his sons in 88 BC. He was of Massylian origin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Numidia (Roman province)</span> Roman province

Numidia was a Roman province on the North African coast, comprising roughly the territory of north-east Algeria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Masinissa</span> First King of Numidia from 202 BC to 148 BC

Masinissa, also spelled Massinissa, Massena and Massan, was an ancient Numidian king best known for leading a federation of Massylii Berber tribes during the Second Punic War, ultimately uniting them into a kingdom that became a major regional power in North Africa. Much of what is known about Masinissa comes from the Livy's History of Rome, and to a lesser extent Cicero's Scipio's Dream. As the son of a Numidian chieftain allied to Carthage, he fought against the Romans in the Second Punic War, but later switched sides upon concluding that Rome would prevail. With the support of his erstwhile enemy, he united the eastern and western Numidian tribes and founded the Kingdom of Numidia. As a Roman ally, Masinissa took part in the decisive Battle of Zama in 202 BC that effectively ended the war in Carthage's defeat; he also allowed his wife Sophonisba, a famed Carthaginian noblewoman who had influenced Numidian affairs to Carthage's benefit, to poison herself in lieu of being paraded in a triumph in Rome.

The Battle of Hippo Regius was a naval encounter during Caesar's Civil War which occurred off the coast of the African city of Hippo Regius in 46 BC. Metellus Scipio and a number of influential senators from the Optimate faction were fleeing the disastrous Battle of Thapsus when their fleet was intercepted and destroyed by Publius Sittius, a mercenary commander in the employ of the Mauretanian king Bogud, an ally of Gaius Julius Caesar's. Scipio committed suicide and all of the other senators were killed during the battle.

References

Citations

  1. ↑ Map of the 'Confederatio Cirtense'
  2. ↑ Ghaki (2015), p. 67.
  3. ↑ Head & al. (1911), p. 886.
  4. 1 2 "Cirta", Encyclopedie Berbère. (in French)
  5. ↑ Mazard,[ who? ] Corpus, n° 523-529.
  6. 1 2 Jacques Heurgon, "Les origines campaniennes de la Confédération cirtéenne"; François Bertrandy, "L'État de P. Sittius et la région de Cirta – Constantine (Algérie), Ier siècle avant J.-C. – Ier siècle après J.-C.", in L'Information historique, 1990, pp. 69-73.
  7. ↑ Pliny, Natural History , Book V, sect. 22.
  8. 1 2 LOUIS, RENÉ. “A LA RECHERCHE DE ‘CIRTA REGIA’ CAPITALE DES ROIS NUMIDES.” Hommes Et Mondes, vol. 10, no. 39, 1949, pp. 276–287. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/44207191. Accessed 19 Feb. 2020.
  9. ↑ Joseph Bingham, Origines Ecclesiasticae, Volume 3 p11.
  10. ↑ "Κίρτα - Cirta/Constantine, major city of Numidia, modern Constantine, Algeria". ToposText (topostext.org). Retrieved 2020-05-13.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 Bockmann, Ralf (2018), Nicholson, Oliver (ed.), "Cirta", The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001, ISBN   978-0-19-866277-8 , retrieved 2020-05-13
  12. ↑ Atlas Antiquus, H. Kiepert, 1869.
  13. 1 2 The Cambridge Ancient History. 2nd ed., vol. 9, p. 29
  14. 1 2 The Cambridge Ancient History. 2nd ed., vol. 9, p. 638
  15. ↑ The Cambridge Ancient History. 2nd ed., vol. 9, p. 28 London: Cambridge University Press, 1970.
  16. ↑ Roman History, Cassius Dio, vol. 43, ch. 9
  17. 1 2 Classical Gazetteer, page 321 Archived March 11, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  18. ↑ The Cambridge Ancient History. 2nd ed., vol. 10, p. 607
  19. ↑ Robin Daniel, History of Christianity in Roman Africa
  20. ↑ [J. kuijck "Africa in late antiquity"; Radboud University. Nijmeden, 2016 (Map of Numidia Cirtensis p.9)
  21. ↑ The Cambridge Ancient History. 2nd ed., vol. 12, p. 585, 645
  22. ↑ "General View, Constantine, Algeria". World Digital Library . 1899. Retrieved 2013-09-25.
  23. 1 2 Lunn-Rockliffe, Sophie (2018), Nicholson, Oliver (ed.), "Optatan Appendix", The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001, ISBN   978-0-19-866277-8 , retrieved 2020-05-13
  24. ↑ Corcoran, Simon (2018), Nicholson, Oliver (ed.), "Zenophilus, Domitius", The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001, ISBN   978-0-19-866277-8 , retrieved 2020-05-13
  25. ↑ Theodore Mommsen. The Provinces of the Roman Empire Section:Africa
  26. ↑ "CIRTA (Constantine) Algeria". The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites. Retrieved 2015-04-12.
  27. ↑ Wace, Henry, Dictionary of Christian Biography and Literature (Delmarva Publications, Inc., 1911).
  28. ↑ Wace, Henry, Dictionary of Christian Biography and Literature (Delmarva Publications, Inc., 1911).
  29. ↑ Maureen A. Tilley, The Bible in Christian North Africa: The Donatist World (Fortress Press , 1997) p79.
  30. ↑ Wace, Henry, Dictionary of Christian Biography and Literature (Delmarva Publications, Inc., 1911).
  31. ↑ Saint Augustine, Letters, Volume 2 (83–130) (The Fathers of the Church, Volume 18) letter 115.
  32. ↑ Wikisource-logo.svg Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Diocese of Constantine (Cirta)". Catholic Encyclopedia . New York: Robert Appleton Company.

Bibliography

36°22′03″N6°36′43″E / 36.36750°N 6.61194°E / 36.36750; 6.61194

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.