| Ruins of Madauros | |
| Latin: Madaura or Madaurus | |
| Type | Public University |
|---|---|
| Active | Established between 100-200 AD–closed in the 7th century AD |
| Students | Apuleius Martianus Capella Saint Augustine |
| Location | , 36°04′45.40645″N07°54′04.33087″E / 36.0792795694°N 7.9012030194°E |
| Campus | Urban |
| Language | Numidian, Latin, Greek |
| |
The Madaurus University (in Latin Madaurus, Madauros or Madaura) [1] is a former university, one of the first on the African continent, of which only ruins remain, located in the city of M'daourouch in the wilaya of Souk Ahras in Algeria. It dates from the Roman period between the 1st and 2nd centuries. [2] [3] [4] [5] .
It was on the site of an ancient Numidian city from the third century BC that the Roman city of Madauros was founded in 75 AD under the Flavians. The city is mentioned in ancient manuscripts from the third century, but fell into decay following the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb in the seventh century [6] [7] .
At the time, the university was considered a great centre of cultural influence [8] and frequented by great men of letters, philosophers, mathematicians and rhetoricians of the ancient world such as the North African Christian theologian and philosopher Saint Augustine, the Numidian writer, orator and philosopher Apuleius (author of the Metamorphoses or the Golden Ass), the Roman orator and grammarian Maximus of Madaurus, and the writer, poet, music theorist and philosopher Martianus Capella [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] .