Thiava, Numidia

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Region around Thiava Mileve Hippo Thagaste in Numidia.JPG
Region around Thiava

Thiava was an ancient Roman-Berber civitas in Numidia, Africa Proconsulare and in the Vandal Kingdom. It was a Latin Catholic diocese.

Roman Empire period of Imperial Rome following the Roman Republic (27 BC–395 AD)

The Roman Empire was the post-Roman Republic period of the ancient Roman civilization. It had a government headed by emperors and large territorial holdings around the Mediterranean Sea in Europe, North Africa, and West Asia. From the constitutional reforms of Augustus to the military anarchy of the third century, the Empire was a principate ruled from the city of Rome. The Roman Empire was then divided between a Western Roman Empire, based in Milan and later Ravenna, and an Eastern Roman Empire, based in Nicomedia and later Constantinople, and it was ruled by multiple emperors.

Berbers ethnic group indigenous to North Africa

Berbers, or Amazighs are an ethnic group of several nations indigenous to North Africa.

Numidia Ancient Berber kingdom in North Africa

Numidia was an ancient Berber kingdom of the Numidians, located in what is now Algeria and a smaller part of Tunisia and Libya in the Berber world, in North Africa. The polity was originally divided between Massylii in the east and Masaesyli in the west. During the Second Punic War, Massinissa, king of the Massylii, defeated Syphax of the Masaesyli to unify Numidia into one kingdom. The kingdom began as a sovereign state and later alternated between being a Roman province and a Roman client state. It was bordered by Atlantic ocean to the west, Africa Proconsularis to the east, the Mediterranean Sea to the north, and the Sahara Desert to the south. It is considered to be one of the first major states in the history of Algeria and the Berber world.

Contents

History

It was located near Thagaste to the south of Hippo, in the high valley of the Medjerda, [1] in the Roman province of Numidia. The site is near modern near Annaba and Souk-Ahras, in Algeria. It was noted from 300–640AD.

Thagaste ancient city

Thagaste was a Roman-Berber city in present-day Algeria, now called Souk Ahras. The town was the birthplace of Saint Augustine.

Hippo Regius ancient name for Annaba, Algeria

Hippo Regius is the ancient name of the modern city of Annaba, in Algeria. Hippo Regius was a Phoenician, Berber, and Roman city in present-day Annaba Province, Algeria. It was the locus of several early Christian councils and home to the philosopher and theologian Augustine of Hippo.

Roman province Major Roman administrative territorial entity outside of Italy

In Ancient Rome, a province was the basic and, until the tetrarchy, the largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The word province in Modern English has its origins in the Latin term used by the Romans.

The town was seat of a bishopric under Hippo. [2]

Thiava was notable for being almost completely Donatist (heretical) in its religion. [3] It was the site of a conflict with the Catholic Archbishop of Carthage, the church father Saint Augustine.

Catholic Church Christian church led by the Bishop of Rome

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with approximately 1.3 billion baptised Catholics worldwide as of 2016. As the world's "oldest continuously functioning international institution", it has played a prominent role in the history and development of Western civilisation. The church is headed by the Bishop of Rome, known as the Pope. Its central administration, the Holy See, is in the Vatican City, an enclave within the city of Rome in Italy.

Archbishop bishop of higher rank in many Christian denominations

In Christianity, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In some cases, such as the Lutheran Church of Sweden and the Church of England, the title is borne by the leader of the denomination. Like popes, patriarchs, metropolitans, cardinal bishops, diocesan bishops, and suffragan bishops, archbishops are in the highest of the three traditional orders of bishops, priests, and deacons. An archbishop may be granted the title or ordained as chief pastor of a metropolitan see or another episcopal see to which the title of archbishop is attached.

Carthage archaeological site in Tunisia

Carthage was the center or capital city of the ancient Carthaginian civilization, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now the Tunis Governorate in Tunisia.

The town became a center of the Donatist controversy when Donatus Magnus visited the town. [4]

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

The city had been Donatist [5] [6] but was returned to the Catholic fold by Augustine in the 390s.

Augustine of Hippo early Christian theologian and philosopher

Saint Augustine of Hippo was a Roman African, early Christian theologian and philosopher from Numidia whose writings influenced the development of Western Christianity and Western philosophy. He was the bishop of Hippo Regius in north Africa and is viewed as one of the most important Church Fathers in Western Christianity for his writings in the Patristic Period. Among his most important works are The City of God, De doctrina Christiana and Confessions.

The first bishop of the town was Honoratus, a childhood friend of Augustine who had appointed him. Honoratus had been a monk at nearby Thagaste.

In 402, Honoratus died in Thiava. As he had been a monk at both Thagaste and Thiava and his personal assets were large, there arose a dispute between Thiava and Alypius of Thagaste [7] It was becoming custom for monks to give their assets to the order where they became a monk and so Alypius felt the estate should go to his order. [8]

Augustine eventually decided the matter in favor of Thiava [9] but held that in future intestate estate of clergy be decided by the Roman civil law. This was an interesting outcome given his confections to Thagaste.

Christian rule ended in the 7th century with the spread of Islam.

Titular see

The diocese was nominally restored in 1933 as a Latin Catholic titular bishopric under the names of Thiava (Latin), adjective Thiaven(sis)/ Tiava (Curiate Italian).

It has had the following incumbents, so far of the fitting Episcopal (lowest) rank : [10]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Mark Vessey, A Companion to Augustine (John Wiley & Sons, 2015) p 134.
  2. ↑ Thiava at catholic-hierarchy.org
  3. ↑ François Decret, Early Christianity in North Africa (James Clarke & Co, 2011) p122.
  4. ↑ Serge Lancel, Saint Augustine , (Hymns Ancient and Modern Ltd, 2002) p314.
  5. ↑ The Ecclesiastical History of M. L'abbe Fleury, from A.D. 400 to A.D. 429 (J.H. Parker, 1843)
  6. ↑ John Henry Parker, Ecclesiastical History from A.D. 400 to 456 with Notes, Volume 1 (Oxford, 1843) p166
  7. ↑ Serge Lancel, Saint Augustine, (Hymns Ancient and Modern Ltd, 2002) p314.
  8. ↑ The Ecclesiastical History of M. L'abbe Fleury, from A.D. 400 to A.D. 429 (J.H. Parker, 1843)
  9. ↑ David Johnston, The Cambridge Companion to Roman Law (Cambridge University Press, 2015) p111.
  10. ↑ "Titular See of Thiava, Algeria". GCatholic. Retrieved 2018-02-01.

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