 Oasis at Vescera in 1910 | |
  Shown within Algeria | |
| Location | Algeria |
|---|---|
| Region | Biskra Province |
| Coordinates | 34°51′00″N5°44′00″E / 34.85°N 5.733333°E |
Vescera, also known as Ad Piscinam, was an ancient titular see and Roman colony in Roman North Africa. It has been identified as a site near Biskra in Algeria. It remains as a titular see of the Roman Catholic Church in the Province of Numidia. [1]
The city was founded soon after the arrival of the Romans around 200 AD under Septimius Severus' and became part of the province of Numidia. As a major settlement in the border region, it was significant even then. Its name was apparently bowdlerized by the Romans to Ad Piscīnam ("at the piscīna "), implying the presence of important waterworks.[ citation needed ]
The city fell to the Arab armies during the end of the 7th century. A significant portion of the inhabitants of the area still descend from the Arab bedouin tribe of Banu Hilal, [2] others are mainly Chaoui Berbers.
The city was the seat of a bishopric in Roman times and was one of the main centers in the Donatist schism of the 4th century. Three bishops are known:
In the 20th century the bishopric was nominally re-established as a titular see and three bishops are known.
Zaraï was a Berber, Carthaginian, and Roman town at the site of present-day Aïn Oulmene, Algeria. Under the Romans, it formed part of the province of Numidia.
Maktar or Makthar, also known by other names during antiquity, is a town and archaeological site in Siliana Governorate, Tunisia.
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.
Milevum was a Roman–Berber city in the Roman province of Numidia. It was located in present-day Mila in eastern Algeria.
Tobna, also known by the ancient names of Tubunae or Thubunae, is a ruined former city in Batna Province of Algeria, located just south of the modern city of Barika. From this position, it once controlled the eastern part of the Hodna region, while M'Sila did the west. It flourished from the time of the Roman Empire through the Islamic Middle Ages, until it was sacked and destroyed by the Banu Hilal in the 11th century, after which it was finally abandoned.
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