 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.
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.
Médéa, population 123,535 is the capital city of Médéa Province, Algeria. It is located roughly 68 km south of Algiers.
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.
Negrine is a town and commune in Tébessa Province in north-eastern Algeria. It was the site of ancient Casae Nigrae, a settlement of Roman North Africa with an attached bishopric that remains a Latin Catholic titular see.
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Calama was a colonia in the Roman province of Numidia situated where Guelma in Algeria now stands.
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Vazari-Didda or Vazari Didda) was an Ancient city and bishopric in Roman Africa, which remains a Latin Catholic titular see.
Mutugenna or Muttegena was a colonia (town) of the Roman, Berber and Vandal empires, located in the Maghreb. The city is generally identified with the ruins at Ain-Tebla in modern Algeria. Mutugenna was also the locus of a bishopric and was an important site in the development of the Donatist schism.
Sétifis, was a town of in Roman in northeastern Algeria. It was the capital of the Roman era province called Mauretania Sitifensis, and it is today Setif in the Sétif Province (Algeria).
Thiava was an ancient Roman-Berber civitas in Numidia, Africa Proconsulare and in the Vandal Kingdom. It was a Latin Catholic diocese.
Zattara was an ancient Roman and Byzantine town in the Africa province. It was located in present-day Kef ben-Zioune, south-east of Calama, Algeria. The city was a titular see of the Roman Catholic Church.
Avensa was a Roman and Byzantine-era civitas (city), in Roman North Africa.
Centuria, also known as Centuriensis, was a Roman era town in Numidia, Roman province of Africa. It has been tentatively identified with ruins near Ain El Hadjar in Algeria, south of Saida.
Gaguari is a former diocese of North Africa and since 1933 a titular bishopric. The location of the former diocese is for the moment unknown. Under Roman hegemony, the bishop belonged to the province of Byzacène. This province was located in North Africa. The exact location of Gaguari can not be determined for the current state of research. However, everything leads us to believe that the bishopric site localizes to the current Sahel of Tunisia.
Bagai was a Roman–Berber city in the province of Africa Proconsularis. It must have been of some reasonable size, as it was also the seat of an ancient Catholic bishopric. The ancient city has been identified with ruins at Ksar-Bagaï outside of Baghai, in the Aurès Mountains of the El Hamma District in Khenchela Province, Algeria.
Cabarsussi, was an ancient civitas (municipality) and bishopric in the Roman province of Byzacena, that is tentatively identifiable with ruins at Drâa-Bellouan in modern Tunisia. The current bishop is Terence Robert Curtin, auxiliary bishop of Melbourne.
The diocese of Siccesi is a suppressed and titular see of the Roman Catholic Church.