Numidia was a
Roman province
The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...
on the
North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
n coast, comprising roughly the territory of north-east
Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
.
History
The people of the area were first identified as Numidians by
Polybius
Polybius (; grc-gre, Πολύβιος, ; ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , which covered the period of 264–146 BC and the Punic Wars in detail.
Polybius is important for his analysis of the mixed ...
around the 2nd century BC, although they were often referred to as the Nodidians.
''Eastern Numidia'' was annexed in 46 BC to create a new Roman province, ''
Africa Nova''. ''Western Numidia'' was also annexed as part of the province ''Africa Nova'' after the death of its last king,
Arabio, in 40 BC, and subsequently the province (except of ''Western Numidia'') was united with province ''
Africa Vetus
Africa Proconsularis was a Roman province on the northern African coast that was established in 146 BC following the defeat of Carthage in the Third Punic War. It roughly comprised the territory of present-day Tunisia, the northeast of Algeria, ...
'' by Emperor
Augustus
Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...
in 25 BC, to create the new province ''
Africa Proconsularis
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
''. During the brief period (30–25 BC)
Juba II
Juba II or Juba of Mauretania (Latin: ''Gaius Iulius Iuba''; grc, Ἰóβας, Ἰóβα or ;Roller, Duane W. (2003) ''The World of Juba II and Kleopatra Selene'' "Routledge (UK)". pp. 1–3. . c. 48 BC – AD 23) was the son of Juba I and client ...
(son of
Juba I) ruled as a client king of Numidia on the territory of former province ''Africa Nova''. In AD 40, the western portion of Africa Proconsularis, including its legionary garrison, was placed under an imperial ''legatus'', and in effect became a separate province of Numidia, though the ''legatus'' of Numidia remained nominally subordinate to the proconsul of Africa until AD 203.
During the second century, the province was
Christianized
Christianization ( or Christianisation) is to make Christian; to imbue with Christian principles; to become Christian. It can apply to the conversion of an individual, a practice, a place or a whole society. It began in the Roman Empire, conti ...
, but in the fourth century, it adhered to the
Donatist heresy
Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important relig ...
, despite giving rise to men of Orthodox faith as illustrious as
Saint Augustine
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afr ...
, bishop of
Hippo Regius
Hippo Regius (also known as Hippo or Hippone) is the ancient name of the modern city of Annaba, Algeria. It historically served as an important city for the Phoenicians, Berbers, Romans, and Vandals. Hippo was the capital city of the Vandal Kin ...
(present
Annaba
Annaba ( ar, عنّابة, "Place of the Jujubes"; ber, Aânavaen), formerly known as Bon, Bona and Bône, is a seaport city in the northeastern corner of Algeria, close to the border with Tunisia. Annaba is near the small Seybouse River ...
).
After 193, under
Septimius Severus
Lucius Septimius Severus (; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary suc ...
, Numidia was officially detached from the province of Africa and constituted a province in its own right, governed by an imperial ''
legatus pro praetore
A ''legatus'' (; anglicised as legate) was a high-ranking Roman military officer in the Roman Army, equivalent to a modern high-ranking general officer. Initially used to delegate power, the term became formalised under Augustus as the officer ...
''. Under
Diocletian
Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...
, it constituted a simple province in the
tetrarchic reorganization, then was divided in two: Numidia Cirtensis, with capital at
Cirta
Cirta, also known by various other names in antiquity, was the ancient Berber and Roman settlement which later became Constantine, Algeria.
Cirta was the capital city of the Berber kingdom of Numidia; its strategically important port city ...
, and Numidia Militiana ("Military Numidia"), with capital at the legionary base of
Lambaesis
Lambaesis (Lambæsis), Lambaisis or Lambaesa (''Lambèse'' in colonial French), is a Roman archaeological site in Algeria, southeast of Batna and west of Timgad, located next to the modern village of Tazoult. The former bishopric is also a La ...
. However, after decades, Emperor
Constantine the Great
Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to convert to Christianity. Born in Naissus, Dacia Mediterran ...
reunited the two provinces in a single one, administered from Cirta, which was now renamed ''Constantina'' (modern
Constantine)
In 428, the
Vandals
The Vandals were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal Kingdom, Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century.
The ...
began their incursions in the African provinces. They eventually managed to create the
Vandal Kingdom that lasted between 432 and 534, the year in which the Vandals fell and the African provinces was reincorporated into
(Eastern) Roman domain and formed the
Praetorian prefecture of Africa
The praetorian prefecture of Africa ( la, praefectura praetorio Africae) was an administrative division of the Eastern Roman Empire in the Maghreb. With its seat at Carthage, it was established after the reconquest of northwestern Africa from the ...
, half a century later the
Exarchate of Africa, by the reign of Maurice (r. 582–602).
Between 696 and 708, the region was conquered again,
this time by the Arab Muslims(Umayyad) and became part of
Ifriqiya
Ifriqiya ( '), also known as al-Maghrib al-Adna ( ar, المغرب الأدنى), was a medieval historical region comprising today's Tunisia and eastern Algeria, and Tripolitania (today's western Libya). It included all of what had previously ...
.
Major cities
Numidia as the other
African provinces became highly Romanized and was studded with numerous towns. The chief towns of Roman Numidia were: in the north,
Cirta
Cirta, also known by various other names in antiquity, was the ancient Berber and Roman settlement which later became Constantine, Algeria.
Cirta was the capital city of the Berber kingdom of Numidia; its strategically important port city ...
or modern
Constantine, the capital, with its port
Russicada
Russicada presentday Skikda, was the Mediterranean port city serving Cirta, the capital of the Kingdom of Numidia in Ancient Algeria.
It overlooked the straits between Sicily ( Europe) and Numidia (Africa
Africa is the world's s ...
(Modern
Skikda); and
Hippo Regius
Hippo Regius (also known as Hippo or Hippone) is the ancient name of the modern city of Annaba, Algeria. It historically served as an important city for the Phoenicians, Berbers, Romans, and Vandals. Hippo was the capital city of the Vandal Kin ...
(near
Bône), well known as the
see of St.
Augustine
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afr ...
. To the south in the interior military roads led to
Theveste
Theveste was a Roman colony situated in the present Tébessa, Algeria.
History
In 146 BC, the Romans conquered the region, where existed an old city called " Tbessa". Theveste was founded by the Romans in 75 AD near an old Berber village located ...
(Tebessa) and
Lambaesis
Lambaesis (Lambæsis), Lambaisis or Lambaesa (''Lambèse'' in colonial French), is a Roman archaeological site in Algeria, southeast of Batna and west of Timgad, located next to the modern village of Tazoult. The former bishopric is also a La ...
(Lambessa) with extensive Roman remains, connected by military roads with Cirta and Hippo, respectively.
Lambaesis was the seat of the
Legio III ''Augusta'', and the most important strategic centre. It commanded the passes of the
Aurès Mountains
The Aures Mountains ( ar, جبال الأوراس) are an eastern prolongation of the Atlas Mountain System that lies to the east of the Saharan Atlas in northeastern Algeria and northwestern Tunisia, North Africa. The mountain range gives its na ...
(Mons Aurasius), a mountain block that separated Numidia from the
Gaetuli
Gaetuli was the Romanised name of an ancient Berber tribe inhabiting ''Getulia''. The latter district covered the large desert region south of the Atlas Mountains, bordering the Sahara. Other documents place Gaetulia in pre-Roman times along the ...
Berber tribes of the desert, and which was gradually occupied in its whole extent by the Romans under the Empire. Including these towns, there were altogether twenty that are known to have received at one time or another the title and status of Roman colonies; and in the 5th century, the ''
Notitia Dignitatum
The ''Notitia Dignitatum'' (Latin for "The List of Offices") is a document of the late Roman Empire that details the administrative organization of the Western and the Eastern Roman Empire. It is unique as one of very few surviving documents o ...
'' enumerates no fewer than 123 sees whose bishops assembled at
Carthage
Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...
in 479.
Episcopal sees
Ancient episcopal sees of Numidia listed in the ''
Annuario Pontificio
The ''Annuario Pontificio'' ( Italian for ''Pontifical Yearbook'') is the annual directory of the Holy See of the Catholic Church. It lists the popes in chronological order and all officials of the Holy See's departments. It also provides name ...
'' as
titular see
A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbi ...
s:
[''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2013, ), "Sedi titolari", pp. 819–1013]
References
Bibliography
*
Filippo Coarelli and
Yvon Thébert Yvon Thébert (20 February 1943 – 2 February 2002, aged 58) was a 20th-century French archaeologist and historian of marxist inspiration.
Biography
Agrégé d'histoire, assistant at the Faculty of Arts and Human Sciences of Tunis (1969-1971), ...
, "Architecture funéraire et pouvoir : réflexions sur l'hellénisme numide", ''Mélanges de l'École française de Rome: Antiquité'', Année 1988, 2,
*
Nacéra Benseddik, « Jugurtha-Cirta-Lambèse-Timgad » in ''Dictionnaire du Monde antique'', PUF, Paris 2005.
*
Yann Le Bohec
Yann Le Bohec (26 April 1943, Carthage) is a French historian and epigraphist, specializing in ancient Rome, in particular North Africa during Antiquity and military history
Military history is the study of War, armed conflict in the Human his ...
, ''L’Afrique romaine (146 avant J.-C. - 439 après J.-C.)'', éd. Picard, 2005 (Paris), 600 p.
* François Décret and Mhamed Fantar, ''L’Afrique du Nord dans l’Antiquité. Histoire et civilisation - des Origines au Ve siècle'', Paris, 1981.
* .
{{Romano-Berber cities in Roman Africa
Numidia (Roman provinces)
Provinces of the Roman Empire