Saldae was an important port city in the ancient

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

, located at today's

Béjaïa Béjaïa ( ; , , ), formerly known as Bougie and Bugia, is a Mediterranean seaport, port city and communes of Algeria, commune on the Gulf of Béjaïa in Algeria; it is the capital of Béjaïa Province. Geography Location Béjaïa owes its ...

(in Kabylia, eastern

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

). It was generally a crossroads between eastern and western segments of Northern Africa, from the time of

Carthage Carthage was an ancient city in Northern Africa, 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 classic ...

to the end of the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

from the continent.

History

Saldae was first inhabited by

Numidia Numidia was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunisia and Libya. The polity was originally divided between ...

Berbers Berbers, or the Berber peoples, also known as Amazigh or Imazighen, are a diverse grouping of distinct ethnic groups indigenous to North Africa who predate the arrival of Arab migrations to the Maghreb, Arabs in the Maghreb. Their main connec ...

. A minor port in Carthaginian and in early Roman times, it was a border town between Rome and

Juba Juba is the capital and largest city of South Sudan. The city is situated on the White Nile and also serves as the capital of the Central Equatoria, Central Equatoria State. It is the most recently declared national capital and had a populatio ...

, located to the east of the ancient Berber kingdoms.

Roman era

It was made officially a Roman colony -named ''Civitas Salditana''- during the reign of Roman emperor Octavianus

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

. It is mentioned in

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

's ''

Naturalis Historia The ''Natural History'' () is a Latin work by Pliny the Elder. The largest single work to have survived from the Roman Empire to the modern day, the ''Natural History'' compiles information gleaned from other ancient authors. Despite the work' ...

''. The ''Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites'' reports: The city grew in size with new buildings and the emperor

Vespasian Vespasian (; ; 17 November AD 9 – 23 June 79) was Roman emperor from 69 to 79. The last emperor to reign in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for 27 years. His fiscal reforms and consolida ...

settled the city with many Roman veterans, increasing its population and importance in the province of

Mauretania Caesariensis Mauretania Caesariensis (Latin for "Caesarea, Numidia, Caesarean Mauretania") was a Roman province located in present-day Algeria. The full name refers to its capital Caesarea, Numidia, Caesarea Mauretaniae (modern Cherchell). The province had ...

, and when that was divided, in the new Late

Roman province The Roman provinces (, pl. ) 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 ruled by a Roman appointed as Roman g ...

of Mauretania Sitifensis. The city was under the Roman ius (law) and its citizens were endowed with full civil rights. Saldae was a center of a

area fully Romanised, that in the late third century was even fully Christian. In the 3rd century AD, Gaius Cornelius Peregrinus, a ''decurion'' (town councillor) of Saldae, was a '' tribunus'' (military tribune, a commander at cohort level) of the auxiliary garrison at Alauna Carvetiorum, in northern

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

. An altar dedicated by him was discovered shortly before 1587 in the north-west corner of the fort, where it had probably been re-used in a late-Roman building ().

Vandal, Byzantine and modern era

In the 5th century, Saldae became the capital of the short-lived

Vandal Kingdom The Vandal Kingdom () or Kingdom of the Vandals and Alans () was a confederation of Vandals and Alans, which was a barbarian kingdoms, barbarian kingdom established under Gaiseric, a Vandals, Vandalic warlord. It ruled parts of North Africa and th ...

of the Germanic

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic people who were first reported in the written records as inhabitants of what is now Poland, during the period of the Roman Empire. Much later, in the fifth century, a group of Vandals led by kings established Vand ...

, which lasted about a century until 533 with the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

conquest, which established an African prefecture and later the Exarchate of Carthage. After the 7th-century Arab conquest, Saldae declined and had practically disappeared by the end of the first millennium. In the 11th century, it was refounded as

(v.) by the

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

Hammadid dynasty, which made it their capital, and it became an important port and centre of culture.

Ecclesiastical history

With the spread of Christianity, Saldae became a

bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

. Its bishop Paschasius was one of the Catholic bishops whom the

Arian Arianism (, ) is a Christological doctrine which rejects the traditional notion of the Trinity and considers Jesus to be a creation of God, and therefore distinct from God. It is named after its major proponent, Arius (). It is considered he ...

Vandal king

Huneric Huneric, Hunneric or Honeric (died December 23, 484) was King of the (North African) Vandal Kingdom (477–484) and the oldest son of Gaiseric. He abandoned the imperial politics of his father and concentrated mainly on internal affairs. He was ma ...

summoned to the

Council of Carthage (484) The Councils of Carthage were church synods held during the 3rd, 4th, and 5th centuries in the city of Carthage in Africa. The most important of these are described below. Synod of 251 In May 251 a synod, assembled under the presidency of Cyprian ...

and then exiled. Christianity survived the Arab conquest, the disappearance of the old city of Saldae, and the founding of the new city of

. A letter of

Pope Gregory VII Pope Gregory VII (; 1015 – 25 May 1085), born Hildebrand of Sovana (), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 April 1073 to his death in 1085. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church. One of the great ...

(1073–1085) exists, addressed to ''clero et populo Buzee'' (the clergy and people of Béjaïa), in which he writes of the consecration of a bishop named Servandus for Christian north Africa.

Titular see

No longer a residential bishopric, Saldae is today listed by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

as a

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 ...

.''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ), p. 963 It has had a long list of incumbents, mostly of the lowest (episcopal) rank, a few of intermediate (archiepiscopal) rank: * Albertus,

Friars Minor The Order of Friars Minor (commonly called the Franciscans, the Franciscan Order, or the Seraphic Order; postnominal abbreviation OFM) is a mendicant Catholic religious order, founded in 1209 by Francis of Assisi. The order adheres to the t ...

(O.F.M.) (1415–1442) * Johannes Frey, O.F.M. (1457.08.19 – 1474.04.08) * Erasmus Perchinger, O.F.M. (1482.11.06 – 1483.09.26) * Mathias Schach,

Carthusians The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians (), are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has its own rule, called the ...

(O. Cart.) (1495.11.19 – 1515.11.05) * Konrad Mair (1517.07.21 – 1522) * Hieronim Antoni Szeptycki (1739.07.20 – 1759.09.24) * Ignatius Krzyzanowski (1762.06.14 – ?) * Bernard-Claude Panet (Titular bishop 1806.07.12 – 1819.01.12), ''later Titular Archbishop (1819.01.12 – 1825.12.04)'' * Daniel O’Connell, O.E.S.A. (1834.04.25 – 1867.07.10) * Joseph-Henri-Jean-Marie Prud’homme (1937.01.29 – 1952.01.05) * Hélder Pessoa Câmara (Titular Bishop 1952.03.03 – 1955.04.02), ''later Titular Archbishop (1955.04.02 – 1964.03.12)'' * Titular Archbishop Henri-Martin-Félix Jenny (1965.05.15 – 1966.02.15) * Marie-Joseph Lemieux (1966.09.24 – 1994.03.04), later bishop and still later Archbishop * Sylvester Carmel Magro, O.F.M., (1997.03.10 – ...),

Apostolic Vicar Apostolic may refer to: The Apostles An Apostle meaning one sent on a mission: *The Twelve Apostles of Jesus, or something related to them, such as the Church of the Holy Apostles *Apostolic succession, the doctrine connecting the Christian Churc ...

Benghazi Benghazi () () is the List of cities in Libya, second-most-populous city in Libya as well as the largest city in Cyrenaica, with an estimated population of 859,000 in 2023. Located on the Gulf of Sidra in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, Ben ...

This titular see has, confusingly, for a long time ''concurrently'' had a counterpart (also Latin) called Bugia, the Italian form of Béjaïa, the modern name of former Saldae. Thus Bugia was the alternative title borne lastly by George Hilary Brown,

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

from 5 June 1840 until 22 April 1842, when he became residential bishop of Liverpool.

Notes

Bibliography

* Geoff Crowther & Hugh Finlay. ''Béjaïa & the Corniche Kabyle, Morocco, Algeria & Tunisia: a travel survival kit''. Lonely Planet, 2nd Edition, April 1992 * Serge Lancel et Omar Daoud. ''L'Algérie antique : De Massinissa à Saint Augustin''. Place des Victoires, 2008 () * Mommsen, Theodore. ''The Provinces of the Roman Empire'' Section: Roman Africa. (Leipzig 1865; London 1866; London: Macmillan 1909; reprint New York 1996) Barnes & Noble. New York, 1996 * Reynell Morell, John. ''Algeria: The Topography and History, Political, Social, and Natural, of French Africa''. Publisher N. Cooke. London, 1854

Sources and External links

GigaCatholic, with titular incumbent biography links

Images of Saldae
in Manar al-Athar digital heritage photo archive {{Authority control Archaeological sites in Algeria Catholic titular sees in Africa Roman towns and cities in Mauretania Caesariensis Ancient Berber cities