Semta was a

Roman era In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

Municipium In ancient Rome, the Latin term (: ) referred to a town or city. Etymologically, the was a social contract among ('duty holders'), or citizens of the town. The duties () were a communal obligation assumed by the in exchange for the privileges ...

also known as ''Augustum Semta'' in

Africa Proconsularis Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

that is tentatively identified with ruins at Henchir Zemba ( Dzemda)

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 ...

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

near the Oued el Kebir southwest of Zaghouan at 36.269282, 9.887345.

Ruins

The site has been excavated and those excavations revealed three different building complexes: * a rectangular building, * a high mausoleum and, * two further buildings, one of which is called 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 ...

fortress, measuring . Numerous inscriptions have been found there.

Bishopric

The ancient city was also the seat of an ancient

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 ...

in the

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian churches, including those of both Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity, that have traditional hierarchical structures. An ecclesiastical province consist ...

. Only two bishops are known from Semta. The Catholic Maggiorino attended the

Council of Carthage (411) 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 ...

, as at that time the city had no Donatist bishops. Florenzio took part in the anti-Monothelite

Council of Carthage (646) 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 ...

. The current bishop is Juan Gómez.''Revue des Ordinations Épiscopales'', Issue 1955, Number 71.

References

{{coord missing, Tunisia Archaeological sites in Tunisia Roman towns and cities in Tunisia Catholic titular sees in Africa