Hippone[1] | |
 Basilica of Saint Augustine overlooking the ruins of Hippo Regius | |
  Hippo Regius Shown within Algeria | |
| Location | Algeria |
|---|---|
| Region | Annaba Province |
| Coordinates | 36°52′57″N07°45′00″E / 36.88250°N 7.75000°E /36.88250; 7.75000 |
Hippo Regius (also known asHippo orHippone) is the ancient name of the modern city ofAnnaba,Algeria. It served as an important city for thePhoenicians,Berbers,Romans, andVandals. Hippo was the capital city of theVandal Kingdom from AD 435 to 439.[2] After the Vandalcapture of Carthage in 439,Carthage became the capital.
It was the focus of several earlyChristian councils and home toAugustine of Hippo, aChurch Father highly important inWestern Christianity.[a]
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Hippo is thelatinization ofʿpwn (Punic:𐤏𐤐𐤅𐤍),[3][4] probably related to the wordûbôn, meaning "harbor".[5] The town was first settled byPhoenicians fromTyre around the 12th century BC. To distinguish it from Hippo Diarrhytus (the modernBizerte, inTunisia), the Romans later referred to it as Hippo Regius ("the Royal Hippo") because it was one of the residences of theNumidian kings. Its nearby river was Latinized as theUbus and the bay to its east was known as Hippo Bay (Latin:Hipponensis Sinus).
A maritime city near the mouth of the river Ubus, it became a Romancolonia[6] which prospered and became a major city inRoman Africa. It served as thebishopric ofSaint Augustine of Hippo in his later years. In AD 430, theVandals advanced eastwards along the North African coast andlaid siege to the walled city of Hippo Regius.[citation needed] Inside, Saint Augustine and his priests prayed for relief from the invaders, knowing full well that the fall of the city would spell death or conversion to theArian confession for much of the Christian population. On 28 August 430, three months into the siege, St. Augustine (who was 75 years old) died,[7] perhaps from starvation or stress, as the wheat fields outside the city lay dormant and unharvested. Hunger and the inevitable diseases were ravaging both the city inhabitants and the Vandals outside the city walls who lifted the siege after 14 months.[8] The peace treaty of 435 acknowledged the Vandals' possession of the city[8] andKing Geiseric made it the first capital of theVandal Kingdom until thecapture of Carthage in 439.[9]
It was conquered by theEastern Roman Empire in 534 and was kept under Roman rule until 698, when it fell to theMuslims; the Arabs rebuilt the town in the eighth century. The city's later history is treated under its modern (Arabic and colonial) names.
About three kilometres distant in the eleventh century, the BerberZirids established the town ofBeled-el-Anab, which the Spaniards occupied for some years in the sixteenth century, as the French did later, in the reign ofLouis XIV. France took this town again in 1832. It was renamed Bône or Bona, and became one of the government centres for theConstantine (departement) in Algeria.[6] It had 37,000 inhabitants, of whom 10,800 were original inhabitants, consisting of 9,400 Muslims and 1,400 naturalized Jews. 15,700 were French and 10,500 foreigners, including many Italians.
Hippo was an ancient bishopric, one of many suffragans in the formerRoman province ofNumidia, a part of the residential see ofConstantine. It contains some ancient ruins, a hospital built by theLittle Sisters of the Poor and a finebasilica dedicated to St. Augustine. Under St. Augustine there were at least three monasteries in the diocese besides the episcopal monastery.[6]
The diocese was established around 250 AD. Only these eight bishops of Hippo are known:
It was suppressed around 450 AD.
Three church councils were held at Hippo (393, 394, 426)[6] and more synods – also in 397 (two sessions, June and September) and 401, all under Aurelius.[11]
The synods of the Ancient (North) African church were held, with but few exceptions (e.g. Hippo, 393;Milevum, 402) atCarthage. We know from the letters ofSaint Cyprian that, except in time of persecution, the African bishops met at least once a year, in the springtime, and sometimes again in the autumn. Six or seven synods, for instance, were held under St. Cyprian's presidency during the decade of his administration (249–258), and more than fifteen under Aurelius (391–429). The Synod of Hippo of 393 ordered a general meeting yearly, but this was found too onerous for the bishops, and in the Synod of Carthage (407) it was decided to hold a general synod only when necessary for the needs of all Africa, and it was to be held at a place most convenient for the purpose. Not all the bishops of the country were required to assist at the general synod. At the Synod of Hippo (393) it was ordered that "dignities" should be sent from each ecclesiastical province. Only one was required fromTripoli (in Libya), because of the poverty of the bishops of that province. At the Synod of Hippo (393), and again at the Synod of 397 at Carthage, a list of the books of Holy Scripture was drawn up,[11] and these books are still regarded as the constituents of the Catholic canon.
The Hippo(ne) diocese was nominally revived in 1400 as Catholic Latintitular bishopric of the (lowest) episcopal rank, for which no incumbent is recorded.
It ceased to exist on 23 September 1867, when the see was formally united with theRoman Catholic Diocese of Constantine.
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