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  Hadrumetum Shown within Tunisia | |
| Location | Tunisia |
|---|---|
| Region | Sousse Governorate |
| Coordinates | 35°49′28″N10°38′20″E / 35.824444°N 10.638889°E /35.824444; 10.638889 |
Hadrumetum,[1] also known bymany variant spellings and names, was aPhoeniciancolony that pre-datedCarthage. It subsequently became one of the most important cities in Roman Africa beforeVandal andUmayyad conquerors left it ruined. In the early modern period, it was the village ofHammeim, now part ofSousse,Tunisia.
A number of punic steles were found during excavations at the site of the modern dayÉglise Notre-Dame-de-l'Immaculée-Conception de Sousse [fr].
ThePhoenician andPunic name for the place wasDRMT (𐤃𐤓𐤌𐤕), 'southern', orʾDRMT (𐤀𐤃𐤓𐤌𐤕), 'the southern'.[2] A similar structure appears in the Phoenician name for oldCádiz, which appears asGadir ('stronghold') orAgadir ('the stronghold').
The ancient transcriptions of the name show a great deal of variation. DifferentGreekshellenized the name asAdrýmē (Ἀδρύμη),[3]Adrýmēs (Ἀδρύμης),Adrýmēton (Ἀδρύμητον),[2]Adrýmētos (Ἀδρύμητος),Adramýtēs (Ἀδραμύτης),Adrámētós (Ἀδράμητος)[1] andAdrumetum (Ἀδρούμητον).[4] Surviving Roman inscriptions and coinage standardized itslatinization as Hadrumetum[1] but it appears in other sources as Adrumetum,[3] Adrumetus,[5] Adrimetum, Hadrymetum, etc.[1] Upon its notional refounding as aRoman colony, its formal name was emended toColonia Concordia Ulpia Trajana AugustaFrugifera Hadrumetina to honor its imperial sponsor.[1]
It was renamed Honoriopolis after the emperorHonorius in the early 5th century,[citation needed] then Hunericopolis after the Vandal kingHuneric[6] and Justinianopolis[3] after the first few years of occupation from emperor Justinian I.[7]
Hadrumetum controlled the mouth of a small river[8] on theGulf of Hammamet (Latin:Sinus Neapolitanus), an inlet of theMediterranean along theTunisian coast.[1]
In the 9th century BC,[citation needed]Tyrians established Hadrumetum[1] as a trading post and waypoint along their trade routes toItaly and theStrait of Gibraltar. Its establishment precededCarthage's[9] but, like other westernPhoenician colonies, it became part of theCarthaginian Empire[1] followingNebuchadnezzar II'slong siege of Tyre in the 580s and 570s BC.
Agathocles of Syracuse captured the town in 310 BC[1] during theSeventh Sicilian War, as part of his failed attempt to move the conflict to Africa. Hadrumetum later provided refuge toHannibal and other Carthaginian survivors after their202 BC defeat at Zama,[1] which decided the outcome of theSecond Punic War. The total length of the Punic fortifications was apparently 6,410 meters (21,030 ft); some ruins survive.[10]
During theThird Punic War, the government of Hadrumetum supported theRomans against Carthage[11] and, afterCarthage's destruction in 146 BC, it received additional territory andthe status of a free city in thanks.[12] During this period, it chose its ownshufets (Latin:duumvir) and minted its ownbronze coins with the head of "Neptune" or the Sun.[10]
During thecivil war betweenPompey andJulius Caesar,G. Considius Longus secured Hadrumetum for theOptimates with forces equivalent to twolegions. Despite being reinforced byGn. Calpurnius Piso'sBerber cavalry and footmen fromClupea, however, he was obliged to allow Caesar to land nearby on 28 December 47 BC.[13] According toSuetonius, this landing was the occasion of the famously deft recovery, when Caesar tripped while coming ashore but dealt with the pooromen by grabbing handfuls of dirt and proclaiming "I have you now, Africa!" (Latin:teneo te Africa)[14] Caesar's attempts to negotiate with Longus were rejected but the campaign subsequently led tohis victory overMetellus Scipio andJuba atThapsus, after which Longus was killed by his own men for the money he was carrying[15] and the town went over to Caesar.[16]
Hadrumetum was one of the most important communities inRoman North Africa because of the fertility of its hinterland (modern Tunisia'sSahel), which made it an important source ofRome's grain supply. It quarreled with its neighborThysdrus over the temple of a goddessequated toMinerva, which stood on their shared border.[1]
UnderAugustus, Hadrumetum's coins bore his faceobverse and the name (and often face) of Africa's proconsulreverse; after Augustus, the mint was closed.[10] Hadrumetum revolted whileVespasian wasproconsul ofAfrica.[17] It nonetheless continued to prosper;Trajan gave it the rank of aRoman colony, giving its residentsRoman citizenship.[3] A breathtaking legacy of intricatemosaics survives from this era, together with many early Christian objects from thecatacombs. It was the second city in Roman Africa afterCarthage and the birthplace ofClodius Albinus, who attempted to becomeemperor in the 190s.[10] At the end of the 3rd century, it became the capital of the new province ofByzacena[5] (modernSahel, Tunisia).
In 434, it was largely destroyed by theVandals;[5][10] their ferventArianism produced a number of orthodox martyrs in the remaining community, includingSS Felix andVictorian. A century later, Hadrumetum was retaken and rebuilt by theByzantines during theVandal War.[18] It wasconquered by theUmayyad Caliphate in the 7th century.
The ruins of Hadrumetum stood in the village of Hammeim,[3] 10 kilometers (6 mi) from the laterSousse,[8] which grew up to include them in its outskirts.
Undercolonial rule, the French engineer A. Daux[which?] rediscovered thejetties andmoles of the Roman town's commercial harbor and the line of its military harbor; both had been mostly artificial and havesilted up since antiquity.[10]Louis Carton and Abbé Leynaud[which?] rediscovered theChristiancatacombs in 1904; the tunnels extend for miles through small subterranean galleries filled with Roman and Byzantinesarcophagi and inscriptions.[10]
In addition to thePunic walls, Roman harbors, and Byzantine catacombs, there are ruins of the Byzantine acropolis andbasilica; the Romanhorse track,cisterns, thetheater; and a Punicnecropolis.[10]
As a major Roman city, Hadrumetum produced a number ofChristian saints, includingMavilus during theregional persecutions ofCaracalla's reign and the BishopFelix and proconsulVictorian during theVandals' efforts toforcibly convert their subjects toArianism. From 255 to 551, the city was theseat of aChristianbishopric. The see was revived in the 17th century as aCatholictitular see.
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There were nine ancient bishops of Hadrumetum who are still known.[5]
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35°49′28″N10°38′20″E / 35.82444°N 10.63889°E /35.82444; 10.63889