 Roman remains in Sitifis | |
  Shown within Algeria | |
| Location | Algeria |
|---|---|
| Region | Sétif Province |
| Coordinates | 36°11′00″N5°24′00″E / 36.183333°N 5.4°E /36.183333; 5.4 |
Sétifis (Arabic:سطيف;Berber:Sṭif), was aRoman town located in northeasternAlgeria.[1] It was the capital of the Roman province calledMauretania Sitifensis,[2] and it is todaySetif in theSétif Province (Algeria).
Sitifis was founded in 97 AD, during the reign ofNerva, as a colony forRoman veterans. Although no buildings of this period are known, a cemetery excavated in the 1960s contained Punic shaft tombs dated to the 2nd century AD.[3] As the town grew, around 297 AD, the province ofMauretania Sitifensis was established, with Sitifis as its capital. In the newly prosperous town a bath building was built, decorated with fine mosaics: its restoration in the fifth century had a cold room (frigidarium) paved with a large mosaic showing the birth of Venus.[4] Setifis initially was populated by Punic people and later by Italian colonists.[1]
Sitifis was officiallyColonia Augusta Nerviana Martialis Veteranorum Sitifensium, and from the time ofDiocletian, (293 A.D.), was the capital ofMauretania Sitifensis (now eastern Algeria).[5] Today vestiges of thethird century andfourth century includecity walls,temple, circus, mausoleum and "Scipio"Byzantinefortress. Numerous archaeological artifacts are exhibited at the archaeological museum of the city.
Although what happened underVandal rule is not known, theByzantine reconquest brought with it a major fort, of which parts are still standing. In the sixth centuryChristianity was the main religion, with a strong presence ofDonatism. Under the Vandals it was the chief town of a district called "Zaba". It was still the capital of a province (called "Mauretania Prima") under Byzantine rule and was then a place of strategic importance. The area became a part ofByzantine North Africa in 541, that saw the introduction of Orthodox doctrines to the main Donatist and Catholic towns of theirExarchate of Africa[6]
In 647 AD the firstMuslim expedition toAfrica took place and by the end of this century, the area started to be conquered. Indeed,Uqba ibn Nafi partially destroyed Sitifis in a raid in 680 AD, when his forces conquered nearbySaldae (actualBougie), while fighting to reach theAtlantic Ocean. The Byzantine era of Sitifis was over. By 702 AD, the area had been fully conquered by theUmayyad Caliphate.
In the eight century the region had been converted to the Islamic faith. We know little of the early Islamic town, but by the tenth century the area outside of the fortress was once more filled with houses: on the site of the Roman baths over twelve of these were excavated, with large courtyards surrounded by long, thin, rooms.[7] In the mid-eleventh century this development stopped abruptly, and a defensive wall was built around the city.
HistorianLeo Africanus reports that a major wave of destruction followed the invasion of theBanu Hillal shortly thereafter.
Similar to an army of locusts, they (the Banu Hillal) destroy everything in their path.Ibn Khaldun, a Muslim historian
Nothing more is known of what used to be Roman Setifis until the ruins of the town were used by theFrench army (who built their own fortress on the site in 1848, using the line of the medieval city wall and the Byzantine fortress). The modern city was founded by theFrench on the ruins of the ancient one.[8]
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On the northwest edge of the town two greatChristianbasilicas were built at the end of the fourth century, decorated, again, with splendidmosaics,[9] and aBishopric was founded at this time.
The city had abath house[10] fortifications[11] The inhabitants made inscriptions to theemperors a practice that falls out in the 4thcentury with the rise ofChristianity.[12][13]
The city had also a "Circus";[14] the approximate location confirmed by old air photographs showing 90% of the circus has now been built over;.[15] Only the southern, curved, end remains visible. The U-shaped formerly visible track was 450 m. long and 70 m. wide.[16]
The city was also the center of a bishopric.[17]Saint Augustine, who had frequent relations with Sitifis, tells us that in his day the Bishopric had a monastery and an episcopal school. Several Christian inscriptions have been found there, one of 452 mentioning the relics ofSaint Lawrence, another naming two martyrs of Sitifis, Justus and Decurius.The diocese effectively ceased with the Islamic invasion, but remains atitular see to the current day.
Bishops known to us include:
Romano-Berber cities in Roman North Africa | ||
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Sorted by contemporary national borders | ||
| Morocco | %2c_Algeria_04966r.jpg) | |
| Algeria |
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| Tunisia | ||
| Egypt | ||
| Spain | ||
| Kingdoms and provinces | ||
| Related articles | ||
1 UNESCO World Heritage Sites2 Proposed | ||
| International | |
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| Geographic | |
