Abthugni ( xpu, 𐤀𐤐𐤁𐤂𐤍, , or , ) was an ancient city in
Roman North Africa
Africa Proconsularis was a Roman province on the northern African coast that was established in 146 BC following the defeat of Carthage in the Third Punic War. It roughly comprised the territory of present-day Tunisia, the northeast of Algeria, ...
at present day
Suwar
A ''surah'' (; ar, سورة, sūrah, , ), is the equivalent of "chapter" in the Qur'an. There are 114 ''surahs'' in the Quran, each divided into '' ayats'' (verses). The chapters or ''surahs'' are of unequal length; the shortest surah (''Al-Ka ...
(
Henchir-es-Souar) in
Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
. It was, in
Roman times
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...
, in the province of
Africa Proconsularis
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
,
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
, and latter in
Byzacena
Byzacena (or Byzacium) ( grc, Βυζάκιον, ''Byzakion'') was a Late Roman province in the central part of Roman North Africa, which is now roughly Tunisia, split off from Africa Proconsularis.
History
At the end of the 3rd century AD, the ...
. In late antiquity Abthugni was also the
seat of a
bishop
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
, and the
diocese
In Ecclesiastical polity, 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 Roman province, pro ...
is 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 archbish ...
of the
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
to this day.
Location
The city was located at
Henchir-es-Souar in the hill country south of
Uthica, from
Zaghouan
Zaghouan (or Zaghwan; ar, زغوان '' ; ber, ⵣⴻⵖⵡⴰⵏ / Zeɣwan)'' is a town in the northern half of Tunisia.
Situated on a low ridge of the Dorsale Mountains, the town has a mild climate and presents a green aspect. Cold water ...
at an elevation of above sea level. It was a suffran of
Carthage
Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, 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 classi ...
. According to Ferchiou, the name of the place is to be reconstructed as Abtugnos.
History
The city was probably founded in the 3rd century BC, and was well established by 30 BC.
Numerous inscriptions have been found documenting the history of Abthugni
The Roman consul
Gaius Rutilius Gallicus
Quintus Julius Cordinus Gaius Rutilius Gallicus was a Roman senator who held several posts in the emperor's service. He was twice suffect consul: for the first time in the '' nundinium'' of September to October 70 AD; and the second time in 85 ...
performed survey work near Abthugni during the reign of
Vespasian
Vespasian (; la, Vespasianus ; 17 November AD 9 – 23/24 June 79) was a Roman emperor who reigned from AD 69 to 79. The fourth and last emperor who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty that ruled the Empi ...
.
Hadrian
Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania B ...
made Abthugni a city of
Municipium
In ancient Rome, the Latin term (pl. ) 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 privi ...
status.
During the
Diocletian Persecution
The Diocletianic or Great Persecution was the last and most severe persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. In 303, the emperors Diocletian, Maximian, Galerius, and Constantius issued a series of edicts rescinding Christians' legal rights ...
the city's Christian community is said to have meet near a cemetery outside the city area, to avoid the
jurisdiction
Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels.
Jur ...
of the town officials. In the 4th century during the time of the
emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
Valens
Valens ( grc-gre, Ουάλης, Ouálēs; 328 – 9 August 378) was Roman emperor from 364 to 378. Following a largely unremarkable military career, he was named co-emperor by his elder brother Valentinian I, who gave him the eastern half of ...
some of the public buildings were restored.
The town was a
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
fortress in late antiquity.
Archaeology
There are a few ruins of the city, including several
temple
A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...
s,
baths and tombs. The first investigations at the Capitolium of Abthugnos were undertaken by Gauckler and Cagnat at the end of the 19th century.
Ernest Babelon
Ernest Charles François Babelon (born 7 November 1854 in Sarrey, Département Haute-Marne; died 3 January 1924 in Paris) was a French Numismatist and classical archaeologist.
Education and career
Ernest Babelon trained from 1874 to 1878 to be ...
lists many preserved buildings, including two temples, the Byzantine city wall, a rectangular basin, and a mausoleum. Recent work was led by
Nadié Ferchiou, in the course of which the entire Forum area and the Capitolium were excavated.
Considerable ruins in the
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
enclosure include two
temples
A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...
, including a capitol and a rectangular pool which is accessed by thirteen steps. There is also a
mausoleum
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be consid ...
and great many ruined monuments.
Bishopric
The city was 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 ...
. Known bishops include *
Felix of Aptunga Felix, Bishop of Aptunga, in proconsular Africa was a 4th-century churchman, at the center of the Donatist controversy.
Felix was one of those who laid hands on Caecilian as Bishop of Carthage in 311AD. This act led to a major schism in Early N ...
, one of three bishops who consecrated
Cæcilianus, therefore precipitating the
Donatist
Donatism was a Christian sect leading to a schism in the Church, in the region of the Church of Carthage, from the fourth to the sixth centuries. Donatists argued that Christian clergy must be faultless for their ministry to be effective and t ...
controversy. The proto-Donatist in
Cirta
Cirta, also known by various other names in antiquity, was the ancient Berber and Roman settlement which later became Constantine, Algeria.
Cirta was the capital city of the Berber kingdom of Numidia; its strategically important port city w ...
called his consecration invalid,
*Magnus fl. 345-348
*Felix fl. 411
*Saturnus fl. 525
The diocese ceased to function effectively in the late 7th century with the coming of Islamic armies. However the diocese was re-founded in name in 1933.
The current bishop is
Adelio Pasqualotto who replaced
Paul Henry Walshin December 2014.
Abthugni
at catholic-hierarchy.org.
References
Citations
Bibliography
* . {{in lang, de
Coloniae (Roman)
Roman towns and cities in Tunisia
Former populated places in Tunisia
Catholic titular sees in Africa