A centenarium is a type of

Ancient Roman 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 ...

fortified

farmhouse FarmHouse (FH) is a social Fraternities and sororities in North America, fraternity founded at the University of Missouri on April 15, 1905. It became a national organization in 1921. Today FarmHouse has 33 active chapters and four associate ch ...

in the Limes Tripolitanus. It is called even in the plural ''centenaria'', because in the Limes Tripolitanus there were more than 2000 of these "fortifications", connected to create a defensive system against desert tribe raids.

History

The first ''centenaria'' were built during the reign of Trajan and during Septimius Severus expansions of Roman Libya and Africa Proconsularis, when the Limes Tripolitanus was established. From around the time of disbandment of the

Legio III Augusta ("Third Augustan Legion") was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. Its origin may have been the Republican 3rd Legion which served the general Pompey during his civil war against Gaius Julius Caesar (49–45 BC). It supported the general Octavia ...

in 238 AD, legionaries built around two thousand ''centenaria'' in the areas around

Leptis Magna Leptis or Lepcis Magna, also known by other names Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent fil ...

and Sabratha. Examples remain at Gherait esh-Shergia and

Gasr Banat Gasr Banat or Gasr Isawi is an archaeological site near Bani Walid in Libya and the location of an Ancient Roman centenarium or "perched" oppidum. The area is also used as a semi-permanent camp for nomads. It was studied by Graeme Barker in 1 ...

. Some were characterized by the presence of paleochristian churches.Christian churches in Limes Tripolitanus
/ref> Indeed, Leptis Magna, the main city in Roman

Tripolitania Tripolitania ( ar, طرابلس '; ber, Ṭrables, script=Latn; from Vulgar Latin: , from la, Regio Tripolitana, from grc-gre, Τριπολιτάνια), historically known as the Tripoli region, is a historic region and former province o ...

, prospered mainly because Rome stopped bandits from plundering the countryside. But even because the Roman Empire – mainly under Trajan and Septimius Severus – curbed unrest among local tribal groups with the creation of the Limes Tripolitanus and with the creation and development of cities (like Gaerisa) and forts (like Garbia) with Centenaria farms around the southern periphery of Leptis area. The ''centenaria'' system of production, based on autochthonous Berbers who were partially Latinized and often even Christians, was successful and worked very well until Byzantine times. ''Centenaria'' remained in use for several centuries after the

Arab conquest of North Africa The Muslim conquest of the Maghreb ( ar, الْفَتْحُ الإسلَامِيُّ لِلْمَغرِب) continued the century of rapid Muslim conquests following the death of Muhammad in 632 and into the Byzantine-controlled territories of ...

in the second half of the seventh century, until the system collapsed in the eleventh century CE. Some have been turned into lavish villas, such as

Suq al-Awty A bazaar () or souk (; also transliterated as souq) is a marketplace consisting of multiple small stalls or shops, especially in the Middle East, the Balkans, North Africa and India. However, temporary open markets elsewhere, such as in the W ...

. There is much conjecture about the origin of the word ''centenarium'' and whether it is etymologically tied to the locally built fortified farmhouses called

Gasr A Gasr (plural ''Gsur'') is a fortified building found predominantly in Libya. There is much conjecture about their relation to centenarium built by invading Ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation ...

(plural ''Gsur''). Probably their Latin name was due to the fact that one hundred men (one hundred is said in Latin ''centum'') worked each fortified farm, under the orders of a former

centurion A centurion (; la, centurio , . la, centuriones, label=none; grc-gre, κεντυρίων, kentyríōn, or ) was a position in the Roman army during classical antiquity, nominally the commander of a century (), a military unit of around 80 ...

References

Bibliography

* Di Vita, Antonino. ''Quaderni di archeologia della Libia''. Volume 5 Ed. L'ERMA di Bretschneider. Roma, 1967 {{ISBN, 887062062X Africa (Roman province) History of Tripolitania Latin words and phrases