Hippo Regius (also known as Hippo or Hippone) is the ancient name of the modern city of
Annaba
Annaba ( ar, عنّابة, "Place of the Jujubes"; ber, Aânavaen), formerly known as Bon, Bona and Bône, is a seaport city in the northeastern corner of Algeria, close to the border with Tunisia. Annaba is near the small Seybouse River ...
,
Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
. It historically served as an important city for the
Phoenicia
Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their his ...
ns,
Berbers
, image = File:Berber_flag.svg
, caption = The Berber ethnic flag
, population = 36 million
, region1 = Morocco
, pop1 = 14 million to 18 million
, region2 = Algeria
, pop2 ...
,
Romans, and
Vandals
The Vandals were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal Kingdom, Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century.
The ...
. Hippo was the capital city of the
Vandal Kingdom from 435 to 439 C.E. until it was shifted to
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 ...
following the Vandal
Capture of Carthage (439).
It was the focus of several early
Christian councils and home to
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afr ...
, a
Church Father highly important in
Western Christianity
Western Christianity is one of two sub-divisions of Christianity ( Eastern Christianity being the other). Western Christianity is composed of the Latin Church and Western Protestantism, together with their offshoots such as the Old Catholi ...
.
History
Hippo is the
latinization of ( xpu, 𐤏𐤐𐤅𐤍), probably related to the word ''ûbôn'', meaning "harbor". The town was first settled by
Phoenicians
Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their his ...
from
Tyre around the 12th centuryBC. To distinguish it from Hippo Diarrhytus (the modern
Bizerte, in
Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
), the Romans later referred to it as Hippo Regius ("the Royal Hippo") because it was one of the residences of the
Numidian kings. Its nearby river was Latinized as the Ubus and the bay to its east was known as Hippo Bay ( la, Hipponensis Sinus).
A maritime city near the mouth of the river Ubus, it became a Roman
colonia which prospered and became a major city in
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
* Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...
Africa. It is perhaps most famous as the
bishopric of
Saint Augustine of Hippo in his later years. In AD 430, the
Vandals
The Vandals were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal Kingdom, Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century.
The ...
advanced eastwards along the North African coast and
laid siege to the walled city of Hippo Regius. 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 the
Arian heresy
The Arian controversy was a series of Christian disputes about the nature of Christ that began with a dispute between Arius and Athanasius of Alexandria, two Christian theologians from Alexandria, Egypt. The most important of these controversies ...
for much of the Christian population. On 28 August 430, three months into the siege, St. Augustine (who was 75 years old) died, perhaps from starvation or stress, as the wheat fields outside the city lay dormant and unharvested. After 14 months, hunger and the inevitable diseases were ravaging both the city inhabitants and the Vandals outside the city walls. The city fell to the Vandals and
King Geiseric made it the first capital of the
Vandal Kingdom until the
capture
Capture may refer to:
*Asteroid capture, a phenomenon in which an asteroid enters a stable orbit around another body
*Capture, a software for lighting design, documentation and visualisation
*"Capture" a song by Simon Townshend
*Capture (band), an ...
of Carthage in 439.
It was conquered by the
Eastern Roman Empire
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 Constantino ...
in 534 and was kept under Roman rule until 698, when it fell to the
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
s; 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 Berber
Zirids
The Zirid dynasty ( ar, الزيريون, translit=az-zīriyyūn), Banu Ziri ( ar, بنو زيري, translit=banū zīrī), or the Zirid state ( ar, الدولة الزيرية, translit=ad-dawla az-zīriyya) was a Sanhaja Berber dynasty from ...
established the town of ''Beleb-el-Anab'', which the Spaniards occupied for some years in the sixteenth century, as the French did later, in the reign of
Louis XIV
Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was List of French monarchs, King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the Li ...
. France took this town again in 1832. It was renamed Bône or Bona, and became one of the government centres for the
Constantine (departement) in Algeria. 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.
Ecclesiastical history
Hippo was an ancient bishopric, one of many suffragans in the former
Roman province
The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...
of
Numidia, since French colonial rule a part of the residential see of
Constantine. It contains some ancient ruins, a hospital built by the
Little Sisters of the Poor and a fine
basilica
In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its nam ...
dedicated to St. Augustine. Under St. Augustine there were at least three monasteries in the diocese besides the episcopal monastery.
The diocese was established around 250 AD. Only these six bishops of Hippo are known:
* Saint Theogenes(256? –
martyr
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...
259?)
* Saint Leontius (? – 303?)
*
Fidentius (? – martyr ?304)
* Valerius (388? – 396), who ordained St. Augustine
* the "Doctor of Grace", Saint Augustine (354 – 28 August 430,
coadjutor in 395, bishop in 396)
* Heraclius (coadjutor in 426, bishop in 430).
It was suppressed around 450 AD.
Council of Hippo
Three church councils were held at Hippo (393, 394, 426) and more synods – also in 397 (two sessions, June and September) and 401, all under Aurelius.
The synods of the Ancient (North) African church were held, with but few exceptions (e.g. Hippo, 393;
Milevum
Milevum (in Latin even "Milev" or "Mireon"; ''Μιραίον'' in Ancient Greek) was a Roman– Berber city in the Roman province of Numidia. It was located in present-day Mila in eastern Algeria.
History
In Ptolemy's "Geography" (vol. IV, ...
, 402) at
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 ...
. We know from the letters of
Saint 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 from
Tripoli (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, and these books (including some considered
apocryphal by Protestants) are still regarded as the constituents of the Catholic canon.
Titular episcopal see
The Hippo(ne) diocese was nominally revived in 1400 as Catholic Latin
titular 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 the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Constantine.
See also
*
Auzia
Auzia was a Roman- Berber colonia in present-day Sour El-Ghozlane, Algeria. The area was located around 150 km south-east of Algiers, in the ancient province of Mauretania Caesariensis.
History
Auzia probably took the name from the Berbe ...
*
Caesarea of Mauretania
*
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 ...
*
Chullu
*
Mauretania Caesariensis
Mauretania Caesariensis (Latin for " Caesarean Mauretania") was a Roman province located in what is now Algeria in the Maghreb. The full name refers to its capital Caesarea Mauretaniae (modern Cherchell).
The province had been part of the King ...
*
Milevum
Milevum (in Latin even "Milev" or "Mireon"; ''Μιραίον'' in Ancient Greek) was a Roman– Berber city in the Roman province of Numidia. It was located in present-day Mila in eastern Algeria.
History
In Ptolemy's "Geography" (vol. IV, ...
*
List of cultural assets of Algeria
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Further reading
* Laffi, Umberto. ''Colonie e municipi nello Stato romano'' Ed. di Storia e Letteratura. Roma, 2007
* Mommsen, Theodore. ''The Provinces of the Roman Empire'' Section: Roman Africa. (Leipzig 1865; London 1866; London: Macmillan 1909; reprint New York 1996) Barnes & Noble. New York, 1996
* Smyth Vereker, Charles. ''Scenes in the Sunny South: Including the Atlas Mountains and the Oases of the Sahara in Algeria''. Volume 2. Publisher Longmans, Green, and Company. University of Wisconsin. Madison,1871
Roman Hippo Regius)
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hippo Regius
12th-century BC establishments
Annaba
Archaeological sites in Algeria
Catholic titular sees in Africa
Numidia (Roman provinces)
Phoenician colonies in Algeria
Populated places established in the 2nd millennium BC
Roman towns and cities in Algeria