Limisa
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Limisa (today Aïn-Lemsa) is a town and archaeological site in
Kairouan Governorate Kairouan Governorate ( ') is one of the twenty-four governorates of Tunisia. It is landlocked and in the centre-east of the country. It covers an area of 6,712 km2 and has a population of 570,559 (2014 census). The narrower province of Sou ...
,
Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...
. It is located 50 kilometers west of
kairouan Kairouan (, ), also spelled El Qayrawān or Kairwan ( ar, ٱلْقَيْرَوَان, al-Qayrawān , aeb, script=Latn, Qeirwān ), is the capital of the Kairouan Governorate in Tunisia and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city was founded by th ...
. The town was a
Roman Catholic 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 lette ...
diocese. The street pattern of the village is fairly regular in its layout and terrace fields move down the hill from the town to the nearby
wadi Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water onl ...
Oued Maarouf Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), Maghrebi Arabic, North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemerality, ephemeral) S ...
. The Parc National Djebel Serj is to the north of the town, but the town is best known for the ruins of 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 ...
fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
known as
Ksar Lemsa Limisa (today Aïn-Lemsa) is a town and archaeological site in Kairouan Governorate, Tunisia. It is located 50 kilometers west of kairouan. The town was a Roman Catholic diocese. The street pattern of the village is fairly regular in its layout a ...
. The Cave Mine is nearby.


History

During antiquity, Limisa was a
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 letter ...
- Berber
civitas In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (; plural ), according to Cicero in the time of the late Roman Republic, was the social body of the , or citizens, united by law (). It is the law that binds them together, giving them responsibilities () on th ...
in the
province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...
of
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, t ...
. The remains of the town have been identified with ruins at Henchir-Boudja near modern Limisa. Little is known of the ancient Roman city of Limisa. A few excavations have been carried out and only 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 ...
citadel A citadel is the core fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of "city", meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. In ...
and the small Roman theater are known. The municipal organization is also only slightly understood, as epigraphic evidence indicates Roman-dominated Limisa was initially governed by the
Punic The Punic people, or western Phoenicians, were a Semitic people in the Western Mediterranean who migrated from Tyre, Phoenicia to North Africa during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' – the Latin equivalent of t ...
-style dual magistracy, the '' sufetes''. An epigraphic corpus makes it possible to understand some aspects of the city from the architectural point of view as well as from its organization. The city had the status of
civitas In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (; plural ), according to Cicero in the time of the late Roman Republic, was the social body of the , or citizens, united by law (). It is the law that binds them together, giving them responsibilities () on th ...
at least until the beginning of the reign 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), ...
Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa (Roman province), Africa. As a young man he advanced thro ...
then as a
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 ...
sometime before 208. From an architectural point of view, epigraphy mentions an arch and the restoration of thermal baths built under
Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I *Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine given name ...
at the end of the 4th century. According to
Victor of Vita Victor Vitensis (or Victor of Vita; born circa 430) was an African bishop of the Province of Byzacena (called Vitensis from his See of Vita). His importance rests on his ''Historia persecutionis Africanae Provinciae, temporibus Genserici et Huniri ...
the
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 name ...
s of Lemsa had been burned in 305. The site was excavated between 1966 and 1969 by K. Belkhodja.


Ksar Lemsa

At Henchir-Boudja may be the ruins of 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 A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
, with 15 feet wide walls and towers., ''History of Fortification from 3000 BC to AD 1700'' (Barnsley: Pen and Sword, 19 Sep. 2006 ) p. 51 (1st ed. 1955; 2nd ed. 1966).


References

{{coord, 36, 02, 13, N, 9, 41, 29, E, display=title Ancient Berber cities Catholic titular sees in Africa Roman towns and cities in Tunisia