Messad (sometimes Messaad; ) is a town in
Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
. It was the Roman
Castellum Dimmidi.
History
It is about south of
Algiers. During the
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 lette ...
period it was known as ''Castellum Dimmidi'' after the Romans under emperor
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. As a young man he advanced through the customary suc ...
seized the settlement. It is unclear if the second part of the name, ''Dimmidi'', was a native name transliterated into
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
, or a new name given by the Romans.
As the ''Castellum'' (castle) implies, the settlement was a fortress along the
Limes Tripolitanus
The ''Limes Tripolitanus'' was a frontier zone of defence of the Roman Empire, built in the south of what is now Tunisia and the northwest of Libya. It was primarily intended as a protection for the tripolitanian cities of Leptis Magna, Sabratha ...
, the southern border of the province of
Numidia. It was a prosperous village and hosted a Roman garrison from roughly 198 to 240 AD.
[ Dr. Rebound,]
Notes Archéologiques sur les Ruines de Djelfa
, ''php4arab.com''. URL last accessed on 8 May 2006.
Messaad has a population of nearly 120,000 inhabitants.
See also
*
Castellum Dimmidi
References
Jewish Algerian history
Communes of Djelfa Province
Cities in Algeria
Algeria
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