Naraggara was an ancient city in

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 ...

located 33 kilometer northwest of modern-day

El Kef El Kef ( ar, الكاف '), also known as ''Le Kef'', is a city in northwestern Tunisia. It serves as the capital of the Kef Governorate. El Kef is situated to the west of Tunis and some east of the border between Algeria and Tunisia. It has a ...

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 considered to be the modern-day town of

Sakiet Sidi Youssef Sakiet Sidi Youssef ( aeb, ساقية سيدي يوسف) is a town and commune in the Kef Governorate, Tunisia, near the border with Algeria. As of 2014, it had a population of 6,335. History In Roman times, the town was known as Naraggara. Roma ...

, also located in Tunisia. The name Naraggara, a Libyan inscription, suggests a pre-

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 ...

origin for the city, along with the name being bilingual in

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 ...

and

Neo-Punic The Punic language, also called Phoenicio-Punic or Carthaginian, is an extinct variety of the Phoenician language, a Canaanite language of the Northwest Semitic branch of the Semitic languages. An offshoot of the Phoenician language of coastal We ...

Battle of Zama

Though not much is known about the ancient city itself, it receives recognition from Roman historian

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in ...

as the site of the Second Punic War’s final battle, called

Battle of Zama The Battle of Zama was fought in 202 BC near Zama, now in Tunisia, and marked the end of the Second Punic War. A Roman army led by Publius Cornelius Scipio, with crucial support from Numidian leader Masinissa, defeated the Carthaginian ...

. The Romans, led by Scipio Africanus the Elder, defeated Hannibal’s

Carthaginians 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 the ...

and put an end to the 17-year war. The two armies found their way to Naraggara after Scipio devised a strategy to attack

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 cla ...

while Hannibal and his army were located in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. This was in an attempt to prevent Hannibal from defeating further Roman armies and instead be recalled to Carthage. After landing in Africa, the Roman army successfully defeated the Carthaginian army at the

Battle of the Great Plains The Battle of the Great Plains ( la, Campi Magni) was a battle between a Roman army commanded by Scipio Africanus and a combined Carthaginian-Numidian army late in the Second Punic War. It was fought on the plains south of Bulla Regia around the ...

in 203 BC, which pressured the Carthaginians into offering peace. After the peace treaty was signed, the Carthaginian senate recalled Hannibal from Italy. However shortly thereafter, the agreement was breached by Carthage for attacking a Roman fleet in the

Gulf of Tunis The Gulf of Tunis () is a large Mediterranean bay in north-eastern Tunisia, extending for from Cape Farina in the west to Cape Bon in the east. Tunis, the capital city of Tunisia, lies at the south-western edge of the Gulf, as have a series of ...

. This led to the war being resumed, with both Hannibal and Scipio deploying troops in Africa and eventually marching toward the battle site near Naraggara, where the Second Punic War would be won by the Romans. Some note a discrepancy of where the battle was actually fought. While Livy recounted Naraggara as the historical battle site, Polybius claims it occurred at Margaron, another ancient city nearby, though the exact location is unknown. This may be supported by the fact the features described by Livy and Polybius, in regards to the site of the Battle of Zama, are nowhere to be found near modern Naraggara. After the war’s conclusion and ensuing treaty, Carthage was dealt harsh punishments, one of which was requiring permission from Rome to wage war. This created an issue when settling border disputes with neighboring kingdom, and Roman ally, Numidia. After repaying its debt to Rome fifty years after the Second Punic War, Carthage repelled against Numidian invaders and ultimately suffered a military defeat. This attack angered Rome because they did not give such consent to Carthage, and thus declared war. This began the

Third Punic War The Third Punic War (149–146 BC) was the third and last of the Punic Wars fought between Carthage and Rome. The war was fought entirely within Carthaginian territory, in modern northern Tunisia. When the Second Punic War ended in 201 ...

which lasted just four years and ended with Carthage being completely destroyed and all its people enslaved. With Carthage’s defeat, its lands and territories, including the area encompassing Naraggara, were claimed by Rome and formed as Africa Proconsularis. Naraggara arguably remained under Roman rule until the 5th century, when

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century. The Vandals migrated to the area betw ...

conquered the area and formed their own kingdom.

Today

Today, the modern town of Sakiet Sidi Youssef replaces Naraggara. It is part of the

Kef Governorate Kef Governorate ( ' ) is one of the twenty-four governorates of Tunisia. It comprises chiefly part of the dorsal Atlas Mountains and their foothills in north-western Tunisia, bordering Algeria. It covers an area of 4,965 km2 and has a popul ...

in Tunisia, and has a population of 6,335 as of 2014.

Bishopric

Naraggara was an episcopal see and the names of some who were its diocesan bishops at certain dates are known: * Faustinus, a Donatist (411) * Maximinus (484) * Victorinus (525) * Bennatus (646) It is included in the

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 ...

's list of

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 archbis ...

s.''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2013, {{ISBN, 978-88-209-9070-1), p. 936

References

Carthage Catholic titular sees in Africa

Battle of Zama

Today

Bishopric

See also

References