Optatus of Thamugadi was, from 388 to 398, a

donatist Donatism was a Christian sect leading to a schism in the Church, in the region of the Church of Carthage, from the fourth to the sixth centuries. Donatists argued that Christian clergy must be faultless for their ministry to be effective and the ...

bishop in the city of Thamugadi (

Timgad Timgad ( ar, تيمقاد, links=, lit=, translit=Tīmgād, known as Marciana Traiana Thamugadi) was a Roman city in the Aurès Mountains of Algeria. It was founded by the Roman Emperor Trajan around 100 AD. The full name of the city was ''Colon ...

) in the

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. He was an important subject in the anti-donatistic

polemic Polemic () is contentious rhetoric intended to support a specific position by forthright claims and to undermine the opposing position. The practice of such argumentation is called ''polemics'', which are seen in arguments on controversial topic ...

Augustine 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 A ...

, who was at that time a

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

in Hippo Regius and who called him evil. Optatus was associated both with the militant Circumcellions, which are regarded as adherents of the Donatists, as well as with the renegade

Roman general Roman generals were often career statesmen, remembered by history for reasons other than their service in the Roman Army. This page encompasses men whom history remembers for their accomplishments commanding Roman armies on land and sea. A * Man ...

Gildo Gildo (died 398) was a Roman Berber general in the province of Mauretania Caesariensis. He revolted against Honorius and the Western Roman Empire ( Gildonic war), but was defeated and possibly committed suicide or was assassinated. Etymology Th ...

. Augustine made Optatus responsible for attacks on

Catholic 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, but also at the anti-Donatist opponents, the Maximinianists.

Biography

In 388 Optatus was elected Bishop of Thamugadi, the most important Donatist bishopric in southern Numidia. In 398, he and Gildo, Comes ''Comes'' ( ), plural ''comites'' ( ), was a Roman title or office, and the origin Latin form of the medieval and modern title "count". Before becoming a word for various types of title or office, the word originally meant "companion", either i ...
Africae, were joint leaders of a revolt against Honorius, Their revolt established non-Roman and native power in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

, with Gildo being the political power and Optatus, the philosophy behind this political movement. It has traditionally been claimed that Gildo lead bands of Circumcellions to terrorise the countryside though Frend failed to find record of religious coercion by the Donatists upon the neighboring Catholics. An inscription bearing the name of bishop Optatus has been found in the Donatist basillica at

Thamugadi Timgad ( ar, تيمقاد, links=, lit=, translit=Tīmgād, known as Marciana Traiana Thamugadi) was a Roman city in the Aurès Mountains of Algeria. It was founded by the Roman Emperor Trajan around 100 AD. The full name of the city was ''Colo ...

.Richard Stillwell, William L. MacDonald, Marian Holland McAllister, Stillwell, Richard, MacDonald, William L., McAlister, Marian Holland, Ed.
THAMUGADI (Timgad) Algeria
The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites. (Princeton, N.J. Princeton University Press. 1976.) He should not be confused with St. Optates, Bishop of Milevis, who was a contemporary, and fierce critic of

Donatism Donatism was a Christian sect leading to a schism in the Church, in the region of the Church of Carthage, from the fourth to the sixth centuries. Donatists argued that Christian clergy must be faultless for their ministry to be effective and ...

References

{{reflist 4th-century births 4th-century bishops in Roman North Africa Ancient Christians involved in controversies Numidia (Roman provinces) Year of birth unknown Year of death missing Donatists