Rougga is a town in southern Tunisia located in Sfax Governorate, on the Oued er Rougga wadi. Rougga is the

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

name of the town, which is known as Raqqa in Arabic. The town is located on the site of Ancient

Roman Africa Roman Africa may refer to the following areas of Northern Africa which were part of the Imperium Romanum and/or the Western/Byzantine successor empires : ; in the unified Roman empire : * Africa (Roman province), with the great metropolis Cartha ...

n city and former bishopric Bararus, which remains a Latin Catholic titular see.

History

A veteran of this city is mentioned in a list of soldiers from Nicopolis, a Roman garrison suburb of Alexandria, Egypt, recruited in Africa province. The city was devastated by an earthquake in 365 after which the

forum Forum or The Forum (plural forums or fora) may refer to: Common uses * Forum (legal), designated space for public expression in the United States *Forum (Roman), open public space within a Roman city **Roman Forum, most famous example *Internet ...

appears to have been abandoned The 6th century was a time of great affluence for the town, with a golden solidi

coin hoard A hoard or "wealth deposit" is an archaeological term for a collection of valuable objects or artifacts, sometimes purposely buried in the ground, in which case it is sometimes also known as a cache. This would usually be with the intention o ...

testifying to this wealth. The town appears on the Roman Tabula Peutingeriana road map By the 7th century there is evidence of fortified housing, though pottery remains indicate a continuance of occupation to the

10th century The 10th century was the period from 901 ( CMI) through 1000 ( M) in accordance with the Julian calendar, and the last century of the 1st millennium. In China the Song dynasty was established. The Muslim World experienced a cultural zenith, ...

, well after the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb. The Roman town was sacked by Ibn Sa'd in 647 AD. A

population moved in following the

Islamic conquest The spread of Islam spans about 1,400 years. Muslim conquests following Muhammad's death led to the creation of the caliphates, occupying a vast geographical area; conversion to Islam was boosted by Arab Muslim forces conquering vast territories ...

and used the Roman building materials for other settlements.

Ecclesiastical history

The city was also the

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense. Types of seat The following are examples of different kinds of seat: * Armchair (furniture), ...

of an ancient bishopric, like many

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdictiona ...

of the Metropolitan of Carthage, in the papal sway, like most also destined to fade, presumably at the advent of Islam. Its only historically documented bishop , ''Iulianus Vararitanus'' (or Bararitanus), was found on the lists of bishops in Byzacena province having attended in 484 the Council of Carthage (484) called by

Arian Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God t ...

king Huneric of the Vandal Kingdom, after which most Catholic bishops (including him?) were exiles, unlike their schismatic Donatist colleagues.

Titular see

The diocese was nominally restored in 1933 as titular bishopric of (Latin) / Bararo (Curiate Italian) / (Latin adjective). It was vacant since decades, having had the following incumbents, so far of the fitting Episcopal (lowest) rank: * Johannes Baptist Filzer (1927.02.18 – death 1962.07.13) as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Salzburg ( Austria) (1927.02.18 – 1962.07.13) * Bernardo José Bueno Miele (1962.11.22 – 1967.01.25) as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Campinas ( Brazil) (1962.11.22 – 1967.01.25); next Titular Archbishop of Uppenna (1967.01.25 – 1972.07.12) as Coadjutor Archbishop of Ribeirão Preto (Brazil) (1967.01.25 – 1972.07.12), succeeding as Metropolitan Archbishop of Ribeirão Preto (1972.07.12 – death 1981.12.22) * Damián Nicolau Roig,

Third Order Regular Franciscans The Third Order Regular of St. Francis of Penance or simply the Third Order Regular of St. Francis ( la, Tertius Ordo Regularis Sancti Francisci) is a mendicant order rooted in the Third Order of St. Francis which was founded in 1221. The me ...

(T.O.R.) (born Spain) (1967.04.08 – resigned 1977.11.25) while first-ever Bishop-Prelate of

Territorial Prelature of Huamachuco The Territorial Prelature of Huamachuco ( la, Praelatura Territorialis Huamaciucanus) is a Roman Catholic territorial prelature located in the city of Huamachuco in the Ecclesiastical province of Trujillo in Peru. History * On December 4, 1961, ...

( Peru) (1963.10.23 – retired 1981.09.13), died 1998 * Michael Augustine (1978.01.30 – 1981.06.19) as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Madras and Mylapore (India) (1978.01.30 – 1981.06.19); next Bishop of Vellore (India) (1981.06.19 – 1992.02.18), Metropolitan Archbishop of Pondicherry and Cuddalore (India) (1992.02.18 – retired 2004.06.10) * Nelson Antonio Martínez Rust (1982.01.08 – 1992.02.29) as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Valencia in Venezuela ( Venezuela) (1982.01.08 – 1992.02.29); later Bishop of San Felipe (Venezuela) (1992.02.29 – retired 2016.03.11) * Zef Simoni (1992.12.25 – death 2009.02.21), first as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Shkodrë ( Albania) (1992.12.25 – retired 2004.01.20), then as emeritus * Luis Rafael Zarama (born Colombia) (2009.07.27 – 2017.07.05) as Auxiliary Bishop of

Archdiocese of Atlanta In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

(Georgia, USA) (2009.07.27 – 2017.07.05); later Bishop of Raleigh (USA) (2017.07.05 – ...).

Remains

Rougga is the site of Henchir-Ronga, which comprises numerous ruins of the

Roman era In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...

. including the Bararus Amphitheatre The layout of the Roman town ''is organized around a

dominated by two temples.... also two large semi circula
Cistern
s, an

amphitheater An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...

set in an abandoned quarry, a theater with extensive outbuildings, and a paved ''domus''

ouse Ouse may refer to: Places Rivers in England * River Ouse, Yorkshire * River Ouse, Sussex * River Great Ouse, Northamptonshire and East Anglia ** River Little Ouse, a tributary of the River Great Ouse Other places * Ouse, Tasmania, a town in Au ...

with remarkable mosaics.'' The amphitheater is in modern Tunisia located at

Theater

The theater is located on the opposite bank of the '' wadi'' from Bararus and is roughly oval in shape. The theater of Bararus is in bad condition, though a stage of 29½ by 30 meters is still discernible. The overall size of the arena was 98 by 73.5 meters with seating on a radial barrel vaulting the Arena walls were only 3 meters heigh and lacked a parapet. It was estimated that the arena could seat 12100 spectators. The arena may have been unfinished.

Cistern

The underground cisterns are very large. and were excavated by the French in the 20th century.

Inscriptions

Several inscriptions were found in the town, including one recording that the curator ''Republicae'' performed duties in the three cities of

Thysdrus Thysdrus was a Carthaginian town and Roman colony near present-day El Djem, Tunisia. Under the Romans, it was the center of olive oil production in the provinces of Africa and Byzacena and was quite prosperous. The surviving amphitheater is a W ...

, Thaenae and Bararus.Guery R. and P. Trousset, Bararus
p. 1338-1340

References

{{Reflist, 2

Sources and external links

GCatholic - (former &) titular see
; Bibliography - ecclesiastical history * Pius Bonifacius Gams, ''Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae'', Leipzig 1931, p. 469 * Stefano Antonio Morcelli, ''Africa christiana'', Volume I, Brescia 1816, pp. 346–347 * Auguste Audollent, lemm 'Bararus' in ''Dictionnaire d'Histoire et de Géographie ecclésiastiques'', vol. VI, 1932, col. 567 Populated places in Tunisia

Amphitheatres An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...