:''see

Lares (disambiguation) The Lares are guardian deities in ancient Roman mythology. Lares or LARES may also refer to: * Lares, Africa, an Ancient city, former bishopric and present Latin Catholic titular see in present Tunisia * Lares, Puerto Rico, a town in Puerto Rico * ...

for namesakes'' Lares, also called Laribus, was a city of

Roman Africa Roman Africa or Roman North Africa is the culture of Roman Africans that developed from 146 BC, when the Roman Republic defeated Carthage and the Punic Wars ended, with subsequent institution of Roman Empire, Roman Imperial government, through th ...

and medieval

Ifriqiya Ifriqiya ( '), also known as al-Maghrib al-Adna (), was a medieval historical region comprising today's Tunisia, eastern Algeria, and Tripolitania (roughly western Libya). It included all of what had previously been the Byzantine province of ...

, located at modern Henchir Lorbeus,

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

Names

The site of present-day Lorbeus was called ''Laribus'' in Roman times. The 6th-century author

Procopius Procopius of Caesarea (; ''Prokópios ho Kaisareús''; ; – 565) was a prominent Late antiquity, late antique Byzantine Greeks, Greek scholar and historian from Caesarea Maritima. Accompanying the Roman general Belisarius in Justinian I, Empe ...

wrote the name ''Laribouzoudoúon'' in Greek. The Medieval Arabic geographers

Ibn Hawqal Muḥammad Abū’l-Qāsim Ibn Ḥawqal (), also known as Abū al-Qāsim b. ʻAlī Ibn Ḥawqal al-Naṣībī, born in Nisibis, Al-Jazira (caliphal province), Upper Mesopotamia; was a 10th-century Arab Muslim writer, geographer, and chronic ...

and

al-Bakri Abū ʿUbayd ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Muḥammad ibn Ayyūb ibn ʿAmr al-Bakrī (), or simply al-Bakrī (c. 1040–1094) was an Arab Andalusian historian and a geographer of the Muslim West. Life Al-Bakri was born in Huelva, the ...

wrote the name ''Lar(i)bus''.

Yaqut al-Hamawi Yāqūt Shihāb al-Dīn ibn-ʿAbdullāh al-Rūmī al-Ḥamawī (1179–1229) () was a Muslim scholar of Byzantine ancestry active during the late Abbasid period (12th–13th centuries). He is known for his , an influential work on geography con ...

vocalized the name as ''al-'Urbus'', but

Heinz Halm Heinz Halm (born 21 February 1942 in Andernach, Rhine Province) is a German scholar of Islamic Studies, with a particular expertise on early Shia Islam, Shia history, the Isma'ilism, Ismailites and other Shia sects. Life Born and raised in Anderna ...

calls this "artificial". A similar spelling, ''al-'Urbūs'', appears in the work of

al-Idrisi Abu Abdullah Muhammad al-Idrisi al-Qurtubi al-Hasani as-Sabti, or simply al-Idrisi (; ; 1100–1165), was an Arab Muslim geographer and cartographer who served in the court of King Roger II at Palermo, Sicily. Muhammad al-Idrisi was born in C ...

Geography

The site of Laribus is located at the foot of Djebel Lorbeus, on a well-watered plain traversed by the

Oued Wadi ( ; ) is a river valley or a wet ( ephemeral) riverbed that contains water only when heavy rain occurs. Wadis are located on gently sloping, nearly flat parts of deserts; commonly they begin on the distal portions of alluvial fans and e ...

Lorbeus. This area has very fertile soil and (at least) in the early middle ages was densely populated. In the 6th century, this whole area was well-forested, but by the middle ages most of the forests had been cut down. To the south of Laribus is the large plain of

Ebba Ebba is a feminine given name, the feminine version of Ebbe, which is a diminutive form of the Germanic name Eberhard or Everhard, meaning "strong." Alternately, it may be a form of an Old English name Æbbe, of unknown derivation, which was the ...

and El Ksour. On this plain, 16 km southwest of Laribus at the foot of Djebel Ubba, was the early medieval city of Ubba, which was a dependency of Laribus. On the east, Laribus bordered the fertile plain belonging to Tamajanna, another early medieval city under its administration. Finally, to the west was the city of Sicca Veneria (now called

El Kef El Kef ( '), 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 population of ...

). Laribus was an important crossroads both in late antiquity and in the early middle ages. In late antiquity, it was where the main route from Aquae Regiae (west of Qayrawan) to

Assuras Assuras, sometimes given as Assura or Assur, was a town in the Roman province of Proconsular Africa. Ruins of its temples and theatres and other public buildings are at ''Henchir-Zenfour''. Bishopric At an early stage Assuras became the cen ...

met the route from

Theveste Theveste was a Roman colony situated in what is now Tébessa, Algeria. History In 146 BC, the Romans conquered the region, where existed an old city called " Tbessa". Theveste was founded by the Romans in 75 AD near an old Berber village locat ...

Carthage Carthage was an ancient city in Northern Africa, 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 classic ...

. In the middle ages, this was an important crossroads with routes leading to

Qayrawan Kairouan (, ), also spelled El Qayrawān or Kairwan ( , ), is the capital of the Kairouan Governorate in Tunisia and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city was founded by the Umayyads around 670, in the period of Caliph Mu'awiya (reigned 661� ...

(by way of Ubba or Tamajanna) in the east, Baja and

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

to the north, and the Zab region (by way of the

Oued Mellègue Wadi ( ; ) is a river valley or a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water only when heavy rain occurs. Wadis are located on gently sloping, nearly flat parts of deserts; commonly they begin on the distal portions of alluvial fans and ext ...

and Fahs al-Bull) to the west. Medieval sources described Laribus as having two springs: 'Ayn Rabah, which was within the citadel walls, and 'Ayn Ziyad, which was considered the better of the two and served as the main supply of drinking water.

History

Laribus was built up under the reign of

Justinian Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...

, forming part of the second line of fortifications defending Roman Africa against invasion from the southwest. It was behind the forts at Tebessa and Haydra in this system, and it was also protected by the fort at

Thucca Terenbenthina Thucca Terenbenthina, also known as Thugga, was an ancient Roman-Berber town in the province of African Proconsularis. In late antiquity, it was made a municipium of the province of Byzacena. Thucca Terenbenthina is identified with ruins located ...

. Laribus itself controlled access to the

Medjerda The Medjerda River (), the classical Bagradas, is a river in North Africa flowing from northeast Algeria through Tunisia before emptying into the Gulf of Tunis and Lake of Tunis. With a length of , it is the longest river of Tunisia. It is also ...

valley from the west. It held major strategic importance, and was accordingly one of the strongest fortresses in Roman Africa. Laribus remained under Byzantine control until the early 8th century. When the city of Carthage was captured by Arab forces in the late 690s, Byzantine and Berber troops withdrew to Laribus; they remained there until

Musa ibn Nusayr Musa ibn Nusayr ( ''Mūsá bin Nuṣayr''; 640 – c. 716) was an Arab general and governor who served under the Umayyad caliph Al-Walid I. He ruled over the Muslim province of Ifriqiya, and directed the Islamic conquest of the Visigothic King ...

's campaign in the region. Under the

Umayyad Caliphate The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a member o ...

, a '' jund'' was stationed at Laribus. It saw action during the

Berber Revolt The Berber Revolt or the Kharijite Revolt of 740–743 AD (122–125 AH in the Islamic calendar) took place during the reign of the Umayyad Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik and marked the first successful secession from the Arab caliphate (ruled ...

in the 740s. Under the

Abbasid Caliphate The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 CE), from whom the dynasty takes ...

, a Syrian jund was garrisoned at Laribus. After the death of the provincial governor

al-Fadl ibn Rawh ibn Hatim al-Muhallabi Al-Fadl ibn Rawh ibn Hatim al-Muhallabi () (d. 794) was a member of the Muhallabid family and a provincial governor for the Abbasid Caliphate. He was the last of the Muhallabid governors of Ifriqiya, serving there from 793 until his death. Caree ...

, there was a regional civil war between powerful Arab families, and one side concentrated its forces at Laribus before marching on the provincial capital of Qayrawan. Throughout this period, Laribus's city walls appear to have remained intact.

Aghlabid rule

Under the

Aghlabids The Aghlabid dynasty () was an Arab dynasty centered in Ifriqiya (roughly present-day Tunisia) from 800 to 909 that conquered parts of Sicily, Southern Italy, and possibly Sardinia, nominally as vassals of the Abbasid Caliphate. The Aghlabids ...

, Laribus held major strategic importance as a gateway between Qayrawan and the Tell region. Ibn al-Athir later called Laribus the "gateway to Ifriqiya".

Mohamed Talbi Mohamed Talbi (), (16 September 1921 – 1 May 2017) was a Tunisian author, professor, and Islamologist. Biography Talbi was born in Tunis on 16 September 1921, attending school there and going on to study in Paris. Talbi wrote prolifically on ...

described Laribus as the single most important stronghold in northwestern Ifriqiya under Aghlabid rule. In 824, the city's jund joined the revolt of Mansur al-Tunbudhi, the ruler of Tunbudha. When a power struggle broke out between Mansur and Amir ibn Nafi, Laribus and its jund initially gave Mansur refuge, but after being besieged with catapults, they handed him over and joined Amir's side. Laribus then served as Amir's headquarters until he died in 828. The city then stayed under Aghlabid control and its jund did not take part in the rebellion of Salim ibn Jalbun in 847. In 893, the jund of Laribus joined an unsuccessful revolt against Ibrahim II. At the end of the 9th century,

Ya'qubi ʾAbū al-ʿAbbās ʾAḥmad bin ʾAbī Yaʿqūb bin Ǧaʿfar bin Wahb bin Waḍīḥ al-Yaʿqūbī (died 897/8), commonly referred to simply by his nisba al-Yaʿqūbī, was an Arab Muslim geographer. Life Ya'qubi was born in Baghdad to a fam ...

described Laribus's population as a mix of Berbers and Arabs. At the end of October 907, after

Abu Abdallah al-Shi'i Abu Abdallah al-Husayn ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Zakariyya, better known as Abu Abdallah al-Shi'i (), was an Isma'ili missionary (''da'i, dāʿī'') active in Yemen and North Africa. He was successful in converting and unifying a large part of th ...

had conquered the western part of Aghlabid territory, Ziyadat Allah III hastily mustered a defense force at Laribus, leaving it under the command of the prince

Ibrahim ibn Abi al-Aghlab Ibrahim may refer to: * Ibrahim (name), including a list of people with the name ** Abraham in Islam * Ibrahim (surah), a surah of the Qur'an * ''Ibrahim'' (play) or ''Ibrahim The Illustrious Bassa'', a 1676 tragedy by Elkanah Settle, based on a ...

. They expected Abu Abdallah to take this route en route to Qayrawan, and Ibrahim remained at Laribus during the entire winter of 907-8. Abu Abdallah avoided a direct confrontation with the Aghlabid army and instead took a long detour to the south, by way of

Kasserine Kasserine (, Tunisian Arabic: ڨصرين ') is the capital city of the Kasserine Governorate, in west-central Tunisia. It is situated below Jebel ech Chambi ( جبل الشعانبي), Tunisia's highest mountain. Its population is 114,463 (2020). ...

. In early 908, Ibrahim marched south to stop Abu Abdallah's advance, and the two armies fought an inconclusive battle at Dar Madyan. Ibrahim returned to Laribus, while Abu Abdallah headed eastward before turning back. The next year, Abu Abdallah's forces resumed the offensive, capturing Shaqbanariya and directly besieging Laribus. The deciding battle took place at Laribus on 18 March, 909. The fighting lasted until the asr prayer (late afternoon), when a unit of 575 Kutama warriors, having circled around the battlefield in a deep streambed, attacked the Aghlabid army in the flank. The Aghlabid army then fled. Its commander, Ibrahim ibn Abi al-Aghlab, headed back towards Kairouan with what remained of his army. The next day, 19 March, Laribus offered an unconditional surrender to the Kutama, who then massacred its inhabitants and looted the city. (The inhabitants had taken shelter in the city's mosque). The fall of Laribus marked the end of the Aghlabid dynasty. News of the defeat reached

Raqqada Raqqāda () is the site of the second capital of the 9th-century dynasty of Aghlabids, located about ten kilometers southwest of Kairouan, Tunisia. The site now houses the National Museum of Islamic Art. History In 876, the ninth Aghlabid emi ...

the same day, and Ziyadat Allah fled by torchlight that evening.

Later history

Although its fortifications were heavily damaged by the siege of 909, Laribus remained an important garrison center under the Fatimids, although the Arab jund was replaced with a Kutama garrison. In 944, the city was captured by Abu Yazid's forces, who sacked and burned the city. Around this time, it seems that Laribus was made into an administrative unit headed by a wali, along with neighboring Ubba. (Before this, it was probably under the governor of Baja.) In 382 AH (992-3 CE), the Zirid ruler al-Mansur dismissed the governor of Laribus and appointed his freedman Qaysar in charge of the city. Laribus remained under Zirid control until 445 AH (1053-4 CE), when the

Banu Hilal The Banu Hilal () was a confederation of Arab tribes from the Najd region of the central Arabian Peninsula that emigrated to the Maghreb region of North Africa in the 11th century. They ruled the Najd, and campaigned in the borderlands between I ...

captured it and Ubba. Laribus was briefly taken over by the Hammadid

al-Nasir Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn al-Hasan al-Mustaḍīʾ (), better known by his al-Nāṣir li-Dīn Allāh (; 6 August 1158 – 5 October 1225) or simply as al-Nasir, was the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad from 1180 until his death. His literally can m ...

in 1065 and 1068. After the first capture, the Banu Hilal retook the city and by 1067-8 had appointed a governor named Ibn Makraz over Laribus (probably a Riyahdid); al-Nasir besieged and captured Laribus and executed Ibn Makraz. Afterwards, a local shaykh was in charge; he appealed to the ruler of Shaqbanariya to help drive out the Banu Hilal. Laribus was no longer on commercial routes or held strategic importance, and it quickly declined.

Fortifications

The citadel of Laribus was enclosed by a stone

rampart Rampart may refer to: * Rampart (fortification), a defensive wall or bank around a castle, fort or settlement Rampart may also refer to: * LAPD Rampart Division, a division of the Los Angeles Police Department ** Rampart scandal, a blanket ter ...

measuring 220 x 203 meters. By the time of al-Idrisi, this enclosure had been reworked with

rammed earth Rammed earth is a technique for construction, constructing foundations, floors, and walls using compacted natural raw materials such as soil, earth, chalk, Lime (material), lime, or gravel. It is an ancient method that has been revived recently ...

. Inside the walls, set back a little, was a single tower that served as both a watchtower and a defensive stronghold.

Economy

In the middle ages, the agriculture around Laribus included abundant wheat, barley, and various fruits. Laribus was also a producer of

saffron Saffron () is a spice derived from the flower of '' Crocus sativus'', commonly known as the "saffron crocus". The vivid crimson stigma and styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly as a seasoning and colouring agent ...

, which was considered the best in Ifriqiya. There was also an iron mine near the city. The city had

silo A silo () is a structure for storing Bulk material handling, bulk materials. Silos are commonly used for bulk storage of grain, coal, cement, carbon black, woodchips, food products and sawdust. Three types of silos are in widespread use toda ...

s serving as storehouses for paying taxes

in kind The term in kind (or in-kind) generally refers to goods, services, and transactions not involving money or not measured in monetary terms. It is a part of many spheres, mainly economics, finance, but also politics, work career, food, health and o ...

Ecclesiastical history

The bishopric of Lares in the Late

Roman province The Roman provinces (, pl. ) 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 ruled by a Roman appointed as Roman g ...

Africa Proconsularis Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

was a

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led ...

of its capital

's Metropolitan Archbishopric, but like most was to fade. The diocese was nominally restored as a Latin Catholic

titular bishopric 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 archbish ...

in the 18th century, until 1933 also called Lari in Curiate Italian. It has had the following incumbents, of the lowest (episcopal) rank ''with two archiepiscopal (intermediary) exceptions'': *

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

Dionisio Francisco Mellado Eguíluz (1716.03.30 – ?) * Juan Llano Ponte (1769.11.20 – 1791.09.26) * Tommaso Gallarati Scotti (1794.02.21 – 1804.07.10) * Domenico Lombardi (1821.08.13 – ?) * Jules-François Philippe, Fransalians (M.S.F.S.) (1886.08.24 – 1904.04.16) * Joaquim Antônio d’Almeida (1915.06.14 – 1947.04.01) * Richard Henry Ackerman,

Holy Ghost Fathers The Congregation of the Holy Spirit (officially the Congregation of the Holy Spirit under the protection of the Immaculate Heart of the Virgin Mary; ) is a religious congregation for men in the Catholic Church. Members are often known as Holy ...

(C.S.Sp.) (1956.04.06 – 1960.04.04) *

Luis Aponte Martinez Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archai ...

(1960.07.23 – 1963.04.16) (later Cardinal*) * Titular Archbishop Rubén Isaza Restrepo (1964.01.03 – 1974.10.03) * Justo Oscar Laguna (1975.02.01 – 1980.01.22) * Eduardo Ernesto FuentesRuysschaert Duarte (1980.04.09 – 1982.10.18) * Titular Archbishop Ambrose Battista De Paoli (1983.09.23 – 2007.10.10) * William Patrick Callahan,

Conventual Franciscans The Order of Friars Minor Conventual (O.F.M. Conv.) is a male religious fraternity in the Catholic Church and a branch of the Franciscan Order. Conventual Franciscan Friars are identified by the affix O.F.M. Conv. after their names. They are ...

(O.F.M. Conv.) (2007.10.30 – 2010.06.11) * Thomas Eusebios Naickamparampil (2010.07.14 – 2016.01.04), as first Exarch of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of the United States of America, until promoted first Eparch of St. Mary, Queen of Peace, of the United States of America and Canada

References

Source and External links

GCatholic with titular incumbent bio links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lares, Titular see Catholic titular sees in Africa Ifriqiya