Mila (, , ) is a city in the northeast of

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

and the capital of Mila Province. In antiquity, it was known as Milevum (in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

; as such still a Latin Catholic

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 archbi ...

) or Miraeon, ''Μιραίον'' (in

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

) and was situated in the

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 ...

Numidia Numidia was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunisia and Libya. The polity was originally divided between ...

History

Ancient history

In Ptolemy's ''Geography'', IV, iii, 7, the city is mentioned under the name of Mileum or Mireon. During the Roman era it was called Colonia Sarnensis Milevitana, after the River Sarnus in

Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...

, whence the colonists had emigrated. This name is often found in the inscriptions of the city. Together with

Cirta Cirta, also known by #Names, various other names in classical antiquity, antiquity, was the ancient Berbers, Berber, Punic people, Punic and Roman Empire, Roman settlement which later became Constantine, Algeria, Constantine, Algeria. Cirta was ...

, Collo and Rusicade, Milevum formed the confederation known as the Four Colonies, the territory of which was very extensive. In the 6th century the Byzantine Emperor Justinian had Milevum enclosed by a fortified wall, which still stands and forms a rampart for the Muslim city of Mila. It has yielded quite a number of Latin inscriptions from this city and a colossal statue of Saturn.

Under Arab Islamic rule

Between 665 and 682 the city was conquered by the

Umayyad 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 membe ...

Arabs Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of yea ...

commanded by Abu al-Muhajir Dinar. In multiple book mentioned precisely City Mila conquered by Abu Muhajer General Umayyad Dinar in 675 AD in it, says in "The Berbers: study on the conquest of Africa by the Arabs, according to the printed Arabic texts. "Volume 1 by Henri Fournel on page The Mosque Sidi Ghanem of Mila was built around 675 by Abu Muhajer Dnar Dinar In the tenth century AD, historian and geographer Abu Ubayd-Allah Abd Al-Bakri quoted the mosque of Sidi Ghanem as "the first Mila mosque adjoining Dar El Imara" (House of Command) As multiple significant evidence was found of Mila in the Arab period, as standard weight of 745 Umayyad registered with: "'Translation: "In the name of Allah. Among the steps ordered / Emir Abd al-Rahman ibn Habib / Masal ibn Hammad, Wali Mila / twenty ûkîya (once) in the year 127-745)/" The name of the governor mentioned on the standard is well known: ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn Habīb, the grandson of ‘Uqba ibn al-Nāfī’, who governed the

Maghreb The Maghreb (; ), also known as the Arab Maghreb () and Northwest Africa, is the western part of the Arab world. The region comprises western and central North Africa, including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. The Maghreb al ...

between 744 and 754 after returning from

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, where he had taken refuge following the disastrous battle of Tangiers. In the 11th-century al-Bakri describes the Mila population as consisting of Arabs, people from the militia, and people of mixed race (Arabic, Roman and Berber). But according to al-Idrissi it remained in the 11th century that there were 4000 Kutama Berbers throughout Ifriqiya

Ottoman rule

Finally in the 19th century it was the largest colony Koulouglis of the East-Algeria (Constatinnois) (mix of Turk with Arab or Berber)

French colonial era

According to the scientist and military E.Carette (1808–1890), author of the tribal map of Algeria, and studies "inquiry into the origin and migration of the main tribes of North Africa, particularly of Algeria '"on pag
453
there was a Mila 19th century about 800 ethnic

and 800 ethnic

Berbers Berbers, or the Berber peoples, also known as Amazigh or Imazighen, are a diverse grouping of distinct ethnic groups indigenous to North Africa who predate the arrival of Arab migrations to the Maghreb, Arabs in the Maghreb. Their main connec ...

in the cityExploration scientifique de l'Algérie
3, Recherches sur l'origine et les migrations des principales tribus de l'Afrique septentrionale et particulièrement de l'Algérie
/ par E. Carette Milevum, modern Arabic name Mila, was under French colonial rule a city in the department of Constantine in

, with in the early 20th century 8000 inhabitants, 400 of whom are Europeans.

Modern history

Constantine department later became Constantine Province after the independence of Algeria, of which Mila was dependent till the creation of Mila Province in 1984. At the 1998 census the city had a population of 59,959.

Ecclesiastical history

Milevum was among the many towns of sufficient importance in the

, in the papal sway, to become a

suffragan diocese A suffragan diocese is one of the dioceses other than the metropolitan archdiocese that constitute an ecclesiastical province. It exists in some Christian denominations, in particular the Catholic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandr ...

. The historically recorded bishops of this

episcopal see An episcopal see is the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, making it synonymous with ''diocese'' ...

were * Pollianus, present at the

Council of Carthage The Councils of Carthage were church synods held during the 3rd, 4th, and 5th centuries in the city of Carthage in Africa. The most important of these are described below. Synod of 251 In May 251 a synod, assembled under the presidency of Cyprian ...

called by

Cyprian Cyprian (; ; to 14 September 258 AD''The Liturgy of the Hours according to the Roman Rite: Vol. IV.'' New York: Catholic Book Publishing Company, 1975. p. 1406.) was a bishop of Carthage and an early Christian writer of Berbers, Berber descent, ...

us of Carthage on the '' lapsi'', Christians who accepted forced pagan sacrificing to avoid martyrdom, himself martyred two years later *

Optatus Optatus, sometimes anglicized as Optate, was Bishop of Milevis, in Numidia, in the fourth century, remembered for his writings against Donatism. Biography and context Augustine of Hippo suggests that Optatus was a convert: "Do we not see with ho ...

, noted for his work ''De schismate Donatistarum'' (circa 375) against the

Donatist Donatism was a schism from the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Carthage from the fourth to the sixth centuries. Donatists argued that Christian clergy must be faultless for their ministry to be effective and their prayers and sacraments to ...

heresy; he died in about 385 and is commemorated on 4 June * Honorius, deposed for incompetence according to

Church Father The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical per ...

Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...

* Severus, fellow-countryman and correspondent of the above Augustine; attended, with his schismatical

counterpart Adeodato, the Council of Carthage of 411, with other African bishops of both sides *'' Morcelli next list Optatus II, who was probably in fact bishop of Vescera'' * Bennatus participated in the Council of Carthage of 484, called by king

Huneric Huneric, Hunneric or Honeric (died December 23, 484) was King of the (North African) Vandal Kingdom (477–484) and the oldest son of Gaiseric. He abandoned the imperial politics of his father and concentrated mainly on internal affairs. He was ma ...

of the

Vandal Kingdom The Vandal Kingdom () or Kingdom of the Vandals and Alans () was a confederation of Vandals and Alans, which was a barbarian kingdoms, barbarian kingdom established under Gaiseric, a Vandals, Vandalic warlord. It ruled parts of North Africa and th ...

, after which he was exiled, like most Catholic bishops * Restitutus, who attended the Fifth Œcumenical Council in Constantinople in 553. Two church councils were held at Milevum, one in 402 and the other in 416. The second appealed to

Pope Innocent I Pope Innocent I () was the bishop of Rome from 401 to his death on 12 March 417. From the beginning of his papacy, he was seen as the general arbitrator of ecclesiastical disputes in both the East and the West. He confirmed the prerogatives of ...

for repression of the Pelagian heresy. The bishopric is last mentioned, as one of the thirteen subsisting suffragan sees in Numidia, in the ''

Notitiae Episcopatuum The ''Notitiae Episcopatuum'' (singular: ''Notitia Episcopatuum'') were official documents that furnished for Eastern countries the list and hierarchical rank of the metropolitan and suffragan bishoprics of a church. In the Roman Church (the mos ...

'' in the reign of

Byzantine emperor The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which Fall of Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised s ...

Leo VI (886-912).

Titular see

The diocese was nominally restored, no later than the 17th century, as Latin

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 ...

of Milevum (Latin) / Milevi (Curiate Italian) / Milevitan(us) (Latin adjective). It has had the following incumbents, mostly of the fitting Episcopal (lowest) rank, ''with two archiepiscopal exceptions'': * Joseph Ignace Randrianasolo (1997.10.24 – 1999.06.03) * José Manuel Piña Torres (1958.05.12 – 1997.07.07) * Jean-Félix de Hemptinne (1932.03.22 – 1958.02.06) * Anton Gisler (1928.04.20 – 1932.01.04) *''Titular Archbishop: Acacio Chacón Guerra'' (1926.05.10 – 1927.08.01) * Giovanni Borzatti de Löwenstern (1907.03.11 – 1926.02.17) * James Bellord (1899.02.05 – 1905.06.11) * Charles Lavigne (1887.09.13 – 1898.08.27) * Jean-Marie Tissot (1863.08.11 – 1886.09.01) * William Bernard Allen Collier (1840.02.14 – 1847.12.07) * Thomas Coen (1816.01.26 – 1831.10.09) * Wilhelm Joseph Leopold Willibald von Baden (1779.07.12 – 1798.07.09) * Anton Révay (1754.05.20 – 1776.09.16) * Caius Asterius Toppi (1728.11.15 – 1754) * Johann Ignaz Dlouhovesky (1679.04.10 – 1701.01.10) * Hyacinthus de Saldanha (1675.01.28 – ?) * Emmanuel a S. Ludovico (1672.02.08 – ?) *''Titular Archbishop Joseph Chennoth'' (車納德) (born India) (1999.08.24 – ...) as papal diplomat : Chargé d’affaires in PR China (1995.04.26 – 1999.08.24),

Apostolic Nuncio An apostolic nuncio (; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international organization. A nuncio is ...

(ambassador) to Chad (1999.08.24 – 2005.06.15), Apostolic Nuncio to Central African Republic (1999.08.24 – 2005.06.15), Apostolic Nuncio to Tanzania (2005.06.15 – 2011.08.15), Apostolic Nuncio to Japan (2011.08.15 – ...)

Notes

Sources and external links

* GCatholic - (former and) titular bishopric* ; Bibliography * A. Benabbès: "Les premiers raids arabes en Numidie Byzantine: questions toponymiques." In ''Identités et Cultures dans l'Algérie Antique'', University of Rouen, 2005 () * P. Trousset (2002). ' v. 10, p. 143-150. * Pius Bonifacius Gams, ''Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae'', Leipzig 1931, p. 467 * Stefano Antonio Morcelli, ''Africa christiana'', Volume I, Brescia 1816, pp. 228–229 * Konrad Eubel, ''Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi'', vol. 5, p. 268; vol. 6, p. 289 * J. Mesnage, ''L'Afrique chrétienne'', Paris 1912, pp. 335–336 * H. Jaubert, ''Anciens évêchés et ruines chrétiennes de la Numidie et de la Sitifienne'', in ''Recueil des Notices et Mémoires de la Société archéologique de Constantine'', vol. 46, 1913, pp. 63–64 {{Authority control Communes of Mila Province Archaeological sites in Algeria Province seats of Algeria