Madauros

Madauros
Ruins of Madauros
Shown within Algeria
Location Algeria
Region Souk Ahras Province
Coordinates 36°04′36″N 7°49′12″E / 36.076667°N 7.82°E / 36.076667; 7.82

Madauros (Madaurus, Madaura) was a Roman-Berber city and a former diocese of the Catholic Church in the old state of Numidia.

History

Madaurus was made a Roman colony at the end of the first century and was famous for its "schola". A colony of veterans was established there; it was called Colonia Flavia Augusta Veteranorum Madaurensium under emperor Nerva.[1] It was the native town of Apuleius, known as author of the famous novel The Golden Ass, who was born there in 123 AD.[2] Saint Augustine of Hippo was a student there.

The city was fully Romanised in the fourth century, with a population of Christian Berbers, who spoke mainly Latin, according to Theodor Mommsen.[3]

Madauros was the see of a Christian diocese. There were three famous bishops of this diocese: Antigonus, who celebrated the Council of Carthage (349); Placentius, who celebrated the Council of Carthage (407) and Council of Carthage (411); and Pudentius who was forced into exile, alongside others present at the Christian conference of Council of Carthage (484), because of the Vandal king Huneric.

The city of Madaurus, known since 300 BC, did not survive to the Arabic invasions of the late seventh century. Probably it was destroyed by its inhabitants themselves by order of Kahina, the so-called "Beautiful Romano-berber Queen".

The ruins of Madauros are close to the actual city of M'Daourouch, in current Algeria. It is possible to see:

  • A Roman mausoleum with some statues.
  • A Roman theatre, reduced in size because of a Byzantine fortification made in 535 AD.
  • Some small "Roman thermae".
  • A Roman basilica of the Byzantine era with 3 sections of columns.
  • Some epitaphs, with Latin inscriptions.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Perseus: Madauros
  2. ↑ Apuleius; Tighe, Mary Blachford; Gurney, Hudson (1878). The works of Apuleius, comprising the Metamorphoses, or Golden ass, the God of Socrates, the Florida, and his Defence, or A Discourse on magic. University of California Libraries. London, Bell.
  3. ↑ Theodor Mommsen. The Provinces of the Roman Empire. Section: Africa

Bibliography

  • Gurney, Hudson The works of Apuleius Publisher Bell (University of California Libraries). London, 1878
  • Gsell, Stephane. Histoire ancienne de l'Afrique du Nord en 8 tomes, Inscriptions de Madaure, ibid., p. CLXX-CLXXIV. Paris, 1922.
  • Mommsen, Theodore. The Provinces of the Roman Empire. Barnes & Noble Ed. New York, 2005
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