Rusadir

Rusadir
Melilla la Vieja is built over Roman Rusadir
Shown within Spain
Location Spain
Region Melilla
Coordinates 35°17′38″N 2°55′59″W / 35.294°N 2.933°W / 35.294; -2.933Coordinates: 35°17′38″N 2°55′59″W / 35.294°N 2.933°W / 35.294; -2.933

Rusadir (Latin: Rusadir or Russader, Ancient Greek: Ῥυσσάδειρον, translit. Rhyssádeiron[1]) was an ancient Romano-Berber city in Mauretania Tingitana. It was originally a Phoenician and later a Punic establishment called in Phoenician: Rus-Adir. According to the Antonine Itinerary, the town subsequently became a Roman colonia and later became the Spanish city of Melilla.

History

Rusadir is one of the Berber nation's historical settlements in North Africa. It is mentioned by Ptolemy (IV, 1) and Pliny (V, 18) who call it "oppidum et portus", also by Mela (I, 33), under the corrupted form Rusicada and by the Itinerarium Antonini.[2]

The Romans occupied Rusadir in the first century under Augustus and later opened a coin mint. Emperor Claudius created a Roman colony in 46 AD with the name Flavia.[3]

In the third century Rusadir was fully Christianized and enjoyed huge prosperity. Emperor Diocletian made it part of the Hispania province in 385 AD.[4]

In the late fourth century, Rusadir served as the Roman port of commerce to the Mauro-Roman kingdom. The Vandals laid siege to the city and conquered it around 430 AD, but a few years later it was controlled by the Altava Berber kingdom. The Eastern Roman Empire of Justinian I under the general Belisarius reconquered the city in the Vandalic War. By then it had fewer than 3,000 inhabitants after having suffered widespread destruction. The king of the Visigoths Sisebuto conquered Rusadir in 614 AD and reconstructed the destroyed city walls; the city become an episcopal see. The Byzantine empire after some years recovered the city, but it fell to the Arabs around 701 AD.

After that, the city of Rusadir remained lightly populated, suffering numerous famines and sieges into modern times. Mediaeval Berbers called it Mlila, hence the modern Spanish name. In 1497, it was captured by the Juan Alfonso Pérez de Guzmán, 3rd Duke of Medina Sidonia. In 1506, the city became part of the Crown of Castile.[2]

Notes

  1. ↑  E.B.J. (1870). "RUSADIR". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.
  2. 1 2  Sophron Pétridès (1913). "Rusaddir". In Herbermann, Charles. Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  3. ↑ History of Melilla (in Spanish).
  4. ↑ Melilla, su entorno e historia 1 - Entrega VII

Bibliography

  • Conant, Jonathan. Staying Roman : conquest and identity in Africa and the Mediterranean. Cambridge New York: Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, 2012 ISBN 0521196973
  • Davies, Ethel (2009). North Africa: The Roman Coast. Chalfont St Peter, Bucks: Bradt Travel Guides. ISBN 978-1-84162-287-3.
  • Zurlo, Yves. Ceuta et Melilla : histoire, représentations et devenir de deux enclaves espagnoles L'Harmattan, « Recherches et documents. Espagne ». Paris, 2005 ISBN 2-7475-7656-6

See also

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