Setifis

Sétifis (Berber language: Sṭif), was a town of in Roman in northeastern Algeria. It was the capital of the Roman era province called Mauretania Sitifensis,[1] and it is today Setif in the Sétif Province (Algeria).

Setifis
Roman remains in Sitifis
Shown within Algeria
LocationAlgeria
RegionSétif Province
Coordinates36.183333°N 5.4°E / 36.183333; 5.4

History

Sitifis was officially Colonia Augusta Nerviana Martialis Veteranorum Sitifensium, and from the time of Diocletian, (293 A.D.), was the capital of Mauretania Sitifensis (now eastern Algeria).[2] Today vestiges of the third century and fourth century include city walls, temple, circus, mausoleum and "Scipio" Byzantine fortress. Numerous archaeological artifacts are exhibited at the archaeological museum of the city.

Roman stones with Latin words in Setif gardens

The name of the city, is of Numidian origin and in Berber means "black" (aseṭṭaf). The modern city was founded by the French on the ruins of the ancient one.[3]

Setifis (or Sitifis) was founded in 97 AD by the Romans, during the reign of Nerva, as a colony for Roman veterans. Although no buildings of this period are known, a cemetery excavated in the 1960s seems to have contained tombs from the early colony[4]

Mosaic from Baths of Roman Setifis (shown in the "Setif Museum")

As the town grew, around 297 AD, the province of Mauretania Sitifensis was established, with Sitifis as its capital. In the newly prosperous town a bath building was built, decorated with fine mosaics: its restoration in the fifth century had a cold room (frigidarium) paved with a large mosaic showing the birth of Venus.[5] Setifis initially was populated by Italian colonists even because it was located at 1000 meters of altitude and so the weather was similar to the one in Italy.

Although we do not know what happened under Vandal rule, the Byzantine reconquest brought with it a major fort, of which parts are still standing. In the sixth century Christianity was the main religion, with a strong presence of Donatism. Under the Vandals it was the chief town of a district called "Zaba". It was still the capital of a province (called "Mauretania Prima") under Byzantine rule and was then a place of strategic importance. The area came under Byzantine control for a short period, that saw the introduction of Orthodox doctrines to the main Donatist and Catholic towns of their Exarchate of Africa[6]

In 647 AD the first Muslim expedition to Africa took place and by the end of this century, the area started to be conquered. Indeed, Uqba ibn Nafi partially destroyed Sitifis in a raid in 680 AD, when his forces conquered nearby Saldae (actual Bougie), while fighting to reach the Atlantic ocean. The Byzantine era of Sitifis was over. By 702 AD, the area had been fully conquered by the Umayyad Caliphate.

In the eight century the region had been converted to the Islamic faith. We know little of the early Islamic town, but by the tenth century the area outside of the fortress was once more filled with houses: on the site of the Roman baths over twelve of these were excavated, with large courtyards surrounded by long, thin, rooms.[7] In the mid-eleventh century this development stopped abruptly, and a defensive wall was built around the city.

The historian Leo Africanus reports that a major wave of destruction followed the invasion of the Banu Hillal shortly thereafter.

Similar to an army of locusts, they (the Banu Hillal) destroy everything in their path.Ibn Khaldun, a Muslim historian

Nothing more is known of what used to be Roman Setifis until the ruins of the town were used by the French army (who built their own fortress on the site in 1848, using the line of the medieval city wall and the Byzantine fortress).

Roman Architecture
Roman mosaic with Venus, shown in the Setif Museum

On the northwest edge of the town two great Christian basilicas were built at the end of the fourth century, decorated, again, with splendid mosaics,[8] and a Bishopric was founded at this time.

The city had a bath house[9] fortifications[10] The inhabitants made inscriptions to the emperors a practise that falls out in the 4th century with the rise of Christianity.[11][12]

The city had also a "Circus";[13] the approximate location confirmed by old air photographs showing 90% of the circus has now been built over;.[14] Only the southern, curved, end remains visible. The U-shaped formerly visible track was 450 m. long and 70 m. wide.[15]

Bishopric

The city was also the center of a bishopric[16] The diocese effectively ceased with the Islamic invasion, but remains a titular see to the current day.

Saint Augustine, who had frequent relations with Sitifis, tells us that in his day the Bishopric had a monastery and an episcopal school. Several Christian inscriptions have been found there, one of 452 mentioning the relics of Saint Lawrence, another naming two martyrs of Sitifis, Justus and Decurius.The diocese effectively ceased with the Islamic invasion, but remains a titular see to the current day.

Bishops known to us include:

Bishop Sanchez
  • Novutus[17](Donatist)
  • Unnamed Donatist bishop
  • Lucullas (Catholic)
  • Alexis Lemaître, (24 Feb 1911 Appointed - 28 Jul 1920 Appointed, Coadjutor Archbishop of Carthage)
  • Joanny Thévenoud, (8 Jul 1921 Appointed - 16 Sep 1949)
  • André-Maurice Parenty (9 Mar 1950 Appointed - 23 Nov 1983)
  • Armando Xavier Ochoa (23 Dec 1986 Appointed - 1 Apr 1996 Bishop of El Paso, Texas)
  • Manuel Felipe Díaz Sánchez (27 Feb 1997 Appointed - 4 Apr 2000 Bishop of Carúpano)
  • John Choi Young-su (22 Dec 2000 Appointed - 3 Feb 2006 Appointed, Coadjutor Archbishop of Daegu {Taegu})
  • Broderick Soncuaco Pabillo (24 May 2006 Appointed - )[18]

See also

References
  1. Map of Mauretania Sitifensis (in blue color)
  2. Nacéra Benseddik, Autels votifs de la région de Sétif: païens ou chrétiens?, Monuments funéraires, institutions autochtones en Afrique du Nord antique et médiévale, VIe Colloque International sur L'Histoire et l'Archéologie de l'Afrique du Nord, Pau, 1993, C.T.H.S. [1995], p. 179-186.
  3. Leslie Dossey, Peasant and Empire in Christian North Africa (University of California Press, 2010)page 131.
  4. R. Guéry, 1985, La Necropole orientale de Sitifis: fouilles de 1966–1967. Paris
  5. E. Fentress, ed., Fouilles de Sétif 1977 - 1984 BAA supp. 5, Algiers, 29-92
  6. Francois Decret, Early Christianity in North Africa (James Clarke & Co, 2011) p.196
  7. E. Fentress, ed., Fouilles de Sétif 1977 - 1984 BAA supp. 5, Algiers, 114-151
  8. P.-A. Fevrier, Fouilles de Sétif: les basiliques chrétiennes du quartier nord-ouest Paris, 1965.
  9. Leslie Dossey, Peasant and Empire in Christian North Africa (University of California Press, 2010), p24.
  10. Leslie Dossey, Peasant and Empire in Christian North Africa (University of California Press, 2010) p113.
  11. Nacéra Benseddik, Nouvelles inscriptions de Sétif, B.A.A., VII, 1977-79, p.33-52.
  12. Leslie Dossey, Peasant and Empire in Christian North Africa (University of California Press, 2010), p24.
  13. Cole, Robert. "circus at serif". www.circusmaximus.us. Retrieved 2018-01-29.
  14. [Setif] The Circus|Circus at Setif at
  15. Cole, Robert. "circus at serif". www.circusmaximus.us. Retrieved 2018-01-29.
  16. Francois Decret, Early Christianity in North Africa (James Clarke & Co, 2011) p.84
  17. Saint Augustine, Robert B. Eno, S.S. Letters, Volume 6 (1*–29*) (The Fathers of the Church, Volume 81), Volume 6 (CUA Press, 1Apr.,2010 ) p186.
  18. Cheney, David M. "Sitifis (Titular See) [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2018-01-29.
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