Milevum
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Milevum (in Latin even "Milev" or "Mireon"; Μιραίον in Ancient Greek) was a Roman colonia situated in the Roman province of Numidia. Actually it is called Mila in eastern Algeria.
Contents
History
In Ptolemy's "Geography" (vol. IV, iii, 7) the city is mentioned under the name of Mileum. During the Roman era it was called Colonia Sarnensis Milevitana, after the River Sarnus in Campania (southern Italy), whence the colonists had emigrated. This name is often found in the inscriptions of the city.
Together with Cirta, Collo and Rusicade, Milevum formed the confederation known as the Four Colonies, the territory of which was very extensive. This confederation area was fully romanised in the fourth century, with nearly all the population speaking Latin, according to historian Theodore Mommsen [1]
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.[2] It has yielded quite a number of Latin inscriptions from this city and a colossal statue of Saturn.
Christianity appeared in the second century and dominated Miletum in the fourth century.[3]
Two church councils were held at Milevum, one in 402 AD and the other in 416 AD. The second appealed to Pope Innocent I for repression of the Pelagian heresy. Among the bishops of this episcopal see were: Pollianus, present at the Council of Carthage in 255 AD and martyred two years later; St. Optatus, noted for his work against the Donatists, who died in about 385 AD and who is commemorated on 4 June; Honorius; Severus, fellow-countryman and friend of St. Augustine; Benenanus (484 AD); and Restitutus, who attended the Fifth Œcumenical Council in 553 AD.
After 682 AD the city may have been conquered by the Umayyad Arabs commanded by Abu al-Muhajir Dinar.[4]
Notes
- ↑ Theodore Mommsen. "The Provinces of the Roman Empire". Section: Africa
- ↑ Ch. Diehl, Afrique byzantine, Paris, 1896, 603 sq.
- ↑ History of Christianity in Roman Africa
- ↑ Mila is the name given by the 9th-century historian Khalifa ibn Khayyat, but this might perhaps refer to the Numidian fortress of Gemellae near the modern-day village of Mlii
See also
- Mauretania Caesariensis
- Caesarea
- Icosium
- Rapidum
- Rusicade
- Cirta
- Chullu
- Thamugadi
- Lambaesis
- Roman 'Coloniae' in Berber Africa
- Romano-Berber states
- Christian Berbers
Bibliography
- A. Benabbès: "Les premiers raids arabes en Numidie byzantine: questions toponymiques." In Identités et Cultures dans l'Algérie Antique, University of Rouen, 2005 (ISBN 2-87775-391-3)
- Heurgon J. Les origines campaniennes de la Confédération cirtéenne, Libyca archéol. Epigr.,t.V,1957, p. 7-24.
- Laffi, Umberto. Colonie e municipi nello Stato romano Ed. di Storia e Letteratura. Roma, 2007 ISBN 8884983509
- Mommsen, Theodore. The Provinces of the Roman Empire Section: Roman Africa. (Leipzig 1865; London 1866; London: Macmillan 1909; reprint New York 1996) Barnes & Noble. New York, 1996
- Reynell Morell, John. Algeria: The Topography and History, Political, Social, and Natural, of French Africa. Publisher N. Cooke. London, 1854 ( Chullu)
- P. Trousset (2002). Les limites sud de la réoccupation Byzantine. Antiquité Tardive v. 10, p. 143-150.
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