View source for Cirta

{{Short description|Ancient Berber and Roman settlement}}
{{Distinguish|Sirte}}
{{Infobox ancient site
|name = Cirta
|native_name =
|alternate_name =
|image = File:Cirta mosaic.jpg
|alt =
|caption = Detail of ''Triumph of [[Poseidon|Neptune]] and [[Amphitrite]]'' ({{c.|315}}-325), a vast Roman mosaic from Cirta. Now in the [[Louvre]]
|map_type = Algeria
|map_alt =
|map_size = 250
|location = [[Algeria]]
|region = [[Constantine Province]]
|coordinates = {{coord|36.3675|6.611944|display=inline}}
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'''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 the capital city of the [[Berbers|Berber]] kingdom of [[Numidia]]; its strategically important port city was [[Russicada]]. Although Numidia was a key ally of the ancient [[Roman Republic]] during the [[Punic Wars]] (264–146{{nbsp}}BC), Cirta was subject to Roman invasions during the 2nd and 1st centuries{{nbsp}}BC.  Eventually it fell under Roman dominion during the time of [[Julius Caesar]]. Cirta was then repopulated with Roman colonists by Caesar and [[Augustus]] and was surrounded by the autonomous territory of a "Confederation of Four Free Roman cities" (with [[Collo|Chullu]], [[Russicada]], and [[Milevum]]),<ref>[https://journals.openedition.org/encyclopedieberbere/docannexe/image/2289/img-6.png Map of the 'Confederatio Cirtense']</ref> ruled initially by [[Publius Sittius]]. The city was destroyed in the beginning of the 4th{{nbsp}}century and was rebuilt by the Roman emperor [[Constantine the Great]], who gave his name to the newly constructed city, [[Constantine, Algeria|Constantine]]. The [[Vandals]] damaged Cirta, but Emperor {{nowrap|[[Justinian I]]}} reconquered and improved the Roman city. It declined in importance after the [[Islamic conquest of the Maghreb|Muslim invasions]], but a small community continued at the site for several centuries. Its ruins are now an archaeological site.
A number of significant archaeological finds have been found in the area, including a large corpus of [[Canaanite and Aramaic inscriptions|Punic inscriptions]], known as the [[Cirta steles]].
{{anchor|Name|Etymology}}
==Names==
{{further|Maghreb placename etymology}}
[[File:Monnaie - Bronze, Cirta, Numidie - btv1b8484001x (1 of 2).jpg|thumb|A coin from Cirta, bearing the Neo-Punic legend {{smallcaps|krṭn}}]]
The town's [[Punic language|Punic]] name {{smallcaps|krṭn}}{{sfnp|Ghaki|2015|p=67}}{{sfnp|Head & al.|1911|p=886}} ({{lang|xpu|𐤊𐤓𐤈𐤍}}, probably pronounced "'''Kirthan'''",<ref name="eb" /> with a [[Aspirated consonant|hard, breathy]] [[Voiceless dental and alveolar stops|/tʰ/]] sound) is probably ''not'' the Punic word meaning "town", which was written with a Q (i.e., [[qoph]]) rather than a K ([[kaph]]).<ref>Mazard,{{who|date=November 2018}} Corpus, n° 523-529.</ref> Instead, it is likely a Punic transcription of an existing [[Berber language|Berber]] placename.<ref name="eb">{{citation |title=Encyclopedie Berbère |contribution=Cirta |contribution-url=http://encyclopedieberbere.revues.org/2289 }}. {{in lang|fr}}</ref> This was later [[latinization of names|Latinized]] as Cirta. Under [[Julius Caesar]], the Sittian settlement was known as {{nowrap|Respublica IIII}} Coloniarum Cirtensium;<ref name="jayjay" /> [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] also knew it as {{nowrap|'''Cirta Sittianorum'''}} ("Cirta of the Sittians").<ref>[[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]], ''[[Pliny's Natural History|Natural History]]'', Book V, sect. 22.</ref> Under [[Augustus]], in 27 or 30{{nbsp}}BC, its official name was '''Colonia Julia Juvenalis Honoris et Virtutis Cirta''';<ref name="RENÉ">LOUIS, RENÉ. “A LA RECHERCHE DE ‘CIRTA REGIA’ CAPITALE DES ROIS NUMIDES.” Hommes Et Mondes, vol. 10, no. 39, 1949, pp. 276–287. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/44207191. Accessed 19 Feb. 2020.</ref> this was sometimes reduced to {{nowrap|'''Cirta Julia'''}} ("[[Julia (gens)|Julian]] Cirta"),<ref>Joseph Bingham, ''Origines Ecclesiasticae'', Volume 3 p11.</ref> ''''Colonia Cirta''' or simply '''Cirta'''.<ref name="RENÉ" /> This name was rendered as {{Langx|grc|Κίρτα|translit=Kírta|links=}} by the historians [[Diodorus Siculus]], [[Polybius]], [[Appian]], [[Cassius Dio]], and [[Procopius]] and by the geographers [[Ptolemy]] and [[Strabo]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Κίρτα - Cirta/Constantine, major city of Numidia, modern Constantine, Algeria|url=https://topostext.org/place/364066UCir|website=ToposText (topostext.org)|access-date=2020-05-13}}</ref>
After its refounding as '''Constantina''' ({{langx|la|Civitas Constantina Cirtensium}}) by [[Constantine the Great]] after  AD{{nbsp}}312, Cirta became known as '''[[Constantine, Algeria|Constantine]]'''.<ref name=":0">{{Citation|last=Bockmann|first=Ralf|title=Cirta|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001/acref-9780198662778-e-1078|work=The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity|year=2018|editor-last=Nicholson|editor-first=Oliver|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-866277-8|access-date=2020-05-13}}</ref> Following its [[Islamic conquest of the Maghreb|Muslim conquest]], it was known as '''Qusantina'''.
==History==
[[File:Fossatum.png|thumb|right|300px|Cirta in Roman times was protected to the south and west by the Roman limes, the {{lang|la|[[Fossatum Africae]]}}]]
[[File:Mileve Hippo Thagaste in Numidia.JPG|right|thumb|300px|Cirta on the map of Roman [[Numidia]]<ref>''Atlas Antiquus'', H. Kiepert, 1869.</ref>]]
===Numidian Kingdom===
Cirta was the capital of the [[Berbers|Berber]] kingdom of [[Numidia]], an important political, economic, and military site west of the [[Carthaginian Empire|mercantile empire]] run by the [[Phoenicians|Phoenician]] settlement of [[Ancient Carthage|Carthage]] to its east.
During the [[Second Punic War|second of Rome's wars against Carthage]], the 203{{nbsp}}BC [[Battle of Cirta]] was a decisive victory for [[Scipio Africanus]]. The kingdom remained an independent Roman ally following the destruction of Carthage in the [[Third Punic War]], but Roman commercial influence and political involvement grew.<ref name="The Cambridge Ancient History p. 29"/>
When [[Micipsa|King Micipsa]] died in 118{{nbsp}}BC, a civil war broke out between the king's natural son [[Adherbal (king of Numidia)|Adherbal]] and his adoptive son [[Jugurtha]]. Adherbal appealed for Roman help and a [[Roman Senate|senatorial]] commission brokered a seemingly successful division of the kingdom between the two heirs. Jugurtha followed this mediation, however, by besieging Cirta and killing both Adherbal and the Romans who defended him. Rome then prosecuted the [[Jugurthine War]] against his reunited Numidian state<ref name="The Cambridge Ancient History p. 29">''The Cambridge Ancient History''.  2nd ed., vol. 9, p. 29</ref> to assert their hegemony over the region{{citation needed|date=November 2018}} and to secure the protection of its [[Roman citizen|citizens]] abroad.
As Cirta rebuilt in the 1st century{{nbsp}}BC, its population was quite diverse: native [[Numidians]] alongside [[Ancient Carthage|Carthaginian]] refugees and Greek, Roman, and Italian merchants, bankers,<ref name=cama>''The Cambridge Ancient History''.  2nd ed., vol. 9, p. 638</ref> settlers, and army veterans.<ref>''The Cambridge Ancient History''.  2nd ed., vol. 9, p. 28 London: Cambridge University Press, 1970.</ref> This expatriate community made it an important business hub of Rome's African holdings, even while it remained technically outside the lands of the [[Roman Republic]].<ref name=cama/>
===Roman Empire===
Cirta fell under direct Roman rule in 46{{nbsp}}BC, following [[Julius Caesar]]'s conquest of North Africa.<ref>''Roman History'', Cassius Dio, vol. 43, ch. 9</ref> [[Publius Sittius|P. Sittius Nucerinus]] was chosen by Caesar to [[Romanization (cultural)|romanize]] the locals.<ref name=gaz/> His men, the "Sittians" (''{{lang|la|Sittiani}}''), were [[Campania]]n legionaries who controlled Cirta's lands on Rome's behalf.<ref name=jayjay>[[Jacques Heurgon]], "Les origines campaniennes de la Confédération cirtéenne"; François Bertrandy, "L'État de P. Sittius et la région de Cirta – Constantine (Algérie), Ier siècle avant J.-C. – Ier siècle après J.-C.", in ''L'Information historique'', 1990, pp. 69-73.</ref>
Together with the colonies at [[Rusicade]], [[Milevum]], and [[Chullu (Roman city)|Chullu]], their Cirta formed an autonomous territory within [[Africa Nova|"New Africa"]]: the [[Confederatio Cirtense]]. Its magistrates and municipal assembly were those of the confederation. Cirta administered fortifications (''{{lang|la|castella}}'') in the High Plains and at the north end of the colonies: Castellum Mastarense, Elephantum, [[Tiddis|Tidditanorum]], Cletianis, [[Thibilis]], Sigus, and others.
In 27 and 26{{nbsp}}BC,<ref name=gaz>[http://www.ancientlibrary.com/gazetteer/0323.html ''Classical Gazetteer'', page 321] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060311172321/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/gazetteer/0323.html |date=March 11, 2006 }}</ref> the area's administration was restructured under [[Augustus]], who split Cirta into [[pagus|communities]] ({{langx|la|[[wikt:pagus#Latin|pagi]]}}) separating the Numidians from the Sittiani and other newly settled Romans.<ref>''The Cambridge Ancient History''.  2nd ed., vol. 10, p. 607</ref>
With the expansion of the [[African limes|Roman limes]], this colony at Cirta was at the center of the most Romanized area of [[Africa (Roman province)|Roman Africa]]. It was protected by the [[Fossatum Africae]] stretching from [[Sitifis]] and [[Icosium]] (present-day Algiers) to [[Capsa]] on the [[Gulf of Gabès]]. [[Robin Daniel]] estimates that by the end of the 2nd century, Cirta had nearly 50,000 inhabitants.<ref>Robin Daniel, [http://www.tarifit.info/pdfbooks/thisholyseed.pdf ''History of Christianity in Roman Africa'']</ref>
Cirta in 303 AD was the administrative capital of the newly created ''Numidia Cirtense'', a small province -named from Cirta- made by emperor [[Diocletian]] in Roman Numidia in the last years of the third century.<ref>[J. kuijck "Africa in late antiquity"; Radboud University. Nijmeden, 2016 ([https://theses.ubn.ru.nl/bitstream/handle/123456789/3983/Kuijck%2C_J._van_1.pdf?sequence=1 Map of Numidia Cirtensis p.9])</ref> Numidia was divided in two: Numidia Cirtensis (or Cirtense), with capital at Cirta, and Numidia Militiana ("Military Numidia"), with capital at the legionary base of [[Lambaesis]].
The newly created province was enlarged in 310 AD by the emperor Constantine.
[[Christianity in Algeria|Christianity]] arrived early on: while little remains of African Christianity before AD{{nbsp}}200, records of [[martyrdom in Christianity|Christians martyred]] at Cirta existed by the mid-3rd century.<ref>''The Cambridge Ancient History''.  2nd ed., vol. 12, p. 585, 645</ref> It became the chief town of an ecclesiastical district.{{Clarify|reason=|date=May 2020}} Around 305, the [[First Council of Cirta]] was held to elect a new bishop, accidentally precipitating the [[Donatist]] movement. After the dissolution of its confederation of colonies in the 4th century, Cirta recovered its role as a capital when it headed the territory of [[Numidia Cirtensis]] created under [[Diocletian]]: however, after some decades, Emperor [[Constantine the Great]] reunited the two provinces created in 303 (Cirtensis & Militiana) in a single one, administered from Cirta, which was renamed ''Constantina ''(modern Constantine).
Indeed, the city was destroyed after a siege by [[Rufius Volusianus]], the ''[[praefectus praetorio]]'' of the [[Augustus (title)|''augustus'']] [[Maxentius]]; Maxentius's forces defeated the imperial claimant [[Domitius Alexander]] in 310.<ref name=":0" /> [[Constantine the Great]] rebuilt under his own name after 312 and his own victory over Maxentius in the [[Battle of the Milvian Bridge]].<ref name=":0" /> Constantine made Constantina the capital of all Roman Numidia.<ref name="WDL">{{cite web |url = http://www.wdl.org/en/item/8789/ |title = General View, Constantine, Algeria |website = [[World Digital Library]] |date = 1899 |access-date = 2013-09-25 }}</ref> In 320 the bishop of Cirta was accused of having handed over ({{Langx|la|traditio|links=no}}) Christian texts to the authorities during the [[Diocletianic Persecution]], which had begun in 303 in Cirta.<ref name=":1">{{Citation|last=Lunn-Rockliffe|first=Sophie|title=Optatan Appendix|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001/acref-9780198662778-e-3457|work=The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity|year=2018|editor-last=Nicholson|editor-first=Oliver|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-866277-8|access-date=2020-05-13}}</ref> The bishop Silvanus was a [[Donatism|Donatist]] and was prosecuted in December 320 by [[Domitius Zenophilus]], the [[consularis]] and [[proconsul]] of [[Africa (Roman province)|Africa]]; the records of the proceedings ({{Langx|la|[[commentarii]]|label=none}}) are preserved in the {{Langx|la|Gesta apud Zenophilum|links=no|lit=Deeds of Zenophilus}}, a text collected in the ''[[Optatan Appendix]]''.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Citation|last=Corcoran|first=Simon|title=Zenophilus, Domitius|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001/acref-9780198662778-e-5136|work=The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity|year=2018|editor-last=Nicholson|editor-first=Oliver|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-866277-8|access-date=2020-05-13}}</ref> A cave for the practice of [[Mithraism]] also existed in the 4th century.<ref name=":0" />
In 412, Cirta was host to the [[Second Council of Cirta]], overseen by [[Augustine of Hippo|St{{nbsp}}Augustine]]. According to [[Theodor Mommsen|Mommsen]], Cirta was fully [[Latin]]-speaking and [[Christianity in Algeria|Christian]] by the time the [[Vandals]] arrived in AD{{nbsp}}430.<ref>Theodore Mommsen. ''The Provinces of the Roman Empire'' Section:Africa</ref>
Under the emperor {{nowrap|[[Justinian I]]}}, the city walls were reinforced and the city was named capital of its region with a resident commander (''{{lang|la|dux}}''). Cirta was part of the [[Exarchate of Africa|Byzantine Africa]] from 534 to 697.
===Islamic conquest===
{{further|Islamic conquest of the Maghreb|Constantine, Algeria}}
During the [[Muslim conquest of the Maghreb]], Constantine was unsuccessfully defended by the Berber queen [[Kahina]].{{citation needed|date=November 2018}} Although many Roman, Byzantine, and Vandal cities were destroyed during the expansion of the [[Rashidun Caliphate|Caliphate]], Constantine survived in reduced form<ref>
{{cite encyclopedia
|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0006%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DC%3Aentry+group%3D6%3Aentry%3Dcirta
|title=CIRTA (Constantine) Algeria
|encyclopedia=The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites
|access-date=2015-04-12
}}</ref> with a small Christian community as late as the 10th{{nbsp}}century. The town's further development is detailed under the article [[Constantine, Algeria|Constantine]].
==Bishops==
The bishopric of Cirta was venerable and prominent in the African church. Several of its bishops are known:
*Paulus fl. 303–305 (Catholic)<ref>Wace, Henry, [https://books.google.com/books?id=jxxNCgAAQBAJ&q=Cirta&pg=PT879 ''Dictionary of Christian Biography and Literature''] (Delmarva Publications, Inc., 1911).</ref>
*Siluanus 303–320<ref>Wace, Henry, ''Dictionary of Christian Biography and Literature'' (Delmarva Publications, Inc., 1911).</ref><ref>Maureen A. Tilley, ''The Bible in Christian North Africa: The Donatist World'' (Fortress Press , 1997)
[https://books.google.com/books?id=7xAglGZ3mukC&q=CIrta p79].</ref>
*Petilianus 354–422 (Donatist)<ref>Wace, Henry, [https://books.google.com/books?id=jxxNCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT879 ''Dictionary of Christian Biography and Literature''] (Delmarva Publications, Inc., 1911).</ref>
*Profutrus 391–397 (Catholic)
*Fortunatus 401–425 (Catholic), attendee of the council of 411<ref>Saint Augustine, ''Letters'', Volume 2 (83–130) (The Fathers of the Church, Volume 18) [https://books.google.com/books?id=DakMOPqQiwsC&pg=PA25 letter 115].</ref>
*Delphinus 411 (Catholic)
*Honoratus Antonius fl. 437 (Catholic)
*Victor 484 (Catholic)
Today the town of Constantine is again the seat of a [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Constantine|diocese]].<ref>{{Catholic|wstitle=Diocese of Constantine (Cirta)|prescript=}}</ref>
==See also==
{{Portal|Ancient Rome}}
* [[Constantine, Algeria]]
* [[Mauretania Caesariensis]]
* [[Confederatio Cirtense]]
* [[Caesarea of Mauretania|Caesarea]]
* [[Auzia]]
* [[Rapidum]]
* [[Chullu (roman colony)|Chullu]]
* [[Milevum]]
== References ==
===Citations===
{{Reflist|2}}
=== Bibliography ===
* {{citation |last=Head |first=Barclay |editor=Ed Snible |author2=G.F. Hill |author3=George MacDonald |author4=W. Wroth |display-authors=1 |display-editors=0 |url=http://snible.org/coins/hn/index.html |title=Historia Numorum |contribution=Numidia|contribution-url=http://snible.org/coins/hn/numidia.html |pages=884–887 |date=1911 |edition=2nd |location=Oxford |publisher=Clarendon Press |ref={{harvid|Head & al.|1911}} }}.
* {{citation |last=Ghaki |first=Mansour |contribution=Toponymie et Onomastique Libyques: L'Apport de l'Écriture Punique/Néopunique |contribution-url=https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/50105050/Toponymie_et_onomastique_Lapport_de_lecriture_punique_neopunique.pdf |pages=65–71 |date=2015 |location=Naples |publisher=Unior |editor=Anna Maria di Tolla |display-editors=0 |title=La Lingua nella Vita e la Vita della Lingua: Itinerari e Percorsi degli Studi Berberi |series=Studi Africanistici: Quaderni di Studi Berberi e Libico-Berberi |number=4 |isbn=978-88-6719-125-3 |issn=2283-5636 |access-date=2018-11-02 |archive-date=2020-04-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200428044658/https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/50105050/Toponymie_et_onomastique_Lapport_de_lecriture_punique_neopunique.pdf |url-status=dead }}. {{in lang|fr}}
* [[Jacques Heurgon|Heurgon, Jacques]]. ''Les origines campaniennes de la Confédération cirtéenne'' in "Libyca" magazine, 5, 1957 (pp.&nbsp;7–27)
* 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
* Smyth Vereker, Charles. ''Scenes in the Sunny South: Including the Atlas Mountains and the Oases of the Sahara in Algeria''. Volume 2. Publisher Longmans, Green, and Company. University of Wisconsin. Madison,1871 ( [https://books.google.com/books?id=VofVAAAAMAAJ&dq=tenes+roman+cartenna&pg=PA131 Roman Cirta] )
*{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Cirta}}
{{Phoenician cities and colonies}}
{{Romano-Berber cities in Roman Africa}}
{{coord|36|22|03|N|6|36|43|E|region:DZ_type:landmark|display=title}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Cirta| ]]
[[Category:310s disestablishments in the Roman Empire]]
[[Category:Populated places disestablished in the 4th century]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Algeria]]
[[Category:Roman towns and cities in Mauretania Caesariensis]]
[[Category:Numidia]]
[[Category:History of Constantine, Algeria]]
[[Category:Ancient Berber cities]]
[[Category:Phoenician colonies in Algeria]]
[[Category:Capitals of former nations]]
[[Category:Constantine the Great]]