Hadrumetum
Encyclopedia
Hadrumetum (sometimes called Adrametum or Adrametus) was a Phoenicia
n colony that pre-dated Carthage
and stood on the site of modern-day Sousse
, Tunisia
.
ine maritime traders who would later be supplanted in Northern Africa by their major colony Carthage, sensed the possibilities of a port
city south of present-day Tunis
and founded Hadrumetum on what is now the Gulf of Hammamet in the Mediterranean Sea
.
Hadrumetum was one of the most important communities within the Roman territory in northern Africa
because of its strategic location on the sea in the heart of the fertile Sahel
region. The city allied itself with Rome
during the Punic Wars
, thereby escaping damage or ruin and entered a relatively peaceful 700-year stint under Pax Romana
, although Hannibal made use of it as a military base in his campaign against Scipio Africanus
at the close of the Second Punic War
Many records have been found that say the Romans sent a garrison of 5000 soldiers to protect it. They were led by General Septus Loriinus. At some point during this period its name was slightly altered (by the addition of an N) to become Hadrumentum.
Under the Roman Empire
it became very prosperous; Trajan
gave it the rank of a colonia
: "Colonia Concordia Ulpia Trajana Augusta Frugifera Hadrumetina". A breathtaking legacy of intricate Roman mosaic
s survives from this era, together with many early Christian
objects from the catacombs. At the end of the 3rd century it even became the capital of the newly-made province of Byzacena
(modern Sahel
, Tunisia
).
The city's strategic position meant that it changed hands (and names) many times in the following centuries. In the 5th century AD it was destroyed by the Vandals
, who rebuilt it and renamed it Hunerikopolis after their king Hunerik. The following century it was taken over by Byzantium
and renamed Justinianopolis (one of several homonyms is Kırşehir
in modern-day Turkey
).
control. During the next 200 years it became the main sea port
of the Suleiman
dynasty
, being 60km east of their capital Kairouan
('al-qayrawān in Arabic) and had been renamed, this time as Sūsa. The 'ribat', which they began building in 821, as a fortress against the Christians of Sicily
, still stands, and contains what is considered to be the oldest mosque
in North Africa; nearby, the town's main mosque, also founded in the 9th century, has a similarly fortress-like appearance. In 827 the Aghlabids launched their invasion
of Sicily from this port (the first move in a campaign which was to last until 902).
During the 12th century Sūsa was briefly occupied by the Normans
(from their territory in Sicily, which they conquered between 1060–1090); in the 16th century it was conquered by Ottoman Turks
. The city was bombarded by French
and Venetian
forces during the 18th century. Tunisia
had become a French protectorate
in 1881, and in the late 19th century, France added to the port's facilities, increasing the importance of Sousse, as it had become by then.
Susa under French rule had 250,000 inhabitants, of whom 100,100 French and 50,000 other Europeans, mainly Italians and Maltese. It was a government centre in the Province of Tunis. It has a few antiquities and some curious Christian catacombs. The native portion of the town has hardly altered. It has a museum, a fort, an important harbour and many oil wells in the neighbourhood.
in the former Roman province
of Byzacena
. Between 255 and 551 there were nine bishops of Hadrumetum who are still known, the last of whom was Primasius, whose works are to be found in P.L., LXVIII, 467.
Phoenicia
Phoenicia , was an ancient civilization in Canaan which covered most of the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent. Several major Phoenician cities were built on the coastline of the Mediterranean. It was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550...
n colony that pre-dated Carthage
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
and stood on the site of modern-day Sousse
Sousse
Sousse is a city in Tunisia. Located 140 km south of the capital Tunis, the city has 173,047 inhabitants . Sousse is in the central-east of the country, on the Gulf of Hammamet, which is a part of the Mediterranean Sea. The name may be of Berber origin: similar names are found in Libya and in...
, Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
.
Ancient history
In the 9th century BC, the Phoenicians, astute LevantLevant
The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...
ine maritime traders who would later be supplanted in Northern Africa by their major colony Carthage, sensed the possibilities of a port
Port
A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land....
city south of present-day Tunis
Tunis
Tunis is the capital of both the Tunisian Republic and the Tunis Governorate. It is Tunisia's largest city, with a population of 728,453 as of 2004; the greater metropolitan area holds some 2,412,500 inhabitants....
and founded Hadrumetum on what is now the Gulf of Hammamet in the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
.
Hadrumetum was one of the most important communities within the Roman territory in northern Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
because of its strategic location on the sea in the heart of the fertile Sahel
Sahel, Tunisia
Sahel is an area of Tunisia. It forms the central part of the eastern shore, from the south of Hammamet to Mahdia. Its main town is Sousse, called "the Pearl of the Sahel".-Politics:* Habib Bourguiba;* Zine El Abidine Ben Ali;* Kamel Morjane;...
region. The city allied itself with Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
during the Punic Wars
Punic Wars
The Punic Wars were a series of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage from 264 B.C.E. to 146 B.C.E. At the time, they were probably the largest wars that had ever taken place...
, thereby escaping damage or ruin and entered a relatively peaceful 700-year stint under Pax Romana
Pax Romana
Pax Romana was the long period of relative peace and minimal expansion by military force experienced by the Roman Empire in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. Since it was established by Caesar Augustus it is sometimes called Pax Augusta...
, although Hannibal made use of it as a military base in his campaign against Scipio Africanus
Scipio Africanus
Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus , also known as Scipio Africanus and Scipio the Elder, was a general in the Second Punic War and statesman of the Roman Republic...
at the close of the Second Punic War
Second Punic War
The Second Punic War, also referred to as The Hannibalic War and The War Against Hannibal, lasted from 218 to 201 BC and involved combatants in the western and eastern Mediterranean. This was the second major war between Carthage and the Roman Republic, with the participation of the Berbers on...
Many records have been found that say the Romans sent a garrison of 5000 soldiers to protect it. They were led by General Septus Loriinus. At some point during this period its name was slightly altered (by the addition of an N) to become Hadrumentum.
Under the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
it became very prosperous; Trajan
Trajan
Trajan , was Roman Emperor from 98 to 117 AD. Born into a non-patrician family in the province of Hispania Baetica, in Spain Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian. Serving as a legatus legionis in Hispania Tarraconensis, in Spain, in 89 Trajan supported the emperor against...
gave it the rank of a colonia
Colonia (Roman)
A Roman colonia was originally a Roman outpost established in conquered territory to secure it. Eventually, however, the term came to denote the highest status of Roman city.-History:...
: "Colonia Concordia Ulpia Trajana Augusta Frugifera Hadrumetina". A breathtaking legacy of intricate Roman mosaic
Mosaic
Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration, or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral...
s survives from this era, together with many early Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
objects from the catacombs. At the end of the 3rd century it even became the capital of the newly-made province of Byzacena
Byzacena
Byzacena was a Roman province in what is now Tunisia.At the end of the third century AD, the Emperor Diocletian divided the great Roman province of Africa Proconsularis into three smaller provinces: Zeugitana in the north, still governed by a proconsul and referred to as Proconsularis, Byzacena,...
(modern Sahel
Sahel, Tunisia
Sahel is an area of Tunisia. It forms the central part of the eastern shore, from the south of Hammamet to Mahdia. Its main town is Sousse, called "the Pearl of the Sahel".-Politics:* Habib Bourguiba;* Zine El Abidine Ben Ali;* Kamel Morjane;...
, Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
).
The city's strategic position meant that it changed hands (and names) many times in the following centuries. In the 5th century AD it was destroyed by the Vandals
Vandals
The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century. The Vandals under king Genseric entered Africa in 429 and by 439 established a kingdom which included the Roman Africa province, besides the islands of Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearics....
, who rebuilt it and renamed it Hunerikopolis after their king Hunerik. The following century it was taken over by Byzantium
Byzantium
Byzantium was an ancient Greek city, founded by Greek colonists from Megara in 667 BC and named after their king Byzas . The name Byzantium is a Latinization of the original name Byzantion...
and renamed Justinianopolis (one of several homonyms is Kırşehir
Kirsehir
Kırşehir, formerly Macissus and Justinianopolis, is a city in Turkey. It is the capital district of the Kırşehir Province. According to 2000 census, population of the district is 121,947 of which 105,826 live in the city of Kırşehir.-History:The history of Kırşehir dates back to the Hittites...
in modern-day Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
).
Later history
By the mid-7th century it was under Eastern RomanByzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
control. During the next 200 years it became the main sea port
Port
A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land....
of the Suleiman
Suleiman
Suleiman is the main transliteration of the Arabic name, , the name means "man of peace" and corresponds to the English name Solomon.The word may also be transliterated as Sulaiman, Suleman, Soliman, Sulayman, Süleyman, Sulejman, Sleiman, Sleman, Solyman or Seleman...
dynasty
Dynasty
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers considered members of the same family. Historians traditionally consider many sovereign states' history within a framework of successive dynasties, e.g., China, Ancient Egypt and the Persian Empire...
, being 60km east of their capital Kairouan
Kairouan
Kairouan , also known as Kirwan or al-Qayrawan , is the capital of the Kairouan Governorate in Tunisia. Referred to as the Islamic Cultural Capital, it is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The city was founded by the Arabs around 670...
('al-qayrawān in Arabic) and had been renamed, this time as Sūsa. The 'ribat', which they began building in 821, as a fortress against the Christians of Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
, still stands, and contains what is considered to be the oldest mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
in North Africa; nearby, the town's main mosque, also founded in the 9th century, has a similarly fortress-like appearance. In 827 the Aghlabids launched their invasion
Invasion
An invasion is a military offensive consisting of all, or large parts of the armed forces of one geopolitical entity aggressively entering territory controlled by another such entity, generally with the objective of either conquering, liberating or re-establishing control or authority over a...
of Sicily from this port (the first move in a campaign which was to last until 902).
During the 12th century Sūsa was briefly occupied by the Normans
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
(from their territory in Sicily, which they conquered between 1060–1090); in the 16th century it was conquered by Ottoman Turks
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. The city was bombarded by French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Venetian
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
forces during the 18th century. Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
had become a French protectorate
Protectorate
In history, the term protectorate has two different meanings. In its earliest inception, which has been adopted by modern international law, it is an autonomous territory that is protected diplomatically or militarily against third parties by a stronger state or entity...
in 1881, and in the late 19th century, France added to the port's facilities, increasing the importance of Sousse, as it had become by then.
Susa under French rule had 250,000 inhabitants, of whom 100,100 French and 50,000 other Europeans, mainly Italians and Maltese. It was a government centre in the Province of Tunis. It has a few antiquities and some curious Christian catacombs. The native portion of the town has hardly altered. It has a museum, a fort, an important harbour and many oil wells in the neighbourhood.
Ecclesiastical history
It remains a Roman Catholic titular seeTitular see
A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular bishop", "titular metropolitan", or "titular archbishop"....
in the former Roman province
Roman province
In Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and, until the Tetrarchy , largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of Italy...
of Byzacena
Byzacena
Byzacena was a Roman province in what is now Tunisia.At the end of the third century AD, the Emperor Diocletian divided the great Roman province of Africa Proconsularis into three smaller provinces: Zeugitana in the north, still governed by a proconsul and referred to as Proconsularis, Byzacena,...
. Between 255 and 551 there were nine bishops of Hadrumetum who are still known, the last of whom was Primasius, whose works are to be found in P.L., LXVIII, 467.