HIPPO REGIUS FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE ARAB CONQUEST A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE FACULTY OF PRINCETON UNIVERSITY IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By i HOLMES VAN MATER DENNIS 3d. PRINCETON PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS 1924 Accepted by the Department of Classics, June 1923 ERRATA Preface, 1. 6: for from read form p. 18, note 11,1. 5: after jargon insert parlé p. 22, note 3: for “regius” read Regius p. 59, note 19: for July + read July — p. 71, 1.8: for ‘A Silma read Ad Silma PREFACE This dissertation, which is an attempt to collect in one ac- count and to evaluate the broken and scattered notices of the history of Hippo Regius, was sugested to me by Dean A. F. West and has been written under his suggestive and helpful direction. In it I have endeavored to bring together in a usable from what is known or may be reasonably conjectured about Hippo Regius in antiquity. In a work of this kind it has been impossible to attain to completeness of treatment and I have omitted certain subjects altogether—among them the archaeology of the place which could be satisfactorily treated only by one on the ground and the relation of St. Augustine to his episcopal city which I hope to treat elsewhere. I take this opportunity of acknowledging my thanks also to Pro- fessor F. F. Abbott for help in planning the work; to Professor | D. R. Stuart for constant help on many vexatious points ; and to Professors J. H. Westcott and A. C. Johnson for help in regard to certain technical points. Mr. M. V. Kern of Princeton Univer- sity has given me much valuable help in revising the translations and checking the references, and Mr. H. S. Leach, of the Uni- versity Library, has been unfailingly helpful in assisting me to locate obscure books and in borrowing for me books which were not in the Princeton Library. I wish also to thank Professor A. M. Harmon of Yale University for help in connection with the passages from En Noweiri. My indebtedness to the works of modern scholars will be made clear by an examination of the footnotes and of the biblio- graphy but I wish to call attention to my particular indebtedness to the very important publications of M. Stéphane Gsell. There are two books which I should have particularly liked to consult but which I have been unable to procure. They are: Niel, Bone et ses environs, and Papier, Lettres sur Hippone. Princeton, N. J. H. V. M. Dennis 3d. PAB OFS CONTENTS PREFACE I. SITUATION AND TOPOGRAPHY II. CLIMATE, Propucts, AND NATURAL RESOURCES III. EtTHNoLocy IV. LANGUAGE V. NAME AND FOUNDATION VI. ProvincraAL STATUS VII. MunicrpaL STATUS AND GOVERNMENT VIII. Trrritor1uM AND IMPERIAL DoMAINS IX. DI0ckEsE X. BIsHOPS XI. CouNcILs XII. Muritary History XIII. THe DEstructTIon oF Hippo REGIUS AND THE FOUNDATION OF BONA BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. SOURCES 11. MopERN Works INDEX 68 rit ss RON Panama re ey pre ‘ ea P40 . ae Wed * AN nea’ Beri, ‘ ee Bin ‘Sy ay es P Ut Rae a yah Cay oe AE ( SITUATION AND TOPOGRAPHY That part of the world which is known as “North Africa” ex- tends westward from the Lesser Syrtis to the Atlantic and southward from the Mediterranean to the Sahara. Its surface is varied, consisting of sea-coast, table-land, and mountains. The coastal region consists of a narrow strip of varying width. Back of it are a range of mountains, a lofty plateau, and then another range of mountains, some of which rise to a height of over 10,000 feet. To the south the land again slopes away to the Sahara Desert. In the eastern part of this territory, about 125 miles west of the site of Carthage, stands the city of Bona near the mouth of the river Seybouse.* Its latitude and longitude are approximate- ly 37°N. and 8° E. (Greenwich). A little more than a mile to the southwest of the modern city lie the ruins of Hippo Regius.* This city, best known as the episcopal seat of St. Augustine, had a varied history which probably extended over a period of nearly 2,000 years. It was founded by the Phenicians, or Carthaginians, and was destroyed or abandoned during the Middle Ages. It was built in a plain dominated by two hills, one of which rising to a height of about 175 feet is known as the “Hill of St. Augustine,’ while the other, which is 110 feet high, is called the “Gharf el Artran.’’* The question of the location of the ancient mouth of the 1 For a convenient recent large-scale map see The Daily Telegraph Victory Atlas, pp. 191-102. 2 The Geographer of Ravenna (in Ravennatis Anonymi Cosmographia, ed. Pinder & Parthey, p. 152) mentions the Ubus flumen among the rivers of Numidia and the Tabula Peutingeriana places its mouth five miles east of Hippo Regius. It is the only river of importance mentioned near Hippo Regius. Tissot, Géographie de la province romaine d’Afrique, I. p. 45, says that the word “Seybouse” is a compound made up of the Arabic word Sif (river) and Ubus, the name of the river. The identifica- tion of the Seybouse with the Ubus is, therefore, practically certain. It flows through a plain which marks a distinct break in the Lesser Atlas (Gsell, Histoire ancienne de l'Afrique du Nord, I. p. 5). 3 Gsell, Atlas archéologique de l Algérie, Texte, IX. no. 59. ibid. Texte, IX. no. 59. Prd Seybouse in relation to the site of the city presents the follow- ing difficulty ; El Békri, who lived in the eleventh century, says: “Elle (Hippo Regius) est située----sur une colline----qui do- mine la ville de Sebous’”® and the ruins are today near the river Seybouse, but the Tabula Peutingeriana places the mouth of this river about five miles to the east of Hippo Regius. The most probable explanation of this problem is the one accepted by Gsell. It is that the Lranch of the Seybouse, known as “El Khelidj,” marks the earlier course of the Seybouse in its lower reaches and that the change of the main stream to the present course occurred some time prior to the eleventh century. The time and cause of this change are unknown. It is probable that until this change took place the sea reached farther inland than it does at present and that the harbor was not far from the “Gharf el Artran.” If this was the case, it was well sheltered from west and north-west winds, but not from east winds.® Whether this town was a new foundation, or merely a re- foundation of an earlier Libyan settlement, is not known, but its suitability for defense, its harbor, and its location are in them- selves sufficient to account for its foundation and long-continued existence. Gsell, who apparently bases his opinion on two passages from St. Augustine, believes that the place was insalubrious. His opinion is probably correct.” The reader who is interested in the topography of this place is referred to Gsell’s Atlas archéologique de l Algérie, but mention must here be made of the roads which passed through or radi- ated from it, as they furnish an indication of its commercial importance. Another indication of its wealth and importance is found in the fact that gladiatorial shows were given there.® Under the Roman Empire North Africa was covered with a 5 Description de l Afrique Septentrionale (tr. de Slane, Journal Asia- tique, 1850, p. 72). There are two possible explanations of the expression la ville de Sebous; either that El Békri mistook the name of the river for that of a village, or that an unimportant village grew up near the mouth of the river and took its name from the river. See The Geographer of Ravenna (in Ravennatis Anonymi Cosmographia, ed. Pinder & Par- they, pp. 347-8; p. 148?) ; also Guido (ibid. p. 518). 6 Gsell, Atlas, Texte, IX. p. 5 and no. 180. 7 ibid. Texte, IX. p. 5; Aug. Epist. 118.34; 126. 4; see also El Békri (tr. de Slane, Journal Asiatique, 1859, p. 73). 8 Gsell, Inscriptions Latines de l’Algérie, I. nos. 13; 95; 96. C2] complicated net-work of roads. For example; from Cirta roads led to Rusicade, Milevum, Tipasa, and Hippo Regius, while from Hippo Regius other roads led to Rusicade, Tipasa, Simittu, and Carthage.® This example 1s typical of other North African cities and shows clearly how closely the different parts of the country were connected for both commercial and military operations. Seven or possibly eight main roads led from Hippo Regius to coast and inland towns. It is often impossible to trace accurately the routes which they followed, but, as it is our purpose merely to point out the extent and importance of the road-system which converged on the town, it makes little difference whether, for example, the roads which led to Tipasa and to Thagaste fol- lowed the same course for part of the way or diverged im- mediately after leaving the city. The brief enumeration of the various roads which follows is made with such considerations in mind.*° Two routes led from Hippo Regius to Rusicade and points west, the one around the coast through Tacatua, the other by the shorter inland route. Two led east to Carthage, the shorter through Tuniza, Tabraca, Hippo Diarrhytus, and Utica, the longer through Simittu, Bulla Regia, and Thuburbo Minus. Three led into the hinterland, one to the south-west to Cirta, and two to the south-east to Sicca Veneria, the one through Tipasa, the other through Thagaste. In addition to these routes, which are indicated by the Tabula Peutingeriana and the [tinerartum Antonini, Gsell believes that there was another which ran toward the West “par la vallée des Kharéza et le N. du lac Fetzara” and rejoined the coast road at Paratianis."? When it is remembered that Hippo Regius was one of the better ports on the northern coast of Africa and that the coun- try lying behind it was a well-favored section of one of the richest of the Roman Provinces, the reason for these many roads will be readily seen and the importance of the city will be ap- parent. 9 Tab. Peut. 10 See Note A which follows this section. 11 Gsell, Atlas, Texte, IX. p. Io. Saul NOTE A. THE ROADS ENTERING HIPPO REGIUS The following table will give a more detailed idea of the Roman roads which entered Hippo Regius than that given in the preceding section. ROUTE No. 1. Coast road from Hippo Regius to Rusicade and west. Tabula Peutingeriana. tinerarium Antonini. Hyppone Regio Hippone regio colonia no 32 Sublucu Sullucco 18 Ze Tacatua Tacatua 7 Muharur 18 9 | Zaca Zz Culucitani Cullicitanis 16 18 Paratianis Paratianis 25 25 Rusicade Colonia Rusicade II4 115 =Total in Roman miles. ROUTE No. 2. Inland road from Hippo Regius to Rusicade and west. Tabula Peutingeriana. Hyppone Regio 15 Ad plumbaria 17 Nedibus 44 Rusicade Colonia 76 =Total in Roman miles. es, ag ROUTE No. 3. Coast road from Hippo Regius to Carthage. Tabula Peutingeriana. Hyppone Regio 5 Ubus flumen IO Armoniacum flumen 30 Tuniza 24 Tabraca 60 Ipponte diarito 20 Tunisa htLO Memblone Utica Colonia 6 Gallum Gallinatium IS Carthagine colonia 186 Itinerarium Antonini Hippone regio colonia 32 Ad Dianam 1 Tuniza 24 Tabraca 60 Hippone Zarito 20 Tuna IO Membro 6 Utica 12 Ad Gallum gallinacium T5 Carthagine 194 = Total in Roman miles. ROUTE No. 4. Inland road from Hippo Regius to Carthage. Tabula Peutingeriana. Hyppone Regio 50 Odiana 25 Ad Aquas Simitu Colonia Bulla Regia 12 ne Ad Silma ma 12 Armascla fl. 6 Novis Aquilianis 9 Picus} =16 7 Vico Augusti 7 Teglata 13 == 30 Elefantaria IO Clucar 16 Thuburbominus $ Thuraria 15 Cicisa 19 Carthagine colon. 209 Itinerarium Antonini. Hippone regio 50 Onellaba 25 Ad Aquas 5 Simittu colonia? 7 Bulla regia =3l 24 Novis Aquilianis 16 Vico August 30 Cluacaria 15 | Thuburbo minus 28 Cigisa 18 Carthagine 218 =Total in Roman miles. 1 New bridge built by Trajan in 112, C.J.L. VIII. no. 10117. [04 ROUTE No. 5. From Hippo Regius to the south-western hinterland. Tabula Peutingeriana. Itinerarium Antonini. Hyppone Regio Hippone regio a8 25 Ad villam Servilianam Ad Villam Servilianam T5 T5 Aquis Thibilitanis Aquis Tibilitanis o4 54 Cirta colonia Gitta. 99 94 =Total in Roman miles. ROUTE No. 6. From Hippo Regius to the south-east. Tabula Peutimgeriana. Hyppone Regio 25 Vico Iuliani 18 Tipasa 12 Ad molas 6 Vasidice 5 Thacora 5 Gegetu Naraggara 12 Sicca Veneria 83 =Total in Roman miles. Beal ROUTE No. 7. From Hippo Regius to the south-east. Itinerarium Antonini. Hippone regio 53 Tagaste 25 Naraggara 32 Sicca Veneria 110 =Total in Roman miles. ROUTE No. 8. From Hippo Regius to the west. For this route see page 5 above, and Gsell, Atlas, Texte, IX. p. 10. cs] CLIMATE, PRODUCTS, AND NATURAL RESOURCES An account of Hippo Regius would be incomplete unless it contained some reference to the climate and to the products and natural resources of the surrounding country. In this work, however, it is not necessary to treat these subjects comprehen- sively. Accordingly, in the following paragraphs reference will be made to an extended treatment of the climate and of the fauna and flora of North Africa and certain points of special interest in regard to Hippo Regius will be noticed in detail. In his Histoire ancienne de l Afrique du Nord, Gsell has de- voted a long chapter to the subject of climate.t He discusses the present climate, the climate in pre-historic times, and then, after a long and carefully documented argument in regard to the climate in historical antiquity, concludes as follows: “As for North Africa properly so-called, it enjoyed a cli- mate if not like, at least very analogous to, the present climate. Drought was usual in the summer, and sometimes lasted during the whole year. The rains were irregular and often torrential ; they were in general much less abundant in the interior of the country than in the neighborhood of the Atlantic and of the Mediterranean—that is from the Strait of Gibraltar to Cape Bon. It is possible that this country may have been a little moister than today; in lack of proof one may invoke certain indications which are not without value. But, to put it briefly, if the climate of Barbary has changed since the Roman period, it is only to a very slight extent.’ In view of Gsell’s statement the following figures will be of interest. The annual rainfall at Bona is approximately 29 inches,’ nearly double that of Athens, which is approximately 15.9 in- ches.* In regard to the temperature of the coastal districts Gsell says: “It is rare that the thermometer goes below freezing, at least during the day, and that it mounts above 30 degrees centi- grade (86 degrees Fahrenheit).’> The lowest average tempera- 1]. pp. 40-90. 2 ibid. I. p. 90. 8 ibid. I. p. 48. 4World Almanac (1923), p. 69. 5 Hist. I. p. 41. C9] ture at Athens for a month is 46 degrees Fahrenheit (January) and the highest is 81 (July).° The wealth of North Africa in antiquity is almost proverbial. In his Richesse minérale de l Algérie, Fournel has a chapter on Bona and its environs.’ It is certain that iron was mined near there in the Middle Ages ;8 and if Fournel is right, it was first mined there by the Vandals.° Marble was probably the chief min- eral product in Roman times.*° The fauna of North Africa are discussed by Gsell in his Histoire ancienne de l Afrique du Nord.** It may be of interest to remark in passing that, whereas elephants were common in early times, they disappeared during the first centuries of the Christian era and that, although camels are now very common, the first mention of them in North Africa is from the time of Julius Caesar and that they apparently were not used extensive- ly until much later.’” The flora and agriculture of this part of the world are de- scribed by Gsell in numerous passages in his Histoire.\* The following products were cultivated: wheat; barley; the vine; various fruits, especially olives, figs, and pomegranates; al- monds; walnuts; dates; and various vegetables.1* The following passages from ancient and medieval writers bear particularly upon the wealth and products of Hippo Regius. Livy says :7° “Gaius Laelius had arrived at Hippo Regius by night and had at the break of day led forth his soldiers and naval allies ad populandum agrum----he (later) set sail from Hippo Regius with his ships loaded with booty.” From this passage it is apparent that the city and the circumjacent country were rich at the time of the second Punic War. El Békri says :*° “The environs (of Hippo Regius) are very 8 World Almanac (1923), p. 60. 71. pp. 30-II0. 8 Ibn Haucal, Description de l'Afrique (tr. de Slane, Journal Asiatique, 1842, pp. 181 ff.) ; Géographie d’Aboulféda (tr. Reinaud, Tome II, lére partie [Paris, 1848] p. 194). 9 Richesse, I. pp. 56-58. 10 ibid. I. pp. 35 ff. 11], pp. 100-137; 216-234. 12 ibid. I. pp. 74-80; 59-61. 13]. pp. 137-176; 234-239; IV. pp. 1-52. 14ibid. IV. pp. 9-37. See, however, Aug. Serm. 46. 39. 15 xxIx. 3. 7 through 5. I. x 16 tr. de Slane, Journal Asiatique, 1859, pp. 72-73. [ 10 ] rich in fruits and cereals.----To the west of the city (Bona) is a stream which waters the gardens and makes of that locality a pleasure-ground.----Meat, milk, fish, and honey are found there in great abundance. Beef is consumed in large quantities.” Ibn Haucal says:1* “The gardens of the environs (of Bona) produce a great amount of fruit and still more 1s brought from the surrounding country. At all times wheat and barley are, one might say, a drug on the market.’’ He goes on to say that the neighboring regions produce iron, flax, sheep, cattle, camels, horses, and other valuable commodities. And finally Leo Africanus, who lived in the sixteenth century, says:1® “It is called----Beld Elhuneb, that is the City of the Jujubes, on account of the great abundance of that fruit which is thereabouts----its territory has very good pasturage and is inhabited----it is tilled and there are there many cows, beeves, and sheep.”’ Further on he speaks of butter and coral as being among the products of the region. Although but one of these passages referring to the richness of the country surrounding Hippo comes from classical times, it seems reasonable to conclude from them and from the general conditions which obtained in North Africa in antiquity that at least after the end of the third century before Christ, the country surrounding Hippo Regius was rich in the increase of the soil and of the flock and herd. In addition to these products the quarrying of marble in the vicinity may have heightened the prosperity of this city. 17 Tr, de Slane, Journal Asiatique, 1842, p. 182. See also Géographie d’Aboulféda (tr. Reinaud, Tome II, 1ére partie [Paris, 1848] p. 194). 18 Della Descrittione Dell? Africa (in Ramusio, Navigationi et Viaggi, I. p. 65 [fourth edition]—incorrectly numbered p. 71). Bae ETHNOLOGY An account of those peoples who, from the beginning of history until the Arab Conquest, inhabited that tract of country in which Hippo Regits was situated, should begin with a study of the races of North Africa.t The Egyptians, the Ethiopians, and the other races, more or less remote from the coastal district lying between Cyrenaica and the Pillars, need not enter into the discussion. The races with which we are concerned may be conveniently divided into two groups; the first composed of those already there at the dawn of history, the second of those who came within historical times. The meager and unsatisfac- tory notices in Greek and Roman authors concerning the races there before historical times may be supplemented by an exam- ination of the representations of these people on the walls of tombs and of temples and by a study of skeletons and skulls and of the present inhabitants of Algeria and the neighboring regions. As a result of such examination and study modern scholars seem to be agreed that those who are today known as the Berbers have from time immemorial formed the basis of the population, far outnumbering all the other elements com- bined, and have remained practically unaffected by the succes- sive waves of traders, colonists, invaders, and conquerors who have swept over their native land.? A final determination of whether these Berbers are of pure stock or of mixed, whether they are indigenous, and, if not, whence they came, would depend on evidence which is now and prob- ably always will be lacking. Yet the classical texts which treat of this subject, although obviously not to be taken at their face value and although dismissed by Gsell as outside the domain of history,® tend to confirm the conclusions of anthropologists, linguists, and archaeologists that the Berbers are closely related to the peoples of Southern Europe and North Africa, being the 1 For a fuller general discussion of this subject and an abundance of references to special literature see Gsell, Hist. I. pp. 275-308; 327-357; also, IV. pp. 171 ff. 2 ibid. I. p. 275. 8 ibid. I. p. 327. [ 12] product, as some scholars think, of a mixture of these two stocks.‘ Herodotus® says that North Africa was inhabited by four nations, no more; that two of these—the Libyans and the Ethiopians—were autochthonous ; and two—the Phenicians and the Greeks—were not. The Libyans are now represented by the Berbers and of the other nations mentioned only the Phenicians seem to have played an important role in Numidia. Sallust® gives what purports to be an account of “what men originally held Africa.” He says it was translated to him from the Punic books of King Hiempsal and wasbelieved by the natives but was different from the generally accepted account. Though not commonly accepted in the first century B.C., it seems to have gained in favor, for it persisted at least till the time of Isidore of Seville who repeats essentially the same story as Sallust but with many strange additions." Sallust’s account is, in brief, as follows: that at first the Getulians and Libyans held Africa, but after Hercules died in Spain his army broke up and the Medes, Persians, and Armen- ians crossed the Straits; that the Persians lived intra oceanum magis, gradually intermarried with the Getulians, and from their wandering life called themselves Nomades; that the buildings of the rural Numidians which they call mapalia still recall by their form the boats under which the Persians first lived after landing; that the Libyans corrupted the name of the Medes to Mauri; that the Persians flourished; and that their descendants emigrated to Numidia, took it, and assimilated the conquered. From the passages in Herodotus and Sallust it appears that there was a tradition that in prehistoric times a race or races of conquerors had come from Europe and been fused with the aboriginal Libyans. Whether or not this be true, this much only seems certain—that one race, so far as there is any reasonable record or tradition, has within historic times always formed the bulk of the population of the sea-coast and the nearer hinterland 4 Gsell, Hist. I. p. 356; Piquet, Les civilisations de l Afrique du Nord, pp. 3 ff. 5 Iv. 197. 8 Jug. 17-19. 7 Etymologiae, 1x. 115 ff. 8 An interesting and plausible attempt to explain Sallust’s story is given by Boissier, Roman Africa (tr.), pp. 3 ff. a Bc ed of these regions and that the Numidians were a division of this race.° The following picture, a mosaic made up of pieces gath- ered from sources differing widely in time, place, and value, while incomplete and showing features which never actually existed side by side, will help to give an idea of what manner of people the ancient Berbers were.*° They were lean and squalid.’ There were blonds’* as in modern times, but the population was for the most part dark.** They used ornaments of gold, plaited their hair, trimmed their beards, cleaned their teeth, and pared their finger nails.1* They were very healthy and long-lived,® used little or no wine, and subsisted on the coarsest and most primitive food, mainly on grain or vegetables.1® Their dwellings were stuffy huts and their couch the ground; their clothing was rough and meager, often merely the skins of beasts which served also for bedding.’7 The Numidians employed both cavalry and infantry in their warfare, and their cavalry was famous. The foot-soldiers carried shields, sometimes made from the hides of elephants, and the horsemen rode bare-back on small but hardy horses which were managed by a bridle of rushes or a light switch.7* Their arms were the sword, the spear, and the dart; their method of attack was to ride up to the enemy, discharge a shower of missile weapons and then, when charged upon, to retreat. These tactics 9 Pliny, N.H. v. 22. 10 Ror a much fuller account of the Moeurs des tribus libyennes see Tissot, Géographie, I. pp. 471-527. 11 Aelian, Nat. Anim. m1. 2. 12 Scylax (in Geographi Graeci Minores, ed. C. Miiller, I. p. 88) ; Pro- copius, B.V. 11. 13. 20. 13 Claudian, De Cons. Stil. 111. 19. Corippus, Johannid, 1. 245-246; 11. 1373 IV. 321; vul. 416 & 482. Isidore of Seville, Etymologiae, xtv. 5. Io. Juvenal, v. 53; XI. 125. Manilius, 1v. 726-730. Nemesianus, Cynegetica, 261. Silius Italicus, 1. 439; vitr. 267. 14 Strabo, Xvil. 3. 7. 15 Herodotus, tv. 187; Appian, Pun. 71; 106; Sallust, Jug. 17. 6. 16 Appian, Pun. 71;Procopius, B.V. 1. 6. 10-15. 17 Corippus, Johannid, 11. 130-137; Procopius, B.V. 11. 6. 10-15; Strabo, RVI. 377. 18 Lucan, tv. 682; Strabo, xvit. 3. 7. [C14 ] were repeated to the great annoyance of their foes and proved especially eftective when the latter, as was often the case, were unacquainted with the terrain.’ In later times these people were noted for their perfidy and could be governed only by the threat or application of force.?° They were superstitious and consulted oracles which were ut- tered entirely by women.?* Women were treated as servants and were often taken along on the campaigns to tend the animals, take charge of the food, and perform other menial tasks about the camp.”* Polygamy was practiced and large harems were kept, at least among the upper classes.?* The ancient Libyans, like the Berbers of today, were divided into nations and tribes which, though differing in many respects, were essentially the same. The more important nations were the Maurousiot, or Moors, and the Numidians. The best known tribes of the Numidians were the Masylies and the Masae- sylies.?4 Such were the people who formed the base of the population of Hippo Regius and the adjacent territory. Upon them came the colonists, invaders, and conquerors who accomplished many changes in economic conditions, in government, and in religion and who erected imposing monuments. Many of the monu- ments still stand to bear witness to the genius and power of their builders but the native population remains much the same as it was in the earliest times. The later-comers were successively the Phenicians, the Ro- mans, the Vandals, the Byzantines, and the Arabs. An ethno- logical account of these peoples, or nations, is unnecessary. In addition to the races mentioned above there were even in classical times a certain number of Greeks in North Africa. Although the Greek sphere properly speaking did not extend 19 Appian, Hispan. 25; Corippus, Johannid, 1. 114-115; 130-135; Strabo, XVileds 7. 20 Corippus, Johannid, Iv. 447-451; Precopius, B.V. 11. 8. 9-12; 13. 10. 35025" 20. 21 Procopius, B.V. u. 8. 12 ff. cf. Tacitus, Germania, 8; Caesar, B.G. I. 50. 4. 22 Procopius, B.V. u. 11. 18. 23 Procopius, B.V. mu. 11, 13. Herodotus (Book tiv. 145 ff.) relates many strange stories about the position of women and the marriage customs of the various Libyan tribes. 24 Strabo, . 5. 33. Rta) west of Cyrenaica, even in the western, or Punic, districts the all-pervading influence of Hellenism was felt, and some ac- count must be taken of the Greeks as a factor in the develop- ment of North Africa.?° In conclusion mention should be made of the negroes and Jews*® who seem to have been present in these regions from early times. They were without appreciable influence on the course of events. 25 W. Thieling, Der Hellenismus in Kleinafrika. *6 Gsell, Hist. 1. pp. 302 ff.; 280-281. See Monceaux, Revue des études juives, XLIV, 1902, pp. 1-28, and Aug. Serm. 196. 4; that is if the read- ing, “Duo genera hominum hic sunt, Christiani et Judaei,” be correct. If the correct reading be hic sint, the passage is irrelevant. Sunt, however, is the preferred reading; cf. also Serm. 9. 3. [16 J LANGUAGE As far as may be learned from the extant data the only languages which were of importance in North Africa prior to the introduction of Arabic were Libyan, Phenician, Greek, and Latin. Greek and Latin are, of course, closely related members of the Indo-European language-group ; Phenician belongs to the Semitic group; and Libyan, or Berber, to the Hamitic. The Semitic and Hamitic groups are closely related; indeed Ethio- pian is assigned to the first by some philologists and to the second by others.* Little evidence and no statistics are available concerning the languages spoken at Hippo Regius, but some information of this kind does exist for North Africa and inferences drawn from it, if applied with certain qualifications, may be regarded as representing the conditions which obtained at Hippo Regius. The most important qualification is that linguistic change is quicker in commercial centers than in the country and, accord- ingly, a new language, introduced by merchants or soldiers, in time may well have supplanted the native idiom in the towns and cities while the older language continued to be spoken in the country districts. The Libyans spoke a language which was distinct from Pheni- cian? and which was harsh and barbarous,’ having sounds which could be pronounced properly only by those who spoke it as their mother-tongue.* Our meager knowledge of it is derived from inscriptions,’ from a study of the names of places and of people, and from modern Berber. In the later years of the Em- 1 For a digest of these matters see Encylopedia Britannica, XII. p. 894; XXIV. p. 620. 2 Compare, for example, the Libyan and the Punic inscriptions. For a fuller account of “La Langue Libyque,” see Gsell, Hist. [L. pp. 309-326. 3 Corippus, Johannid, U. 27; Iv. 351-352; Silius Italicus, m1. 305. 4 Pliny, N.H. v. 1. At this point it may not be amiss to call attention to a statement made by Mommsen (Rdmische Geschichte, Fiinfter Band, Zweite Auflage, 1885, pp. 640-641) that “In Hinsicht der Sprache---- sicher kein Romer dieses Volksidiom (i.e. Libyan) verstand.’ This statement obviously cannot be proved and is very improbable. 5 Faidherbe, Collection compléte des imscriptions numidiques (1870), Be yaad pire very many of the barbarae gentes of North Africa spoke this language which was essentially one® although it was divided into different dialects.’ This native speech was used at the time of the Punic Wars,® during several centuries around the turn of our era,° in the time of St. Augustine,?° and in that of Ibn Khaldoun.” It is still used at the present day.’ It was and is the language of the lower and less literate classes. Little literature of any importance has been written in it, and most of this has perished.** In view of these facts it is safe to state that Libyan was spoken at Hippo Regius from the earliest times until after the beginning of the Christian era. This statement is strengthened by the fact that a large number of the inscriptions published by General Faidherbe were found in the region of Bona.* For the later years of the Roman occupation we cannot be so sure; indeed, the silence of St. Augustine concerning Libyan and his specific mention of Punic, when speaking of the at- tainments necessary or desirable for a priest who was to serve in a not distant place, make it probable that, when the Roman power was at its height, Libyan was no longer spoken in the towns.’®> But that it was still spoken in the more remote has collected and published nearly 200. See also, inter alia, Revue Afri- caine, XVII. pp. 62-65. They have remained undecipherable except for the word ou and proper names (Gsell, Hist. I. p. 310). 6 Aug. D.C D. xvi. 6. 7 Corippus, Johannid, Iv. 351-352. 8 Silius Italicus, 111. 305. ® Faidherbe, Inscriptions numidiques, pp. 11 ff. (ie. the evidence is direct if his dating is correct, otherwise merely inferential) ; Athenaeus, TT. 25Pa3"D, 10 Aug. D.C.D. xvi. 6. 11Tbn Khaldoun, Prolégoménes (tr. de Slane), III. p. 358, “Sur le continent africain----les Berbéres forment la masse de la population, et leur langue est celle de toutes parties du pays, a l’exception des grandes villes, aussi la langue arabe s’y trouve submergée sous les flottes de cet idiome barbare, de ce jargon par les Berbéres.” 12 Gsell, Hist. I. p. 300. 13 Henri Basset, Essai sur la littérature des Berbéres, pp. 61 ff. 14Faidherbe, Inscriptions numidiques, p. 10. 1° Aug. Epist. 200. 3. Faidherbe (Inscriptions numidiques, p. 12) says that St. Augustine means Libyan not Punic. General Faidherbe’s argu- ment is not convincing on this point. See also Aug. Serm. 288. 3, where he speaks of Greek, Latin, Punic and Hebrew. If Libyan had been fa- miliar to his hearers it is very probable that he would have mentioned it. [ 18 J districts seems to be attested by the numbers and distribution of those who today speak Berber and by St. Augustine himself.*® Hippo Regius was founded by the Phenicians or the Carth- aginians and from this fact we should infer that in early times the speech of the official and upper classes was Punic. Indeed, in the towns of North Africa in general, Punic probably sup- planted to a certain extent the language of the aborigines, al- though, as has been stated above, Libyan continued in use for several hundred years. Greek probably came into use to some extent as the language of culture’? even in the Carthaginian period, but Punic continued to be used in the homes even of the better classes as late as the second century of our era.*® It was used on North African coins until the time of Tiberius, after which it was superseded by Latin on the coins and for official purposes,’® although it could be used for legal documents as late as the third century.”° In the time of St. Augustine Punic was widely spoken?’ but was not universally understood in the town.”? It was still spoken in the sixth century,?* but is believed by Mommsen to have be- come obsolete at or before the coming of the Saracens.4 16 D.C.D, xvi. 6. Some of these barbarae gentes doubtless dwelt in the province of Numidia. 17 Cicero, Tusc. ml. 54. This passage points to the use of Greek among the Carthaginians if the book which Cicero read (presumably in Greek) was the original, not a translation. Varro, De Re Rust. 1. 1. 10 (if Dionysius was a native) ; however, it is noteworthy that Mago wrote in Punic. Nepos, Hannibal, 13. 2; “namque aliquot eius (i.e. Hannibalis) libri sunt, Graeco sermone confecti---.” 18 Apuleius, Apol. 98; Statius, Silv. 1v. 5. 45; Vita Septimi Severi, Chs. 1 &15; Victor, Epitome de Caesaribus, 20. 8. 19 Mommsen, R.G. V. pp. 642-643, especially note 1; Gsell, Hist. I. p. 332; Muller, Numismatique de lAncienne Afrique, III. p. 124. no. 107. For the period from 202-46 B.C. ibid. III. pp. 7-51; 88-102; Supplement, 60-65. 20 Ulpian, Fideicomm. II (Digest. 32. 11). 21 Aug. Epist. 209.3; Epistolae ad Romanos Inchoata Expositio, 13; De Haeresibus ad Quodvultdeum, 87; Epist. 84. 2; 66. 2; Enarrat. in Psalm, 123. 8. The Circumcellions communicated with outsiders per punicum interpretem (Epist. 108. 14); and the Donatists used only Latin and Punic of which the latter was apparently widely spoken (Epist. Ioh. ad Parth. Tract. II. 3). 22 Aug. Serm. 167. 4. 23 Procopius, B.V. 11. 10. 20 24R.G. V. p. 643. [ 19 | From the sketch given above we should conclude that Punic was spoken at Hippo Regius from very early times until the seventh century ; in the earlier period by the upper classes, and in the later periods by the lower classes in the city and by some of the rural population—probably by the majority. There is practically no direct evidence*® for the use of Greek in Hippo Regius; but, as there is no evidence to the contrary, we may believe that the conditions which obtained in the neigh- boring towns and cities represent the conditions in this city also. Greek influence appears to have made itself felt in North Africa from an early period and the Greek language may have been used by a few natives even in the Carthaginian period, al- though its use did not become at all general until later.*° The Greek influence was strong at the courts of several of the native kings under the early Empire. This was especially the case at the court of Juba II who wrote many books and treatises in that tongue and who surrounded himself with Greek art and artists.?” In the second century Greek was taught in the schools and, as the language of culture, was known and used by the educated and by scholars.** In the fourth and still in the sixth century, although it was a lingua peregrina, it was taught in the schools and seems to have been understood to a certain extent.?® In Byzantine times it was on a level with Latin as an official lan- guage, but was probably understood little, if at all, by the na- tives.®° | 25 See Gsell, Inscriptions, I. nos. 28 & 29. 26 Cicero, Acad. Priora, 11. 98; Justinus, xx. 5. 10-13; Livy, Epit. L; Stephanus Byzantinus, Kapxndv; Gsell, Hist. IV. pp. 192-193; Thieling. Hellenismus, pp. 23-25. 27 Thieling, Hellenismus, pp. 19 ff.; Athenaeus, vir. 343E; Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum, III. pp. 465 ff. The coins of this king were for the most part Latin, but there are numerous examples of Greek, or Greco- Latin coins (Muller, Numismatique, III. pp. 103-125). 28 Apuleius, Met. 1. 1; Apol. 10; 87; 98; Florid. (ed. Thomas, pwb. Teubner, 1908) p. 5. Ch. 5. nos. 112-113; Fronto, Epist. Graec.; see also Leclerq, L’Afrique chrétienne, 1. pp. 91-93. 29 Aug. Conf. I. 23; IX. 32; Serm. 288. 3; Vita Fulgentu (P.L. no 65. col. 119). 80 Bouchier, Life and Letters in Roman Africa, p. 115; Thieling, Hellenismus, p. 175. [ 20 ] To sum up; from Carthaginian to Byzantine times Greek was used in North Africa as it was in most of the Mediterranean World. For a considerable period around the turn of our era it was the language of culture. With the introduction of Latin it gradually went out of use so that by the end of the fourth century it had become merely a language taught in the schools and spoken by such Greeks as may have been resident in Hippo Regius and other similar towns or cities. Latin was introduced into North Africa by the Roman con- querors ; it came into general use probably at the time of the beginning of the Empire.*' The history of its spread, the char- acteristics of its Latinity, and the wealth of its literature are so well known from the numerous inscriptions and the volum- inous extant literature that a discussion of them here is un- necessary.*” This section on language may be concluded with a few words about the speech of the Vandals which Chadwick believes was practically identical with Gothic.*? When the Vandals crossed the Straits, probably in 428 A.D., all the males numbered about 80,000.°4 They remained in Africa about one hundred years,*° and their language, which they retained for some time,*® was of course less developed than the Punic and Latin of the conquered. In view of these facts it is unlikely that the speech of the conquerors was learned or used by any large proportion of the provincials. It may, accordingly, be dismissed with this brief mention. 31 Thieling, Hellenismus, p. 25. 32 For a general discussion of this subject see Boissier, Roman Africa, Ch. 7, no. 4; Bouchier, Life and Letters in Roman Africa, Ch. X. See also: Budinsky, Die Ausbreitung der Lateinischen Sprache, Ch. XIII; Sittl, Die Lokalen Verschiedenheiten der Lateinischen Sprache, III Teil. In recent years the view has gained wide acceptance that the peculiarities of African Latin are chronological rather than local. 83 Encyclopedia Britannica, XXVI. p. 676; Procopius. B.V. 1. 2. 5. A good account of the language of the Vandals is in Papencordt, Geschichte der Vandalischen Herrschaft in Africa, pp. 287-308. For a probable specimen of their speech see Baehrens, Poetae Latini Minores, IV. no. 439. 34 Victor Vitensis, 1. 2; Hodgkin, Italy and her Invaders, II. p. 231. note 2. 35 Hodgkin, op. cit. II. Note E (pp. 290-2096). 86 Victor Vitensis, 1. 18; 11. 55. [ 21 J NAME AND FOUNDATION It is impossible to determine with certainty and exactness either the form and etymology of the name of Hippo Regius, or the date and circumstances of the foundation of the town. Two North African towns were named Hippo; one being known as Hippo Regius and the other as Hippo Diarrhytus. The word “Hippo” is certainly Phenician,’ but scholars are not agreed either as to its exact form in Semitic or as to its meaning.? “The origin of the epithet Regius----is unknown. It is possible that it may be the translation of a Punic word. One can suppose also (C.J.L. VIII. p. 516; Tissot Géographie, I. p. 98) that Hippo received this additional name intended to distinguish it from the other Hippo, because it became a part of the kingdom of Numidia after having been taken away from Carthage, while Bizerte remained a part of the Roman province of Africa until 146. It is not proved that it was the residence of the native rulers, as the epithet Regius seems to have led Strabo (xvii. 3. 13. oi Ovo ‘InmGves .. . dudw Bacitea) and Silius Italicus (1. 259. antiquis dilectus regibus Hippo) to think.’ 1 Tissot, Géographie, II. p. 90. The statement of Solinus (xxvii.7), “Hipponem Regium postea dictum, item Hipponem alterum de interflu- enti freto Diarrhytum nuncupatum, nobilissima oppida, equites Graeci condiderunt,” is clearly wrong and is obviously based on a false etymolo- gy of the word “Hippo.” 2 What is known of the Semitic form of Hippo and accordingly of its meaning and derivation rests on some Sidonian coins of the second century B.C. and on some African coins, attributed to Hippo Regius but not with certainty. Descriptions, facsimiles, decipherings, and dis- cussions of the Sidonian coins, together with some of the proposed etymologies, are to be found, inter alia, in the following places: Movers, Die Phénizier, II. 2. pp. 132 ff.; A. Muller, Sitzungsberichte der Aka- demie der Wissenschaften (Wien), Philos.-histor. Classe XXXV, 1860, pp. 35 ff.; Babelon, Catalogue des monnaies grecques de la Bibliothéque Nationale, Rois de Syrie, pp. cx & cxxii, nos. 689-690 & 788-789; Perses achéménides, p. clxxxvi, nos. 1619-1625; Meltzer, Geschichte der Kar- thager, I. pp. 467 ff. There is disagreement both as to the readings and as to the resulting etymologies. The African coins are treated by L. Muller, Nuwmismatique, III. pp. 53-57, and Supplement, pp. 66 ff. 8 Gsell, Atlas, Texte, IX. p. 6. The statement, sometimes implicitly made, that the epithet “regius” applied to a North African city indicates [ 22 ] The following adjectival forms of the name of the city occur: Hipponiensis,* Hipponensis,° Hipponienses (Hipponenses) re- gii,° Hipponeregienses,’ Hipporegii.® Hippo Regius was a Semitic colony. This conclusion is based on the following facts: its name is Semitic, it was situated in the Phenician sphere,® a typically Phenician wall has been dis- covered among its ruins,’? Punic was spoken there for many centuries,’’ and finally it is known that there was a Phenician Hippo in North Africa. This last fact is attested by the Sidonian coins mentioned in note 2 of this section, and is corroborated by Sallust?? and by Isidore of Seville, but as none of these sources adds an epithet to the name “Hippo,” itis impossible to determine to which of the African Hippos they refer and, indeed, it is not necessary to suppose that they all refer to the same city. How- ever, owing to the identity of the first part of the names of these two cities, it is an almost necessary assumption that they were both founded by the same race, that is, in this case, by either the Phenicians or the Carthaginians. But whether Hippo Regius was Phenician or Carthaginian cannot be determined on account of lack of evidence. If it was Phenician it was established be- tween the twelfth and ninth centuries B.C., or possibly later, while if it was Carthaginian, its foundation must have been sub- sequent to the end of the ninth century, that is, if we accept the date of the founding of Carthage which Gsell believes most prob- that the city belonged at some time to a native kingdom is entirely rea- sonable, but I fail to find positive evidence for it. 4CJ.L. VIII. no. 4804; IX. no. 1592; X. no. 5178 (if these inscriptions refer to H.R. not to H.D.); Marcellinus Comes, Chronicon, anno 429 (Chronica Minora, Mommsen, II. p. 77). 5 Aug. D.C.D. xxii. 8. 11; Epist. 22.9; Possidius, Sancti Augustint Vita (edited with revised text, introduction, notes, and an English version by H. T. Weiskotten), 6; 24; 28. Streirisio ii, COl.-1316; Aug. Epist. 20: 86: 213, 7 Mansi, Amplissima Collectio Conciliorum, IV. 334; Hydatius, Con- tinuatio Chronicorum, anno 412 (Chronica Minora, Mommsen, II. p. 18). 8 Victor Vitensis, I. 10. 9 Mommsen, F.G. V. p. 623. 10 Gsell, Hist. II. p. 150. That this wall is really Phenician has recently been questioned (Bulletin de l Académie d’H1ppone, no. 34. pp. 144-145). 11 See the preceding section. 12 Sallust, Jug. 19; Isidore of Seville, Etymologiae, xv. 1. 28. [ 23 J able.1* At all events, it is practically certain that it was founded before the end of the fourth century B.C.** Although these limits are very wide, it is more than doubtful if they can be narrowed. As there is no reason to suppose that the history of Hippo Regius was essentially different from that of the other Semitic cities in North Africa, it is possible to suggest the broad out- lines of its early history, although it is not possible to fill in these outlines with specific details. In the earliest times Hippo Regius was a commercial post and later, when the loosely-connected Carthaginian Empire grew up, it became a member of this Empire.’® During this period the lower classes were Libyan while the ruling classes were Punic.*® The principal officers of government were two annually elected suffetes.™” | Although one might go further and imagine that, as a member of the Carthaginian Empire, Hippo Regius took part in the great struggle with Rome and furnished ships and men, such an account, elaborated on the basis of inference and conjecture, while in keeping with all probability, would have no basis in actual evidence. With the collapse of the Carthaginian power Hippo Regius became first a part of the kingdom of Masinissa and later a part of the Roman Empire.*® 13 Gsell, Hist. I. pp. 371 ff. It has been suggested by Umbenstock (Bulletin de Académie d’Hippone, 1914-1921, pp. 76 ff.) that Hippo Regius was an Egypto-Phenician rather than a purely Phenician founda- tion. 14 See below, Section 12. 15 Gsell, Hist. I. p. 460. 16 See above, Section 3. 17 Gsell, Hist. II. pp. 193 ff. 18 Pliny, N. H. v. 22. See, however, Tauxier, Jtinéraire de Rusicade a Hippone (Bulletin de lTAcadémie d’Hippone, 1870, pp. 49-52). [ 24 ] PROVINCIAL STATUS From the beginning of North African history until the over- throw of the Byzantine power in Africa by the Arabs, the his- tory of Hippo Regius as a member of a larger political unit falls into five periods. During the first, or Carthaginian period, Hippo, as has been shown in the preceding section, almost cer- tainly belonged to the Carthaginian Empire. During the second period it belonged to a native kingdom; during the third to a provincial division of the Roman Empire; and during the fourth to the kingdom of the Vandals. The fifth and last period was the Byzantine. Hippo was situated in that portion of North Africa which is generally known as Numidia and, although but little is specifically known about the relations of Hippo to the succes- sive governments of this region, it must necessarily have been affected by them. To attempt, however, to treat at all fully the various changes in the government of the larger units to which Hippo belonged, or to give an account of their rulers— Carthaginian merchant-princes, Berber kings, Roman civil and military officers, Vandal kings, and Byzantine officials— would far exceed the proper limits of this section and would lead too far afield from the history of the city itself. The relations of Hippo to Carthage during the first period have already been suggested.t It remains, therefore, to sketch very briefly the history of Numidia from the dissolution of the Carthaginian power to the end of the Byzantine rule in Africa. During the Berber period its government doubtless offered no features of particular interest. If we could be sure that the epithet Regius? proves that a royal residence existed there dur- ing this period, this fact would be of interest; but, while the existence of a royal residence at Hippo is by no means improb- able, little reliance can be placed upon any conclusions drawn from the use of the epithet. At the end of the third Punic War, Numidia fell to Masinissa? 1 See the preceding section. 2 Silius Italicus, m1. 259. 8 Appian, Pun. 106; Pliny, N.H. v. 22. Be25ut and.apparently continued in the hands of his successors until the Jugurthine War.* At the time of the Civil Wars it was under Juba.° In 46 B.C. Caesar made it a province under Sallust as pro- consul. During the years that followed it experienced many vicissitudes.” Later it was returned to Juba II, but, after he had enjoyed his paternal domains for a short time, he was forced to exchange them for Mauretania and thereupon Numidia be- came and for approximately four centuries remained a part of the Roman Empire.® The provincial history of Numidia under the Roman rule is very complex and will be passed over inasmuch as it is of no vital importance for the history of Hippo Regius. It will be of interest, however, to mention two inscriptions which perhaps furnish some indication of the importance of Hippo in Imperial times. In regard to them Gsell says :° “Two inscriptions from the time of Septimius Severus mention Legati provinciae Africae regionis Hippontensis (C.I.L. X. 5178) or dioeceseos Hippo- niensis (C.I.L. 1X. 1592) ------------- ------------ In spite of the opinion to the contrary expressed in the C.J. bs VIII. p. 516 (cf. Mommsen, Ephemeris Epigraphica, |. p. 133) we should conclude that the diocese of Hippo got its name from Hippo Regius and not from Hippo Diarrhytus.” Unfortunately it seems that little of interest in regard to the city itself can be inferred from these inscriptions. In the third decade of the fifth century Numidia came under the power of the Vandals and remained under Germanic rule for approximately a century.’° The final stage of the provincial history of Numidia and consequently of Hippo Regius is the Byzantine. North Africa was recovered for the Empire in the sixth century and Numidia became a province under a praeses.** By the middle of the next 4 Sallust, Jug. 19. 5 Caesar, B.C. 11. 25; see also the index nominum in the Teubner edi- tion of Caesar’s Works, under Juba. 6 Appian, B.C. 11. 100; Hirtius, B. Afr. 97; Dio, xxitt. 9. 7 For a documented account of this period see Smith, Dict. of Geog. I, pp. 69-72. S Dio, 22,715 : Strabo, xvii. 2753.32. 9 Atlas, Texte, IX. p. 6. 10 See Section 12; Victor Vitensis, 1. 13; also Papencordt, Geschichte. 11 Bocking, Notitia Dignitatum, II. p. 155. [ 26 ] century all of North Africa had been thrown into confusion owing to the decaying power of the Empire and the oncoming hordes of Islam. Although the foregoing account is very brief it is, perhaps, adequate, inasmuch as it is the purpose of this section merely to suggest the relations which Hippo Regius, as a city of Num- idia, bore to those larger political units to which it successively belonged. ey MUNICIPAL STATUS AND GOVERNMENT In dealing with the municipal history of Hippo Regius one should determine, as far as possible, the status of this city at different periods and should record any special features of its administration which could not reasonably be inferred from the determination of its status. The probable course of its history under the Carthaginian rule has already been suggested.1 We must now trace, as far as the data will permit, its development under Roman govern- ment. Hippo Regius is several times mentioned by ancient au- thors as an oppidum? and several times as a civitas,* but no in- ferences as to its municipal status may be drawn from these references. The following account will show that it was at one period a municipium and at a later period a colonia, but it is impossible to determine precisely the periods at which it received these privileges. Either as a municipium or as a colonia its govern- ment was doubtless of the general type described by Arnold- Bouchier,* and indeed specific evidence is not lacking for the existence at Hippo Regius of many of the local officials typical of Roman provincial cities. It had its aediles,’ flamines august- ales,> duumviri,” duumviri quinquennales,® curiales,? and de- curiones.*° 1 See above, Section 5. 2 Pliny, N.H. v. 22; Honorius (Geographi Latini Minores, ed. Riese, p. 47); Cosmographia (ibid. p. 89). 3 The Geographer of Ravenna (in Ravennatis Anonymi Cosmographia, ed. Pinder & Parthey, pp. 148 & 347) ; Guido (ibid. p. 518). 4 Roman Provincial Administration, pp. 236 ff. 5 Gsell, Inscriptions, no. 10. Sibid, nos. 11; 95-96. 7 ibid. nos. 10; 11; 95-96. 8 ibid. no. Io. 9 Symmachus, Epist. 1x. 51 (?). 10 Gsell, Inscriptions, nos. 7; 13 (?); 82; 132; CJ.L. XIV. no. 303. From no, 132 we should conclude that the local senate of Hippo Regius consisted of 50 rather than the usual 100 members. For mention of an- other local municipal (?) officer see Aug. Epist. 222. 1. [ 28 ] The evidence that Hippo Regius was at one time a municipium consists of the inscriptions cited in notes 5-10 and also number 109 in Gsell’s Inscriptions which reads as follows: MUNIC. AUG HIPP. REG. From this last inscription we should con- clude that Hippo Regius was made a municipium by Augustus.1? Ancient writers mention Hippo Regius as a colonia certainly twice and possibly three times. Pliny states that between the Amsaga flumen and Cyrenaica there were six colonies.’? These six colonies were Cirta, Sicca, Carthage, Maxula, Uthina, and Tuburbi.** It is evident from this that Hippo Regius was not a colonia in the time of Pliny the Elder. Zumpt argues that it had not yet attained this rank in the time of Trajan, but his argu- ments are not entirely convincing.** The data from which it appears that Hippo Regius was a colonia are as follows: In the first place, Ptolemy mentions an Aphrodisium and then Hippo Regius. In the text the word colonia goes with the name of the former city but Muller has no doubt that it belongs not with Aphrodisium but with Hippo Regius.*®* If he is right, Hippo Regius had become a colonia by the time of the Anton- ines. In the second place, the Jtinerarium Antonini mentions Hippo Regius six times, once adding the word colonia.*® In the third place, St. Augustine says: “Memorati memoriam martyris, quae posita est in Castello Sinitensi, quod Hipponensi coloniae vicinum est, eiusdem loci Lucillus episcopus, populo praecedente atque sequente, portabat.’?7 Although we cannot determine with certainty whether the place referred to as H1p- ponensis colonia is Hippo Regius or Hippo Diarrhytus, it is somewhat more likely from the context that the reference is 11 See also Barthel, Zur Geschichte der rémischen Stadte in Africa, p. 24. It is just possible that a colony of veterans was established at Hippo Regius (Gsell, Inscriptions, I. nos. 31 & 32). 12 NH. v. 20. 13 tbid, v. 22-20. 14 Commentationes Epigraphicae, I. p. 424; cf. p. 407. 15 Geographia, ed. Miller, tv. 3. 2. 16 ed. Parthey & Pinder, pp. 3; 18; 19(ter) ; 8 (colonia). NER ENR ES ao Fe ae OB [ 20 ] to the latter than that it is to the former. If this supposition be correct, the passage is not relevant. Finally, St. Augustine says also: “Si enim miracula sanita- tum, ut alia taceam, ea tantummodo velim scribere, quae per hunc martyrem, id est gloriosissimum Stephanum, facta sunt in colonia Calamensi et in nostra, plurimi conficiendi sunt libri, ----.”"18 Although it is possible to supply a civitate and con- strue nostra with it, a far more natural and more reasonable interpretation is to construe nostra with the preceding colonia. If the second interpretation is accepted, it follows that Hippo Regius was a colonia in the first part of the fifth century after Christ. To recapitulate: it is almost certain that Hippo Regius was a colonia and it is probable that it received this rank between the time of Trajan and that of the Antonines, and that it retained this status until the Vandal invasion. The last point to be mentioned in connection with the muni- cipal status of this city is that in all probability it belonged to the Tribus Quirina.'? A few special facts of interest are known in regard to the local government. From one inscription which has survived we learn that during the Byzantine period a Roman garrison was stationed in this city.2? From another inscription Gsell concludes that the Roman soldier, whose epitaph it forms, had been charged with police duty in the city. He was a member of the garrison at Rome.”' Finally, we learn from St. Augustine that in his time there was in existence a sort of constabulary.”* 18 1).C.D. xxit. 8.20; cf. Martianus Capella, vi. 669 (?). 19 Gsell, Inscriptions, I. nos. 10 & 1378. 20 ibid. no. 81. 21 ibid. no. 30. 22 Epist. 115. [gary TERRITORIUM AND IMPERIAL DOMAINS What little is known about the territorium of Hippo Regius can, perhaps, best be given as a paraphrase of the account in Mesnage’s L’ Afrique chrétienne.* The territorium of this com- mune was very large. Its limit toward the north-west is indi- cated by a boundary stone found near the river Ouider at a dis- tance of about seventeen miles from Hippo as the crow flies ; this was the limit on the side of the territorium of Cirta. To the east, on the side of Thabarca, the boundary is indicated by a stone found at Mechta el Agareb which is about twen- ty-five miles in a straight line from Hippo Regius.* To the south-west, the territorium of Hippo doubtless did not extend beyond the pass of Fedjoudje which is the same distance from the city and near to which a boundary stone, placed by the people of Calama has been’ discovered.* We should probably conclude from an inscription found at Ascours that this place also belonged to the commune.’ Toward the south-east, the territorium seems to have extended much farther. It is, perhaps, on this side that one should place the castellum Fussala which was Hipponensi territorio confine and is mentioned by St. Augustine in his two hundred and ninth epistle, where he says that it was about forty miles from Hippo.® So far Mesnage. A glance at the map at the end of the first volume of Gsell’s Inscriptions latines de L’ Algérie will show that the territorium of Hippo Regius was, roughly speaking, about forty miles square;’ that the Seybouse, which flows al- most due north in its lower reaches, practically bisected it ; and that about half of the mountain-mass known as the “Edough” and all or almost all of Lake Fetzara lay within it. There is apparently record of only one imperial domain in the territorium of Hippo Regius. The record consists of two 1 pp. 265-266. 2 Gsell, Inscriptions, I. no. 134. 3 Comptes rendus de lAcadémie d’Hippone, 1897, p. lv. 4 Gsell, Inscriptions, I. no. 3877. 5 ibid. no. 132. 6 See also Aug. D.C.D. xxut. 8. 7 With the south-eastern corner somewhat extended. Wess 4009 inscriptions® in honor of one Titus Flavius Macer who was, among other things, intendent praediorum saltuum (Hip) pon- tensis et Thevestini. Gsell says in a note to the second of these inscriptions : “One sees in these two texts, cut a few years after the death of Trajan, that the word saltus designates not a grand domaine but a circonscription domaniale.’® 8 Gsell, Inscriptions, I. nos. 285 & 3992. ® From no, 3992 it appears that there was a corporation of conductores in Hippo in the second century. [ 32] THE DIOCESE OF HIPPO REGIUS Mesnage, in L’ Afrique chrétienne,? says: “In numerous places in his works St. Augustine tells us of a certain number of local- ities situated in his diocese and some of these possessed churches or oratories----.” His list, with references, is in brief as fol- lows: 1. AupuRus, fundus, D.C.D. xxii.8.15. There was a church there containing a relic of St. Stephen. 2. CARRARIA, perhaps a suburb, or a section of Hippo, Serm. 350.10. 3. CASPALIANA, possessio, near Audurus, D.C.D.xxii.8.16. 4. Cizan, Epist.63.4. 5. Fussava, which became a bishopric toward 410, Epist. 209; 224. An oratory, situated on a private domain of the name of Zubedi of which we have spoken above, contained earth from the Holy Sepulchre, D.C.D.xxii.8.6. . GERMANICIANA, E pist. 251----. . Grept, FE pist. 65.1. . Hasna, Epist.29.12. There was a church in that place. g. MappattA, imperial domain (?),----Epist.66; Contra Litt. Petiliani, ii.83.184(?) ; 11.99.228(?). 10. SPANIANUM, praedium, Epist.35.2. II. STRABONIANENSIS, fundus, Epist.65. 12. SUBSANA, Epist.62 363. 13. Tuiava,----E pist.83.1 ; Possidius, Vita, 30. 14. TULLIENSE, municip. which later became a bishopric, De Cura Gerenda pro Mortuis, 15; Mansi, Collectio, VI11.647. 15. Turres, Epist. 63.4. (see, however, Epist. 34.6.) 16. Ural, Epist. 105.3. 17. VERBALIS, E pist.63.4. 18. VicToRIANA, villa, thirty miles from Hippo, D.C.D.xxii.8.7 ; Epist. 105.3; but cf. Serm. 356.15----. A few remarks upon this list are needed. In the first place, the references do not always prove in a satisfactory manner that the places referred to belonged to the diocese of Hippo Regius—in fact in the cases of Audurus, Caspaliana, Hasna, Thiava, Urgi, and Victoriana the references seem to prove either nothing in regard to their diocesan status or even the contrary of that which Mesnage apparently thinks they prove. In the sec- COON OF 1 pp. 266-267. Where a reference is given by title only in this list the author is St. Augustine. Less ond-place, so few of the places named in this list can be definitely located, that it is impossible to define the limits of the diocese, although some indication of its extent may, per- haps, be furnished by the fact that at one time Fussala belonged tO 1: Although the diocese of Hippo Regius may be reasonably conjectured to have been practically coterminous with the ter- ritorium of the city, the preceding list and remarks apparently comprise all that is known or may be reasonably conjectured about the extent of this diocese. It belonged to the ecclesiastical province of Numidia.? 2 Possidius, Vita, 8. Daa BISHOPS The names of nine of the bishops of Hippo Regius have es- caped oblivion, but, with the exception of St. Augustine, little is known about them. Mesnage has made a list of their names and has included in his list most of the references which are pertinent.” The first of these bishops was Theogenes. It is well authenti- cated that he was bishop of Hippo Regius; that he attended the Council of Carthage in 256; and that, when he was asked for his judgment de haereticis baptizandis, he replied: “Secundum Sacramentum Dei gratiae coelestis, quod accepimus, unum bap- tisma, quod est in Ecclesia Sancta, credimus.’? More than this is not known about him, although there is a tradition that he was martyred with thirty-six others under Valerian in 259.° The second bishop of Hippo, of whom there is record, was Leontius. He founded a church in which St. Augustine after- ward preached.* He was probably martyred in 303 A.D.° The bishop Fidentius was the first of the “Twenty Martyrs.” A church was dedicated to them at Hippo Regius and was re- puted to have wrought at least one signal miracle.® The story of certain of the martyrs of Hippo, probably the “Twenty,” is briefly as follows: They were ordered to sacrifice, they refused, they were thrown into prison, and finally they received the crown of confessors and martyrs.’ 17’ Afrique chrétienne, pp. 263-264. A list of the later (titular) bishops of Hippo Regius may be found in Morcelli, Africa Christiana, I. pp. 184-185. 2 Sententiae Episcoporum LXXXVII de Haereticis Baptizandis, no. 15 (P.L. no. 3. col. 1100); Aug. De Baptismo contra Donatistas, vi. 36; Mansi, Collectio, I .977. no. 18. He is mentioned by St. Augustine in Serm. 273.7. 3 See Ruinart, Acta Sincera, pp. 223 ff.; and in the Bollandist Acta Sanctorum, 26 January (III. pp. 323 ff.). 4 Aug. Epist. 29; Serm. 262. 2. 5 Monceaux, Hist. Litt. II]. pp. 152-153. 6 Aug. Serm. 325. 1; D.C.D. xx. 8..9. 7 Aug. Serm. 326.2. The martyrdom of the “Twenty” was probably in 304 A.D. (Monceaux, Hist. Litt. II. p. 153). e35ic Faustinus was the first Donatist bishop of Hippo of whom we hear. All that is known about him is that he forbade the bakers of his city to bake for Catholics and that in the time of St. Augustine there were still people who remembered him.? Concerning Valerius, the immediate predecessor of St. Au- gustine considerably more is known. Our information is derived almost entirely from Possidius,? whose account sheds much light on the democratic and tumultuous method of choosing the clergy at that time and place. This account may be summarized as follows: Valerius, the Catholic bishop of Hippo, on account of his increasing ecclesiastical duties exhorted his flock to pro- vide and ordain a presbyter for the city and they, already ac- quainted with the life and teaching of the holy Augustine, un- expectedly and forcibly dragged him before Valerius and com- pelled him to be ordained although it was against his will. Valerius, recognizing both the ability of Augustine as a preacher and his own limitations, inasmuch as he was a Greek by birth and less versed in the Latin language and literature, gave his presbyter the right of preaching the Gospel in his presence in the church and very frequently of holding public discussions—contrary to the practice and custom of the African churches. This act of Valerius led some bishops to find fault with him but he, knowing well that this was the practice of the Eastern churches and considering only the welfare of the Church, took no notice of the words of his detractors if only his presbyter might do that which he saw could not be accom- plished by himself as bishop. | As Augustine’s fame and popularity increased, Valerius feared—and apparently with good reason—that his presbyter would be sought to fill a bishopric elsewhere and accordingly communicated secretly with his Primate, the Bishop of Carth- age, and, mentioning the weakness of his body and the burden of his years, sought to have Augustine ordained Bishop of Hippo because he would not in that case then succeed to his office but would be associated with him as coadjutor-bishop. Valerius obtained a satisfactory answer to this request. Later when Megalius, Bishop of Calama, and at that time Primate of Numida, had come at his request to visit the Church at 8 Aug. Contra Litt. Petiliani, 11. 184. 9 Vita, 4; 5; 8. Cf. also Aug. Epist. 31. 4; 33. 4. [ 36 J Hippo, unexpectedly to all, he made his desire known to the bishops who happened at that time to be present, and to all the clergy of Hippo and to all the people with the result that Augustine was then made Coadjutor-bishop of Hippo. We know also from one of St. Augustine’s sermons that it was Valerius who gave him “hortum illum in quo nunc est monasterium.’’?° From these few facts which are known about Valerius it is evident that he was not insistent on his own position and pres- tige but simply anxious for the good of the Church, moreover that it was his own church of which he thought primarily and for whose advantage he exercised a very timely prudence. From the fact that he was “old and infirm’ when Augustine was chosen bishop in 395 we should probably infer that he died not long afterwards." Valerius’ successor was, of course, St. Augustine. So much has been written about him that it is unnecessary to give here an account of his life. The second Donatist bishop of whom there is record was Proculeianus.’? We hear of an appeal to him. It was made by St. Augustine and was that they, as the representatives of the Catholics and Donatists, should try to come to some agree- ment in order that the Church might have peace. This was made before the death of Valerius.1* He is mentioned also in a letter of the clergy of Hippo to Januarius.'* The last of the Donatist bishops of Hippo of whom we hear was Macrobius. Although he is mentioned several times in the works of St. Augustine, little of interest is known about him. According to the editor of the Patrologia Latina No. 33 he was “undoubtedly ordained in locum Proculeiant” who was still alive in 403 A.D. Although St. Augustine addressed a long letter to 10 Serm. 355. 2; cf. also Serm. de Rusticiano. 11 Prosper, Epitoma, anno 395; Cassiodorus, Chronica, no. 1160 (Chronica Minora, Mommsen, II. p. 154). For a contemporary estimate of his character see Paulinus of Nola, Epist. 7. 2. 12 Aug. Epist. 35. 13 Aug. Epist. 33. See also Epist. 34; 35; Contra Cresconium, 111. 48. 53. 14 Aug. Epist. 88. 6-7. For a somewhat fuller account of this bishop see Smith & Wace, Dict. of Christian Biography. 15 P.L. no. 33. col. 405. note d; St. Augustine wrote to Macrobius two C37). him,-the contents of this letter are of interest for a study of Donatism rather than for a study which deals primarily with the history of Hippo Regius. Heraclius, the successor of St. Augustine, was the last bishop of Hippo Regius in antiquity about whom we know. An account of his election in 426 A.D. has come down to us and a transla- tion of it is given in a note to this chapter because it is of considerable interest as ‘an important source of our information about Heraclius and because from it can be gained some idea of the procedure of the Church of that time and place in such matters. If with the editor of the Patrologia Latina No. 39, we iden- tify this Heraclius (or Eraclius) with the Eraclius diaconus mentioned by St. Augustine in Sermo 356, Section 7, we may conclude that St. Augustine’s successor was religious from his youth, was humane—for he freed his slaves—and that it was his desire to give his goods to the Church. A reading of this passage may also lead us to applaud the piety of the heir and the wisdom of the bishop, but it will diminish our opinion of Heraclius’ business ability. It was Heraclius who brought about the debate between St. Augustine and the Arian bishop, Maximinus.*® letters, nos. 106 & 108. This Donatist bishop is mentioned also in letters nos. 107 & 139; and in a sermon attributed to St. Augustine (P.L. no. 43. col. 755). See also Mansi Collectio, IV. 123. no. 138. See also article in Smith & Wace, Dictionary. 16 Coll. cum Max. For a sermon by Heraclius see P.L. no. 39. col. 1717. Cf. also Smith & Wace, Dictionary, under Eraclius and under Maxi- minus, C 38 J NOTE AY THE ELECTION OF HERACLIUS Among Augustine’s letters in the Patrologia Latina is: Acta Ecclesiastica seu Epistola ccxiu. The heading is: Ecclesiastica Gesta a B. Augustino confecta in designando ERACLIO qui ipsi in episcopatu succederet, atque interim senem aliqua parte curarum sublevaret. The account itself may be translated as folluws: When the most glorious Theodosius was consul for the twelfth time and Valentinian Augustus was consul for the sec- ond time, on the twenty-sixth of September,’ after the bishop Augustine, together with Religianus and Martinianus his fel- low bishops, had met in the Hippo-regian church of “Peace” in company with the priests Saturninus, Leporius, Barnabus, For- tunatianus, Rusticus, Lazarus, and Eraclius, in the presence of the clergy and many people, the bishop Augustine said: “Dearly beloved, we must accomplish without any delay that which I promised to you yesterday and on account of which I desired you to assemble yourselves together in greater num- bers—and I see that you have come together in greater num- bers. Indeed you are less attentive for anything else I might wish to say to you because you are intent on that. “We are all mortal in this life and the last day of this life is always uncertain for every man; but yet in infancy childhood is expected, and in childhood adolescence is expected, and in adolescence youth is expected, and in youth maturity is ex- pected, and in maturity old age is expected. Whether this will come about is uncertain, still there is that which may be ex- pected. Old age, however, does not have another period of life to expect ; it is even uncertain how long old age itself will last for a man. This, however, is certain, that no age remains which can succeed old age. “Because God willed it, I came to this city with the vigor of youth; but still my youth has passed and I have grown old. | know that after the deaths of bishops it often happens that churches are disturbed by ambitious and contentious men; and, as far as in me lies, I ought to provide against the occurrence in this city of that which I have often experienced and on ac- 1 Anno 426. [304 count of which I have grieved. As you know, dearly beloved, I have recently been in the Church at Milevum; for the brethren and especially the servants of God, who are there, besought me to come; because, after the death of Severus of blessed mem- ory—my brother and fellow bishop—some trouble there was feared. I went; and in what manner the Lord wished, He helped us in His mercy, so that they peaceably received as their bishop him whom their former’bishop had designated while still alive. For they willingly embraced the wish of their bishop, who had died and gone on before, when this wish became known to them. Still there was another less important fact on account of which some were saddened namely because brother Severus believed that it could suffice that he name his successor among the clergy and because for that reason he did not address the people. As a result there was sadness on the part of some. Why should I say more? He was pleasing to God; sadness was put to flight; joy took its place; he, whom the preceding bishop had named, was ordained bishop. “Therefore, that no one may complain about me, I bring to the notice of all of you my choice, which I believe is God’s also. I choose the priest Eraclius as my successor.” The people cried out: “Thanks to God, praise to Christ (twenty-three times). Hear, O Christ, life to Augustine (six- teen times). Thou art our father, thou our bishop (eight times ).” And when there was silence the bishop Augustine said: “There is no need for me to say anything in his praise; I ap- plaud his wisdom and I spare his modesty; it is sufficient that you know him. And I say I wish this next thing, because I know you wish it; and if I was ignorant of it before, I should prove it today. This, therefore, I desire; this I ask from the Lord our God with fervent prayers even now in chilly age. I exhort you, I admonish you, I entreat you, that you pray with me for this, and my prayer is that in the peace of Christ God may confirm in the unified and inspired minds of all of you that which He has done among us. And may He who sent him to me keep him, may He keep him safe, may He keep him blame- less that he, who makes joy for me while living, may fill my place when dead. “As you see, the notaries of the church are taking down what we say; they are taking down what you say; and my discourse and your acclamations fall not to earth. To speak [ 40 ] more plainly; we are now completing Ecclesiastical Transac- tions ; for thus I wish this confirmed as far as lies in the power of men.” The people cried out thirty-six times: “Thanks to God, praise to Christ. Hear, O Christ, life to Augustine (thirteen times). Thou art our father, thou our bishop (eight times). He is worthy and just (twenty times). Well deserving, well worthy (five times). He is worthy and just (six times).” And when there was silence the bishop Augustine said: “Therefore, as I said, I desire my choice and your choice con- firmed by the Ecclesiastical Transactions, as far as lies in the power of men; but, as for that which lies in the secret will of the Almighty, let us all, as I said, pray that God will confirm that which He has done among us.” The people cried out: “We give thanks for thy judgment (sixteen times). So be it, so be it (twelve times). Thou art our father, thou, Eraclius, our bishop (six times).” And when there was silence, the bishop Augustine said: “I know that which you, also, know, but I am unwilling that that which was done in my case should be done in his case. Moreover many of you know what was done. They only do not know who, at that time, either were not yet born, or had not yet attained to the age of knowledge. While the old man Valerius, father of blessed memory and my bishop, was still in the flesh, I was ordained bishop, but I sat with him—a thing I did not know had been forbidden by the Council of Nicaea; and he himself did not know it. And so Iam unwilling that that which was censured in me be censured in my son.” The people cried out : “Thanks to God, praise to Christ (thir- teen times).” And when there was silence, the bishop Augustine said: “He will remain a priest as he is and, when God shall wish it, he will be bishop. And now by the help of the mercy of Christ I am about to do clearly what I have not even yet done. You know what I wished to do several years ago, and you did not permit it. “Tt seemed good to me and to you, on account of the study of the Scriptures which the brethren and fathers, my fellow bishops, thought fit to impose upon me at the two councils of Numidia and Carthage, that no one should disturb me for five days (a week). The Transactions were completed, it was your pleasure, you approved; your pleasure and your approval were recorded. For a short time the agreement was kept with me, but [ 41 J afterwards it was violently broken and I am not allowed the leisure which I desire; before noon and after noon I am involved in human affairs. I beseech you and constrain you through Christ that you suffer me to pass on the burdens of my affairs to this young man, that is, to the priest Eraclius whom I this day choose in the name of Christ to succeed me as bishop.” The people cried out: “We give thanks for thy judgment (twenty-six times).” And when there was silence, the bishop Augustine said: “I give thanks to the Lord our God for your charity and good-will; nay more | thank God for this thing. Therefore, brethren, whatever was brought to me, let it be taken to him; when he shall have need of counsel I will not refuse my aid; far be it that I should withdraw it. Still whatever was brought to me, let it be taken to him. Either let him himself consult me, if per- chance he shall not find that which he ought to do, or let him ask as a helper an elder whom he knows both in order that nothing may be lacking to you and finally, if God shall grant me some little space of this life, that I may not betray my own life, howsoever short it be, to sloth, nor give it over to laziness, but that, as far as he himself permits and allows, I may spend it on the Holy Scriptures, and this will profit him and through him it also will profit you. Therefore let no one envy my leisure be- cause my leisure has a mighty task. I see that I have done with you all that I should do in regard to that on account of which I summoned you. Finally I ask this: that you, who can do it, deign to subscribe to these Transactions. At this point I am in need of your answer; let me have your answer; acclaim something in regard to this assent.” The people cried out: “So be it, so be it (twenty-five times). It is worthy, it is just (twenty-eight times). So be it, so be it (fourteen times). He has long been worthy, long deserving (twenty-five times). We give thanks for thy judgment (thirteen times). Hear, O Christ, preserve Eraclius (eighteen times).” And when there was silence the bishop Augustine said: “It is well that we are able to attend to the affairs which concern the Lord near the time of His sacrifice and, in this our hour of prayer, I especially enjoin upon you, dearly beloved, that you lay aside your plans and your business and that you pour forth a prayer to the Lord for this church, for me, and for the priest Eraclius.” [ 42 ] COUNCILS Because of the incomplete and untrustworthy character of much of the material upon which an account of the Councils of Hippo Regius must be based, it is impossible to present the re- sults of an investigation of them with any considerable satisfac- tion or confidence. It appears that, in addition to the synod which has already been described,’ three church councils were held in this city. The first of these councils was held in the secretarium of the Basilica Pacis on the eighth day of October in the year 393 which was also the ninth year of the pontificate of Siri- cius and the fifteenth of the reign of the Emperor Theodo- sius.2, According to St. Augustine, who attended as a priest, it was a plenarium totius Africae Concilium.® It is not certain in just what sense this expression of St. Augustine should be taken, but in regard to the importance of the council there can be little doubt. Its purpose was probably to settle certain ques- tions of church discipline* and, if this was its purpose, it was eminently successful, for it not only laid the foundations of the discipline of the African Church,® but was the source from which, tamquam archetypo quodam, all succeeding African councils borrowed much.°® Since no complete or really satisfactory records of this coun- cil have survived, it will be of some interest to bring together what is known about its proceedings and decisions. In the first place St. Augustine delivered at this council a dis- course De Fide et Symbolo which he afterwards wrote out at the request of his friends.” This treatise has survived and oc- cupies about seven and a half pages in the Patrologia Latina.*® 1 See pp. 38 ff. 2 Mansi, Collectio, III. 849; Dionysius Exiguus (P.L. no. 67. col. 193). 8 Aug. Retractiones, 1. 17; this is the correct reference, not Possidius, Vita, 7, as given by Mansi (Collectio, III. 849) and Hefele (History of the Church Councils—English translation by Oxenham, II. p. 395). 4 Mansi, Collectio, III. 918. 5 ibid. III. goo. 8 ibid. III. 840. 7 Aug. Retractiones, I. 17. 8 no. 40. col. 181 ff. C 43 J It deals with the problems of the Creation, the Trinity, the Catholic Church, the Remission of Sins, and the Resurrection. In the second place, two decisions of a Council of Hippo, which are attributed to the first Council of Hippo Regius by Mansi° and by Hefele,?® were read and renewed" by an African council which was held at Carthage in 525 A.D.” The first of these decisions is in regard to the observance of Easter and is found in a briefer form in the epitome of the canons of the first Council of Hippo.*? The second has been summarized by Hefele as follows :** “The same Bishop Caecilian, in union with his colleague Honoratus, also a Mauretanian, made a second proposition, that the Bishop of Sitifi should be appointed epi- scopus primae sedis for Mauretania. He was to be chosen by the Provincial Synod, but his election was to be signified to the Bishop of Carthage, from whom he would receive instructions. Aurelius of Carthage brought this question also under discus- sion. The Bishops, Epigonius of Bulla Regia and Megalius of Calama in Numidia, took part in it, and it was at last unanimously resolved that each province might have its epi- Scopus primae sedis, on condition that none should be appointed without the knowledge of the Bishop of ‘Carthage, so that the au- thority of his See should remain intact. These bishops were also always to give account of their acts to the bishop of Carthage.” In the third place, some of the canons of this council were inserted in the Codex Canonum Ecclesiae Africanae’® which was compiled in the year 419 A.D.*® According to Mansi** and Hardouin*® they are numbers twenty-eight to thirty-three of this collection; but this attribution is doubtful and Boudinhon has argued with great plausibility that numbers twenty-nine to thirty-three should be assigned not to the first but to the third Council of Hippo Regius. Numbers twenty-eight to thirty-three of the African Codex may be summarized as follows: 9 Collectio, III. 850. 10 Councils, II. p. 401. 11 Mansi, Collectio, VIII. 643 ff. 12 ¢bid. VIII. 635. 13 See below, pp. 47 ff. 14 Councils, II. p. 401. 15 Mansi, Collectio, III. 730. 16 ibid, III. 690. 17 ibid. III. 730. 18 Collectio Conciliorum, I. 954. C 44 J XXVIII. That priests, deacons, or clerics, who in cases of their own have thought it necessary to appeal to transmarine courts, shall by no means be received to communion. XXIX. That if anyone who has been excommunicated pre- sumes to communicate before his hearing, he shall have pro- nounced himself guilty by so doing.*® XXX. That, if accuser or accused fears violence in the place where the accuser lives, he shall for the completion of his case choose a place which is near and to which it will not be difficult to summon the witnesses.”° XXXI. That clerics or deacons, who have been disobedient to the bishops who have advanced them, shall not be permitted to officiate even in their former offices. XXXII. That, if a cleric who was without property at the time of his ordination, afterwards acquires property, this prop- erty shall be subject to the power of the Church.”+ XXXIII. (a) That priests shall not dispose of church prop- erty without the consent of their bishops.” (b) That bishops shall not dispose of church property unknown to the council or their priests.** (c) That, unless it be necessary, bishops shall not expend the church property which is in their charge.** Furthermore it is the opinion of Hardouin?® and of Mansi*® that the fifty-second and seventy-third canons and the introduc- tion to the ninety-fifth canon of the same African Codex are drawn from this first Council of Hippo. The first of these pas- sages is de visitandis provincus, and the others deal with the observance of Easter. In the fourth place and finally, a breviary of the statutes, or canons, of this council has been preserved with the proceedings of the third Council of Carthage which was held in the year 397.27 Although two versions of this breviary were long known,” 19 Fulgentius Ferrandus, Breviatio Canonum, 54 (P.L. no. 67.) 20 ibid. 198. 21 ibid. 35. 22 ibid. 95. 23 ibid. 47. 24 ibid. 38. 25 Collectio Conciliorum, I. 954. 26 Collectio, III. 850. 27 ibid. III. 875 ff; Prosper, Epitoma, anno 397. 28 Mansi, Collectio, III. 893 ff. [45 J a satisfactory recension did not exist in print until the Baller- ini recovered from excellent and theretofore apparently un- known codices what is now considered to be the original of this breviary.*® It may be found in Mansi*® and is in two parts, the first of which contains some of the proceedings of the council, while the second is made up of the breviary proper. This im- portant record may be rendered into English as follows: “The Statutes of the Council of Hippo, abridged and certain of them compared with the Byzacene bishops at the Council of Carthage and diligently studied, are as follows: “The Profession of Faith of the Council of Nicaea was recited and confirmed. It is as follows: We believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of things visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God, the only begotten Son of the Father—that is the substance of the Father—,God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, born not made, of one substance with the Father—which the Greeks call omousion—, by whom all things were made whether in heaven or in earth; who for us men and for our salvation descended, became incarnate, and was made man through the Virgin Mary, suffered and rose the third day, ascended to heaven and will come to judge the quick and the dead; and in the Holy Ghost. Those moreover who say that He was when He was not, and that before He was born He was not; and those who say that the Son of God is mutable and changeable because He was made out of non-existent things or out of a foreign substance, them the Catholic Church and the Apostolic Discipline anathematize. “Moreover it has been decided on account of an error which is wont often to arise, that all the African provinces shall take care to receive from the Church at Carthage the day of the observance of Easter. “Cresconius, Bishop of Villa Regis, who was said to have held the Church of Tubunae, was ordered to be content with his own congregation, that is of the Church of Villa Regis, and after this it was decided that none should usurp the congregations of others. Since she asked this at the instigation of the Moors, Maure- tania Sitifensis was allowed to have a primate of her own. “Moreover all the bishops of the first sees have declared that 2° Mansi, Collectio, III. 909 ff; Hefele, Councils, II. p. 306. 80 Collectio, III. 917 ff. [ 46 ] the primates of their provinces shall be appointed in accordance with the advice of the Bishop of Carthage, if there is any dis- agreement. (The Abridgment of the Statutes begins. ) “TI. That lectors shall not pronounce the salutation to the people. And that before the age of twenty-five years clerics shall not be ordained nor virgins consecrated. That those who have been for the first time instructed in the Sacred Scriptures or those who have been trained in them from childhood shall be promoted to the clerical rank upon profession and affirmation of faith. “TJ. That the decrees of the council shall be previously en- joined by their ordainers upon those ordained bishops or clerics in order that they may not say that they have done anything con- trary to the statutes of the council. “III. Moreover that during the very holy days of Easter no sacrament shall be given to the catechumens except the accus- tomed salt ; because, if the faithful exchange no sacrament dur- ing those days, neither should the catechumens exchange any. “TV. That the Eucharist shall not be given to the bodies of the dead because the Lord said: Take and eat; but dead bodies can neither take nor eat. Moreover that precaution must be taken that the weakness of the brethren shall not think that the dead too can be baptized, when they see that the Eucharist is not given to the dead. “V. That on account of ecclesiastical cases which are often pro- longed to the calamity of the congregations, a council shall be called each year and to it all provinces, which have sees of the first rank, shall each send three representatives from their own councils so that the assembly may be of full authority but to its hosts both less troublesome and less expensive. And that from Tripolis, on account of the poverty of its bishops, only one bishop shall come. “VI. That when a bishop is accused, the accuser shall bring the case before the primate of the province of the accused; and that he against whom a charge is lodged shall not be deprived of communion unless, when summoned to plead his case by letters of the primate, he has not even appeared—that is, within the space of a month from that day on which it has been decided that he received the letters. But that, if he shall prove any true and compelling reasons on account of which it is manifest that Bevo he could not appear, he shall within the next month have a fresh opportunity of pleading his case. But that after the second month he shall not communicate until after he has been ac- quitted. “VII. However, that, if he is unwilling to appear at the annual general council so that even there his case may be closed, he shall be considered to have pronounced against himself a sen- tence of condemnation. And that during the time that he does not communicate, he shall, of course, not communicate in his own congregation either. Moreover, that, if his accuser shall not be absent on any of the days of the pleading of the case, he shall not be deprived of communion, but, if he is ever absent, the bishop shall be restored to communion and the accuser himself shall be deprived of it; on the condition, however, that the op- portunity of continuing his prosecution shall not be taken away from him if he shall prove that he was not unwilling to appear on the (appointed) day but was unable to do so. This indeed was decided in order that, if, when a man has begun to bring an action in a court of bishops, the character of the accuser is culpable, he shall not be permitted to make an accusation or prosecute a case unless he wishes to plead a personal and not an ecclesiastical case. “VIII. Moreover, that, if priests or deacons are accused,— when the prescribed number of colleagues has been added to them from neighboring localities (that is; in the case of a priest five, in the case of a deacon two)—, their own bishops shall try the case, observing the same rules in regard to the days or post- ponements, or deprivation of communion and of examination of the character of the accusers and the accused. Furthermore, that the bishop of the place shall by himself hear and settle the cases of all others. “TX. And, indeed, that, if a bishop ora cleric, when a charge is made against him in the Church or when a civil case is brought, forsakes the ecclesiastical courts and attempts to be cleared by the public courts, he shall lose his office even if the case is de- cided in his favor— that is in a criminal case. But that in a civil case he shall lose what he has won if he wishes to retain his office, because he, to whom the authority of the Church is every- where open for choosing judges, judges himself unworthy of fraternal fellowship, if, by thinking ill of the whole Church, he asks the aid of a civil trial: because the apostle directs that the C 48 J cases of private Christians be brought before the Church and there determined. “X. This, also, was decided that, if an appeal is made from certain ecclesiastical judges to other ecclesiastical judges of higher authority, it shall not injure the judges whose sentence is not sustained unless they can be proved to have given judgment with hostile bias or to have been corrupted by some favoritism or hope of gain. But that, if arbiters have been appointed with the consent of both parties, an appeal may not be made even from a number smaller than that prescribed. “XI. That, inasmuch as the sons of bishops and clerics are excluded from shows, they shall neither produce nor attend secular shows. “XII. That the sons of bishops or of any clerics shall not be joined in marriage to pagans, or even to heretics and schis- matics. “XIII. That bishops, or clerics, shall not permit their sons to go out from their power by making them independent unless they are sure in regard to both their morals and their maturity so that they can be responsible for their own sins. “XIV. That bishops or clerics shall not confer upon those who are not Catholic Christians—even if they are their kinsmen— any of their possessions either by gift or by will. “XV. That bishops, priests, and deacons shall not be the man- agers or agents of private parties nor shall they seek a liveli- hood in any business such that it is necessary for them to go abroad or be called away from their ecclesiastical duties. “XVI. That women who are not related to them shall not live with any of the clerics at all but only their mothers, grand- mothers, paternal and maternal aunts, and sisters, and the daughters of brothers or of sisters, and whoever of the house- hold then lived with them for some domestic purpose even be- fore they were ordained, or if the sons have married wives after the ordination of their fathers, or if there are in the house no _ servants whom they can hire and it is necessary to hire them elsewhere. “XVII. That bishops, priests, and deacons shall not be or- dained before they have made Catholic Christians of all those who are in their homes. “XVIII. That lectors shall read until the age of puberty, but [ 49 J then shall not read unless they guard their chastity by marrying or unless they make a vow of continence. “XIX. That no one shall dare to retain or promote in a church entrusted to him the cleric of another except with the consent of his (i.e. the cleric’s) bishop. Moreover that even lectors shall retain the name of clerics. “XX. That no one shall be ordained unless he has been ap- proved either by episcopal examination or by the testimony of the people. ‘ “XXI. That in prayer no one shall name the Father instead of the Son, or the Son instead of the Father. And that before the altar the prayer shall always be made to the Father. And that whoever copies for himself prayers from an outside source shall not use them, unless he has first gone over them with better-in- structed brethren. “XXII. That no cleric shall receive in return from anyone more than he has loaned to him, whether he gives him money or anything else whatever. “XXIII. That in the Sacraments of the Body and Blood of the Lord nothing more shall be given than what the Lord Himself handed down, that is, the bread and the wine mixed with water. (But the first-fruits, or the honey, and the milk which is accus- tomed to be offered on one most solemn day as the mystery of the children, even though they are offered on the altar, still have their own proper benediction so that they are differentiated from the Sacrament of the Blood and Body of the Lord). And that nothing more of the first-fruits shall be offered than of the vine and of the grain. “XXIV. That clerics under a vow of chastity (continentes) shall not visit widows or virgins except by the order or permis- sion of their bishops or priests. And they shall not do this alone but with (other) clerics or with those with whom the bishop or priest has ordered. And that the bishops themselves or the priests shall not have access to women of this kind unaccom- panied, but when either clerics or some other sober Christians are present. “XXV. That a ‘bishop of the first rank’ (primae sedis) shall not be called ‘prince of the priests,’ or ‘chief priest’ or anything of this kind but only ‘bishop of the first rank.’ “XXVI. That clerics shall not enter taverns to eat or drink, except when a journey makes this necessary. [ 50 ] “XXVII. That bishops shall not set out to cross the sea, ex- cept after consultation with the bishop of the first rank of the province of each; especially in order that they may get from him their passports. Moreover that, hereafter, letters of the council are to be sent to the bishops across the sea. “XXVIII. That the sacraments of the altar shall be celebrated only by those who have fasted, except on the anniversary of the day on which the Feast of the Lord is celebrated. For, if a memorial service of any of the dead, either of the bishops, or of the clerics, or of any others, must take place in the afternoon, it shall be done with prayers only, if those doing it be found to have eaten already. “XXIX. That no bishops or clerics shall feast together in the church, except when perchance it is necessary for them to act as hosts there in refreshing travellers, and that the people shall be excluded as far as possible from even these banquets. “XXX. That the times of penance shall be appointed to the penitents by the judgment of the bishop in accordance with the difference of their sins. That priests shall not absolve penitents without consulting the bishop, except when the bishop is absent and the case is urgent. Moreover, that, because the whole church knows the sin, the laying on of hands should be in the apse of the church in the case of any penitent whose offense is public and widely known. “XXXI. That, when holy virgins are bereft of their parents by whom they were guarded, they shall be entrusted to respectable women by the wisdom of the bishop or the priest in order that these women living with them may in turn guard them that they injure not the good repute of the church by wandering about. “XXXII. That the sick, if unable to reply for themselves, shall be baptized when those who are related to them have at their own peril given testimony that it was their wish. “XXXII. That grace and reconciliation shall not be denied to actors and apostates who have been converted or who have re- turned to the Lord. “XXXIV. That a priest shall not consecrate virgins without consulting his bishop and he shall never make the Chrism. “XXXV. That clerics shall not tarry in a strange city unless the bishop of the place or the priests of the place consider their reasons sufficient. Bek Ba “XXXVI. That, besides the canonical Scriptures, nothing shall be read in the church under the name of the Holy Scriptures. Moreover the canonical Scriptures are: Genesis, Exodus, Levit- icus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Jesus the Son of Nave, Judges, Ruth, four books of the Kings, two books of Chronicles, Job, the Psalter of David, five books of Solomon, twelve books of the Prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Tobit, Esther, two books of Esdras, two books of the Maccabees; and of the New Testament: the four books of the Gospels, one book of the Acts of the Apostles, thirteen Epistles of Paul the Apostle to- gether with the Epistle of the same to the Hebrews, two letters of Peter, three of John, one of James, one of Jude, (and) the Apocalypse of John; on condition that the Church across the sea shall be consulted in regard to the confirmation of this canon. That it shall also be permissible to read the sufferings of the Martyrs when their anniversary days are celebrated. “XXXVII. It was decided, moreover, that, inasmuch as it was decreed by the preceding councils that none of the Donatists should be received by us and retain their rank but should be received into the number of the laity on account of the salvation which must be denied to no one (moreover the churches in Africa suffer such lack of ordained clerics that some places are altogether deserted )—that for this reason what has already been decreed shall be observed in regard to these persons but that those shall be excepted who, it is manifest, have not been baptized or who wish to come over to the Catholic Communion with their flocks. For, as it is written: 7f two Christians are gathered to- gether they shall obtain whatever they ask, it must not be doubted that, when the offense of the schism of all the people has been removed, it is fitting that concord, which has been brought back to the unity of peace, shall obtain from the mercy of the Lord that by the compensation of this peace and by the sacrifice of charity the sins shall be washed away which they, following the authority of their elders, have committed through the repetition of baptism. But it was decided that this should not be adopted until the Church across the sea has been con- sulted in regard to it. “Concerning the Donatists it was decided that we shall con- sult the brethren and our fellow bishops, Siricius and Sim- plicianus, concerning those children alone who have been bap- tized by these Donatists in order that inasmuch as they did not ee act by their own judgment, they may not, when they have been converted to the Church by the saving purpose of God, be pre- vented by the error of their parents from being advanced as ministers of the Sacred Altar.” The translation of the breviary of the canons of the first Council of Hippo Regius may be ended at this point inasmuch as the two remaining canons in the edition of the Ballerini do not belong to this council*? as the editors themselves admit.*? The reader who would pursue further the study of this council is referred to the collections of Hardouin and of Mansi for the text of the canons in the original languages and for cross references and notes on the text.** Further notes may be found in Dom Leclercq’s French translation of Hefele’s Concilien- geschichte.** The French scholar has not only made Hefele’s valuable work available in a more readable form, but has furn- ished the translation with many illuminating notes. The material for an account of the first Council of Hippo was far from complete, but that which is even probably known about the second council which was held there is so little that it can be told in a single sentence. In the year 395 a council was held at Hippo Regius and to it one canon has been ascribed, to wit :* “That bishops, or priests shall not, without first giving their reasons, transfer to other places goods which are in the places where they were ordained.’’*° A third council was held at Hippo Regius in the Basilica Leontina on the twenty-fourth of September 427.°7 Mansi’s as- signment of canons to this council will be passed over as it is very distinctly inferior to the ingenious and careful study of Boudinhon. Boudinhon’s arguments and his partial recon- struction of the proceedings of this council—together with tables and full references to his sources—may be found in Ap- pendix V of the second volume of Leclercq’s translation of $1 Hefele, Histoire (tr. Leclercq), IJ. 1. p. 89. note I. 82 Mansi, Collectio, III. 937. note 10. 83 See the places referred to in the notes to the first part of this section. 84 Histoire des conciles, II. 1. pp. 82-91. 35 Mansi, Collectio, III. 859. 86 Cf, Ferrandus, no. 34. In regard either to the first or the second of these councils cf. Prosper, Epitoma, anno 397. 37 Mansi, Collectio, IV. 539. C53 J Hefele’s Conciliengeschichte. This reconstruction is briefly as follows: 1. After the council had assembled, the bishop Aurelius said; “Your Holinesses know well that it was due to necessity that the solemn convention of this council did not take place for two years. Now because it has come to pass in the sure order of things that by the help of God our holy brother and fellow bishop Augustine should willingly receive this council in be- half of his religion and because the Lord had ordered us to assemble together, and because it has happened that I who am unworthy should greet you all face to face, for these reasons let us do something in the interest of the Church so that those things which are born in us, or to which we must listen shall be heeded lest cases grow to worse which should have been dismissed long ago. Therefore, there is need that those ecclesi- astical cases which have to do with discipline should be handled.” The whole council said: “We willingly pay attention in order that this may come to pass.” 2. The aged Aurelius said: “Let the decisions of the previous councils be read and inserted in the proceedings of the present council.” 3. (See above,®® the twenty-ninth canon of the Codex, and Hefele-Leclercq-Boudinhon, I1.2.p.1306). 4. (See above, canon thirty of the Codex, and Boudinhon, /.c.). 5. (See above, canon thirty-one of the Codex, and Boudinhon, ory 6. That bishops or priests shall not transfer church property from one place to another without first assigning reason. (See also Boudinhon, l.c. p. 1307). 7. (See above, canon thirty-two of the Codex, and Boudinhon, REE 8. (See above, canon thirty-three of the Codex, and Boudinhon, hes) 9. (See above, canon thirty-three of the Codex, and Boudinhon, hep. 1308)} 10. Each (of the bishops) confirmed these statutes with his own signature: Aurelius, Simplicius, Augustinus, etc. From the foregoing account of the Councils of Hippo Regius it is evident that three councils were held there in antiquity and that the dates of these councils and the places at which 88 p. 45. C 54] they were held are fairly well established. It is also evident that although no complete records of these councils have survived, a good deal of importance is known with a fair degree of cer- tainty about the first council, that practically nothing of inter- est is known in regard to the second, and that but little can be asserted about the third with any amount of assurance as to its correctness, although if Boudinhon’s arguments are correct— and this is probable—certain facts of some interest are known about it. bested MILITARY HISTORY Although the history of Hippo Regius probably extended over a period of approximately 2000 years and at or near it many military events ofnterest doubtless occurred during these centuries, still the memory of but few such events has survived and the notices even of these are disappointingly meager. In the case of language and of several other topics it has been possible to supplement the scanty specific references by means of probable or necessary inferences, but in the case of the military history it is for obvious reasons better to confine the account to information derived from explicit statements and not to attempt to amplify it inferentially or conjecturally from the general history of the district. The civil wars which are known to have taken place in Africa in the time of the Gordians, the raids of native chieftains into the coastal regions, and other similar disturbances of the peace of North Africa will, accord- ingly, be passed over in silence and the ensuing account will consist of a relation of those military operations which are recorded to have taken place at or near this ancient city. Such events were not numerous and were for the most part far separated in time. The problem of the first military operations which are re- corded as having been carried out near a place, supposedly Hippo Regius, is as follows: Diodorus states that Agathocles (of Syracuse) captured tHv “Irrov xadovpévny dxpav. + This event took place in the year 307-6 B.C.? A few chapters later he says that Eumachus captured rv évoualopévny dxpav Irrov tiv 6uovupov TH xEpobeion kata Kpatos tr “AyafoxXéovs----.> Inasmuch as the city captured by Agathocles was undoubtedly Hippo Di- arrhytus* and as Ptolemy mentions a “Immov dxpa © near Hip- po Regius, it is fair to conclude that Hippo Regius was cap- tured by Eumachus in the closing years of the fourth cen- tury before Christ. The identification of “Imwov dxpa with Hippo ae ee. 2 Pauly-Wissowa, Real-Encyclopddie, I. 1. 753. 2 > ; “4 me’ 4 * J : : ¢ ‘ \ x J ir - . , b Wes 4 : pists : i ; : " y ey yd ag “ds rt PHOTOMOUNT PAMPHLET BINDER PAT. NO. 877188 Manufactured by GAYLORD BROS, Inc. Syracuse, N. Y. Stockton, Calif. DT299 .H 7 eis rom aa dirt times to AVN TEA 1 1012 00023 7877