Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

HADRUMETUM

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V12, Page 803 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

HADRUMETUM , a See also:

town of See also:ancient See also:Africa on the See also:southern extremity of the sinus Neapolitanus (mod. Gulf of Hammamet) on the See also:east See also:coast of See also:Tunisia. The site is partly occupied by the See also:modern town of See also:Susa (q.v.). The See also:form of the name Hadrumetum varied much in antiquity; the Greeks called it 'ASpbµals, 'ASpi5 See also:ros, 'Abpap,br's, 'Abp6,.oros: the See also:Romans Adrumetum, Adrimetum, Hadrumetum, Hadrymetum, &c.; See also:inscriptions and coins gave Hadrumetum. The town was originally a Phoenician See also:colony founded by Tyrians See also:long before See also:Carthage (See also:Sallust, See also:Jug. 19). It became subject to Carthage, but lost none of its prosperity. Often mentioned during the Punic See also:Wars, it was captured by See also:Agathocles in 310, and was the See also:refuge of See also:Hannibal and the remnants of his See also:army after the See also:battle of Zama in 202. During the last Punic See also:War it gave assistance to the Romans; after the fall of Carthage in 146 it received an See also:accession of territory and the See also:title of civitas libera (See also:Appian, Punica, xciv.; C.I.L. i. p. 84). See also:Caesar landed there in 46 B.C. on his way to the victory of See also:Thapsus (De belle Afric. iii.; Suetonius, Div. Jul. lix.).

In the organization of the See also:

African provinces Hadrumetum became a See also:capital of the See also:province of Byzacena. Its See also:harbour was extremely busy and the surrounding See also:country unusually fertile. Traja%made it a Latin colony under the title of Colonia See also:Concordia Ulpia Trajana See also:Augusta Frugifera Hadrumetina; a See also:dedication to the See also:emperor See also:Gordian the See also:Good, found by M. Cagnat at Susa in 1883 gives these titles to the town, and at the same See also:time identifies it with Susa. Quarrels arose between Hadrumetum and its See also:neighbour Thysdrus in connexion with the See also:temple of See also:Minerva situated on the See also:borders of their respective territories (See also:Frontinus, See also:Gromatici,ed.Lachmannus,P.57);See also:Vespasian when See also:pro-See also:consul of Africa had to repress a See also:sedition among its I inhabitants (Suetonius, Vesp. iv.; See also:Tissot, See also:Fasces de la pron. d'Afrique, p. 66); it was the birthplace of the emperor Albinos. At this See also:period the See also:metropolis of Byzacena was after Carthage the most important town in See also:Roman Africa. It was the seat of a bishopric, and its bishops are mentioned at the See also:councils of 258, 348, 393 and even later. Destroyed by the See also:Vandals in 434 it was rebuilt by Justinian and renamed Justinianopolis (Procop. De aedif. vi. 6). The Arabic invasion at the end of the 7th See also:century destroyed the See also:Byzantine towns, and the See also:place became the haunt of pirates, protected by the Kasbah (citadel); it was built on the substructions of the Punic, Roman and Byzantine See also:acropolis, and is used by the See also:French for military purposes.

The Arabic geographer See also:

Bakri gave a description of the See also:chief Roman buildings which were See also:standing in his time (Bakri, Descr. de 1'Afrique, tr. by de Slane, p. 83 et seq.). The modern town of Susa, despite its commercial prosperity, occupies only a third of the old site. In 1863 the French engineer, A. Daux, discovered the jetties and the moles of the commercial harbour, and the See also:line of the military harbour (Cothon); both harbours, which were mainly artificial, are entirely silted up. There remains a fragment of the fortifications of the Punic town, which had a See also:total length of 6410 metres, and remains of the substructions of the Byzantine acropolis, of the See also:circus, the See also:theatre, the See also:water cisterns, and of other buildings, notably the interesting Byzantine See also:basilica which is now used as an Arab cafe (Kahwat-el-Kubba). In the ruins there have been found numerous columns of Punic inscriptions, Roman inscriptions and See also:mosaic, among which is one representing See also:Virgil seated, holding the Aeneid in his See also:hand; another represents the Cretan See also:labyrinth with See also:Theseus and the See also:Minotaur (See also:Heron de Villefosse, Revue de l'Afrique francaise, v., See also:December 1887, pp. 384 and 394; Comptes rend us de 1'Acad. See also:des Inscr. et Belles-Lettres, 1892, p. 318; other mosaics, ibid., 1896, p. J78; Revue archeol., 1897). In 1904 Dr Carton and the See also:abbe Leynaud discovered huge See also:Christian catacombs with several See also:miles of subterranean galleries to which See also:access is obtained by a small vaulted chamber. In these catacombs we find numerous sarcophagi and inscriptions painted or engraved of the Roman and Byzantine periods (Comptes rendus de l'Acad. des Inscr. et Belles-Lettres, 1904-1907; Carton and Leynaud, See also:Les Catacombes d'Hadrumete, Susa, 1905).

We can recognize also the Punic and See also:

Pagan-Roman cemeteries (C. R. de l'Acad. des Inscr. et Belles-Lettres, 1887; See also:Bull. archeol. du Comite, 1885, p. 149; 1903, p. 157). The town had no Punic coins, but under the Roman domination there were coins from the time of the See also:Republic. These are of See also:bronze and See also:bear the name of the See also:city in abbreviations, HADR or HADRVM accompanying the See also:head of See also:Neptune or the See also:Sun. We find also the names of See also:local duumvirs. Under See also:Augustus the coins have on the obverse the imperial effigy, and on the See also:reverse the names and often the See also:effigies of the pro-consuls who governed the province, P. Quintilius Varus, L. Volusius See also:Saturninus and Q. See also:Fabius See also:Maximus See also:Africanus. After Augustus the See also:mint was finally closed.

End of Article: HADRUMETUM

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
HADRIAN (PUBLICS AELIUS HADRIANUS) 		[next]
HAECKEL, ERNST HEINRICH (1834- )

Site © 2006 - Net Industries