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Rougga

{{Short description|Town in southern Tunisia}}

Rougga is a town in southern Tunisia located in Sfax Governorate, on the Oued er Rougga wadi. Rougga is the Berber name of the town, which is known as Raqqa in Arabic.S. Chaker, Berber language in texts, ( Paris, 1984), p. 280. The town is located on the site of the Ancient Roman African city and former bishopric Bararus, which remains a Latin Catholic titular see.

History

A veteran of this city is mentioned in a list of soldiers from Nicopolis, a Roman garrison suburb of Alexandria, Egypt, recruited in Africa province.Guery R. and P. Trousset, Bararus [https://encyclopedieberbere.revues.org/1288 p. 1338-1340].

The city was devastated by an earthquake in 365Anna Leone, Changing Townscapes in North Africa from Late Antiquity to the seventh century Arab Conquest (Edipuglia srl, 2007) p92. after which the forum appears to have been abandoned.Anna Leone, Changing Townscapes in North Africa from Late Antiquity to the Arab Conquest (Edipuglia srl, 2007) p89 & 257.

The 6th century was a time of great affluence for the town, with a golden solidi coin hoard testifying to this wealth. The town appears on the Roman Tabula Peutingeriana road map.Tabula Peutingeriana (VI, 3). By the 7th century there is evidence of fortified housing,Anna Leone, Changing Townscapes in North Africa from Late Antiquity to the Arab Conquest (Edipuglia srl, 2007) p257. though pottery remains indicate a continuance of occupation to the 10th century, well after the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb.Chris Wickham, Framing the Early Middle Ages: Europe and the Mediterranean, 400-800 (OUP Oxford, 2006) [https://books.google.com/books?id=qRg_sxDT6ywC&dq=Rougga&pg=RA3-PA129 p130]. The Roman town was sacked by Ibn Sa'd in 647 AD.Guery R. and P. Trousset, Bararus [https://encyclopedieberbere.revues.org/1288 p. 1338–1340].Anna Leone, Changing Townscapes in North Africa from Late Antiquity to the Arab Conquest (Edipuglia srl, 2007). A Berber population moved in following the Islamic conquest and used the Roman building materials for other settlements.Guery R. and P. Trousset, Bararus [https://encyclopedieberbere.revues.org/1288 p. 1338–1340].

Ecclesiastical history

The city was also the seat of an ancient bishopric, like many suffragan of the Metropolitan of Carthage, in the papal sway, and like most also destined to fade, presumably at the advent of Islam.

Its only historically documented bishop, Iulianus Vararitanus (or Bararitanus), was found on the lists of bishops in Byzacena province having attended in 484Maier, The bishopric of Roman Africa, (Rome, 1973), p. 112. the Council of Carthage called by Arian king Huneric of the Vandal Kingdom, after which most Catholic bishops (including him?) were exiles, unlike their schismatic Donatist colleagues.

= Titular see =

The diocese was nominally restored in 1933 as titular bishopric of {{lang|la|Bararus|italic=no}} (Latin) / Bararo (Curiate Italian) / {{lang|la|Baraitan(us)|italic=no}} (Latin adjective).

It was vacant since decades, having had the following incumbents, so far of the fitting Episcopal (lowest) rank:

Remains

Rougga is the site of Henchir-Ronga, which comprises numerous ruins of the Roman era.[http://imperium.ahlfeldt.se/places/21591.html Bararus, Henchir-Rougga].[https://translate.google.com.au/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://data.bnf.fr/11962119/rougga__tunisie__-_site_archeologique_/&prev=search Rougga (Tunisia - archaeological site) ].[http://imperium.ahlfeldt.se/places/21591.html About: Bararus, Henchir-Rougga] at Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire including the Bararus Amphitheatre.Gilbert Hallier.

[http://www.persee.fr/doc/antaf_0066-4871_1987_num_23_1_1138 Les citernes monumentales de Bararus (Henchir Rougga) en Byzacène], Antiquités africaines (1987) Vol23 Num1 pp. 129-148 .Slim H., "Preliminary Research on Roman amphitheater in Tunisia," The Africa romana, Atti del Convegno di Studio I (Sassari, 1983), vol. I, (Sassari, 1984), p.129-165. The layout of the Roman town "is organized around a forumG Hallier. "Rougga The first forum of" BCTH, New Series, 17, 1981, p. 101-114. dominated by two temples.... also two large semi circular Cisterns, an amphitheater set in an abandoned quarry, a theater with extensive outbuildings, and a paved domus [house] with remarkable mosaics."Guery R. and P. Trousset, Bararus [https://encyclopedieberbere.revues.org/1288 p. 1338-1340].

The amphitheater is in modern Tunisia located at {{coord|35.211842|N|10.791201|E|type:landmark_region:TN|name=Bararus}}.

= Theater =

The theater is located on the opposite bank of the wadi from Bararus and is roughly oval in shape.[https://vici.org/vici/4311/ https://vici.org/vici/4311/]. The theater of Bararus is in bad condition,[http://www.theatrum.de/895.html theatrum of Ruqqah] though a stage of 29½ by 30 meters is still discernible.[http://imperium.ahlfeldt.se/places/24696.html About: Bararus Amphitheatre]. The overall size of the arena was 98 by 73.5 meters with seating on a radial barrel vaulting. The Arena walls were only 3 meters high and lacked a parapet. It was estimated that the arena could seat 12,100 spectators.David L. Bomgardner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=uUkFVaiRTV8C&dq=Rougga&pg=PT312 The Story of the Roman Amphitheatre].(Routledge, 2013) The arena may have been unfinished.

= Cistern =

The underground cisterns are very largeGilbert Hallier , [http://www.persee.fr/doc/antaf_0066-4871_1987_num_23_1_1138 Les citernes monumentales de Bararus (Henchir Rougga) en Byzacène], Antiquités africaines(1987)Vol23,Num1 pp.129-148 and were excavated by the French in the 20th century.

= Inscriptions =

Several inscriptions were found in the town, including one recording that the curator Republicae performed duties in the three cities of Thysdrus, Thaenae and Bararus.Guery R. and P. Trousset, Bararus [https://encyclopedieberbere.revues.org/1288 p. 1338-1340].

See also

References

{{Reflist|2}}

Sources and external links

  • [http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/former/t0270.htm GCatholic - (former &) titular see]

; Bibliography - ecclesiastical history

  • Pius Bonifacius Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae, Leipzig 1931, p. 469
  • Stefano Antonio Morcelli, Africa christiana, Volume I, Brescia 1816, pp. 346–347
  • Auguste Audollent, lemm 'Bararus' in Dictionnaire d'Histoire et de Géographie ecclésiastiques, vol. VI, 1932, col. 567

Category:Populated places in Tunisia

Amphitheatres