{{Short description|Archeological site}} {{Infobox ancient site |name = Thubursicum |native_name = |alternate_name = |image = File:GM Khamissa Roman Theatre01.jpg |alt = |caption = [[Roman theatre (structure)|Roman theater]] in Thubursicum |map_type = Algeria |map_alt = |map_size = 250 |location = [[Algeria]] |region = [[Souk Ahras Province]] |coordinates = {{coord|36.188611|7.659167|display=inline}} |type = |part_of = |length = |width = |area = |height = |builder = |material = |built = |abandoned = |epochs = |cultures = |dependency_of = |occupants = |event = |excavations = |archaeologists = |condition = |ownership = |management = |public_access = |website = |notes = }}[[Image:GM Khamissa Roman Theatre01.jpg|thumb|350px|Ancient [[Roman theatre (structure)|Roman theater]] in Khamissa.]] [[Image:GM Khamissa Roman Theatre04.jpg|thumb|350px|''Thubursicum Numidarum'' theater.]] '''Khamissa''', ancient '''''Thubursicum Numidarum''''' or '''''Thubursicum''''', is an [[Ancient Rome|Ancient Roman]] and [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] [[archeological site]], in [[Souk Ahras Province]] of northeastern [[Algeria]].<ref name="tufts">[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0006:entry=thubursicu-numidarum Princeton Encyclopedia: Khamissa (''Thubursicum Numidarum'')] . accessed Oct . 12 . 2013</ref>
==Geography== Khamissa is located {{convert|40|km|mi}} southeast of [[Guelma]], the coastal city known as ''Calama'' by ancient Roman settlers,<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0006%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DC%3Aentry+group%3D1%3Aentry%3Dcalama Princeton Encyclopedia: ''Calama'' (Guelma, Algeria)]</ref> and {{convert|32|km|mi}} northwest of [[Souk Ahras]], known as ''Thagaste'' by ancient Berbers and Romans.<ref name="tufts"/> It was around {{convert|250|km|mi}} west of ancient [[Carthage]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/37|title=Archaeological Site of Carthage|last=Centre|first=UNESCO World Heritage|website=whc.unesco.org|language=en|access-date=2018-01-29}}</ref>
==History== Originally the site was a primary settlement of an indigenous [[Berber people|Berber]] tribe of [[Numidia]].<ref name="tufts"/> This city is probably the town of which [[Tacitus]] speaks in connection with the revolt of [[Tacfarinas]] in the time of [[Tiberius]] (15 CE to 24 CE).<ref name="tufts"/>
===Roman era=== Khamissa, then known as ''Thubursicum'', was a Roman town in the [[Maghreb]] founded by the Emperor [[Trajan]] around 100 CE, when he elevated it to a ''[[municipium]]'' (''Municipium Ulpium Traianum Augustum Thubursicu'').<ref name="tufts"/> Its inhabitants enrolled in the Papiria tribe.<ref name="tufts"/>
It became a [[Colonia (Roman)|''colonia'' (Roman colony)]] by 270 CE.<ref name="tufts"/>
Khamissa became the seat of a [[bishopric]], with a rectangular [[basilica]] having walls covered with marble constructed in the 2nd century. It was visited by [[Augustine of Hippo]] (St. Augustine) twice. He served as priest, [[coadjutor Bishop]], and Bishop in regionally local [[Hippo Regius]] from 391 to 430.
===Byzantine era=== The town became part of the [[Vandal Kingdom|Vandalic Kingdom of Carthage]] from 435 to 534. It was reconquered in the [[Vandalic War]] by the [[Byzantine Empire|East Roman Empire]] (Byzantine Empire) in 534, who built a [[Byzantine architecture|Byzantine style]] [[chapel]] and small forts.<ref name="tufts"/> It remained in the Byzantine [[Praetorian prefecture of Africa]] and [[Exarchate of Africa]] until the [[Muslim conquest of the Maghreb]] in 698.
==Archeological site== Khamissa has a well preserved [[Roman theatre (structure)|Roman theatre]] (built 2nd or 3rd century), considered one of the most beautiful and best-preserved in [[North Africa]].<ref name="tufts"/> Other [[Roman architecture|Roman]] and Byzantine structures and ruins remain also.
Archaeological excavations, conducted from 1900 to 1922, cleared only one part of the town site. Most of the objects collected then, notably the [[Roman sculpture|Ancient Roman statue]]s, are in [[Guelma]] at the Guelma Museum, Algeria.
==See also== *[[North Africa during Antiquity]] *[[Numidia]] — ''preceding Berber-Libyan kingdom (202 BCE to 46 BCE)'' *[[Souk Ahras|Thagaste]] — ''nearby ancient Numidian city'' *[[Synod of Hippo]] * [[List of cultural assets of Algeria]]
==References== {{Reflist}} *S. Gsell, Les monuments antiques de l'Algérie (1901) I-II. *Atlas archéologique de l'Algérie (1906) 18, Souk-Arrhas, no. 297. *C. A. Joly, Khamissa, Mdaourouch, Announa (1904). *L. Leschi, Algérie antique (1952).
==External links== {{commons category|Khemissa}} *[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0006:entry=thubursicu-numidarum The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites: ''THUBURSICU NUMIDARUM'' or ''THUBURSICUM'' (Khamissa, Algeria)] — ''detailed descriptions of town's layout and buildings''.
{{Coord|36|11|19|N|7|39|33|E|region:DZ_type:landmark|display=title}} {{Romano-Berber cities in Roman Africa}} {{Authority control}} [[Category:Roman towns and cities in Algeria]] [[Category:Populated places of the Byzantine Empire]] [[Category:Ancient Roman buildings and structures in Algeria]] [[Category:Guelma Province]]