Tiddis Explained
Tiddis (also known as Castellum Tidditanorum or Tiddi[1]) was a Roman city that depended on Cirta and a bishopric as "Tiddi", which remains a Latin Catholic titular see. It was located on the territory of the current commune of Béni Hamidane in the Constantine Province of eastern Algeria.[2]
History
Tiddis was built by the Romans as a "vicus" & defensive castellum of the Confederatio Cirtense, initially administered by Cirta's Roman colonists and successively arranged according to their system of urbanization.[3] [4] This prosperous town, established on a plateau, had a monumental gate, baths, industrial facilities (tanneries), a sanctuary to Mithras dating back to the 4th century BC, and also a Christian chapel.[5] [6]
Castles and water tanks of all forms remind us that the city has gradually been abandoned because it lacked sources. One can admire the mausoleum that Quintus Lollius Urbicus built, a native of Tiddis (and son of a romanised Berber landowner) who then became prefect of Rome.[1] [7]
The local romance speaking community probably disappeared with the Arab conquest in the second half of the 7th century, but some pottery remains showed the survival of a small village -with some christian inhabitants- inside the ruins of Tiddis until the XI century.[8]
Today, Tiddis is an authentic Roman site called Res eddar or the "peak of the House" located in the Gorge of the Khreneg, just north of Cirta.[9] It marks the presence of a Roman civilization through rock art inscriptions and Roman pottery.
Ecclesiastical history
Under Byzantine control, Castellum Tidditanorum had two small churches and was the see of a diocese.[10] Four bishops are assigned by Morcelli to this see, but Mesnage and Jaubert believe they were bishops of Tisedi, leaving only
- Abundius, attending the Council of Carthage called in 484 by king Huneric of the Vandal Kingdom, afterwards exiled like most Catholics, unlike their Donatist schismatic heretic-counterparts.
Titular see
In 1925 was established the "Titular Episcopal See of Tiddis"
- Titular Bishop. Titular Archbishop (1985.09.14 – ...): Archbishop Eugenio Sbarbaro
- Former Titular Bishops. Titular Bishop: Bishop Cesar Benedetti, O.F.M. (1951.02.08 – 1983.04.04); Titular Bishop: Bishop Joseph Brendan Whelan, C.S.Sp. (1948.02.12 – 1950.04.18); Titular Bishop: Archbishop Mečislovas Reinys (1926.04.05 – 1940.07.18)
Famous locals
See also
Sources and external links
Bibliography
- André Berthier Tiddis. Antique Castellum Tidditanorum Academie des Belles lettres. Paris, 1951
- Bonifacius Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae, Leipzig 1931, p. 469
- Stefano Antonio Morcelli, Africa christiana, Volume I, Brescia 1816, pp. 320–321
- J. Mesnage, L'Afrique chrétienne, Paris 1912, p. 315
- H. Jaubert, Anciens évêchés et ruines chrétiennes de la Numidie et de la Sitifienne, in Recueil des Notices et Mémoires de la Société archéologique de Constantine, vol. 46, 1913, p. 93
36.4633°N 6.4839°W
Notes and References
- Carcopino. Jérôme. 1942. Le travail archéologique en Algérie pendant la guerre (1939-1942). Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. fr-FR. 86. 4. 301–319. 10.3406/crai.1942.85702.
- Mounir Bouchenaki, ancient cities of Algeria, collection Art and Culture No. 12, Algiers, Ministry of Information and Culture, 1978 (114 p.)
- Serge Lancel, the ancient Algeria, Editions Mengès, 2003,
- André Berthier, Tiddis, cited ancient Numidia, les Belles lettres, 2000 Acad.
- André Berthier, the Numidia, Rome and the Maghreb, Ed.picard, 1981.
- André Berthier, R.S. Davis and c. Ogle, new research on the Bellum Jugurthinum, 2001.
- André Berthier, j. July, r. Charlier, the Bellum Jugurthinum of Sallust and the problem of Chen, R.S.A.C., 1949
- Andre Berthier. "Tiddis", Introduction
- Web site: Africa agostiniana: la numidia. www.cassiciaco.it. it. 2018-01-29.
- Web site: Siti archeologici africani: Tiddis. www.cassiciaco.it. it. 2018-01-29.
