Portus Divinus
Portus Divinus was a Roman city-port in Berber north Africa,[1] situated at the location of present-day Mers el Kebir (20 km from Oran in western Algeria).
History
Portus Divinus (called even "Portus Divini") was created in Augustus times by the Romans on the best place for a deep water port in western Mauretania Caesariensis. The place was initially used by the Phoenicians, who established a little port since the second century before Christ. The Romans enlarged the port, that was connected by roads to Caesarea and Numerus Syrorum.
It was a military outpost since Trajan times, like it has been until the French colonization, and is located a few kilometres from what is now Mers el Kebir.[2] Portus Divinus was partially destroyed by the Vandals in 430 AD.
On the promontory of the port there was a small Roman fortification that was enlarged by the Spanish in a huge fort still standing today over their "Mazalquivir" ( a city now called Mers el Kebir).
Notes
Bibliography
- Mommsen, Theodore. The Provinces of the Roman Empire Section: Roman Africa. (Leipzig 1865; London 1866; London: Macmillan 1909; reprint New York 1996) Barnes & Noble. New York, 1996
- Reynell Morell, John. Algeria: The Topography and History, Political, Social, and Natural, of French Africa. Publisher N. Cooke. London, 1854 ( )
- Smith Reid, James. The Municipalities of the Roman Empire. The University Press. University of Michigan, 1913
- Smyth Vereker, Charles. Scenes in the Sunny South: Including the Atlas Mountains and the Oases of the Sahara in Algeria. Volume 2. Publisher Longmans, Green, and Company. University of Wisconsin. Madison,1871 ( )
See also
- Caesarea of Mauretania
- Altava
- Numerus Syrorum
- Pomaria
- Romano-Berber states
- Regnum Maurorum et Romanorum
- Christian Berbers
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